It’s hard not to have one eye on the upcoming Glasgow Derby, after all with Celtic in far better form than the last time they faced theRangers, there is a real belief amongst us all that Celtic, with a full house behind them, and an away support totally absence – of their own making may I add – can send out a clear message in the title race and kick on to glory at the business end of the season.
However there has to be a concern about looking so far ahead. Prior to the Glasgow Derby, Celtic face two huge games and against two opponents who caused us to drop points in the corresponding games fixtures earlier this season, Hearts at Tynecastle where we lost 2-1 on the opening day of the season, and Dundee United at Celtic Park where the Hoops dropped two points with a 1-1 draw in September.
As such, even before we face theRangers, Celtic have an opportunity to benchmark their progress this season against two opponents who have already caused us some harm.
The first of those comes tonight and, in a season where every game has seemed massive, as we play catch-up in the title race, this is arguably the biggest and toughest game of the season so far.
Hearts may not be the most pleasing on the eye when it comes to watching football, indeed if they were playing in my back garden the chances are I’d close the curtains and put on Netflix instead, however you cannot argue they are an effective football team, and at home, a tough proposition.
For Celtic, this encounter is all the tougher due to injuries to key players such as Kyogo Furuhashi, Callum McGregor, Yosuke Ideguchi and the longer-term absence of David Turnbull. When you then add in Scotland’s best player this season, Tom Rogic, is away with Australia on international duty and new signing Daizen Maeda has also been called up by Japan then that task gets all the more difficult.
Yet across the City everyone involved with our rivals will be tuning into this encounter – even if they deny it, they will be – and that’s because they will sense an opportunity for Celtic to drop points tonight.
Pressure is not something theRangers handle well. We all remember their post winter break collapse as Celtic won nine-in-a row, and they were calling for the head of Steven Gerrard, and we all know they won their only title without any pressure from Celtic and in stadiums without the supporters whose negativity they wither under.
This season the signs of that pressure building, for a club who are counting on a league title, champions league qualification and the money it brings simply to survive, is clearly evident.
They voted against bringing forward the winter break so they could go to Pittodrie and Celtic Park with a maximum of 500 fans to contend with, and now they’ve shown their questionable mentality both on and off the park with dropped points at Pittodrie and then an eight-point letter of complaint sent to the SFA after receiving their first domestic red card in 750 days.
It won’t take Celtic winning the Glasgow Derby to ramp up the pressure further on a visibly shaking opponent, instead we can do that a week early by winning at Tynecastle with an injury ravaged squad and against a team who defeated us last time we visited Gorgie. Do that and follow up with a win against Dundee United on Saturday and Celtic will be brimming with confidence, and our rivals will already be deflated by the time the Glasgow Derby comes around.
It is very easy to look ahead to that Glasgow Derby, but that is one for the fans, there is little chance Ange Postecoglou or his players will consider looking that far ahead. Instead, they’ll be looking to Tynecastle tonight and the chance to benchmark their progress against a side who we owe one after that opening night defeat on their patch and the usual predictable ‘honest mistakes’.
Celtic will no doubt also have to rise above such intervention again tonight, but do so and our momentum continues, whilst a stuttering rival across the city feels the weight of pressure, they’ve already shown signs of wilting under.
Niall J
