14 the target for Rangers
It’s not a Johan Cruyff thing
There are some numbers in football that stick in the mind and to be fair, most of them are between 1 and 11. Occasionally though, a number higher than that comes to the fore and what number is more important than 14?
Firstly, 14 is the number synonymous with Johan Cruyff, one of the most talented players of all time. Sure, he never won a World Cup like Pele or Maradona but with Ajax, Barcelona and the Dutch national team he lit up more stadiums than the Rolling Stones lighting engineer.
One of the finest Scottish midfielders of the modern era, Paul Lambert, wore the number 14 with distinction. He may not have had the skill of Cruyff but the reading of the game and discipline which Lambert honed at Dortmund elevated him to a very high level.
Of course, in the era of squad numbers, 14 is more prevalent and Steven Naismith and Niall McGinn are the two players with that number on their back. Either of these players may come off the bench to have an impact but number 14 is a prevalent for another reason this Sunday.
It will be Rangers 14th home league match of the season and they are unbeaten so far.
10 wins and 3 draws is the scorecard for Rangers so far and if they can make it 14 home games unbeaten, they will take a big step to retaining their title.
A home win takes the gap back to 10 points and with having a game in hand, you would have to say it would take an unprecedented collapse to stop Rangers making it two in a draw.
A draw would not be conclusive but with just one Celtic v Rangers match left, the hoops would be relying on a few teams doing them a favour, whilst going on a winning running, the likes of which they have not managed under Tony Mowbray.
Therefore, Celtic really need to get a win to drag the title race back to life. If there is an away victory, the psychological effect of reducing the points deficit to 4 may start to have an effect on the Ibrox side.
So, the song says that 3 is the magic number but if Rangers can take that unbeaten home record to 14, you’d have to think they were well on their way to the title and the Champions League money for another season.
Is 14 the magic number for the Blues?
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