Rangers 1 Celtic 0:GORDON STRACHAN seems too pragmatic an individual to believe in bad karma, but Celtic's manager might just have cause to wonder how he upset Walter Smith in a previous life as he picks through another Old Firm defeat this morning. Smith's return to Ibrox last January has been a disaster for Strachan. Rangers have won all four Glasgow derbies since then, scoring seven goals without reply, and showing once again that Smith holds the Indian sign over Celtic as he did when Tommy Burns was in charge at Parkhead a decade ago.
Strachan, who started the season seeking to become the first Celtic manager since the widely-revered Jock Stein to guide the team to three championships in succession, has now presided over a less endearing record: Celtic have lost four derbies in a row without scoring a goal for the first time in their history.
"In two of those games Rangers have been the better team and in the other two we didn't take our chances," was an evidently deflated Strachan's explanation on Saturday afternoon.
Scott Brown was the player most guilty of wastefulness here, twice stumbling over the ball when given an open sight of goal.
Andreas Hinkel came closer to salvaging a much-needed point with a 25-yard drive which was tipped over by Allan McGregor.
"The more balanced person would say we did enough to win the game, or at least not to get beat," added Strachan. However. it would be stretching the truth, though, to say Celtic set up a series of unconverted chances in what was a scrappy encounter. Brown aside, the visitors created nothing clear-cut, with the forward pairing of Georgios Samaras and the anonymous Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink failing to trouble McGregor.
Beyond his strikers, Strachan has cause to wonder why what was formerly an attack-minded midfield has produced little reward this season. Paul Hartley, Aiden McGeady, Brown and Shunsuke Nakamura have returned a mere 15 league goals between them, an illustration of a deep-rooted problem which is now perilously close to ending aspirations of another title.
Rangers' winner came from the most unlikely of sources. Kevin Thomson, who had never scored for the club, danced through Celtic's back line before completing a one-two with Jean-Claude Darcheville and sliding the ball underneath Artur Boruc.
RANGERS: McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Whittaker, Dailly, Thomson (Adam 77), Davis (Naismith 80), Ferguson, McCulloch, Darcheville (Novo 68). Subs not used: Alexander, Boyd, Furman, McMillan. Booked: Thomson, Dailly, Naismith.
CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley (Robson 81), McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (McDonald 79), Samaras. Subs not used: Mark Brown, Wilson, Sno, Donati, O'Dea. Booked: Vennegoor of Hesselink, McManus, Naylor, Boruc, Scott Brown.
Referee: S Dougal (Scotland).
