With today’s Glasgow Derby showdown now upon us, it’s now, to use a quote from a great man “squeaky bum time”.
Most Celtic supporters are optimistic and can’t see past a comprehensive Celtic victory. The Rangers supporters are mixed, with half expecting a defeat and the other half more optimistic.
Me? I’m never confident on Glasgow Derby day. Why? To use an old cliche when it comes to derby day ‘form goes oot the windae’ not necessarily always true yes, but on most occasions it is.
Think back to when we were in dire straights back in the dark days of the 90s. Oldco were winning everything insight thanks to Murray’s dodgy millions. We may have been in free fall but we still did our best on derby day, we produced a few shocks in that fixture. Remember John Collins excellent free kick silencing a packed Ibrox as we earned an unexpected draw back in 1994? Five months later he done it again in a 2-0 victory at Grayskull. it’s possible to upset the odds no matter the gulf between the sides.
: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Yes we thumped them 4-0 back in September, but the next fixture at new year we were lucky to come away with anything as Kyogo’s last gasp goal earned us a share of the spoils at Ibrox. It was of course different back in February when we were victorious in the league cup final the difference being that man Kyogo again, although nobody can deny we were worthy winners.
My point being that no two games of football are the same. Every game brings it’s different moments. We can’t assume we can just turn up and win. Rangers have no pressure on them, it’s all on us. We are at home with a full support backing us. It’s up to us to win and all but clinch the title. Rangers have nothing to lose, that makes them a dangerous animal.
Our last two home games have been 3-1 victories over Hearts and Hibs, but we weren’t entirely convincing in both and Rangers are a better side than both and will punish any mistakes we might make. we have to be vigilant. We might be heavy favourites in the eyes of the media, the supporters and the bookmakers, but that means zilch.
I’m not being totally negative, just realistic, I like most of you have seen it all go Pete tong before.
Today we will have the advantage of a home crowd. We have the players, we have that winning mentality, we need to make it count. I’m hopeful we can. We just need to be aware of the pitfalls, and I’m pretty sure Ange has versed the players in all this. Hopefully we’re the ones celebrating this afternoon. Bring it on!
JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy