Paul Elliot predicts Rangers v Celtic
By James Black
Ex-Celtic defender Paul Elliot does not expect Rangers to beat his former side in Saturday’s Old Firm clash.
But the retired centre-back urged Pedro Caixinha’s side to be “bold” and take the game to the champions and 2016-17 treble winners.
He told BBC Scotland: “I don’t think Celtic will get beaten. If you gave Rangers a draw now they might take it.
“But I think it’s a game in which Rangers need to go on the offensive. They need to put a marker down for the season. And I think if Rangers were bold, were brave, took the initiative… I think ‘no risk, no reward’ in football.”
Elliot believes Saturday’s Old Firm clash will be a “frenzy” -and admitted the noise of 50,000 fans seems more like treble that number inside Ibrox.
Elliot spent two years at Celtic in the late Eighties and early Nineties as Rangers were just kicking off their near-decade-long domination of Scottish football.
The former Celtic, Chelsea and Aston Villa defender also feels that nobody ever forgets their first Old Firm experience.
“I think you can say there is going to be this frenzy for 90-odd minutes where you’re going to be in a cauldron,” Elliot said in a video interview with BBC Scotland and posted on their website.
“You’re going to have emotions that are up and down, every touch is going be scrutinised and every decision’s going to be contested.
“You’re going to have 45,000 and it’s going to seem like 100,000 people because that’s the difference.
“It feels like 100,000 people, 150,000 people screaming and making this noise.
“Because their stadium is very compact, the volume of noise is going to be amplified considerably.”
Regardless of the outcome, your first Old Firm experience is one you’ll never forget.”
Elliott was one of the first black footballers in Scotland and was a fan favourite amongst the Celtic support who were desperate for him to stay at the club in 1991 when he left to join Chelsea for £1.25million.
For two seasons Elliott was one of the best performers in a Celtic side which could barely compete with the most mediocre of Scottish Premier Division teams let alone the big money signings of a big-spending Rangers under Graeme Souness.
In his two years in Glasgow, Elliott made 66 appearances in the Hoops and scored five times.
In other Celtic news, Sutton has chosen whether the Hoops or Rangers have the best goalkeeper.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Celtic breaking news