The league table doesn’t lie, goes the old saying. But Malik Tillman isn’t so sure the current standings are telling the whole truth either.
Ange Postecoglou’s rampant Celtic may be in the box seat for another Premiership title with their nine-point lead right now. But Rangers’ American boy reckons his side has the chance to prove they’re every bit as good as the champions when they square up at Ibrox on Monday.
Of course, as new boss Michael Beale has already admitted, it will take time to click perfectly into gear for his side to start chipping away at their bitter rivals’ huge advantage, something that’s not quite happened during his first four games in charge. Wednesday’s victory over Motherwell was another step in the right direction as Rangers maintained their 100 per cent start under Steven Gerrard’s former sidekick but there were still times when the Light Blues allowed themselves to be exposed unnecessarily by their own unforced errors.
Beale seems to believe that’s a mentality issue, a hangover from the crisis of confidence this group collectively suffered during the final days of his predecessor Gio van Bronckhorst’s time in charge. But Tillman showed no lack of self-belief as he sat down to talk over the New Year showdown, with the Bayern Munich loanee sending out a bold declaration of intent.
He said: “We wanted to end the year positively with a win and we did that on Wednesday. We try to win every game and doing that in the last four after the break has been a good job. We have to keep looking forward and do the best we can.
“If we reach our level we are one of the best teams in the league, or even the best team. Obviously, we’ll try to win that game and turn around things in the Old Firm and bring back three points.
“Every game is important but this game is the biggest of the whole year. We are nine points behind and will try to close the gap. That’s why we need to win the game on Monday.”
Tillman’s first experience of the Old Firm melodrama ended in a torturous four-goal Parkhead pasting. But there’s no trepidation heading into the second derby meeting of the season, only excitement.
“It’s a big game in Glasgow,” said the German-born 20-year-old. “As I said, we unfortunately lost the first game and we have to do a way better job than we did. If we reach our level, we can beat them.
“Also, in front of our fans, we need them as well. If they do a good job, we will do a great job as well. What did I learn from the first game? We just need to reach our level. If we play the way we can play, we can beat anyone.”
While Celtic have drilled down Postecoglou’s full-throttle philosophies down to a fine art, Beale-ball remains a work in progress. But despite the early teething troubles, it has made no impact on Gers’ ability to pick up points.
And slowly but surely, those four straight victories that have been more about grit than finesse are helping to restore Rangers’ faith in themselves. Tillman added: “The game against Aberdeen we scored in the last few minutes and also came back against Hibs. It’s a mentality thing to come back and win games – we try to give our best to win every game.
“We were pleased to beat Motherwell but we also know we can do a lot better. We’ll try to improve in the next training sessions and hopefully the games, when they come. The manager told us at half-time that we didn’t reach our level in the game.
“We did a better job in the second half but we know we can do better. We’ll try to do that in the coming games.”
Tillman put the seal on the 3-0 win over Stevie Hammell’s team as he demonstrated again just how much he’s enjoying life under former QPR boss Beale with a well-taken goal. There was no denying the potential the American had when Van Bronckhorst was the man in the Ibrox hotseat but the failure to get more out of him was one of the many reasons why the Dutchman’s tenure petered out so feebly.
The sample size is small but the early signs are encouraging under Beale, who seems to have found a way to get the best out of his talented playmaker already. “He scored a very good goal which is good,” said the Londoner after Wednesday’s victory over Well.
“I’m moving him around a bit to find his best position. I’m playing him as a No.8 as that’s where he can reach his full potential. I prefer him as an eight and I won’t stop trying him there.”
And that arrangement suits Tillman just fine. He said: “A mix between 8 and 10 is best for me. I like to be between the lines and have the game in front of me. I think that’s my best position.”
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