Last weekend’s result was not the worst for Celtic but from two goals to the good to drawing the game, it did feel a little deflating in the end up – especially after Adam Idah got that excellent goal around 87 minutes which we all thought would be putting us home and dried. It wasn’t to be, and now Brendan Rodgers and his men know what they have to do to bring the title home this year.
There’s a half-a-dozen Scottish Premiership fixtures left to negotiate, including another ding-dong with Phillipe Clement and his team at Celtic Park which promises to be another drama-filled day. The celebrations at full-time by theRangers manager and both his players and the supporters did seem a little over the top. It felt even more bizarre when he congratulated the team on their quote “moral victory”.
Nothing new there of course in terms of the Ibrox club and their fanbase celebrating wins that aren’t even grounded in reality. The 3-3 draw keeps everything as it was. And we now know that match referee Don Robertson, following a second pitch inspection has deemed the Dens Park pitch unplayable so tonight’s rearranged match has been postponed and will now be played (weather permitting) a week tonight on Wednesday 17 April.
That means that Celtic can extend the lead at the top of the table to four points on Saturday with a win over St Mirren, leaving theRangers with a trip to Dingwall on Sunday to play Ross County and then a midweek return to Dens Park before facing Hearts at Hampden a week on Sunday.
Regardless, they will know that they have to return to Paradise to take on the Champions, which won’t be an easy task, if Sunday was anything to go by. We were missing out captain and have some players who are still not match-fit, yet we somehow made them look bang average. Had it not been for some really poor defending from Yang and a contentious penalty decision (quelle surprise!), we could have been looking a lot more comfortable.
Even so, Mark Wilson has been speaking to Sky Sports Scotland and insisted that he would much rather be in Celtic’s shoes heading into the last few games this season than those of Phillipe Clement and his team. The former Dundee United fullback was in total agreement with Hoops boss, Brendan Rodgers over who played the best football on Sunday. “I would think so,” he said. “The first 45 minutes, the way they played, it’s about composure and calmness in these games and I thought there was only one side that had that in the first 45 minutes.
“In the second 45 minutes I thought they lost that. I don’t know if (the)Rangers regained that but what you have to compliment (the)Rangers on is that desire, that push, that constant pressure they put on Celtic in the second 45. I don’t think they linked up play as much as Celtic did in the first half but they got their rewards from being persistent. So if you’re talking about football, I think Celtic showed on the day they certainly have better players in that department. Reo Hatate coming back into the side was a huge factor in that.”
Celtic are still sitting at the summit of Scottish football presently after Sunday’s result, and Wilson reckons it’s the better out of the two offered. He added: “I’d rather be in Celtic’s (position) at the minute knowing that Rangers have to come here and get a result, and seeing how those games have gone this season.
Brendan Rodgers has been an incredibly difficult manager to beat for (the)Rangers and he’s had a fair few of them. Philippe Clement, (the)Rangers supporters like him and think he’s the real deal and he looks the real deal. But he’s had two cracks at Rodgers and failed to beat him. And yesterday was a big opportunity so to come here and beat him is a tall order. If it was me, I’d rather be sitting in Celtic’s position knowing I’ve got a home game against theRangers.”
🍀 “I’d rather be in Celtic’s position knowing I’ve got a home game against Rangers…”
Mark Wilson looks back on the dramatic Old Firm draw at Ibrox 🔽 pic.twitter.com/Hw71vamGuo
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 8, 2024
Paul Gillespie
