NO OLD Firm match that features six goals and two orderings-off is ever likely to escape without a complaint of some kind, and Walter Smith ensured that the tradition was observed in the wake of his team's impressive 4-2 victory at Celtic Park.
Undeniably elated by the performance of his players and a result that returned the Ibrox side to the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, Smith nevertheless was unable to resist expressing his dissatisfaction with the dismissal of his striker
, Daniel Cousin, by referee Dougie McDonald.
The Gabon international had been cautioned in the first half for persistent fouling – mostly involving his collisions with the Celtic central defender Gary Caldwell – and was given a second yellow for using an elbow in his challenge on Caldwell's partner, Stephen McManus, 15 minutes from the end of the match.
The Ibrox manager's dismay stemmed at least in part from his own admission that he had been considering replacing Cousin just before the incident.
"I found the ordering-off disappointing," said Smith, "because there was no animosity between the players. We used to come to games and see centre- forwards and centre-halves clashing, giving and taking, and it seems to me that that was all that was happening here. There was no bad feeling, it was just players colliding. So it was disappointing, because we had been thinking of taking him off, as a result of his earlier booking. But he was playing so well that it was difficult."
Smith insisted that Cousin, who would have been a surprise selection to most people, was "not going anywhere", despite the widespread acceptance that Rangers have been trying to sell him since last January, when a projected move to Fulham collapsed under the Fifa regulation that prohibits any player from representing three clubs in the same season. Cousin had made two short appearances for the French club, Lens, before joining Rangers.
"As far as I know, he isn't going anywhere," said Smith. "We played him today because he has shown often enough that he is a big-game player, but can be inconsistent. But he showed once again that he has good strength, good pace and can score goals."
Whether or not Cousin, or any other unwanted players, remain at Ibrox, will be determined by midnight tonight, when the transfer window closes. Cousin's performance yesterday might even have been enough to tempt another buyer.
Smith, however, was clearly delighted with what he has at his disposal, the anguish of the ignominious elimination from Europe by FBK Kaunas having been diluted by the apparent improvement in his squad through the four league matches they have played.
"It's especially pleasing," said Smith, "because, the way things had been for us in recent weeks, I was a little worried that this first Old Firm match of the season had come a little too early. But the players responded very well to the challenge.
"It was a pretty open game, although we were a bit disappointed at losing the equaliser in the first half just a couple of minutes after we had taken the lead. That was a scrappy one for us to concede. Like most Old Firm matches, the team who can take a lead in the second half usually proves hard to peg back and that's what happened. Getting that first goal and then another really made it very hard for Celtic to come back."
Kenny Miller's double, his first goals since he returned to Ibrox in the summer, would certainly have tempered some of the criticism directed at him by Rangers supporters suspicious of his ability. Asked if he thought Miller's performance yesterday would have won over a few more fans, Smith replied: "Well, if he hasn't, I don't know what he'll have to do."
Gordon Strachan seemed understandably bamboozled by the comprehensiveness of his team's defeat, particularly after a balanced first half in which a draw had seemed the likely eventuality.
"Well, I couldn't see that coming at half-time," said the Celtic manager. "We had kept Rangers to a minimum of chances before the break, we had handled the aerial threat and we were looking forward to the second half. Then we lose two bizarre goals (both to Miller] and one excellent strike (Pedro Mendes] and we've lost the game.
"I'll let the players know how I feel when we come back to training tomorrow and we'll analyse everything, as we always do. We've lost the first Old Firm match of the season in two of the last three years before today and still gone on to win the championship, so we know what's possible. But we'd rather do without it, because it's going to take another great effort, as it did last season."
The full article contains 807 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
