THE GLASGOW DERBY CELTIC MUST WIN, BUT NOT FOR FOOTBALLING REASONS
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- May 2
- 3 min read
We’re only a couple of days out from the next Glasgow Derby. It is a match which, despite the utmost efforts of the SPFL, Police Scotland and The SFA to downplay it, remains a game of great importance for fans of both Celtic and Rangers.
However, its not for footballing reasons. Celtic are already Champions. We just penned the biggest sports kit manufacturing deal in Scottish history with, arguably, the world’s biggest kit manufacturer, Adidas.
Our rivals are flailing on the park and desperately chasing yet another set of sugar daddies off of it. There has seldom been a better time to be a Celtic fan.
A Meaningless Game for Celtic, But This Glasgow Derby Means Everything to Our Opponents
Take the emotion out of it, and this is a meaningless a game as Celtic will play this season or any other.
However, asking fans to take the emotion out of a Glasgow Derby is a bit like asking a songbird not to sing, or a Daily Record reporter to be objective.
It simply isn’t going to happen.
I was, admittedly, only half joking when I said on both ACSOM and Celtic Down Under recently, that in the next Glasgow Derby Celtic should field a second string at Ibrox.
The fact is they will be out for blood, because their hate for us, and resentment of our dominance of Scottish football is all they have left.
That’s a risky scenario. It is one I would rather not subject our best players to if we don’t have to. However, I have backtracked on this stance, a little.
It would be fair to say that the recent comments from their fans, and their puppets in the media have annoyed me.
A Japanese friend once asked me “Why do Celtic fans hate Rangers so much?”
I struggled initially to find an appropriate answer.
The truth is, I try, but don’t always succeed, to steer away from hate. I don’t like them or their fans, but I try not to let that descend into hate.
I try to remain in a position where my love for Celtic is always stronger than my negative feelings towards them.
To answer the question though, when I thought about it, the answer soon became clear.
Most of all, I don’t like their arrogance, their supremacist attitude, and their total willful ignorance.
They call us “obsessed”, yet whenever Celtic lose a match, one of our players is caught up in some kind of trouble, or something far darker like the recent verdict in the Celtic Boys Club abuse case, 99% of the comments you see are from Rangers fans spouting varying degrees of poorly spelled, grammatically incorrect, hate-fueled filth.
I think the fact of the matter is, the more irrelevant they become to us as a potential rival, the more they hate us, and the more toxic the entire atmosphere surrounding this fixture becomes.
This game means nothing to us, but it means everything to them. If they win, then we can look forward to a summer full of “The Rangers are Coming” headlines and other assorted nonsense. A victory, any victory for them will give them the supposed “bragging rights”.
They’ll spend months proudly shouting “no surrender” once again, despite the fact that, in reality, they surrendered this league title months ago, and continue to surrender their dignity on a daily basis.
So, I take back what I said.
Brendan, don’t play the reserves. Play our strongest possible eleven. Go for the jugular on Sunday, right from the off. Let’s give these arrogant, self-deluded muppets the absolute skelping that they are long, long overdue.
Glasgow is, and always shall be, Green and White.
