It’s been a weird couple of days, so I’m catching up with some old news.
One of the stories from the weekend that was begging to be written about was Neil McCann’s assertion that we might find ourselves “playing for third place” this season.
I was more amused by that than angry when I heard it.
Even under our full-on crisis conditions of November, that would have been a risible statement, but coming after a match against the so-called superstars of Scottish football, where we were well on top until a dodgy refereeing decision swung it their way, it is especially ridiculous.
Maybe he didn’t see the match. Which would be odd as he covered it for the BBC. Maybe he just didn’t understand what it was he was seeing. I can believe that. Most Ibrox fans couldn’t understand it either and although they celebrated afterwards they all know we had their number and on another day would have resoundingly thrashed them.
It’s pretty clear that it wasn’t enough, and that I personally don’t take a lot of heart from narrowly losing nor do I think we’re good enough to win this title this year with Lennon at the helm. But we’ve got enough about us that when we turn up for business, in the mood, that we’ll turn over all the other teams in this league, on the basis of pure skill alone.
Yet McCann thinks we should be looking over our shoulder.
But at who? Aberdeen, who we’re four points clear of with a game in hand? Hibs, who have played three games more than us and are seven points behind? I thought that gap was almost insurmountable? That’s what the media’s been telling us for weeks.
Aberdeen plays the Ibrox mob on Sunday; Derek McInnes will be conceding that game on Friday afternoon, telling the press how strong their opponents are and how they’ll be on their toes for the full game and hope they can hang on.
So I reckon any chance they have of making up ground on us and maybe putting us under a bit of pressure will have gone by the boards by 3:15 on Sunday afternoon. We play Hibs the following night, where you’d expect us to win having returned from our Jolly Boys Junket “refreshed” after some “sun and R&R” to quote our manager.
So I ask again; where’s the challenge coming from? Which is the club that’s going to snatch the second Champions League slot from Celtic’s clutches?
None of them have the personnel for it, and I know that the most likely of the two, Aberdeen, don’t have the ambition for it, or they wouldn’t still be persevering with McInnes as their manager. That club remains Scottish football’s great underachiever. Under the current leadership, they are destined to stay that way.
And as for McCann … the least said the better.
That man is determined to prove only one thing; that Kris Boyd isn’t the biggest idiot in the Scotland’s sporting press.
There are times when he actually gives the ex Kilmarnock pie-muncher a run for his money.
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