Rangers need to find a Hartson

As is the norm in Old Firm games, yesterday's contest was a thoroughly engrossing 90 minutes but the truth of the matter is that there was very little flair on show from either side, even less invention and in the end both sides seemed to cancel each other out.

The one statistic that mattered though - and ultimately, always the most important in this fixture - is that Celtic came out on top and maybe it's also true to say that they had a more collective will- to-win than Rangers.

Up until now there has been very little to choose between the two and, in actual fact, Rangers have out-scored Celtic without what many would consider to be a recognised goalscorer.

That makes it all the more ironic that John Hartson was yesterday's matchwinner. How Alex McLeish would love to have someone in the mould of this Welsh battering ram in his side.

To their credit, Rangers have scored consistently this season without a Larsson or a Hartson in their make-up, but Alex will know that it all becomes much more tense in the run-in to a title.

When things are as tight as this at the top of the table and the margin for error is nil, the pressure can begin to tell on everyone involved and that's when teams look to their poacher, their penalty box player to get them out of trouble.

In six previous Old Firm games, Alex has enjoyed the upper hand in these tense occasions and it'll be interesting to see what sort of reaction he'll now get from his players after a loss.

As it stands, the treble is still very much on but as McLeish also pointed out before the game, it's equally true to say that his team could win nothing this season.

The loss of Ronald de Boer from the starting eleven was always going to be a huge blow but I was still surprised to see as many long diagonal balls from Amoruso in search of Neil McCann as I did.

At times it threw up a dilemma for Johan Mjallby as to whether he should go tight on McCann or stay more central to offer some cover for Balde in his tussle with Lovenkrands; but possession was given up too often, too cheaply by Rangers in this way. Both Barry Ferguson and Mikel Arteta can keep good possession in midfield and to see Rangers play so direct, so often was a great surprise.

I think Arteta has adapted well to the pace of the Scottish game and he can certainly look after himself in any physical challenge but I can guarantee that Alex McLeish will be highlighting the goal that Celtic scored and the unfortunate part his gifted midfielder played in it.

It was actually developing into a promising break for Rangers when Arteta burst through the middle of the park to create an extra man. All he had to do was play the ball wide to his right and Rangers would have had an extra man driving into the box. Instead, he chose the wrong option in trying to go past another man and was caught in possession. That led to Celtic breaking up the park for the vital goal and the loss of possession with so many men forward did not go down well with either the manager or his captain.

Barry Ferguson was furious with his teammate and when the same type of incident occurred some minutes later as Neil Lennon robbed Arteta in the middle of the park, that was the signal for McLeish to make a change and substitute one of his playmakers.

In my view, Celtic were the better side and just about deserved to win. They have blown the title race wide open now and it's still too close to call.

Having said that, I can't remember many championship winning sides not having a recognised goalscorer - someone who can get goals when it matters and when their team hasn't played particularly well.

Celtic didn't play particularly well yesterday but John Hartson scored with what was his most difficult chance of the day.

Rangers and Alex McLeish have to find someone similar if the title is to go back to Ibrox.

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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