As Celtic’s Shadow Grows Over Them, Ibrox’s Board Is Already Panicking.

The “new” management team at Ibrox is in place for now. The interim bosses have their roles mapped out. The only unknown is how long they’ll be there. The Ibrox club has made a big thing out of leaving them there whilst they conduct a proper search. That would be why with 48 hours the media already has their four man “shortlist.”

The media is fumbling. But there is enough stuff leaking from Ibrox that I reckon they’re on the right road, in terms of some of the names. Lampard will be on their list and no doubt. They do like a bit of bling and he’s a “big name.” A dreadful manager, but a big enough name to satisfy their craving for stardust. His record is hilariously bad.

The other names on that list include Marcello Gallardo – a creative choice but one that would also carry momentous risks for them and him both. Muscat is on the list, for reasons that I wrote about yesterday; an utter laziness and a lack of imagination.

The Dutch manager Pascal Jansen is also said to be in the running. That also would be slightly hilarious; I don’t see anything in his career history to suggest that he’d bring us much to fear.

There’s talk still of Derek McInnes. Of course there is. That would at least make more sense than some of the others. What I don’t see is any sign that this is going to be done slowly and steadily. Instead, I see the names you would expect being thrown about and plenty of reports to suggest they’ve already sounded Lampard out.

What I’m saying is that with the shadow of Celtic still looming over that club they are not going to take their time. They just won’t. They can’t afford to go into that second section of the season, and all those hard away games, with rookies in the dugout. They have European games to come. They can’t go into too many of those with rookies either.

They will want it all sewn up by the international break.

Because Celtic’s lead cannot be allowed to get bigger, lest their new manager come in to Mission: Impossible.

In some ways it will be regardless of how many points we’re in front, because we’re a settled team and they aren’t going to be that for a long time to come. Their worst nightmare is that we get a result tonight and keep on building our momentum.

It will be a big ask, but it’s not out with our capabilities.

The shadow of our club won’t vanish either way. Whoever takes that job will work under its darkness, they will operate knowing it’s there, never able to forget it, never having a moment’s respite from the power it holds over everything they do.

All they have to do here is do what they said; take their time, sift through the CV’s of those daft enough to take it. But they won’t, because they can’t, because catching Celtic is still mathematically possible and with us out of the League Cup they expect to win it and won’t settle for less. Once again, Celtic will force the most critical decision they make.

That’s why I think they’ll get it wrong. That’s why we might well be having this discussion again next year, at the same time, after Brendan Rodgers has mounted yet another stuffed head managerial trophy on his wall.

If we’re including Murty that’ll be five of them.

One for every star on their jersey. He should get his own award for that.