Source: FOOTYMAD
No Complaints From Either Manager
While Walter Smith did not enjoy the result he accepts that Celtic deserved to win. Walter Smith admits Rangers can only blame themselves for losing the Old Firm derby yesterday. Georgios Samaras was hailed to the echo by the Celtic fans in Ibrox for his two goals which stretched the lead at the top of the table to four points. As far as Smith is concerned, the nature of Samaras' goals was the hardest part to take. He said: "We've got to be disappointed with the way we conceded the goals, they were poor goals from our own point of view. We've got nobody to blame but ourselves in that respect. I'm disappointed that we lost in the manner we did. If Celtic had scored a couple of good ones, it might have been easier for us to take." The vital spark to give Celtic a challenge was missing from Rangers performance yesterday as they squandered the chance to reclaim their lead at the top of the SPL in front of their own fans. However, Smith claimed he had no real complaints about the performance of his players, other than in the final third with Fraser Forster barely troubled in the Celtic goal. He said: "I didn't think there was a flatness about Rangers. I thought we played very well up until about 25 yards from goal. I think you've got to give credit to the opposition at times. I felt Celtic defended very well, they set their stall out to play deep and not allow us great opportunity to get behind them. That worked very well for them. My disappointment is that we didn't do enough to cause them a problem in that respect. If you were looking at the game, I thought we started that game as well as any Old Firm game I've been involved in." Rangers were without Steven Naismith, after he failed to win his fitness battle ahead of the crunch game, but Smith refused to use his absence as an excuse. He pointed out: "Both sides were missing players. With the way the game was being played, especially in the first half, we should maybe have been a bit better in front of goal. We only really had the header that hit the bar in the early part of the game. It was one of those games where we needed to get the first goal to force Celtic out a little bit. They sat back and defended very well today and we didn't take advantage of the possession we had, especially early in the game." Smith handed a first start to youngster Jamie Ness and was pleased with how he coped with the occasion. He said: "I thought he played very well. It was always the case that he was bound to tire because he has only played two or three games recently. He's back to form and I thought he played very well." Celtic manager Neil Lennon had spoken to Gordon Strachan about his planned tactic of playing Samaras in a lone striker's role. He said: "I am very proud of the players and performance. I didn't think there was one failure there. We were very resilient, we dominated and I thought Samaras was unplayable. I spoke to Gordon about that lone-striker's role, Samaras can do that and it was something we have been working on. I have seen him play in World Cups and do that and we felt we would leave him up there to do it. He pulls himself off the two centre halves which isn't an easy thing to do. His movement and composure for the first goal was great and although he got a lot of confidence from the way he started the game, he got a huge lift from the goal." Samaras is out of contract at Parkhead at the season's end but Lennon is hopeful that he will agree to extend his deal. He went on: "We know he is capable of doing that. We know he has fantastic attributes, we just need to find that consistency and maybe that role suits him best. But I think he has done himself no harm today regarding a new contract." Samaras admitted he would be happy to accept a new deal from Celtic - and continue as lone striker. He said: "I want to stay. If the manager has said he wants me to stay then hopefully in the next couple of days or weeks, we will find a solution and keep going together. That is my position, the one I like to play and it was a nice feeling to score my first goal at Ibrox. My team-mates and me worked really hard and in the second half we were much better than Rangers and deserved to win the game. Everyone would have enjoyed that, the manager, me, my team mates, the supporters, it's a great win for us and we must continue in the same way. It is important that we are still first in the league. I know Rangers have two games in hand but it is good that we are in first place. We know that until the end of May we will fight with Rangers for the SPL trophy. But we are in good shape and we hope that we stay there." Lennon took the opportunity to have ago at his critics who claim he had missed chances to win big games since taking over from Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager. The Celtic manager said: "I think it's a huge result. I think the majority of people in this room, from what I've heard in the last week or so, had written us off and given us no chance. The players answered a lot of questions and I think I have answered a lot of questions. People pointed the finger that we don't win big games It was fair comment because we hadn't done ourselves justice in those games but we certainly did today. We did with a bit of style was well and I really enjoyed watching them play today. So I hope it's a turning point for the players. It's always difficult to come here but I thought we took everything that Rangers threw at us and came back in spades and wore them down and in the end were capable of getting even more goals." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
