Gio van Bronckhorst knows the painful perils of getting swept away amid the Parkhead tempest.
The Rangers manager’s first experience of the derby din at Celtic Park left his senses scrambled and his head swirling as the Hoops dished out a 5-1 dismantling in 1998. There was another barrage on his fifth and final trip across Glasgow as an Ibrox player 20 months later as Martin O’Neill’s men whipped up a fresh storm that engulfed the Dutchman and his team-mates as Rangers were blown away 6-2.
He found it no easier to get his bearings on his first visit as boss of the club in February, with Ange Postecoglou ’s super-slick outfit tying Rangers in knots as they raced to a three-goal lead inside 45 minutes. So when the manager warns Old Firm rookies such as James Sands, Malik Tillman, Rabbi Matondo and Antonio Colak on the need to keep their wits about them, he certainly knows what he’s talking about.
But van Bronckhorst has also experienced the other side of the coin at the Hoops’ HQ. Winning away from home in these bitter clashes is rarely a stroll in the park.
Such victories require hard work, commitment to the cause and, above all else, focus. So when the bell rings shortly before 12.30pm today, the Rangers gaffer will offer one last word of advice for those players preparing for their first experience of the pandemonium that awaits inside Parkhead.
“Embrace it, enjoy the atmosphere but concentrate on your performance,” said van Bronckhorst. “That will be key.
“We have a lot of experience now in the team. To be able to get something out of the game we have to be concentrated and to be ready to push Celtic.
“(Handling the atmosphere) is very important because there will be a lot of noise as you would expect in an Old Firm. We have trained really well and we still have a meeting before the match about the way we want to play and our gameplan.
“But from what I have seen from this squad, they are always prepared for anything that can happen in games. Saturday will be the same.
“When you are concentrating on your performance when you are on the pitch, when you have the ball, when you have to press, those are movements we trained for in the last couple of days. You have to show that in games even though the atmosphere will be very hectic and hostile. It is our job to perform in any circumstances we will face.
“Every game is a new game. Of course you can look at past matches and how it went. But we have some new players and we’ll just go in, well prepared for the Celtic game and how they play. We have to be ready.”
Celtic’s victories in their first two derbies with van Bronckhorst as Rangers boss provided the Hoops with the winning margin they required to snatch back the title. But the Light Blues showed a resilience they will need in spades today as they first dumped Postecoglou’s team out of the Scottish Cup before claiming a draw in the final meeting of the sides at Parkhead last term.
For all the explosive firepower their rivals displayed last week as they mercilessly gunned down Dundee United, the Rangers manager expects another tight affair and the spoils will go to whichever side can reach out and grab them. He said: “It’s going to be a difficult match because Celtic are strong at home. We have to be ready for the task but I think we’re capable of getting a result there.
“You have to make sure it’s the whole 90 minutes and to be sharp because they have a lot of qualities. We trained the team well, we’re well prepared. Come 12.30pm the kick-off goes and we’ll be there.
“First of all, we should go there with desire and the belief we can get something out of the game. That’s always important when you go into big games.
“If you look back at the matches we had last season, the first of them at Celtic was a complete off day for us, especially in the first half. Trailing in the game by a three-goal difference, it was difficult for us to get anything out of the game. The second-half performance was much better.
“In the home game we went in front, lost two goals and then in the second half we were pushing for the equaliser, didn’t get it and lost the game. In the cup semi-final, the game was very competitive. I think the difference in the game wasn’t that much. But you could see we were in the game, on the ball we were very brave, very strong.
“That really helps in big games, when you have the control. That’s what we have to show today as well – the desire to win and the willingness to do everything to get a result.
“We also have to make sure that when we have the ball we play the game we want. In the last two games we did that. On Saturday that is also important.
“Last season the games were all very close apart from the game in February. The performance we had wasn’t at the level we needed to compete against Celtic, although we were better in the second half.
“All the other games, the margins were very close and I think that will be the same tomorrow. When you have games that are so close it’s going to be decided by details. We have to make sure the details that make the difference are on our side.”
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