Michael Beale is cracking the Celtic code as Rangers' agent of chaos thrives amid undeniable Angeball truth

Every assertion, claim and counterclaim made in the wake of Rangers’ 3-0 win over Celtic should really be accompanied by Professor John Curtice warning, in that soothing manner of his, against the dangers of reading a national swing into one single result.

Even accounting for all the caveats and qualifications required when discussing a “meaningless” contest at the dog end of season 2022-23, however, there is context to be found in the content of Michael Beale’s first managerial victory in this fixture. Without saying the Ibrox gaffer deserves to be put alongside the boffins of Bletchley Park, is it possible that he’s close to cracking the Celtic code? Judging by the way his team anticipated almost every opposition move in this game, you do wonder if Beale has a spare Enigma machine safely tucked away in a back office at Auchenhowie.

Getting the obvious disclaimers out of the way first, any fair judge would recognise that Ange Postecoglou’s team selection for his sixth derby of the season contained a few obvious weaknesses. Angeball does not work, cannot work, without fullbacks good enough to play as surefooted auxiliary midfielders capable of making quick decisions in a congested area of the park. Events at Ibrox merely underlined this universally accepted truth.

Beale was smart enough to exploit this, giving his own fullbacks licence to pinch up and occupy the areas Celtic like to use as staging posts for their best counterattacks, cutting off that threat out at source. With one or two exceptions.

The Rangers boss also deployed Todd Cantwell as a free-wheeling agent of chaos, giving the midfielder licence to play as a false nine, a winger, a No. 10 … wherever he felt there was the best chance of causing havoc. Yet