Danny Wilson may have expected given the respective form of both Rangers and Celtic over the course of the season, and the previous four matches between the pair so far this term, that there was a fair chance he may be addressing the media at the end of Sunday’s game at Hampden on the wrong end of the scoreline.
What he never expected though, was to be fielding questions about how timid Rangers had been throughout what was a massive match against their oldest and fiercest rivals, and undoubtedly their biggest game of the season.
Wilson had to agree though that the adjective used to describe their meagre resistance to what Celtic imposed upon them on the day was apt. But acceptance of that fact didn’t make it any more palatable for him to stomach.
And the defender has also pointed out tactical flaws in manager Pedro Caixinha’s battle-plan that he feels led to problems for the Rangers players on the day.
“Probably from the outset we looked [timid],” Wilson said. “I think we gave them too much respect, too much time on the ball.
“They overloaded the midfield having the extra man and maybe we never got to grips with that.
“You never come into these games to be timid but when they get on the ball then they move it like they did and we weren’t able to get in their faces like we had in the previous game at Parkhead, it was obviously disappointing for us. We would like to have made more of it.
“We never got to grips with the game and we got what we deserved. We didn’t deserve to go through. Celtic were far superior to us on the day and it’s very disappointing for us.
“We played into their hands, sat off them and gave them too much time on the ball. They’re good players and they’re going to punish you. There was just that something missing for us.”
Rangers manager Caixinha had successfully nullified Aberdeen at Pittodrie a couple of weeks ago by defending deep and playing a counter-attacking game, but such an approach never looked likely to succeed against Celtic on Sunday.
In fact, during a rare breather in a first-half that saw Brendan Rodgers’s men completely dominate their opponents, Wilson was part of an on-field conversation between some of the senior Rangers players as they tried to find a way to stem the tide by themselves.
“That will stay between us,” he said. “You can probably guess what was being said but it’ll stay between us.
“We’re a team and if we’re going to do anything we have to stay together and whatever goes on between us will stay between us.
“[The tactics were] similar – sit in and frustrate them. But when you lose a goal after ten minutes the gameplan doesn’t really work then.
“You have to come out a wee bit more. At least not concede again and try to build your way back into the game. But we just never really got going.
“When we did get chances later in the game it was too late. They were 2-0 up and there was a mountain to climb.
“But that was this game. We were just poor. Sometimes that can happen. It’s happened maybe one too many times in games this season.”
And if the Rangers players haven’t taken heed of those lessons, then there may be little evidence to suggest that they can come good in time for the next meeting between the teams on Saturday at Ibrox.
But Wilson believes it is imperative that he and his teammates figure out what went wrong at Hampden and rectify it quickly, or else be faced with the prospect of a fifth defeat of the season against the Premiership champions.
“I’m sure we’ll learn from it,” he said. “We made the changes at half-time to try to be positive then you lose a goal shortly after half-time from the penalty spot and you’re up against it.
“We just need to try to move on from it as quickly as we can. We’ve not won against Celtic this year so that’s what we’ll be looking to do next week.
“[The manager] didn’t really say too much. He didn’t really need to in that changing room. We were all disappointed.
“I’m sure we’ll talk about it during the week and move on.”
After Rangers had eked out a deserved draw at Celtic Park back in March, the tightening of the scoreline in matches between the sides raised discussions about the possible closing of the gap between the two outfits.
That appeared to have been restored to the yawning chasm that the league standings have suggested was there all along during Celtic’s stroll in Hampden Park on Sunday, and Wilson concedes that Rangers are currently a long way behind their city rivals.
“If you’re watching that of course you’re going to say that and over the course of the season we’ve found ourselves way behind in the league,” he said.
“There’s obviously a difference in the teams. We’re disappointed we weren’t able to make more of it in this game. It was a cup tie and unfortunately for us we’ve not gone through.
"We’ll want a reaction. We’ve not beaten them this year. That’s a target for us in the game on Saturday.”
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