GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 28: Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates after he scores his team's second goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Dundee FC at Celtic Park Stadium on February 28, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Every Ibrox boss in recent years—bar one—has faced a day of reckoning against Celtic that virtually ended his time at the club.
The only one who escaped it was Steven Gerrard, and he would have faced it had he not gone up against Lennon in his final two years. Had he stayed longer, he would certainly have got it at the hands of Ange Postecoglou.
When that day of reckoning comes, it strips away all the artifice and erases all hope in the guy at the helm over there. It shatters morale, devastates the fan base, and in the five games against the Ibrox club last season, all that we were missing was such a victory—what you’d call the mythical “statement win.”
The statement win usually comes at Celtic Park.
In recent years, it certainly has, although Rodgers was very fond of sending that message over at Ibrox. We did that a couple of times in his first tenure to very satisfying effect. With the club over there in such profound disarray right now, this would be a good time for another. It’s an opportunity that everyone at Celtic Park should be looking to seize with both hands.
We’ve got reasons to be optimistic, even with the current players at our disposal. Looking at their team, they are pitifully weak in certain areas of the pitch.
We know we have their number out on our left because Tavernier must have regular nightmares about Daizen Maeda. On their left and our right, they’ve had some issues with injuries and fitness. At the time of writing, they are looking at having to field young Jefre, and even in normal circumstances, that would be an act of folly against us. But against the most improved player in Scotland, Nicholas Kuhn, it could be disastrous for them.
Whatever we all thought of Connor Goldson, he brought big level experience to these games, and let’s be honest, his ability to bend the handball rule in his favour complicated matters. He knew what the fixture was about and they will badly miss him on the day. They’ve just got rid of Davies and while he might not be a world-beater, he also understands what these games are about. They could throw the Dutchman, Propper, in if he’s fit, but going up against Kyogo, he’ll have more on his plate than he can possibly handle.
In midfield, I know there are a lot of people who are impressed by this new signing, Diomande. I don’t see why myself. They’re missing a veteran like Lundstram, who wasn’t a great football player, but was a battler, and that’s exactly what they need in a game like this. Connor Barron has been hyped a lot, like most of the signings they make who don’t immediately do anything terribly wrong, but he’s never played in an environment even remotely like what he’s about to step into. They should be more concerned about his presence in the team than we should.
We’ll have to keep an eye on Dessers and also on Lawrence although neither is exactly a world beater, and Lawrence wouldn’t even make our bench. His penchant for scoring goals from near the edge of the box has to be taken into account. The boy from Ajax gets a lot of hype, but we’ll be well aware of him and well aware of what we need to do to keep him quiet.
While we can’t rule out some sort of last-minute, left-field signing—maybe another bling loan from some English team’s reserve side—I don’t see much that should concern us. Much will depend on what we do. I wrote this morning about that, and I think that Rodgers is too good a tactician, too good a general, too good a leader, to sleep at the wheel.
The prospect of a statement victory tantalises me because it has obvious long-term consequences for the remainder of this season and beyond. It’s especially amusing to consider what happens if we do make some decent signings, improve the squad, and yet start the game primarily with the team that played at the weekend and still manage to comfortably dominate proceedings.
The obvious question all of them will be asking each other and themselves is this: if they can do that with these guys still settling in or on the bench, what in God’s name might they do to us when they get up to speed and integrate the new stars into the side?
It’s not hard to see what the potential psychological upside of this might be and how having new signings come in only to start on the bench could work to our advantage. If we win the game without those signings in the team, they won’t stand a chance, and they will know that they don’t stand a chance over the course of a season. A team that suffers the double shock—first the defeat itself, and secondly realising that they lost to a side that isn’t even our strongest XI—that could be acutely painful and will certainly result in a severe trauma over there.
If we score fast and score early, as we’ve been doing since this campaign kicked off, I think we will run over them. I think we will leave them distraught and shaken to the core. If they decide to field a number of debutants—guys who’ve never played in this fixture before—I think we could destroy their reputations with the fans before they even properly get underway.
Then there’s the impact it will have on Philippe Clement, of course, which doesn’t even have to be imagined because it’s obvious. He’ll be five points behind, out of the Champions League, and floundering. I think you can start the countdown clock on that guy, and although he’ll probably last longer than a lettuce, the average HBO series will probably run longer than what’s left of his Ibrox managerial career.
So a statement win is more than just three points. It’s more than just a victory that puts us five clear. It’s about morale—ours and theirs. It’s about momentum—ours and theirs. It’s about challenging the media perception that these two teams are in a race that’s even close, and shattering the illusion that they’ve laboured under for the whole of the last year that, because there hasn’t been a 3-4 goal victory, they’re just unlucky.
The truth is that it’s us who’ve been unlucky, because there is a gulf between these teams, there is a gulf between these clubs, and it’s a huge gulf. So far, under their current management team, we haven’t demonstrated that emphatically out on the park by giving them a good going over. But we will, and it feels like this could be the weekend for it.
All I can say is WoW !!!!!
