Strachan under pressure to deliver result

Rangers v Celtic : GORDON STRACHAN may not publicly place added importance on Old Firm fixtures, but the Celtic manager should be prepared for plenty of speculation about his future in the event of a Rangers victory this afternoon.

It is unfathomable to many that a manager who has won successive Premier League titles and twice guided his team to the previously alien territory of the Champions League's last 16 could be under pressure, but that situation is perilously close to reality. This may be only Strachan's third campaign in Glasgow, but it is not inconceivable it will be his last.

"Maybe when I'm older, having a beer in Silverknowes Golf Club (in Edinburgh), I'll look back and think if this was a big game or if it wasn't," has been all Strachan has offered on the significance of the trip to Ibrox. but the league table fills in the gaps. Celtic trail Rangers by three points, having played one game more, making this almost a must-win match.

The prospect of a season without silverware has distressed his detractors, even though he would still have won the same number of trophies - four - as Martin O'Neill, did in his first three seasons at Parkhead.

If, on the other hand, Celtic win the title for a third year running, it would be the first time since Jock Stein, who claimed nine in a row, that such a feat had been achieved.

"People who have won it nine times maybe think it is easy," said Strachan. "But to win any league is hard work. I'll tell you at the end of the season if it is harder to win a third than a second one."

Strachan received support this week from John Collins, the former Hibernian manager and Celtic midfielder, who insisted fans should "lay off" the 51-year-old. It would be folly to regard the phone-in and messageboard rants of some fans as representative of Celtic's huge supporter base, but the rows of empty seats for home and several away games hint at a deep-rooted disillusionment.

There is no suggestion that Strachan is in danger of the sack. Rather, there is a possibility that the former Coventry City manager will walk away from front-line management and take another self-imposed exile from the game.

With Celtic having proved physically inferior to Rangers on their last visit to Ibrox, Strachan is likely to recall the rugged Paul Hartley to his midfield today.

© 2008 Guardian Service

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times