I mentioned on Sunday during my match report that I would be writing an article about the mindset that has completely engulfed our city rivals, and after enjoying basking in the glory of our fantastic win for a few days I’m finally getting around to posting it. Let me start by saying this, some of the stuff I witnessed and heard about that happened at the match on Sunday were some of the nastiest, hate-filled acts of aggression from their fans I can remember throughout my time supporting Celtic in the past 30 odd years.

I love being a Celtic fan. I was born a Celtic fan. I come from a family full of Celtic fans. Being born in the mid-80’s I have supported Celtic through their lows during the early 90’s, to their more recent highs that we have all become so accustomed to.

My eldest brother, who was a season ticket holder while living in Glasgow during the early 90’s, always reminds me to enjoy these times as he witnessed first hand some dark days during his time. Most Celtic fans have that mindset. Over the years I’ve enjoyed his stories from back in the day. No matter how bad we were he explained that him and his friends always kept the faith. They turned up every week and at times endured watching some atrocious football but always believed the good times would come back. As the song says:

“WE STOOD WITH PRIDE AND TOOK DEFEAT”

The reason I bring this up is because since 2012 when theRangers were born their fans have been hoping to see them resemble the old Rangers and climb to the top of Scottish football once more. Their first achievement came last season when they won the (behind closed doors) title and stopped Celtic claiming 10 in a row. I can remember when Celtic did the same in 1998. It was an amazing time and the Celtic fans rejoiced after years of hurt. The difference is that it was just unbridled joy and to be honest probably a great sense of relief we portrayed. This wasn’t the mindset after last season however.

In what should have been a happy occasion for supporters of theRangers, it was marred by a weird sense of victimisation. Not a feeling of pure joy at claiming such an important trophy but an attitude that this is what we deserve and we would have been here much earlier if the whole of Scottish football hadn’t ‘turned against us’. So George Square was trashed in scenes reminiscent of something out of a horror movie. Seeing footage of the ‘celebration’ it looked like people unleashing their anger more than enjoying winning a trophy.

The arrogance was back however. The ‘we are the people’ mentality once again in full flow. Their hero and saviour, the incredibly dodgy Dave King, now being hailed as some sort of Nostradamus. The ‘house of cards’ prediction is set to come true. It’s over. We are now the Kings of Scotland and Celtic’s fall from grace is only beginning.

Yet nobody stopped to survey exactly what had just happened. Yes they had won the league convincingly but absolutely no one can argue that Celtic didn’t completely implode that season. Things literally couldn’t have got any worse. I could list all the things that went wrong but we would be here all day. Celtic were an absolute shambles.

Yet at the end the day theRangers had only won the one trophy, in what was being hailed as an ‘incredible’ season. St Johnstone amazingly done the cup double. It wasn’t as dominate a campaign as their fans thought. They couldn’t be told however. Dave King predicted if we lost just one league title our whole club would cave in. His audience believed every word.

Photo: Jeff Holmes

When we appointed Ange Postecoglou they were even more convinced. A fan base who love a glitzy name could do nothing but laugh at Celtic shopping in the ‘bargain basement’ for some ‘unheard of’ Australian. When the manager cleared the decks and brought in twelve new recruits they laughed at Celtic ‘wasting’ money on the likes of Kyogo. A diminutive, unheard of striker like him would never cut the mustard in Scotland. They were convinced they would canter to the league once more. Here’s the Ibrox mouth-piece Kris Boyd commenting last July on Ange Postecoglou being appointed Celtic manager.

This time not only were their sights set on the league. A treble would do nicely too. And surely after their performances in Europe last season Champions League qualification was pretty much assured, with all the money that comes with it? Then Malmö happened. But all is ok as Celtic are struggling as predicted. Until they weren’t.

