McCann Thinks He’s Insulting Celtic. Instead, He’s Piling Pressure On Ibrox’s New Boss.

The week just past, when I was off, had no shortage of stories and the one I enjoyed best – aside from the torrent of nonsense about Ibrox’s managerial search – was the rant from Neil McCann about how the Ibrox club could still win the title.

Of course, this is all nonsense. Not only will the Ibrox club have to improve out of all recognition but Celtic would have to go backwards at a stunning rate. They talk about “three Old Firm games” being left as if these were the only matches on the calendar.

Even if winning them was as simple as these fools are trying to make it sound, they would be mad to discount completely every other club in this league. That’s a mistake Celtic will not make.

Ange treats every game like a cup final. That’s why we drop points so seldom.

It’s not just that McCann’s point is incontinent and stupid, it’s that he’s stoking the Ibrox fans expectations and reminding people that the squad over there is actually the second best in the country, which I’m sure is a line Beale would rather not push.

I love how much pressure this puts on Beale.

Before he’s even in the job, some of Ibrox’s key media boosters are getting it out there that this title race has a long way to go and that they expect a challenge at the very least, and a title if it’s gettable.

But Celtic are not going to roll over. We’re strengthening the squad, and we’re already the best team in the country. Beale already faces an uphill battle, and people like McCann, uber-staunch and who refuse to accept that, are simply piling rocks on his back, to nobody’s benefit except ours. The media runs this stuff without thinking through its implications.

We are not going to relinquish our grip on this. We are too committed and disciplined to drop so many points, especially when we still have to play their team three times and most of us are pretty confident about winning those games.

What you hear from McCann is not confidence. It is misplaced arrogance.

It is exactly the sort of thinking that permeates Ibrox and convinced them that they only needed to show up this season and, as “European finalists” every club would fall to their sword.

That so many of them still believe this rot will hamstring Beale right out of the gate. And God help him if he’s also of that way of thinking because he won’t be in the job for long if he is.

Their fans are rabid right now. He will get no honeymoon.