Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou that Rangers don’t need to provide a guard of honor to show them respect. The Hoops’ match against the Old Firm on Saturday will be their first since claiming back-to-back titles, but Michael Beale has said they won’t pay homage before the game.
“For me, it doesn’t matter because most of those things are more symbolic than they are actual. I don’t require a guard of honor to understand that respect may be demonstrated in a variety of ways. Between the two teams, and more definitely, between the two sets of players, there is respect,” Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou said about Rangers. “They may give it grudgingly, but they are aware of how difficult achievement is. The respect is already there since the Rangers won it two years ago, and because we’ve won it the previous two years, so we don’t need a guard of honor.”
The chase for the championship may be gone, but Celtic still has the opportunity to go undefeated against Rangers, and Postecoglou believes their trip to Ibrox offers the possibility to give their fans another unforgettable experience. Beale is under pressure to defeat his opponent for the first time after Celtic defeated their city rivals twice at Hampden Park this season and earned seven points in the league.
“It’s still a significant game against our rivals, and I know our fans will want us to play well. It’s also an opportunity for us to keep up our form and have a successful season’s finale,” he added. “We’ll field a squad that we believe can win the game for us, but it also provides us an opportunity to plan for the upcoming season, consider what we want to change, and give certain players some playing time. Despite this, we still intend to win the game and will field a lineup we believe is capable of doing so. It wasn’t at our stadium (where there was no way support), and after the Rangers scored, everything became a little quiet. Therefore, it isn’t something you often identify with important matches. I believe there’ll be a terrific environment, and you know Ibrox is usually a place where it’s tough. Hopefully, we can calm it down a little bit in our own style.”
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