John Hartson has dismissed any notion of Celtic affording theRangers players a Guard of Honour at the scheduled Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park next Sunday IF it is allowed to go ahead. There are this morning serious concerns over this fixture being allowed to proceed with the Scottish Government now calling for a review after the disgraceful scenes of vandalism, violence and bigotry at the weekend across Scotland with theRangers players and manager joining in the breaches of the public health restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Right bhoys , I’ll park here and get you after the game , remember what bus you are on….. pic.twitter.com/tZh7fh3egN
— Highland__Paddy (@Highland__paddy) March 7, 2021
theRangers
On the nonsense of even thinking about giving this lot a guard of honour at a time when the club is having to substantially increase security measures around the stadium to prevent their supporters plastering it with their 55 Lie, Hartson had this to say yesterday, as reported by Scottish Sun. “Why would you start it now?’ Hartson asked. “Celtic don’t need to be told that (the)Rangers have deserved to win the league. The players will appreciate just how well they have played.
“But the guard of honour thing is just a nonsense, really. They are rivals and there has to be mutual respect, but you can have that without needing to go down the guard of honour road.
“What (the)Rangers have achieved this season is there in black and white and will be forever more. They don’t need a guard of honour to be reminded of what they have done,” the former Celtic striker added.
“Celtic have been disappointing this season. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. But at the same time, when you reflect on what they have done and how they dominated Scottish football for a decade, there has to be an admiration for everything that they achieved.
“Nine successive titles is extraordinary as was the quadruple Treble. That won’t be done again. I’m fairly sure in that run there would have been a fair few chances for (the)Rangers to offer a guard of honour at that time, which they didn’t.”
Hartson reckons that the Celtic players will want to ensure that theRangers are beaten next week – if the game proceeds – but will take little pleasure from a victory given how the season has panned out for the club.
“I remember two seasons ago when Neil had just gone back to Celtic after Brendan Rodgers had left and they were on their way to a domestic Treble. They’d won the league and they went to Ibrox and (the)Rangers won 2-0.
“I remember feeling so embarrassed for theRangers players because they celebrated as they though had won the European Cup. I remember thinking, ‘Where have you been all season? It’s too late for that to count when the title has been decided’, Hartson added.
“Celtic won’t want them winning at Celtic Park, but regardless of what happens in that game, the damage is done.”
On the subject of the new manager to replace his old teammate Neil Lennon, Hartson had two names – Eddie Howe and Mark Hughes – to put forward as managers who would do well at Parkhead,
“Eddie might not know Scottish football, but it wouldn’t take him long to get up to speed and I think he has a decent track record,” Hartson noted. “I thought he did well at Bournemouth with the budget he had and they played decent football.
“Mark was my manager with Wales and he would be a fantastic shout for the job too. He is meticulous. Every detail is gone over and he’s someone players like to play for.”
