Olwethu Makhanya leans back and smiles as he talks about the Old Firm, but the story that brought him to this week’s League Cup quarter-final is anything but simple.
It starts with a phone call home.
At 16, the young defender left his family behind and moved to Johannesburg, chasing a future in football that suddenly felt a long way off. The trials weren’t going to plan. The dream, for the first time, looked fragile.
“I went away from home for the first time, tried, but things were not going well,” he recalled. “I called my mum this one day. I told her ‘I just want to come back, maybe focus on education because maybe football is not for me.’”
The response from his mother changed everything.
“The thing that she told me over the phone was that ‘you left here telling me that you're going to go play football, so I want you to do that.’ I just had to keep on going until things came true for me.”
That insistence kept him in Johannesburg. It kept him in the game. It led to a deal with Stellenbosch, then a move to Philadelphia Union, and now to Rangers, where the 22-year-old South Africa international has quietly become one of the most assured figures in Derek McInnes’ back line.
From doubt to defensive pillar
You wouldn’t guess, watching him now, that he ever doubted his place in professional football.
Since arriving from Philadelphia Union in the summer, Makhanya has slotted into Rangers’ defence with a calm that belies his age. He has been central to a four-game league winning run in which the team has conceded just one goal.
That resilience was tested in the late midweek win over St Mirren, a result Makhanya believes said as much about the dressing room as it did about the scoreline.
“I think it does highlight the fact that maybe the group is strong mentally,” he said. “That shows a lot of mentality and character from the boys.
“It's going to be very important to stay together. I think it shows a lot of togetherness and it's something that we've been working on off the field.”
The words are measured, but the message is clear: this is a group that expects to suffer, and still find a way.
Facing the fire of the Old Firm
Now comes the real furnace. Celtic. A League Cup quarter-final. An Old Firm occasion he has never experienced before.
The centre-half doesn’t pretend otherwise.
He freely admits he hasn’t played in a contest of this magnitude, but there’s no hint of fear when he talks about it, only anticipation.
“I think everyone understands what this fixture means to the club, to the fans and everyone,” he said. “I'm really excited and looking forward to it.
“I just know that it's going to be a very passionate game. I'm honestly expecting a really, really crazy game from the fans.”
Crazy in the stands, controlled on the pitch: that’s the balance Rangers will demand from him. For a defender who once needed a push just to stay in the game, he now plans to draw strength from the noise that will surround him.
“We just have to try and do our job and deliver because we know the fans are going to be behind us,” he added. “We're going to use them as an encouragement and also understand that we're also doing it for them. They're going to be very helpful for us.”
From that teenage call home to the brink of one of world football’s most intense derbies, Makhanya has already proved he can handle pressure. The next 90 minutes will reveal just how far that parental push can carry him in Rangers colours.