I expect a very tight stuffy game with stop start …niggling fouls and the big moments at set pieces and frequent interruptions by Beaton and also some baffling decisions.
They are due a result …just sods law …all it will take is a deflection and then a dodgy penalty or sending off ….more likely than a statement game .
Lol anyone would think there is a sporting advantage at play here,an unlevel playing field.
So talk of Barbie walking away(remember sevco players and fans don’t do that)is music to my ears.
To think that FUD was being compared with and spoken about in the same as O’Riley was absolutely COMEDY GOLD at its best.
Every player they bring is always world class,they press even brag about world class goals being scored in training sessions,and then you celebrations like the way they against St Johnstone the other week.
That’s the level they are at,that’s the level they are thriving on,like an under 10s game for wee boys just starting out in football.
A big win on performance and decent score will turn the tide even more on the Belgian bun.
When the fans see the rangers being overrun all over the park and 2 to 3 goals worse off AND timing being what it is no chance to bring in reinforcements, the writing will be on the wall, Graffiti even…
Long hard season ahead with the Gormless Galacticos will drive the Klan nuts. Soon Pitchforks and torches and lamenting the loss of those they were so eager to move out.
They may not need the extra space in the stand, in fact they may be shutting a stand down.
Only their ref Brethren can save them but they will be in full sight of a worldwide audience as with wee Collum and the SFA. They may have an agenda for repeat fouls and the penalty box handball rules may change for the weekend against Celtic.
Level playing field we should be well up for a big win maybe if it’s only by 2 or 3 Clemente can do a lap of honour with his players in their dressing room.
Here’s one for the hacks…. Shankland last minute move to Celtic, definitely on, Hearts insider put that to me today. He is a big Hearts fan and works inside his house, near Edinburgh. No smoke without fire…. HH
James that would be great if we got a statement win as you call it. but if last year is anything to go by i think it will be more of the same this year,having said that i hope not, but i do not think we will steamroller them…i also think they will be up for it they have to otherwise the Huns would go into meltdown, so even if we only win by a goal that will do me albeit a doing to them would please me no end but i am not going to be too confidant but maybe that is quietly confident lol, roll on Sunday cant wait, keep up the good work James.
With such a ‘must win’ game for sevco at this early stage of the season,
to try and boost morale amongst the bears…
this game has a TavPen and an early Celtic red card written all over it?
But, if we play our normal game we could still blow them off the park,
even with 10 men…?
At every opportunity just shoot low and hard down to Butland’s left hand side?
🙂
Well now, it turns out the pursuit of Bogusz was, well, bogus. Who could possibly have predicted that? Easy….any fan not firmly planted in Lawwell’s butthole.
Lawwell and Nicholson are frauds, worse they are parasites.They are stealing a wage. So much for getting what we pay for.
There’s no way this transfer ends with the required business getting done. Nowhere near it!
We’re at a point where the best the Board can offer fans questioning the transfer strategy is ‘calm doon’. It’s beyond parody. There are literally no words left to describe how utterly rancid this Board are.
I would love a statement win. A completely thorough going over, that not even the village idiot could claim as a moral victory. But these games, when everything seems to be going our way beforehand, are always the worst for me. I’ve been stung too many times to take anything for granted. I wouldn’t write Jefte off too early. From the little I have seen, he appears to quite an athlete and looks the part coming forward. Hopefully his defensive capabilities are on a par with TavPen. I want a statement win, but I’ll settle for a 93rd minute jammy OG for 1 – 0. You could say I’m easily pleased.
On the transfer front it’s clear that pessimism was correct as we wouldn’t pay enough for Bogusz (or should have established this ages ago). Engels…..we either pay wha he’s worth or not. So I guess that means a late, overpriced bid for McCowan as they’ll quite rightly up the price. Calm doon never sounded so patronising.
That said I think it’ll be 2-1 to us on Sunday. For Europe, we needed another player. Anyhow all confirmed tomorrow I guess
echo most of the guys. A wins a win but please no stress chaps
A statement win could trigger total meltdown over there, we’ll be buoyed by the CL draw being made tomorrow which will again highlight the difference between the clubs. I liked the breakdown of their team Goldson, Davies and Lundstrum were all not good enough but they’ll miss them because it’s better than what they’ve got. Diomande looked a player at first but recently he’s been dragged down to the standards over there. Lawrence won’t score, he’ll barely touch it before getting subbed. Dessers I won’t slate but I wouldn’t be surprised if they sell him before Sunday. It’s a free hit for the huns. I’ll say 2-0 Celtic
I wrote exactly that earlier in response to your BR article. If we score early and then score another soon after it could be be extraterrestrial. Just after the embryonic sevco days when we’d often be 4 or 5 up, most enjoyable at the midden in front of their zombies, I used to curse Scott Brown for, what I saw as easing up, taking the foot off their throats, in an apparent attempt not to show them up and embarrass the hell out of them. Then I wondered if it was BR that was the real orchestrator of it and he was behind captain Brown’s action, not Lawwell surprisingly enough. So if, as I expect this weekend, we do get into such a lead I wonder what will happen this time and under who’s instruction