Unlikely ex-Rangers, Celtic combo can help Plymouth Argyle stay up | OneFootball

Nikola Katic and Conor Hazard can have a massive impact on the Greens' chances of survival this season

It isn’t often that the green of Celtic and the blue of Rangers combine in harmony, but right now two former Glasgow rivals are joining forces to try and help Plymouth Argyle rise from the ashes.

Conor Hazard has experience in Europa League football with the green half of the city during his time with the Bhoys, while Nikola Katic earned plenty of praise during his time at Ibrox under Steven Gerrard, and now both are forming an impenetrable backline while at Home Park.

Last weekend’s historic 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Home Park was the finest example of the pair giving their all for the Pilgrims, with Katic joining just a week before from FC Zurich.

The Bosnian international even lost a tooth in his efforts to keep the likes of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz at bay, while Hazard had to make some sharp stops near the end of the 90 minutes to thwart Arne Slot’s side, with the hope being that the pair can continue those efforts into league action.

Nikola Katic, Conor Hazard put Celtic, Rangers rivalries to one side for Plymouth Argyle

There aren’t many cities as divided as Glasgow when it comes to football, your whole life being dictated by whether you are blue or green in Scotland’s second city.

Once you don the shirt for either side, it sticks with you for life, just ask Katic and Hazard, who still have their own affinities to their respective parts of town, albeit when they aren’t on the football pitch.

"At first when I came here I hated him because he's a Celtic guy and I'm a big Rangers guy,” Katic admitted to ITV at the weekend.

“But at the moment we are good and I like to play with him, he gave us this win today."

Perhaps it was vitriol about the other’s choice of team that the two were screaming in each other’s faces in the dying embers of Sunday’s encounter, as the passion boiled over while the Reds began to turn the screw in the closing moments.

The more likely scenario is that it was their commitment to the cause, as they both gave everything they could to keep the current Premier League leaders at bay, even with the odd mixup in communication giving them a scare.

Liverpool victory puts down Plymouth Argyle marker in relegation fight

At the turn of the year, there were people already willing to write the Pilgrims’ season off. A non-starter. See you in League One, all the best.

But just a month on from Miron Muslic’s appointment, the Greens are looking fit and firing, with a 2-2 draw against Sunderland, 2-1 win over West Brom, and the Liverpool success seeing them build momentum like never before, with the dream of survival well and truly alive.

Both Hazard and Katic have been influential in that, with the latter arriving in Devon just a day before the Baggies success, with a telepathic relationship with fellow new recruit Maxi Talovierov emerging on the first day of the job, while the former returned between the sticks after injury.

Muslic [pictured] has put his faith in the Northern Irishman to be his number one for the remainder of the campaign, and he has backed up that decision in recent weeks, with a string of impressive saves to keep his side competitive, and earn valuable points at the bottom of the table.

The next few months are going to be built on days like that against Liverpool: Strong, resilient, perseverant performances that may not win many beauty contests, but will be effective in picking up points, which is the number one order of the day at Home Park right now.

"It's a beautiful day for everyone here. It's good to get the confidence from it, but we have a hell of a job to work on things for the future,” Katic said post-match on Sunday.

“The key was our defensive structure and everyone gave 100 percent. We respect what the coach asked for us, and what we practised this week. That's it."

With both halves of Glasgow united at the back, Argyle are reaping the rewards with a defence as strong as it has been at any point over the last two seasons, which is in stark contrast to the porous backline from the start of the campaign.

That unity has emanated across the football club in recent weeks, with a togetherness pulling fans, players and everyone associated with the club through a wretched few months.

Carry on like this, and the Greens can start to dream of what seemed unimaginable a matter of weeks ago, with the prospect of survival as realistic as it has been for quite some time.