Rangers, Celtic renew fierce rivalry Sunday

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/02/2010 (6042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor was attacked in a Glasgow bar last weekend, and Celtic manager Tony Mowbray spent most of Thursday railing against the quality of officiating in the Scottish Premier League. You’d think there was an Old Firm derby around the corner.

Separated by an unusually wide chasm of seven points, Celtic and Rangers — the eternal combatants of one of soccer’s fiercest rivalries — will renew hostilities at Ibrox on Sunday. And as the boss of the trailing side, Mowbray attempted to transfer some of the weighty pressure from his players’ shoulders to his own when he launched a scathing attack on the league’s standard of refereeing.

Claiming a handful of previous calls against Celtic had left him in “total disbelief,” Mowbray threw down the gauntlet to Dougie McDonald, who will be overseeing the campaign’s penultimate Old Firm match.

It’s not hard to recall which decisions Mowbray had in mind when he made his statements. During Celtic’s 2-1 loss at Ibrox in October, Rangers captain David Weir made a questionable tackle on Hoops striker Shaun Maloney inside the host’s 18-yard box. Neither a penalty nor a yellow card was given.

Three months later, Celtic had a goal disallowed when the referee stopped play for a questionable foul on McGregor. The game ended 1-1.

But will Mowbray’s ploy pay off? Will Dougie McDonald actually think twice before making a serious decision against the guests?

It doesn’t really matter. By making the remarks, Mowbray has ensured that nobody is talking about Celtic’s disappointing season to date, or the fact that star striker Robbie Keane will be making his Old Firm bow on Sunday. That can only help his team.
Coincidentally, he has also overshadowed the assault on McGregor, which, under different circumstances could have cast a pall over the entire weekend. The details of the incident are murky, but the Rangers keeper was attending a Celtic player’s birthday party in Glasgow city centre when he was attacked and briefly hospitalized.

In a city as devoted to their soccer teams as Glasgow, it’s not hard to picture how or why McGregor was assaulted. It’s somewhat more difficult to imagine why he was fraternizing with the enemy, especially the week before an Old Firm derby.

Carling Cup final

The first major final of the English soccer season will be an all-English affair. That may sound like a given, but it’s really anything but. In a league where the likes of Arsenal can put out a starting 11 bereft of any domestic talent, there’s something to be said for a pair of sides that place an emphasis on developing home-grown players.

Those sides are Aston Villa and Manchester United. And on Sunday morning at Wembley Stadium they’ll contest the Carling Cup final.

As many as 12 Englishmen could be involved at kickoff — six on each side of the ball. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has always featured domestic players in his teams and the success that has come out of that philosophy needs no introduction. Against Villa, he’ll employ an English spine of Wes Brown, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney.

Villa manager Martin O’Neill has taken a similar approach. Since arriving at the West Midlands club in 2006, he has signed the likes of Luke Young, James Milner, Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and Stephen Warnock. All are English, and all are playing well for the club this season.

Not coincidentally, O’Neill’s preference for English players has Villa 90 minutes away from their first trophy in 14 years. They’re also in the last eight of the FA Cup and sit just a point out of fourth place in the Premier League.

Ferguson and O’Neill get it. They understand that developing young, domestic players is synonymous with success in English soccer. For one of them, it will also mean an addition to the trophy case.

Matches to watch

Chelsea vs. Manchester City: today, 6:30am (replay at 5:45 p.m.), Setanta.
Barcelona vs. Malaga: today, 3 p.m., GolTV.
Aston Villa vs. Manchester United; Sunday, 9 a.m., Setanta.
PSG vs. Marseille: Sunday, 2 p.m., Setanta.
Santos vs. Corinthians: Sunday, 4 p.m., GolTV.

jerradpeters@gmail.com