Chris Sutton reckons the rhetoric from some Rangers players following Saturday's defeat to Celtic stunk of desperation and deflection.
The Parkhead hero, who loves a jibe at his old rivals, is baffled by the reaction of the likes of James Tavernier and Todd Cantwell who both came out with big claims following the 3-2 derby win for Ange Postecoglou's men. First Tavernier slammed a supposed 'handball' by Jota in the build-up to Celtic's second goal before new boy Cantwell took a swipe on social media to say the Hoops 'didn't win' the derby.
Michael Beale's men sit twelve points behind their rivals and must pull the rabbit out the hat in the Scottish Cup semi-final to avoid handing Celtic a pathway to a potential treble. Sutton insists the reaction from Ibrox after losing is the 'same all the time' and that Rangers have to be much better at Hampden Park, because Celtic will be too.
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Writing in his Daily Record column Sutton wrote: "It was a bit confusing at the weekend seeing all the celebrations at the weekend at Parkhead considering Celtic didn’t win.
"Well, that’s what Todd Cantwell said, and who are we to argue with him? He said Celtic didn’t win, it was Rangers who lost. So by that logic, Celtic won’t win the league, Rangers will lose it? I’m not sure that’s how football works. There are winners and losers – and it’s clear who’s who in Glasgow at the moment.
"It just baffles me about the rhetoric from Rangers after these games as it’s the same all the time. After the Ibrox game in January it was, ‘we’ll see the real Rangers at Hampden’. They lose that one and it was ‘it’ll be different at Celtic Park’. Now it’s ‘we showed we can win at Hampden again’, ‘next year we’ll be a real force’ etc, etc.
"It’s just the same old story. The way they’ve reacted to Saturday you’d think they had won the match. Listen, there are no moral victories in this fixture. And Cantwell coming out and saying Celtic didn’t win it, is just back in Fashion Sakala territory. If you are in that Celtic dressing room, you’d stick that away and remember it for cup week.
"I understand Michael Beale and James Tavernier have to sell some kind of story. This time it was ‘we played well and deserved something from the game if it wasn’t for some dodgy decisions by the ref and a couple of errors’.
"I get that. The Alfredo Morelos effort ruled out was harsh but it was a 50/50 call and not deemed to be a clear and obvious error by the VAR officials. But that was the first real chance they’d had in the game. There was a penalty call in the second half as well, but that would have been soft if it had been awarded too.
"It was a little bit desperate and perhaps some deflection. They can write all the letters to the SFA they like but look at all the stats. Celtic had more possession, more chances, more shots on goal, more corners, Allan McGregor had more saves to make. It was a close game but can anyone really say Rangers did enough to win it? I’m not even sure Rangers fans would believe that.
"At the end of the day, Celtic were below par but still had enough in the tank to win the match. That’s the concern for Rangers here – not a source of comfort. Are they wanting credit for not getting hammered by Celtic? To me, that just sounds like they want a pat on the back for mediocrity. Rangers will need to be much better at Hampden, because Celtic certainly will be."
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