Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers shocked Ibrox when he opted to add striker Odsonne Edouard to the fray rather than a midfielder.
Rangers legend Derek Johnstone, who knows a thing or two about defending and scoring in Old Firm matches as an ex defender/striker, was full of praise for Brendan Rodgers, highlighting the Northern Irishman’s decision to bring on a striker when reduced to 10 men as a piece of tactical genius which eventually led to his side’s victory.
“Bringing Edouard on was a great bit of business, and I think that surprised Graham Murty, he may well have thought another midfielder or another defender would come on,” Johnstone told Sky Sports.
“You’ve got to give the Celtic man [Rodgers] credit for that.
“He actually said after the game that there are times when he tells players if they go down to 10 men, be prepared, and they certainly were because they defended better when they had 10 men rather then when they had 11.”
Despite being outclassed tactically by his Celtic counterpart, Johnstone insisted that he still believes Murty is the right man to take Rangers forward, and the loss does not take away from the fact that the former youth coach has transformed the feeling around the Ibrox club, not to mention their results.
Celtic may have extended the gap to nine points at the top of the table, but this is still a drastic improvement from last season when the deficit was some 30 points, and it should be reminded to all that Rangers were competing in the Scottish Championship less than two years ago.
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