FORMER Ibrox defender David Robertson has recalled the infamous Scottish Cup semi-final when he broke Celtic winger Joe Miller’s ribs.
On a sodden March night at Hampden in 1992, the left-back was sent off after just six minutes for an assault on his former Aberdeen team-mate.
The Hoops, with Liam Brady in charge, hit the woodwork twice on an occasion when fate snarled in their direction and their opponents won with an Ally McCoist strike on half-time.
Robertson, now boss of Indian outfit Kashmir, revealed: “Walter Smith and Archie Knox didn’t exactly tell me to ‘do’, Joe but their instructions were along the lines of ‘let him know he’s in a game’.
“My experience of Old Firm (sic) matches at the time was they were free-for-alls for the first 15 minutes during which time players could get away with almost anything.
“My bodycheck on Joe would be a straight red today, but back then I still reckoned it merited no more than a caution.
“However, I knew I was in trouble with referee Andrew Waddell when he called me over and I tried to chat with him only for him to look at me stony-faced.
“I never expected to break Joe’s ribs, but I knew if I hit him early on I could potentially put him off his game.
“I was more up for playing against Joe than anyone else, he was the one player I didn’t want to get one over on me.
“We were good pals. We were team-mates in the Aberdeen side that won the Youth Cup as well as room-mates. He left for Celtic and I moved to Rangers (sic).
“I’d played against Joe previously on a cold winter’s night at Ibrox and Archie always reckoned you could tell Joe had lost interest when his hands disappeared up the sleeves of his shirt.
“I went in with a couple of strong tackles early on and Archie soon leapt to the side of the park in excitement. He shouted: Davie, his hands have just disappeared up his shirt sleeves. You’ve got him!’
“That was the plan that night of the semi-final. I was shocked when Waddell showed red.”
Robertson added: “I watched the second-half from the main stand surrounded by four security guards. I felt like a convict.
“It was agony. Celtic set the pattern for several games to come by battering us and made a lot of chances in and around the box.”
The Hoops eventually got their revenge when when they beat Smith’s men 2-1 on March 20, 1993, but Robertson wouldn’t rule out his old team ending Brendan Rodgers’s players hopes of making history.
He said “I did my A licence with Pedro Caixinha and liked him. I’m sure he knows the demands of Rangers (sic).
“They can do it on Sunday. The new manager might introduce an element of surprise that could work in their favour.”
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