Source: Team_Talk
Bhoys boss hails Boruc brilliance
In a second half which was marginally better than the first 45 minutes, the Poland international prevented his own captain Stephen McManus' misdirected header from sneaking in at the near post and then brilliantly blocked a point-blank header from Rangers defender David Weir.[LNB]Boruc has been under the spotlight again in recent weeks following a training-ground spat with Aiden McGeady which came in the wake of several high-profile blunders.[LNB]Strachan's simple analysis was that his side were the best in the first half and Rangers were better after the break.[LNB]The Hoops boss, however, was glad to see Boruc back on form.[LNB]"He didn't have too much to do but he had two smashing saves," Strachan said.[LNB]"He had a spring in his step and he made saves that he had been making for a long time. I liked what I saw today."[LNB]Strachan conceded that Boruc was a player who divides opinion.[LNB]"It depends which way you look at it," the Hoops boss said.[LNB]"If you like him it's confidence, if you don't like him it's arrogance.[LNB]"He's a big boy now, and some of you know that he is a huge personality in Poland and he has to deal with it.[LNB]"And he will get used to it."[LNB]Strachan was not too unhappy about retaining the two-point lead over Rangers at the top of the SPL.[LNB]He said: "I would have been even happier if I was five points clear but I don't blame anyone bar ourselves.[LNB]"We have had a couple of opportunities in recent weeks to keep our seven-point lead but we didn't do well enough to do that.[LNB]"We kept the ball well in the first half but changed in the second half without knowing.[LNB]"We chucked Aiden and Georgios (Samaras) on but that changed the game to (Rangers') benefit.[LNB]"It had nothing to do with the two lads that went on, but the shape went and it gave them more chance on the counter-attack."[LNB]Strachan was pleased with Willo Flood's debut, with the Irishman adapting well to the game until he tired after the break when he was replaced by McGeady.[LNB]"I thought he did very well," the Celtic boss added.[LNB]"I was going to take Shunsuke Nakamura off but there is always that brilliance that 'Naka' can produce, a pass that nobody else can see.[LNB]"But Willo must be very pleased with himself."[LNB]Strachan had a joke at the expense of midfielder Scott Brown, who had to be substituted near the end after being clattered by Rangers keeper Allan McGregor in an aerial duel.[LNB]He quipped: "He got smashed in the face. It's not very good but he doesn't know so we are not telling him."[LNB]Rangers boss Walter Smith, meanwhile, has accused referee Calum Murray of bottling a crucial penalty decision when Kenny Miller was clattered by Celtic skipper McManus.[LNB]Miller, on as a second-half substitute for Kyle Lafferty, sliced a shot wide of the target from 12 yards out after being set up by Steven Davis before he was felled by his fellow Scotland international.[LNB]Murray, taking charge of his first Old Firm game, ignored pleas for a spot-kick but Smith insists the official would have adjudicated differently if the incident had happened outside the box.[LNB]"Kenny Miller had an attempt at goal and it was a late challenge," Smith said.[LNB]"If it happens in any other area of the pitch then the referee gives the foul.[LNB]"If it is in the penalty area then he has a couple of decisions to make and obviously he chose not to make them.[LNB]"As I say, Kenny had shot past and it was a late challenge but we never got it.[LNB]"But we had a couple of other opportunities that Artur Boruc saved."[LNB]Celtic striker Scott McDonald missed the chance of the game in the first half when he failed to connect properly with a Willo Flood cross just six yards out and it was his side's first-half inertia that irked the Rangers boss.[LNB]"It was one of the poorest first-half performances that we've had away from home this season," Smith said.[LNB]"We didn't play well, the possession was poor and they had the one opportunity with Scott McDonald.[LNB]"We had the better of the second half but anything we produced, Artur Boruc was equal to it.[LNB]"But if you come to Celtic Park and Celtic only have a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick as their only real attempt on goal, then your team are doing something right."[LNB]Smith admits 17-year-old John Fleck suffered from the overall malaise which was prevalent early in the Light Blue ranks. Fleck became the youngest Ibrox debutant in the Glasgow derby since skipper Barry Ferguson's brother, Derek, played in a 1-1 draw at the same venue in 1984.[LNB]The young midfielder did not look out of place but was replaced after the break by Miller.[LNB]"Like the rest of the team he started slowly," Smith said.[LNB]"As a 17-year-old boy, you are hoping that his team mates will help him but they were struggling to help themselves at times in the first half although, as I say, the second half was better.[LNB]"But he will have learned from the experience and it won't have done him any harm."[LNB][LNB]
