GET OVER IT
MacLeod tells Rangers to move on from any bitterness
CELTIC old Bhoy Murdo MacLeod last night urged Rangers to consign any bitterness over the club’s treatment of four years ago to the past.
Former Ibrox boss Walter Smith triggered a row ahead of Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final when he pointed to lingering rancour over the Rangers newco being forced to start afresh in the lower leagues following the oldco’s liquidation.
The newco were refused entry to the top flight, with a further plan to parachute them into the second tier also defeated.
‘There was no necessity for Rangers to be put down into the Third Division,’ stated Smith. ‘I think there will be a bitterness in the Rangers ranks that it happened.
‘It will be a massive motivation for the club — it would be for me.’
Insisting the newer players in the Ibrox squad won’t especially care what happened in the past, however, former Celtic assistant manager MacLeod
insisted it was time for Rangers to move on.
He said: ‘Driving back home yesterday, that was all I heard on the radio, with everyone still talking about it. ‘I just think it’s in the past. ‘You have great times when you look back on the past in football. There is nothing better than looking back at highlights — everyone has an individual highlight.
‘But what happened for Rangers four years ago was a lowlight and there is no point dwelling on it — they have got to move on.
‘In 10 years’ time, if Rangers go on and win a title or two, it will be part of their past and no one will talk about it again.
‘Don’t use it as a weapon to play better — because it won’t make you play better. It might have the other effect.
‘Everyone has to move on now and get on with it.
‘You hear people saying: “Their fans wanted Rangers down in the bottom league” and this kind of thing.
‘Well, just move on and win the games.
‘It comes back to the old saying: “Just do your talking on the pitch”.’
MacLeod earned iconic status as a Celtic player by scoring huge Old Firm goals in the 1979 title decider and a crucial equaliser in a 4-4 draw in 1986.
Insisting those are the derby memories supporters cling to rather than financial strife, the former Scotland midfielder added: ‘People still talk about those games all the time. Everywhere I go.
‘Guys come up and tell me every day: “I was there”. Or it’s: “I was coming out of school that day to go to the 4-2 game…”.
‘You get all these kind of things and it’s great. That’s the memories you want.
‘That’s the good memories for football fans.
‘You don’t go back to a memory of a time like Rangers had in 2012 when it was bad for their club.
‘Fans don’t come up to me and say: “Remember when Fergus McCann had to buy Celtic when it was about to close down?”.
‘They don’t talk about that because it’s finished.
‘They talk about the good things that happened since. The cup finals or winning the title.’ MacLeod expects Mark Warburton’s Rangers to put up a stronger challenge than they mustered under caretaker boss Kenny McDowall in last season’s League Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic.
But he also believes they are in for a far tougher test than they had in their impressive 4-0 thrashing of Dundee in the quarter-final, when they got off to a flying start and scored after just 13 seconds against the Premiership side.
‘It was a mismatch the last time,’ said MacLeod of Celtic’s 2-0 victory.
‘A lot of fans from both sides knew it was going to be a one-sided game.
‘But I think the way Rangers have improved and, after the way they played against Dundee, everybody knows they’ve got that in them.
‘They’ve not reached that height since that game but here you are, a semi-final against Celtic.
‘It’s an opportunity to get back up to that level again and give Celtic a challenge.
‘But there’s a big difference in beating Celtic in a semi-final at Hampden to get to the Scottish Cup Final.
‘This Rangers side gave us a wee taste of how good they can play against Dundee.
‘Everybody is looking at it, if they play like that it’s game on. There’s no way Celtic can go in thinking they’ll win it.
‘I don’t think any Celtic player will be thinking they’ve just got to turn up. You’ve got to turn up and play.’