De Boer, Numan, Flo; Mark Warburton’s team have a lot to live up to.
Former Rangers full-back Arthur Numan has told the Daily Record that Mark Warburton’s current side can draw inspiration from the team of 2000.
Dick Advocaat’s Rangers finished a huge 15 points adrift of Martin O’Neill’s Celtic in the 2000/01 season but gained some measure of revenge when they dished out a 5-1 hammering in the Old Firm derby in November.
And there’s a very possibility that the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table could even exceed that from 16 years ago, with Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops currently cruising to the title 14 points clear of The Gers with a game in hand.
And further salt was applied to the wounds in September when Warburton’s current vintage were left demoralised and defeated, going down 5-1 at Celtic Park back in September, though they have an opportunity to gain some measure of revenge as the two sides meet once more on the final day of 2016.
And Numan believes Rangers can take inspiration from his former side and at least put a dampener on Celtic’s unbeaten domestic season.
“When we played Celtic in 2000 they came to Ibrox 15 points in front but that counted for nothing because we knew how important it was to win that day,” the 47-year-old, who currently works as an assistant for the Holland national team, told the Daily Record.
“Celtic were also on an unbeaten run back then – their best since this season – so I suppose it makes it comparable to this next Old Firm fixture, assuming Celtic remain unbeaten as many expect.
“They can take heart from what we did.”
On the flipside, however, Warburton’s squad of ageing veterans and cheap youngsters hardly compares to the 2000/01 side with the influential Barry Ferguson snarling away in midfield nad Dutch internationals Numan, Michael Mols and Ronald De Boer (below) forming a solid spine, not to mention club-record signing Tore Andre Flo and legendary Turkish playmaker Tugay.
These days, Rangers are still very much reliant upon a 36-year-old Kenny Miller, who was on the bench for that clash 16 years ago, while the squad is mainly comprised of cut-price signings from the English lower leagues.
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