Celtic scraped a win at Ibrox on Saturday, but there were concerns as no less than half a dozen players in the starting line up failed to add their name to the score sheet.
It finished 5-1 to the hoops, equaling the biggest ever win over the newcomers earlier in the season.
Whilst the club is new, however, they appear to have attracted the worst elements from the support of old Rangers, and there doesn’t seem to be a great difference in the mentality of those who ran either club.
The Celtic performance was polished, professional and pacey.
Five minutes into the game, Patrick Roberts was felled in the box as he was moving away from the goal by Murray Park starlet Myles Beerman, and while the referee hesitated, there was little doubt he’d have to award a penalty.
Scott Sinclair duly tucked away the spot kick causing howls of anguish amongst the home support, broken only by one supporter who chose to treat us to his simian impressions, highlighting the fact that the same flies have gathered around this altogether different pile of shite.
Unacceptable behaviour, although another of the flies who have landed on the spectacular pile of waste that is the new entity, claims to be able to explain and even excuse the supporters antics..
As long as that mentality pervades down Kinning Park way, things will never change.
Leigh Griffiths added a second, with a blistering finish to a run down the left hand side, and there were still less than twenty minutes on the clock.
It could have been worse for the Ibrox side, as chance after chance was missed, but their luck wasn’t going to hold out forever.
Early in the second half, Calum MacGregor swept a low shot beyond Wes Foderingham, and, not being black, the reaction from the Rangers fans was a little more subdued.
Deydrick Boyata added a fourth but by this time hardly any home fans could give a toss about showing their true colours, although one did toss a battery in the direction of Leigh Griffiths, presumably because he;d already thrown all his coins at Scott Brown.
Kenny Miller pulled one back for “rangers”, but Mikael Lustig redressed the situation when he waltzed past aging defender Clint hill -and a few others-to curl one past the despairing Foderingham, who by now must have felt like Custer at Little Big Horn with the amount of attacks he’d faced.
Other incidents of note included a pitch invasion, where a home fan cleverly eluded all the police and stewards by simply running towards the pitch and climbing over the barrier, no mean feat when you consider the massive deployment of security personnel in front of the main stand, as you can see here…
The abiding memory of the game, though, was this, from Jozo Simunovic, quite possibly the best tackle of all time
It had everything.
Timing, strength and the result that Kenny Miller was launched into orbit.
Of course, Andy Walker felt it was worth a booking, and some balloon in the Sun claimed..
That assessment is indicative of the standard of Scottish football journalism, and needs no further comment.
Miller wept as he told the Record;
The Simunovic one in the first half? Honest to god.
“I was trying to get out the way of it. If I decided to ride it, there was the potential to be hurt. I appreciate he did play the ball, but what’s the term used now – ‘excessive force’? There was definitely excessive force in that.”
He’s getting confused, bless him, in his dotage.
The correct term is “not enough force ”
The fallout from the game could go on for some time, and the Express reckons both clubs could be in bother..
Both Celtic and Rangers could be fined over the behaviour of their fans in Saturday’s Old Firm derby match. The hosts, in particular, could face severe sanctions after a supporter ran on the pitch to confront Scott Brown, while another was spotted on TV making racist gestures towards Scott Sinclair. Celtic may face punishment themselves after supporters let off flares in the away end.
We await with interest the response from the authorities, and also from the police.
Police have arrested a man following the Old Firm clash between Celtic and Rangers on Saturday.
A 28-year-old has been detained in connection with an alleged offence under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act, officers said. The man is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
It follows an alleged incident of racial abuse where someone seemed to make a monkey gesture at Celtic player Scott Sinclair. (Daily Mail )
And the home support ? Well, one of them has realised something that we’ve been trying to tell him for years
Moving away from the game, we also await with interest the response from various places to this revelation, posted on the SFA website at around four o’clock on Friday after noon…
Despite one or two issues over their eligibility under Financial Fair Play rules, the Ibrox club have passed the self certification part of the process, like they did in 2011.
It remains now to see how far the SFA and UEFA look into whtever the Ibrox club have handed in to them as their, er, financial statement..
Happily, if the SFA or UEFA don;t want to look too closely, it seems other Scottish clubs can…
You’ll note that the Ibrox club have been awarded “Silver ” status for their financial situation, which is defined thus..
Ooops…maybe they should have looked a little closer, as nearly all of their “audited reports 2 contain disclaimers, usually to the effect that they’ll be borrowing money off whoever is daft enough to lend it to them, just to see them through till payday, you understand..
I’m sure our Woodwards and Bernsteins in the media will be all over this.
It would be embarrassing if any English based hacks beat them to any story around potential wrongdoing…
It’s going to be an interesting summer..
Back at the ranch, and it was the Player of the Year dance last night…
Scott Sinclair was Player of the Year, Players Player of the Year and all round good guy of the year.
Keiran Tierney was the young Player of the Year, and Jack Aitchison Academy Player of the Year.
No one got both scores correct in the Demolition Derby forecast, though you have to hand it to a Mr J. Barton of Lancashire for his stunning prediction of the result in the League game..
Fridays caption picture,
sometimes, the simplest ones are the best..
Caption: “Ya couple of fannies”
Today,
Meanwhile, take a moment today, f you will, to consider the anguish that some may be feeling…
