JOHN Brown has stressed to Rangers’ players the importance of keeping all 11 men on the park in the Scottish Gas Scottish cup final against Celtic at Hampden on Saturday.
The Ibrox club had Leon Balogun red carded in the second half a 2-1 defeat at Parkhead back in December and John Lundstram was ordered off in the first-half of a cinch Premiership loss at the same stadium earlier this month.
Brown, who helped the Glasgow giants to enjoy an extended period of dominance over their city rivals and complete Nine-In-A-Row in the 1990s, knows that not giving the Scottish champions a numerical advantage will be vital for his old club this weekend.
The former centre half was renowned as being a fierce competitor during his playing days – but he was never sent off in an Old Firm derby and he thinks that keeping a cool head ensured he savoured more victories than defeats in them.
The Rangers ambassador has sensed weaknesses in the Celtic defence during the 2023/24 campaign and he thinks that Philippe Clement’s side can pull off an upset and beat Brendan Rodgers’ team if they maintain their discipline.
“In the recent game, Lundstram had scored an own goal so his head was away with it,” he said as he met pupils from Ibrox Primary School who were attending the Rangers Charity Foundation’s Scottish FA Extra Time after school programme at the Ibrox Community Complex.
“He lunges, and when you lunge like that you are taking chances. It was a definite red. Had they got to half-time, with it being 2-1, it could have been a different story. A guy with his experience should have known better.
“You have got to channel your aggression in these games, you have to have a calm head when everyone else is losing theirs. You need to be calm. That’s good coming for me! But I never got sent off in any Old Firm games.
“Our managers Graeme Souness and Walter Smith used to say, ‘We need you on the park’. You were of no use to anyone sitting in the stands. You had to channel it, and in the right way bring it out.”
Celtic, who wrapped up their third consecutive cinch Premiership victory last week, are strong favourites to beat Rangers again and complete a domestic double.
However, Brown, who lifted 14 trophies during the nine years that he spent as a player at his boyhood heroes in the 1980s and 1990s, is certain that James Tavernier and his team mates can triumph.
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“Anything can happen in these games,” he said. “If Celtic go into expecting they will win then they will come undone. I think their manager will be making that clear to them, making sure they address it in the right way.
“Our manager will be doing the same. He will be urging his players to try and get in behind, try and get them on the back foot because their defence is their weakness.”
“Celtic have come out the blocks quickly in recent games and they’ve got at us. That performance from Celtic in the first half at Ibrox was one of the best I’ve seen. We really struggled to get back into it.
“Every game we’ve played against them, they’ve come out the traps and we need to be ready for that. We need to try to get at them and put them off their stride.
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