Advertisement

Neil Lennon tells Rangers tactical blueprint to beat Celtic as Ibrox men 'not good enough' for certain approach

Rangers are "not good enough" to play flowing football against Celtic and should go with two up front.

That's the view of former Hoops boss Neil Lennon who attempted to think of the best strategy for Gers to finally get over on his old club. Philippe Clement, and Michael Beale before him, have so far failed to come up with a winning formula in the fixture with the Light Blues drawing just once and losing the rest ahead of facing off again in the Scottish Cup final.

So Lennon feels the Belgian must do something different. The recently appointed Rapid Bucharest boss reckons Celts are just too good to try and go toe-to-toe and play a passing game against them. He also says Gers lack pace and creativity and must keep that in mind.

If the Northern Irishman somehow found himself in the Ibrox hotseat, he would play two out-and-out strikers to press the game and attempt to stop Celtic play out.

He told PLZ Soccer: "He (Philippe Clement) has got to change it. Whether you change the formation or the personnel - he can't go with the same formula because it's not working.

"Celtic are too good. For me, how do you get Tavernier further forward? You need to stop worrying about what (Daizen) Maeda is doing. Do you play three at the back? Or two strikers to stop Celtic playing out from the back. That's what I would do - because whatever he has done this year hasn't worked and he can't stop the flow of Celtic's passing moves.

"I don't think this team is good enough to play football against Celtic. They lack speed, they lack creativity - so play to your strengths. Dessers does OK at times up there on his own but in the wider areas I think they have been poor.

"I think at centre-half they have been struggling against Celtic as well. For me, O'Riley, Hatate and McGregor dominated the last game and it could have been a lot more. I think the 2-1 scorelines have flattered Rangers and there has been a gulf between the teams. Philippe has to find a way of closing that gap by hook or by crook."