No Need To Look Back In Anger Celtic.

“Well this could be the last time, This could be the last time, Maybe the last time, I don’t know. Oh no.”

The 1965 Rolling Stone hit: “The Last Time” was sampled by The Verve for their biggest hit: “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. The song propelled the band from Indie psychedelic funk stoners into pop royalty. Though the song changed their career it also caused them nothing but grief after it caught the attention of Allan Klein – The Stones crooked ex-manager – who sued successfully for plagiarism and The Verve earned not one penny.

Where am I going with this? Well, I think we can safely assume that Sunday was THE LAST TIME that we will play R*ngers 1872. Off course I am not deluded enough not to know that we won’t some day, some where play a team in blue who are from Govan and reside in Ibrox. But since it was THE LAST TIME it gave it an extra edge. An edge in a season that has seen us as a support get a Verve like break.

Yes, we expected financial meltdown and years of doom but liquidation?

But…..we had to win the last one. Not winning it would be our Bitter Sweet Symphony. Aye, we would go on to bigger things but that would stick in our throat. Winning was the perfect bookmark. A perfect end. The biggest GIRUY that we could ever hope to get.

We won the first and we won the last. In between we won, we drew and lost some usually to cheating.

The thing was that it wasn’t a stick on. No, sir after Ibrox a few weeks back when we were faced with a team of mercenaries who are trained in the magic of the old smoke and mirror trick, which will see them walk away to the detriment of the club, the fear was that they could produce one more performance to the watching suitors. They were in form. 4 wins on the spin so Sunday wasn’t us playing a team whose heads were elsewhere due to the problems at the club.

We were playing the 2nd best team in Scotland. Their wage bill though vastly reduced still ensures that is the case. Punishment indeed.

I’ve said many a time that Ibrox is in a parallel universe where normal rules of the game don’t apply. Since Walter Smith returned in 2007 and the drum of financial constraints was beaten with such constancy that it was never questioned we have only won there twice in the league. Lost 17 goals and only scored 8. Add to that the peculiar officiating that seems to take place.

We have committed 186 fouls at Ibrox in 11 games. This has seen us get 39 yellow and 4 red cards. Them? 165 fouls and 20 cards. For every 4.76 fouls we commit we see a player booked. It’s every 8.25 for them.

The MIB’s would be as well booking two of our players in the tunnel.

Callum Murray last time out at Ibrox saw them commit 19 fouls and gave one yellow card. We committed 14 fouls and saw two straight reds. Compare this to Sunday when our 13 fouls saw 1 booking in the last minute and their 9 fouls saw 2 yellows.

These stats meant I shouldn’t have read anything into the previous Ibrox game. We did have history and a phenomenal home record on our side.

Celtic lined up to face Rangers Swifts (Rangers history claim that the Swifts were the most successful reserve side ever, which shows the needless and completely pointless triumphalisim that surrounds that club and the clownshoes that follow them. Though the game was billed as The ever so successful Swifts the team sheet points it being a Rangers XI not just a reserve side) in 1888 at the Old Celtic Park in our first ever game and the first ever Old Firm Derby.

Renton Bhoy Neil McCallum scored with a header to opening the scoring. Celtic won by 3 clear goals. In the last ever Old Firm Derby we opened the scoring with a header and won by 3 clear goals. In another historical alignment my first ever derby in 1988, saw Billy Stark score the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory. Sunday saw Charlie Mulgrew opening the scoring. Both used to play for Aberdeen.

We were magnificent. None of the goals were poor or the type of goals that we seem to concede. Mulgrew’s 9th goal of the season basically saw him execute one of the greatest diving headers I have seen. I’m sure its the first in air plank on the football pitch.

Commons showed none of the signs of nerves that a man who hasn’t scored this season should when he raced through on goal. His chip was a right good old gallus piece of skill worthy of a Hoop jersey in this fixture. That’s 3 goals he has scored against them. The last entry into the H*nskelper annual?

The third saw Rhys McCabe – The Scottish Xavi – get dispossessed and Sammy feed the ball to Hooper. Hooper still had loads to do and his finish was rocket like and the net strained to hold it.

Yes, we partied. My word we did. We had a lull after the third goal but…..it’s hard going laughing so much. Internal organs were nearly bursting after 60mins.

Sunday saw us surpass our home points total for last season. We have averaged 2.05 goals per game at home. We have only lost 6 goals all season at CP (Dundee United x 2, St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Dunfermline & Kilmarnock). We have only dropped 4 points all season at home to St Johnstone and Hibs.

Home comforts.

We are a beast at home. That beast ensured that the history books will have an Old Firm definitive ending and one that we shall remember for many a year.

This could be the last time sang Jagger. It’s a bitter sweet symphony sang Ashcroft. Don’t look back in anger boomed the PA at the final whistle.

It was a perfect cacophony.