Tactics Lesson For Pana

Feb 10 2008 By Gordon Waddell

RANGERS' super spy Ewan Chester reckons he could have swapped Greece for Glasgow last night as he watched backs-to-the-wall football at its worst in Athens.

Walter Smith's chief scout ran the rule over UEFA Cup rivals Panathinaikos as they squeezed past relegation candidates Veria 1-0 with a second-half free-kick.

And Chester insists it was like watching any Scottish minnows going to Ibrox or Parkhead and defending for their lives.

As he prepared his report to add to Ian Durrant's mission notes from last weekend he said: "Panathinaikos showed they can up the tempo when they have to.

"I was surprised at the pace in the first half.

"Veria came to sit in and it was like watching a game at Ibrox or Parkhead the way they tried to soak up what was thrown at them.

"Pana played the whole first half in front of them and just couldn't get through at all.

"But the coach changed things at the break and they came out much sharper. They went with two strikers rather than one up and one off."

Chester will warn Smith of the danger of free-kick expert Andreas Ivanschitz around the area. But he feels more questions will be asked of Panathinaikos at Ibrox than were posed here.

He said: "One moment of high quality was enough and we must guard against that.

"But I'd expect the tempo to be higher at Ibrox with the crowd playing a big part. We'll see how the Greeks cope with a bit more getting thrown at them."