Former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan must have forgotten his own Ibrox nightmare after criticising Celtic’s performance from last week.
Strachan spoke of his shock at how Celtic were bullied by Rangers in their Glasgow derby defeat at Ibrox.
The former boss heaped pressure on Brendan Rodgers to deliver in the upcoming transfer window. Otherwise, he believes Rangers could win the league.
Strachan told The Sun: “It was strange to watch. I’ve never seen Celtic in an Old Firm derby being out-muscled and pressurised the way they were.
“Rangers exposed Celtic’s weaknesses. It was an eye- opening experience.
“It bothered me a bit how much Celtic were over-powered.”
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Strachan may be going overboard in his scathing criticism of Celtic. He would be wise to remember the display his Celtic side put out at Ibrox in October 2007.
With both Celtic and Rangers seemingly evenly matched heading into the first derby of the season, Strachan threw in a tactical curveball.
He decided to start Darren O’Dea at right back to combat Rangers’ physical approach.
However, it went about as well as expected. Celtic lost 3-0 with O’Dea being at fault for the first goal.
Nine Celtic players found their way into the referee’s book, but that was a red herring.
Celtic never got anywhere near Rangers on the day and the Ibrox side ran out convincing winners. That was a real marker that there would be a title race.
The home crowd spent the last 20 minutes cheering their team’s passes. It was a humiliating defeat for Celtic, a side who’d won the last two leagues convincingly.
Of course, they’d ultimately go on and win the league that season. Something that we all hope happens again this time around.
If you know the history
Of course no one is surprised that Strachan would be full of criticism towards Celtic’s performance. You won’t find anyone who would excuse that showing last weekend.
However, to mention the words ‘bullied’ and ‘overpowered’ was a tad too far. Celtic have been the bullies in the derby in recent history. It’ll take more than a 1-0 defeat to change that.
The ex-Hoops boss should, however, remember his own team’s poor performances at Ibrox before he criticises Rodgers’ team there.
After all, it only took Rodgers one season to win as many games at Ibrox than Strachan did in four years at Celtic.