Celtic and Rangers will return to European action tomorrow night.
Alan Hutton has admitted that he used to prefer playing at Parkhead than at Ibrox and shared how he would ‘run close to the touchline’ when doing the warm-ups for Rangers, just so he can feel the atmosphere from the Celtic fans.
Speaking to White & Sawyer on TalkSport (19/02/2020), Hutton, who started his career at Rangers and has now hung up his boots, shared what it was like playing in the Old Firm against Celtic.
“It’s difficult to sum up, I must admit,” Hutton told TalkSport. “When I was there, at the start of the season, you look at the fixtures ‘when are we playing Celtic? When is the first one?’. And that’s all you look forward too. Obviously, you take care of the rest of your games, which more often than not you did.
“The week leading up to it and it was just a buzz everywhere. It’s half in half. You are either getting abused off one half or another half loves you. So, you know right away that it’s coming. And it’s over in a flash. It’s hard to actually explain what it feels like.
“The buzz. The atmosphere. I used to love playing at Parkhead better, if I am honest. I used to love it when they were on top of you. When I was doing my warm-up, I would run close to the touchline. I would get right close to them because it used to jeer me up. I used to like it. It used to get me up more. Of course, [you would hear it], you were only a couple of feet away from the fans. I used to love it and feed off it. It was brilliant.”
The Old Firm is regarded as one of the most fierce rivalries in football and it is one that grabs the attention of fans, not just in Scotland, but worldwide.
In recent years, the buck has been falling at the feet of Celtic, who have been dominating the domestic scene, but Steven Gerrard’s arrival at Ibrox has changed things a little.
Last season, the Gers showcased enough that they may well be a very close title challenge during this campaign, and it was falling that way until the New Year kicked in.
Since Rangers have returned to action from their winter break, their performances and results have slipped, and as a result, they are 10 points behind their rivals with a game in hand.
But given that Gerrard is aware that his players can produce the performances like the one they did at Parkhead, and they will lock horns with their rivals on two more occasions, the race for the title isn’t over yet.
Saying that, Neil Lennon’s men do have a cushion they perhaps thought they wouldn’t have had following that defeat before the break, but if things continue the way they are then the Bhoys will be lifting their ninth in a row.
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