Celtic Fans Sniggering As Rival Websites U-Turn Towards Postponement Calls.

Here’s the thing about maintaining a consistent argument; you need to have principles to do it.

You need to know that whatever course you set yourself out on that you will stick to that course no matter what.

On a possible postponement of the 2 February fixture this site has been crystal clear from the word go; if the clubs calls for it we will back it.

We will back it because it makes sense to do it if five or six players are going to be missing through international call-ups. It makes sense if you are fielding a weaker squad than you otherwise would be going up against one almost at full strength.

This blog had no intention of clamouring for the club to do this; our position was that we would support the club in whatever decision it made. What got tiresome was having to deal with invention and disinformation which flowed from the media and elsewhere over this, and by and large I think this blog has done its job of shooting the worst of it down.

Foremost amongst the disinformation was the idea that the SPFL would refuse to postpone the game unless our club was willing to postpone another two matches with it.

There is not even the remotest possibility of that and there never was.

Tonight our club’s position remains what it was; we’re in wait and see mode.

Because it’s possible that we could lose as many as a half dozen first team players, an outcome I still believe to be unacceptable on balance. Yet publicly at least, our policy is to get on with these games no matter what the situation is with our squad.

Across the city, every mention of postponing this match has been met with the same chorus; Celtic are “running scared.”

It was easy to make that bold claim with a six-point lead.

It is not so easy to make it when the lead has been cut to a mere four.

Tonight, Morelos was officially called up for Colombia.

He is out of the game at Celtic Park.

Their forward line is already missing Roofe through injury; rumours suggest that he could be back, but if he’s fit it’s likely he’ll be called up by Jamaica.

For weeks now all we’ve heard is how cowardly it is for us to want to call off the 2 February game.

For weeks now this has come from every Ibrox supporter’s site, and from the mainstream media.

But oh my, how things change in only 24 hours in football.

From tomorrow, the clamour will be all on the other side of the city.

It’s already happening tonight, with their forums buzzing with swapped links to the rule-book and paranoid nonsense about how it is “Celtic who will decide”. What cretins they are.

Watch how the media turns.

Watch how all talk of three matches needing postponed suddenly dies away.

And watch, too, as a new narrative starts to take shape; shouldn’t Scotland’s show-piece game be played with two full-strength squads?

Isn’t the spectacle lessened by some of the best players being out?

Believe me, you’ll hear it; I’ve been waiting on it for weeks.

Because one thing has been perfectly obvious right from the start; the unprincipled jellyfish in our media who leap to Ibrox’s party line, and the Ibrox club itself, not to mention its supporters, were only ever one hammer blow away from wanting this game called off themselves.

From the off, I have speculated that the only reason the media was pushing us, early, in that direction was that if we did this first it would let Ibrox sneer from the side-lines whilst being grateful that we had.

You wait and see how the whole mood around this debate flips on its head.

The beautiful thing here is that they’ve done this to themselves, of course.

Their manager was in the papers just the other day saying that there was no room in the schedule for a postponement; their fan sites and groups have been unanimous that it shouldn’t be allowed.

But of course it’s allowed, and of course any side which wants to do it should be able to apply for it, and the SPFL will have a hard time explaining why they’ve rejected it if they do.

The rules are for everyone and they always were.

Think of the humiliation and embarrassment though, of having to climb down from that pedestal they were on just a few weeks ago.

Think of the utter brazenness it will take to backtrack from that entrenched position.

I would be mortified if it was us, having banged the drum all this time that it was something that shouldn’t even be entertained.

How stupid do you have to be to miss the potential for this?

Their losing key players was as near certain as it could be, and yet they adopted this crazy position wherein they castigated us for the very idea that they are now about to embrace wholeheartedly.

If they had an ounce of self-awareness or an iota of shame they wouldn’t even dare.

But they don’t. And so they will.

Watch how the whole debate around this turns. Watch as every excuse is rolled out and embraced. Watch as those who could not justify it in our case suddenly do, although we’re exactly where it was predicted that we would be.

In short, nothing has changed except one critical thing; the gap at the top.

That, my friends, is everything.

And it’s why I can say with certainty that this will be a move made out of fear, and they know it and they aren’t even trying to hide it.