“The Old Firm game will take care of itself.”
How many times have you heard that expression being used? And by how many people? But can anyone actually tell me what it means? If ever there was a fixture that demanded astute game management and meticulous attention to detail, it is any match involving Celtic and Rangers. It requires that absolutely nothing is left to chance – far less be left to “take care of itself”.
And never more so than at Hampden today in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. There’s so much going on around the tie it is as dizzying as it is mind-boggling. If Celtic lose, their supporters will say the Scottish Cup is a worthless bauble compared to the diamond-encrusted invite to pick up the Champions League riches that accompany the winning of the Premiership title.
That much takes care of itself. If Rangers are defeated this afternoon, the cup will become the Treble for Ange Postecoglou and the declaration of open season on Ibrox manager Michael Beale. That will take care of itself as well. The rest is negotiable. I was only two calls into the start of Old Firm “My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad” week last Monday when an Ibrox fan insisted a win for Celtic today constituted grounds for Beale’s automatic dismissal.
Gross misconduct would presumably be the reason for termination of contract. There being no crime more heinous than the inability of a Rangers manager to beat Celtic. Or vice versa. Rangers have, in recent weeks, lost chairman Douglas Park, head of recruitment Ross Wilson and announced the imminent departure of their managing director Stewart Robertson.
The fans crashed the world of corporate governance with their card protest against Wilson and Robertson at Motherwell a few weeks ago. They can also see the team on the park with their own eyes and reserve the right to invade the pitch, metaphorically speaking, and demand value for the money they pay to be there in their tens of thousands.
Not winning against Celtic has become monotonous and the supporters will seek to influence change in that sphere as well unless Beale reverses what has become a trend. And that’s when Celtic have to be aware of another thing that won’t take care of itself. Postecoglou tested the depth of Celtic’s strength in reserve against Motherwell last weekend and found it was shallow in places.
There was a pre-match assumption throughout their own ground that the game was an exercise in building towards goals and points records. I have worked on a professional basis with every Celtic manager since Jock Stein in 1970 and Postecoglou is too formidable to ever be accused of being remotely complacent.
But Beale has to reintroduce the concept of the Old Firm game being a separate life form where the only guarantee is institutionalised hostility. And Celtic have to ignore any inference that they are presently too good to be upstaged by the neighbours at any stage.
The world of the Old Firm is convoluted, conspiratorial and claustrophobic. It is also as plain as the nose on your face sometimes.
If you don’t show up and play at your best the chances are you will lose. Celtic had their second worst display of the season last weekend (a 1-1 draw with Well) and still managed to increase their lead at the top of the league table because Rangers were even worse in a 2-0 defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie the following day. There’s an old deflection tactic used by politicians who say “setbacks are the motivation for your next success”. Whose setback will it be today that will prove that to be the case?
The unpredictability of the occasion will take care of itself.
Meanwhile, Willie Collum goes from the bizarre to the inexplicable on a game-by-game basis like a man who could do the journey with his eyes shut. Which is how most managers, players and fans believe best sums up the way he referees games in any case.
His appearance in charge of today’s cataclysmic cup tie at Hampden is not so much an official appointment as an SFA-sponsored act of provocation. Referees have never had a lower approval rating in this country. Under those circumstances, don’t make things worse by giving charge of the semi-final to someone who is prone to the unfathomable.
Moving from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm is not a form of recommendation. I remain consistent in my assessment of the most controversial official in the country. Willie sees things on the park nobody else in the ground can see.
I stand to be corrected at Hampden while acknowledging no referee in Scotland is suitable for either set of supporters in an Old Firm game. Meanwhile, I shall take my first call on radio insisting on the introduction of foreign referees for neutrality at about half past three this afternoon.
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