Lasse Nielsen and Veljko Birmancevic of Malmo celebrate after the UEFA Champions League qualifying win over theRangers. Photo: Ludvig Thunman

Suddenly the hoardes weren’t feeling as superior and supremely confident as they had done previously.  With rumours circulating that manager Steven Gerrard was looking south of the border, theRangers fans worried until their great leader cleared the matter up with the infamous ‘do I look happy, do I look settled, don’t ask silly questions’ retort. In for the long haul then. Until he wasn’t. Snuck out the back door and sprinted down south, just as they had mocked Brendan Rodgers for doing a few seasons before.

With Celtic creeping ever closer the mood started to change drastically. Suddenly they were back to ‘everyone hates us, we don’t care’ mentality. Except they do care. The scatter gun was out once more. Referees were against them. The media were against them. The SFA were against them. The Scottish Government were against them.

Then the January window. Footballing megastar Aaron Ramsey brought in along with a £20m Manchester United wonderkid. Celtic again picking up nobodies from Japan. Nothing to worry about. Until they realise Ramsey isn’t anywhere near being fit and after a couple of appearances that Diallo isn’t cut out for Scottish football.

Yet Celtic’s ‘nobodies’ have hit the ground running. Then the 2nd February happened and suddenly Celtic were top of the league.

You can feel the anger growing, then the Sydney Super Cup was announced, or ‘Ange’s Homecoming’ as it’s also to be known as, and all hell broke loose. The final straw that broke the camel’s back. A tournament all about Celtic and their manager returning triumphantly to his homeland. Oh and did we mention Celtic are getting paid much more to appear than theRangers?

All this anger, all this fear, all this shock that Dave King was actually wrong and far from Celtic collapsing after losing one league title, they have actually strengthened and look better than ever came to a head on Sunday when Celtic rolled into Ibrox. The club lit a flame under the fans by making the build up in the stadium all about the ‘Old Firm’. Advertising boards displaying ‘this is the Old Firm’. An arch to welcome the players onto the pitch with ‘Old Firm’ strewn across the top. A cry against Celtic fans referring to the match as a Glasgow Derby.

I mentioned in my match report that I cringed when I saw it. I was genuinely embarrassed for them. Fans you can understand getting frustrated but the club getting involved and putting on a display like this was tinpot stuff.

During the match as it became clear Celtic were going to claim all 3 points things took a more sinister turn. Glass thrown into Joe Hart’s goalmouth, missiles fired at players taking corners, a man trying to enter the pitch to attack celebrating Celtic players, a Celtic physio split open by a bottle, Celtic players targeted once again while trying to celebrate with their own fans at the end. Absolutely disgraceful.

Yet for a club who literally seems to release statements on a regular basis they haven’t even bothered to release an official one saying they condemn the behaviour. What sort of message is that putting out? It beggars belief. I am certainly glad we dont have to visit Ibrox again this season as I worry about the safety of our players, staff and fans. Hopefully we don’t see anymore shameful scenes next Sunday with a mixed crowd at Hampden.

I just dont know where this ends. The hate that seems to be spewing out of Ibrox at the minute is like nothing seen before. Instead of the club trying to get a handle on this they seem to be almost enabling it. They certainly do nothing to diffuse it.

Now I know not all fans of the Ibrox club partake in this. I am friendly with a few guys in work who are huge fans of theRangers. I enjoy talking about football with them, often bantering back and forth as expected. They love their club as much as I love mine. I know they don’t condone behaviour like what we saw on Sunday.

Those fans who do think it’s acceptable to act this way at any football match however have to be weeded out. They should be named and shamed by the club and made to face the authorities. But will they? It seems at the moment like the club playing out of Ibrox has lost control of certain elements of its fan base.

Where was the statement from theRangers Board condemning Sunday’s disgraceful behaviour and apologising the Celtic employee who had his head split open while simply doing his job? Their silence is deafening.

The way things are going I genuinely fear that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Instead of nipping it in the bud now like what should happen, this will drag on until something truly horrifying occurs and everyone will then look back and think ‘we should have seen this coming’.

I won’t hold my breath.

Conall McGinty

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