It is a story of mutual contempt and loathing.
Two sets of fans teetering on the brink of delirium while in the grip of an unseasonal fever created by animosity and acrimony. But the players on the park at Ibrox on Monday will be required to rise above the excesses of a rivalry that can only be accurately described as bitter in the extreme. Rangers and Celtic have to deal with reality over rumpus. And negotiate the game that is a separate life form. It’s not the case that form goes out the window when these sides meet. You simply have to dismiss the idea you first thought of about the match and prepare yourself for any eventuality.
For instance, in the calendar year now gone, Celtic played 37 games for a total of 111 league points and dropped just nine of them in all of 2022. The idea that Ange Postecoglou’s side might drop 10 points – and lose the league title they are seeking to defend – between now and May is therefore a fanciful prospect for their fans and a still-achievable target for their opponents.
Rangers manager Michael Beale has publicly, and bravely, acknowledged Celtic are in a better place than his side going into tomorrow’s game. It is now his obligation to make a nonsense of what is an undeniable fact.
Postecoglou is irked by what he feels is the practice of lumping his team and Rangers together for the purpose of making a
convenient point about anything. His obligation at Ibrox is to illustrate the singular nature of his team and showcase the unique style of the football they play.
The game in general in this country will be well served by the nature of the contest to see whose philosophy is triumphant. The Old Firm play in a league that is currently on the crest of a slump.
The team in third place sits 17 points behind the side in second place and we have yet to reach the halfway stage of the competition. Inadequacy is all around us in what is supposed to be the flagship tournament. Motherwell were at Ibrox on Wednesday night 25 years after their last league win there.
Hibs and Aberdeen are accumulating a catalogue of embarrassing statistics as they plod through a season already best forgotten by the pair of them. All we have of a truly competitive, consistent and combustible nature in the Premiership will be exhibited at Ibrox in the derby.
Rangers and Celtic will have to be lumped together on this occasion for the sake of determining who comes out best – and why – after we have dismissed the hysteria that surrounds the outcome.
Many Celtic supporters believe John Beaton, the match referee, will do everything in his power to ensure a Rangers victory tomorrow. A widely-circulated photograph of the official in a pub frequented by Rangers supporters long ago established Beaton on social media platforms as a man not to be trusted. Allegedly.
The referee will be working at a match being shown live on television by a satellite company using more cameras than might be thought feasible for a football match and overseen by VAR, the mechanism which is supposed to guarantee the avoidance of doubt regarding contentious issues. VAR is, however, believed by some to be in place with the implicit purpose of denying Celtic natural justice.
Taking into account the fact Celtic are in pole position while going for an 11th title win in 12 years – and repeating the fact they have dropped just nine points in a calendar year – the evidence to support the case for institutional bias would have to be thought flimsy at best. It is also insulting and demeaning to Postecoglou and his players, who have assembled astonishing numbers to confirm their undoubted superiority, to overlook their efforts while scouring the landscape for treachery.
Having said all of that, there are allowable grounds for concern regarding the governance of Monday’s pivotal game in the championship. This will be the first time VAR has ever been used in the context of an Old Firm derby and the potential for mayhem must be thought extremely high.
Just look at the exceptional number of penalties awarded since its implementation and the flurry of sometimes inexplicable red cards it has so far produced.
VAR has also caused referees, in my opinion, to cease thinking for themselves, instead letting machinery handle the decision-making process on their behalf. Machinery operated by officials who can give the impression they are intent on thinking of ways to disallow goals or else disadvantage teams by reducing them in number.
We need modern technology to do its job and not fuel ancient prejudices. We need to hope the game is allowed to rise above insinuations, allegations and recriminations. The players will take care of themselves in that respect by use of their professional instincts.
The people overseeing them have to do their jobs to a competent level at the same time.
If they do we will have a spectacle free of low blocks, high presses and all of the other cliched claptrap you get today. Instead, we’ll get two teams capable of playing quality football and stimulating the senses in a way the “Other 10,” as Ange calls them, can only dream of doing. And the day will be all the better for it, regardless of who wins.
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