Rangers defender John Souttar hailed a powerful second-half display after Rangers emphatic 3–1 Old Firm victory over Celtic, admitting the turnaround in performance after the break was decisive in swinging the contest at Celtic Park.
Rangers went into the interval a goal behind and under intense pressure, before emerging with renewed intensity and physicality to dominate the second half and claim three hugely significant points.
He said: “I thought the first half wasn’t great on our behalf. I thought we started the game alright.
“I thought we went man for man press and we caused them a few issues, but overall they probably had the better of the first half.
“But I thought the second half we were really good. Physical, dominated, showed good athleticism and I think we played really well.”
The result hauls Rangers level on points with Celtic and further underlines the momentum building under head coach Danny Rohl, but Souttar was keen to temper any title talk.
“I think it’s too early to be thinking about that,” he said.
“We just need to keep the momentum going, take it game by game and go on to Tuesday because if we don’t back up on Tuesday there’s no point in doing that today.
“Every game is massive and we keep going.”
Souttar lifted the lid on the half-time message, revealing a clear tactical adjustment that allowed Rangers to impose themselves physically and get their attacking players into dangerous areas quicker.
“I think we went a bit more direct. We made it a bit more physical,” he explained.
“We put them under pressure at the back. We tried to get our attackers on the ball quicker and give them more space.
“I think we’ve got great attackers, people with real ability.
“When we get our attacking players on the ball in the final third as quickly as possible we’re a better team, and I think we did that second half.”
That approach, Souttar believes, fed into growing nervousness within the Celtic ranks as Rangers applied relentless pressure.
“Yeah, of course,” he said when asked if Rangers sensed anxiety in the opposition.
“But I think we were concentrating on ourselves. From goal kicks we started going direct, throw-ins we put them under pressure.
“I think we caused a lot of problems, and all three goals probably came from similar situations.”
Despite the scale of the win, Souttar was careful not to get carried away, stressing that while belief and togetherness are clearly growing, silverware is not won in December.
“There’s trophies in this team,” he said.
“It’s so early to say that. I think there’s a real togetherness.
“I think we’re building something here and we can feel it, but it’s important we keep backing up.
“You don’t win anything this early in the season, so I’ll answer that when the season’s done - and hopefully I’m saying yes.”
Souttar also praised Röhl’s influence, highlighting his tactical clarity and willingness to make bold in-game decisions.
“He’s clear on what he wants from everyone on the pitch,” Souttar said.
“Tactically he’s really good and he can change it within games, and he’s not scared to do it at half-time.
“I really enjoy working with him.”
Finally, the defender was keen to defend goalkeeper Jack Butland, who has played a key role in recent results.
“When you play the amount of games that Jack plays there’s going to be one or two mistakes,” Souttar said, referring to his recent blunder at Tynecastle to allow table-topping Hearts’ captain Lawrence Shankland to score from an acute angle.
“But a lot of times he’s come up with massive moments for this club and continues to do so.”
Rangers can show how serious their title credentials are tomorrow night – as managerless Aberdeen make the long journey south from the Granite City to Ibrox for the first of two matches between the sides this week.