Sunday, January 3, 2010

'Finding A Way To Win'


I will sometimes tell our players that you don't have to be the best team to win a match, but rather to be the best team on that day. Great teams find ways to win matches when they are not playing their best, and I think that is a trait of championship clubs - teams that find ways to win matches.

That was the case with Rangers FC today, as they came back behind Lee McCulloch's 82nd minute equalizer to draw with Celtic, 1-1, at Celtic Park in this pivotal Scottish Premier League match-up. The Old Firm derby is regarded as the greatest match-up of local rivals in world football, and today's match did not disappoint.

Celtic looked to be on course for a vital win, which would have brought them to within four points of their Glaswegian rivals, with a game in hand on Rangers.

As it stands, Walter Smith's men maintain their 7-point lead, despite bombarding Allan McGregor's goal with wave after wave of attacks.

Asked if he thought the manner of the draw would do damage to Celtic's mentality, McCulloch said: "I hope it does a lot."

"They will they be banging their heads against the wall thinking 'why did we not win that game?'"

"I played in the France games for Scotland (in 2006 and 2007) and we got battered but still came away winning. That's football - you get that and you need to move on."

"We have to realise that we weren't good enough as a team but we managed to get that point and we will keep going for the rest of the games."

With a 7-point advantage over Celtic, the defending SPL champions ability to continue to find ways to get results put them in the pole position to claim the title again this season.

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