Kevin Thomson: Scott Brown never had it his own way against me

I’ve had this a lot this week after some comment on another paper’s hotline.

I thought: ‘I am not having that’.

I know it is only one fan. But someone picked up my tweet saying I suffered only one Old Firm defeat in four years at Rangers and interpreted it as me saying I was better than Scotty!

I know Scotty is not bothered, I am not bothered either.

I think Scott is a terrific player. I reacted because, when I was at Rangers for four years, Scotty never had it his own way. It’s rewriting history to say otherwise.

Scotty has gone to have a far greater legacy than I have at the Old Firm. He has been there far longer for one thing.

But when you compare Scott’s four years at Celtic and my four years at Rangers when we were on a level playing field, which I think is fair, I’d argue I could cut it.

Sadly I know I’d have given Scotty more to think about than Rangers managed last Sunday. The only way I could see Rangers having a chance of beating Celtic at Hampden was making it into a proper cup-tie – and, seeing as it was a Scottish Cup semi-final, that should have been a given!

That does not mean Andy Halliday’s tackle in the first three minutes. It just put them under pressure from the off.

Scotty is a fighter and a warrior. How do you play against him? I watched Stephen McGinn play against him live on television for St Mirren and they had a wee go. In the end, Celtic’s quality shone through. But the St Mirren players, McGinn especially, were all trying to get in about Scotty. They loved it, Scotty loved it. Ultimately his class came out on top.

I watched the first half last Sunday. I was shocked. Scotty would pirouette in the middle of the pitch and I was desperate to pause my screen because it showed there was not a Rangers player in the frame!

Today’s game at Ibrox is a challenge for Rangers and Pedro Caixinha to try to rectify what went wrong, particularly since Scotty has won his appeal and will be playing. They are fortunate they have the chance to address matters just a week later rather than waiting three months.

They have to find a way to get a buzz back around the place.

Winning an Old Firm game can go a long way to getting the fans back on side and giving them something to cling to over the summer.

I did think Celtic would eventually lose a domestic game. But the longer it’s gone on you do start to wonder.

If I was playing against them, I would be desperate to be part of a team to stop them achieving an unbelievable feat.

When you become an Old Firm player and Celtic are in the ascendancy, the challenge for a Rangers player is to stop it.

It’s the same if you are a Celtic player and Rangers are in the ascendancy. If you don’t, you are a failure. That’s the bottom line.