The Spitting Fury Of The Ibrox Support Won’t Change Their Club’s Need For Cold, Hard Cash.

Even at the best of times, the fans of the club which plays at Ibrox have an odd relationship with reality.

They drift in and out of it. They ignore its basic precepts.

They think they are special, that their club is special.

They even delude themselves about 150th anniversaries and other such assorted nonsense.

It is baked into their psychological makeup.

But their response to the Gutter Ball has been beyond anything I expected from them in terms of how outrageously over the top they have made it. I knew they wouldn’t be happy. I knew they would put pressure on their board.

Already, though, it has morphed into a do-or-die stand-off with their own directors, and one which makes very little sense.

The Celtic fans have reacted more calmly.

The irony is that we are the ones who should be most pissed off, because any association with that club toxifies us even as is it gives them a marketing and PR bonanza to resurrect the dead and discredited Old Firm tag.

Aside from a handful of bloody silver, this doesn’t benefit us in any way, shape or form and the money itself is no reason to go trading away part of our soul due to guilt by association.

In stark contrast to us, I know exactly what their club gets out of the deal.

Without some connection to Celtic, they are just another Scottish football team and one that is followed by yahoos, yobs and bigots.

As if to advertise that fact, they are the ones who are making all the noise.

I know these Peepul are stupid, but I am astounded that the true nature of this has somehow eluded even their limited understanding.

This fixture is the best thing that’s happened to them in ages.

Celtic fans abhor the Old Firm tag, but it gives them a global profile they otherwise wouldn’t get near. It puts money in their pockets that they otherwise wouldn’t get close to.

Aside from the permanent horror of being associated with them, I wonder why our board would ever give them that kind of dark legitimacy.

I wonder why we would ever entertain the idea of doing anything that would help to grow their grubby brand.

Their board understands all this, and they’ve made it clear in their statements to the fans thus far; this is more money than they could have dreamed, and it comes at a time when their need for it is greater than ever, especially as they stare down the gun-barrel of losing this league and Celtic netting a Champion League bounty.

They expected that telling the fans that this was a good deal would be enough; it would be for most sane, sensible people who could analyse the situation clearly and understand it.

But that isn’t their customer base, and they really should have known better.

The fury was on full display today in their songs, in their banners and in their twin protests at the start of each half. These Peepul are going tonto over this, and not even the club leaking a story that they are considering pulling out has calmed things down.

They have sniffed that out for exactly what it is; a piece of PR bullshit.

As a result, things are probably more febrile than they were before, and especially now that most people accept – in spite of Ibrox’s denial – this this entire tour is for the benefit of Celtic.

And whilst I think our club has been especially cowardly and underhanded in the way that it has done this, I have to admit that there is a kind of mad genius in our approach too, because our total failure to even acknowledge them in this is driving these Peepul even more nuts.

Even their goalkeeper was infuriated by their behaviour today.

It has been condemned by even the arch lunatic Kris Boyd.

Their behaviour is extreme because it is motivated by the usual driving force; hatred. It is a hatred of Celtic that is behind their fury, nothing more. It is their hatred that drives my own, and others, opposition to playing the match.

Because really, who needs to be in the vicinity of such irrationality?

Who wants any association whatsoever with the kind of mind-bending malevolence which their supporters displayed today, against their own club and its directors?

But as crazy as it gets, I still don’t think their directors will budge.

Oh they may pander to these clowns over the media, over ticketing and any manner of other daft obsessions that exist over there but at the root of the decision their club has made here is money, and that’s the one subject on which they don’t listen to these Peepul at all.

Their club needs every single penny it can get, and as the lunatic fringe isn’t likely to withdraw its financial backing, no matter how much they may howl at the moon, there will be no climbdown or cancellation unless they really are led by madmen.

Their board wants what’s on the table, and even if they were willing to turn that down they certainly won’t cop for the fines and the sanctions which would be coming their way for breaching the deal.

The Ibrox fans never like to be thwarted.

Their own board is in a Hell of a bad spot here, and it’s only going to get warmer under that spotlight as Celtic turn up the heat on the pitch.

If we go to Ibrox in a fortnight and win, the mood will be explosive.

Ice cream and jelly may soon be a sought after commodity again.

Better get it in whilst you can folks.