The news today is all to the good.
Maeda will be home in time to be assessed for a place on the bench. Callum McGregor has talked to the boss and he reckons he’s ready to play. That will also be assessed, but I think we can expect him in the team.
It is massive for us to have these two at least in the squad. It adds to the sense of momentum. It adds to the sense that we’re on the verge of something special.
That will be heightened further if we turn up for business and get the job done.
A win will not, of course, secure us the title.
But it will change the outlook significantly, and not just because we’ll sit proudly at the top of the league.
This myth of their invincibility, this nonsense from the likes of Keevins that they can go through the rest of the league campaign unbeaten will be put to bed once and for all, and it needs to be.
More than the points are at stake; that’s the thing. We all know that Celtic has the squad to win this thing now, but we need to deal a serious psychological blow to Ibrox and that’s the real opportunity tomorrow night at Parkhead.
It will rattle a club that is already reeling.
As I’ll explain later, the signing of Ramsey, which is meant to be the game-changer, is actually destabilising and dangerous to them, and they made at least one other strategic decision which will haunt them.
In the main though, it’s all up to us.
It was always going to be up to us.
The two draws have taken a couple of bites out of them; we have to be the ones to put them on the ground and keep them there.
I don’t see us relinquishing the top spot once we have it, so there is a psychological element to it for us as well … but I honestly believe us going top will do them real damage.
I remember Gordon Strachan, at the height of our troubles in that amazing campaign where we pulled back a mammoth gap with the season ticking down, telling the fans that the secret to doing so wasn’t such a big secret; it was to take it one game at a time, to keep on doing your job so that any slip by them would chip away at that gap one or two or even three points at a time.
We have been on a great run, and we are now on the brink of reaping the rewards of it.
The fear is all on the other side … and that’s our edge, that’s what we have to capitalise on, that’s the advantage we have to hammer home tomorrow evening.
And we will. Especially if our captain makes it; that cannot be overestimated.
I agree with everything you say, but the deciding factor could be ex Ibrox season ticket holder and Salmon Leap supporters’ bus member Bobby Madden.
That he is allowed to referee this match stinks to high heaven.
If we gub them it could indeed be a crushing blow to their belief, especially as we have no Kyogo or Rogic. They are only missing Wobbles Morethanless, and he’s as much use against us as Boydichenko!
I can’t wait for this match…
We absolutely need to win. No question. We haven’t beaten them or even looked like doing so for two years. There is no doubt the manager has made fantastic progress and is potentially building an excellent team. But if we have any realistic ambitions of challenging to win the title this season (always a big ask), we really need to win tomorrow night.