GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Rangers' Bojan Miovski celebrates scoring to make it 1-0 during a William Hill Premiership match between Rangers and St Mirren at Ibrox Stadium, on September 09, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Yesterday, Derek McInnes called Bojan Miovski a “godsend”.
And that one word says more about the Ibrox side than four one goal wins ever could.
Because a fortnight ago, that boy couldn’t get near the pitch.
Of the thousand or so minutes they have played this season, Miovski has been given 54 of them.
Fifty four – barely enough time to break a sweat.
He was fifth in the queue.
Behind Lawrence Shankland, Youssef Chermiti, Ryan Naderi and their £9million man Kevin Kelsy.
He was so far out of the picture that he spent the whole window waiting on a move that never came.
Then, five days ago, he went on social media and announced he’d dumped his agents.
He’ll be representing himself from here on in.
That’s not the behaviour of a happy man, is it?
Fifth in the pecking order a fortnight ago, and now he’s the man they need on Sunday
Here is what staunch Del had to say about him on Wednesday night:
“With Youssef and Lawrence’s long-term injuries, having Bojan in the building is a godsend for me.”
“Hopefully he can go and have a big impact for us.”
Hopefully.
That is the word of a manager crossing his fingers.
It is not the word of a manager naming his main striker.
Shankland is crocked until the new year, and Chermiti is facing the long road back from his knee.
So the man they tried to sell all summer is the man they now need to shoot us down.
Funny old game, isn’t it?
Now, let me be fair about this – because Miovski can finish.
His goals per minute record in this League is genuinely strong.
And we all know what he did to us in an Aberdeen jersey.
That 91st minute lob at St. Mirren was a lovely finish, there’s no arguing with it.
But a finish off the bench is not the same as leading a line in a derby.
Fifty four minutes of football all season, and now a Glasgow derby start.
Who would fancy that?
Their own manager spent Wednesday night telling us his young forwards don’t take their chances
Naderi is 22, Kelsy is 22, Minsu Kim and Findlay Curtis are 20, Badredine Bouanani is 21.
That’s the ammunition.
And Del himself said they need to be “more ruthless and more instinctive”.
One goal has been enough for them against St. Mirren, Aberdeen and Motherwell.
He knows it won’t be enough against us.
He’s right about that, at least.
Now compare that to what Martin O’Neill has sitting in front of him at Celtic
We have Kasper Høgh, who scored a hat-trick in his second appearance.
We have Camilo Duran, six goals and three assists in nine games.
And he’s doing all of that from a wide position.
Two centre forwards, both fit, both scoring.
One of them stuck out on the touchline.
Like I said after Perth on Wednesday, we bought a lethal weapon and we don’t have the ammunition for it.
Høgh spent that night feeding off scraps.
Duran spent it out on the flank, where he is not a centre forward at all.
And 4-3-3 is the reason for both.
The media have finally caught up with the front two, so maybe the coaching team will too
Anthony Evans in the Record has spent today laying out the 3-5-2.
The same shape O’Neill won two titles with the first time around.
Carter-Vickers, Trusty and Scales across the back.
Kieran Tierney and Colby Donovan as the wing backs.
McGregor, Nygren and Baur through the middle.
And Høgh and Duran together, at last.
Yes, it means no place for Haissem Hassan, and I can hear the groans already.
But is there a better man to bring on at Ibrox with twenty minutes left and the game stretched?
I can’t think of one.
The man himself has already hinted at it.
He reckons the two of them should be able to play together, and that we “should be able to adapt”.
Which is a fair bit more flexible than the last two seasons have been.
Of course, the mere mention of a back three still makes some of us flinch.
Wilfried Nancy and his 33 days of 3-4-3 will do that to a support.
But that was a man who didn’t understand this League, throwing out a system nobody at the club could play.
This is a manager who has already won here with a front two.
And he’s been handed two strikers crying out to be partnered.
There’s a difference, and it’s a big one.
So here’s where we are.
They go into Sunday hoping a man who was surplus to requirements a fortnight ago wins it for them.
We go in with seven wins from seven domestically.
Undefeated, and the form team in the country.
And with two strikers we still haven’t bothered putting on the pitch at the same time as an out and out striking force.
Their godsend against our front two.
I know which side of that I’d rather be sitting on, don’t you?
Get Høgh and Duran on that park together, Martin – all game, not twenty minutes…
Key Takeaways
- Derek McInnes labelled Bojan Miovski a ‘godsend’, signalling a shift in his importance to the team.
- Only two weeks ago, Miovski barely played, stuck behind other strikers, but now he is crucial due to injuries.
- While Miovski has potential, he lacks the experience of leading a line in a significant derby match.
- Celtic’s strikers, like Kasper Høgh and Camilo Duran, are performing well but not being utilised together effectively.
- The article calls for a tactical change to maximise strikers’ potential and suggests a flexible formation to improve results.
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