THE last time that Celtic or Rangers failed to win a domestic game was when they played one another. Since that thrilling 2-2 draw at Ibrox just after the turn of the year, they have both rattled off nine straight victories. At Hampden on Sunday, then, something has got to give.
The narrative around the Viaplay Cup Final is that whoever wins will have done more than simply secure the first silverware of the season, but will also have delivered a psychological blow to their rivals in maintaining their momentum at the expense of their opponent’s impetus.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou though, isn’t so sure. Come what may this weekend, his team will still hold a nine point advantage over Rangers at the top of the Premiership, after all.
And while he would no doubt dearly love to keep Celtic’s foot to their throat in delivering a reminder of their domestic dominance, he points to the defeat to Rangers in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final as proof that his team won’t be thrown off track even if they do succumb to defeat at the national stadium.
“It depends how you want to embrace it,” Postecoglou said.
“Irrespective I know that come Monday we’ll have dealt with whatever we need to deal with, in a positive sense or a negative sense, and focus on the next one.
“That’s been really important to us as a group. When we lost the semi-final last year it didn’t derail our determination to be champions. We still had some work to do to at that point.
“But at the same time we understand that domestically there are three trophies on offer and if you can get to a final that gives you a chance to win one, and we want to win it because there are no guarantees you’ll be in it next year.
“So, our focus is on preparing and being ready for it and trying to be really strong on the day.
“If we get the job done, then great. But come Monday, our focus will then turn onto the next game.”
All that being said, Postecoglou isn’t about to play down the significance of the game this weekend, nor pretend that the build-up represents a normal week’s work down Lennoxtown way.
“I’ve found over the course of time that big games are big games,” he said.
“There’s no point trying to shy away from that or trying to treat it like every other game because you know they’re not.
“The players are human beings and they understand what’s at stake at the weekend and the possibility of winning a trophy. You want them excited about that stuff, you want them understanding the consequences of those games.
“If you embrace that then there is nothing that is going to come along which should switch away your focus.
“If you try to hunker down and try to treat it like any other week you are going to get unstuck. There is so much attention on everything we do over the next few days.
“The players get asked for cup final tickets, or people around them get excited, as long as the players embrace that and don’t let it affect their preparation then that’s fine. I have found that is the best way to handle these games.
“It’s not a normal week. As much as you want to say ‘just keep it as a normal week’ it’s not. I’m here at Hampden today, so it’s not a normal week!
“You can get narky about it or complain about it or you can just embrace it as the fact it’s a big game this week, with a big prize at the end of it, and just roll with it.”
Postecoglou is also cognisant of the different threat that this resurgent Rangers team under Michael Beale may pose.
In Postecoglou’s view, Beale’s initial success is in building upon the foundations that were left from when he was assistant to Steven Gerrard, and in refining the blueprint put in place by predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
“I think Michael has changed the way they play, gone back to a system and a style that probably suited the players that were there before,” he said.
“It’s been an easy transition for him and I think his players took a little bit of comfort from that. It is always hard when you change and manager.
“Look, to be fair to Gio, he was a whisker away from having an historic year. He won a trophy, finished second in the league and got to the final of the Europa. You change a couple of those things and they are building statues to that guy. So, you kinda know it is a fine line.
“They were a very good side last year too. And they continue that this year but with Michael.
“So, they are playing with more belief and you can see that in the fact that the results have been consistent since he came in.”
It is that recent form that Postecoglou feels is more pertinent to this encounter than any notion of gaining a measure of revenge for that defeat at Hampden last April.
“I’ve never found that as a good way to sort of chart your course in whatever you do in life, because if you wait for something to happen to you to be motivated then there’s something missing,” he said.
“Consistency in excellence means that every week you’re up for it irrespective of the game, the circumstances or the opponent, you want to win everything you are in.
“When the big games come along then that should be motivation enough, you don’t need to have felt pain or some other emotion to consequently get yourself up for a game like this.
“For me, the fact that it’s a game where there’s a trophy on the line, that’s enough, you don’t need anything else.”
