The Record’s Obsession With “Bragging Rights” Would Not Apply To Celtic.

Since when does The Record care about one-off youth matches?

Since they got to slap the words “bragging rights” into the headline.

Bragging rights. What have I been saying? That’s becoming all the rage now. Shame it doesn’t actually come with a trophy or two, because that really would be something for people to brag about.

That headline last night, about how the Ibrox Under 18’s now had “the bragging rights” was so obviously a stab at our club and our fans that I was tempted to just ignore it. But let’s face it, that’s how the media has gotten away with this stuff so long.

All season, we’ve been beating the Ibrox club at every level just about, and every time we’ve done it the narrative has been what they will do to us when they can be bothered to show, as if they simply didn’t take the games seriously.

Celtic lose just once and you’d think that was going to define the season. Bragging rights are worth precisely nothing. Except acres of space in the media.

Imagine the women lose their league decider on Sunday.

The headline will be that they are pulling ahead of us at every level.

Ridiculous, but you know this is true. Bragging rights won’t come into it. If we lose the title to Glasgow City, and the Ibrox club finishes third, will they still talk about bragging rights? No, because that phrase never applies to us.

They do this same thing every year. Last season, they won the Hampden semi-final and then we drew at Celtic Park. We were brilliant for the whole campaign, and had beaten them home and away earlier in the season, in the games which really counted … but the whole season was reframed by those two results, as if the others hadn’t happened at all.

It was the basis on which so many of the hacks – including five out of the six on Clyde – tipped the Ibrox club to win this season’s title. A prediction which was as ridiculous then as it is now when you look back on it. They believe their own propaganda.

But even by their usual standards – haha what a word to use! – this “bragging rights” stuff is absolutely pathetic.

As I wrote the other day, if there are wrong conclusions to draw from the weekend, rest assured that club will draw them … but so will their media allies.

Bragging rights won’t change that they face a trophyless end to the season and an uncertain summer.