Insider sends Rangers red card warning amid bad rep that was never really earned

John Brown reckons Rangers must keep the head at Hampden as they edge closer to a deal for Jefte.

The former Ibrox hero believes Philippe Clement’s team can wreck Celtic’s party, but have to stay composed. John Lundstram’s loss of control and red card at Parkhead 12 days ago saw Rangers’ hopes of glory in the Premiership finally ended. Brown says it can’t be the same story in the Scottish Cup Final.

He stated: “You have got to channel your aggression in these games, you have to have a calm head when everyone else is losing theirs. You need to be calm, that’s good coming for me! But I never got sent off in any Old Firm games. Graeme Souness and Walter [Smith] used to say: We need you on the park. You were of no use to anyone sitting in the stands. You had to channel it, and in the right way bring it out. The recent one with Lundstram the fact he’s scored an own goal, his head is away with it. A guy with his experience. He lunges and, when you lunge like that, you are taking chances. It was a definite red. Had they got to half-time, with it being 2-1, it could have been a different story.”

Brown wants the Rangers aggression channelled into stopping Celtic’s flying starts. Clement has been 2-0 down in all three of his meetings with Brendan Rodgers since arriving.

Brown said: “Celtic have come out the blocks in recent games and they’ve got at us. The recent game here [Ibrox], they scored so early and silenced 50,000 Rangers fans. That performance from Celtic in the first half was one of the best I’ve seen. We really struggled to get back into it.

“Every game we’ve played against them, they’ve come out the traps and we need to be ready for that. We need to try to get at them and put them off their stride.”

Clement’s focus is