Graeme Souness believes that Rangers’ early season adversity can help bond the side together and that a win against Celtic could just be the catalyst to jumpstart Derek McInnes’ tenure as boss.
After a tough start to life in Govan that saw the Light Blues exit the Europa League and Conference League in the qualifying stages, Rangers have accumulated four straight victories heading into Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against their old foes.
“They haven’t made life easy for themselves,” admitted the Ibrox icon. “It’s been a difficult start, but if you’re going through a difficult period at a football club and there's a game to put it right, it's playing your nearest rival and beating them.
“This is an opportunity for Rangers to put whatever’s happened behind them and give encouragement to their supporters. Beating Celtic, there no better game to give them confidence going forward and make supporters believe going forward.
“You need men, it must be the same at Celtic. You need men in your dressing room to drag the lesser personalities with you.
“Rangers have faced criticism, dealt with it and bounced back, which is encouraging. They went out of Europe, were criticised and then bounced back.”
Given the huge turnover of players this summer, there will be more than a few players in a blue jersey making their maiden Old Firm derby bow’s this weekend, with as many as seven new faces anticipated in McInnes’ starting XI.
It is a fixture that has the potential to be a chastening experience for some, as Souness recalls, he himself was taken a back by the intensity despite arriving with a reputation as one of the most decorated midfielders in world football.
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He said: “I remember my first Old Firm game. I came here as a serious player who had played at the highest level and in big derby games, but this is a unique game. You have to work that out pretty quickly early on.
“If you’re playing in the game you can’t play the occasion. I think this time round it’s about being aware of what it means to your supporters to win the game.
Come Sunday afternoon both sets of players will run out in front of exclusively home support given the news that away fans will be excluded form the fixture from the entirety of the season.
The 73-year-old bemoaned the lack of opposition fans in attendance, intimating that it had lost a particular selling point to those around the world.
He continued: “I’ve had people in England—grown men—asking if I could get them tickets for this game. It simply wouldn’t be the same, football isn’t the same without the support.
“As a player, though, I loved hostile atmospheres. There’s no bigger or more hostile atmosphere than an Old Firm game, it’s certainly diminished not having the supporters in there.
“If you’re a big player, you love that. You love being booed.
“I’ve was at Sporting Lisbon against Benfica and Galatasaray against Fenerbahçe, which are really hostile environments to work in, but this is the biggest. It’s the most hostile and atmospheric.”
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