Goodwin’s team can beat this Ibrox side. He has nothing to learn from Hearts.

On Sunday, Dundee United will face the Ibrox club at home, and their manager, Jim Goodwin should be approaching that game in a bullish mood, and with soaring belief.

Instead, he has given a rather strange take on the game. He’s claimed he wants to draw inspiration from Hearts, due to them getting a draw with the Ibrox club in the opening game of the campaign.

His comments are odd, to say the least. Goodwin doesn’t seem particularly confident that his team can secure the best possible result. It’s a classic mistake to speak about the club at Ibrox as if they are some kind of football superpower.

Goodwin says they had a decent domestic run before the Celtic game, but let’s be clear: they were unbeaten in just four games before we played them, with one of those ending in a draw, and they were knocked out of the Champions League by a woeful Dynamo Kyiv side.

Why Hearts, of all teams, as his example?

Hearts had umpteen chances to beat the Ibrox club last season and didn’t manage it once. It became a running joke on this site and others, and they couldn’t manage it at home this season either, and this is one of the weakest Ibrox sides in years, and even at their worst, Hearts has still not managed to secure the win.

There are much better examples for Goodwin to study if he wants to find the blueprint. He could take a look at Dynamo Kyiv themselves, or better yet, see how Celtic took them apart with swift counter-attacking football, followed by sheer domination once they crumbled.

It’s early in the season, and sometimes it just takes one club outside of Glasgow to show that these things can be done. A defeat can expose vulnerabilities, and right now, weakness and fear are radiating from Ibrox. Any club wanting a result has a real chance at the moment.

Goodwin should be thinking along those lines.

Instead of looking up to a side that managed a single point at home, he should be saying, “We can beat this lot.” Dundee United is currently sitting in third place, with a one-point lead over the Ibrox club. Instead of settling for maintaining that slim advantage, they should be looking to widen it. The opportunity is there for the taking.

Celtic’s performance and the nature of our victory have left the Ibrox club in a darker place than it has been in for years. Our win shattered the fans’ faith in the manager, the manager’s trust in his players, and the players’ confidence in the head coach. Morale at Ibrox is in tatters, and nothing in the past two weeks has done anything to repair that or fix the glaring problems that persist.

In fact, as this blog has highlighted over the past fortnight, the crisis at Ibrox has deepened. The hole they find themselves in has only grown larger. If Dundee United approaches this game with self-belief and a sense of assurance, they could walk away with more than just a point. They could secure all three points, extend their lead, and really stir things up at Ibrox.

You now even have figures like Kris Boyd openly questioning whether the Ibrox side can finish third. Hearts, despite their own poor start to the season, are talking about catching them and securing second place. Across the league, players and managers are sniffing the air, sensing blood on the wind and they are correct to. This team is vulnerable, and its manager even more so.

Now is the perfect time to strike.

Goodwin should be projecting supreme confidence, showing no trace of fear.

He should be talking about sending his team out to win, to impress the home crowd, and to cement their credentials as challengers for a European place.

It’s time for clubs to stop viewing Ibrox with such reverence. They’re like a fighter with a glass jaw; if you hang back and let them throw punches, you’ll get what you deserve. But if you have the guts to step in and throw some of your own, you’re going to get a result.

Last season, after Michael Beale’s side lost their first game to a non-Celtic team, they swiftly dropped more points. The pattern was repeated in the run-in with Clement’s side. That’s what happens when the aura of invincibility is shattered; suddenly, they’re just another team.

If Goodwin and his side approach the game with this mindset, then the prize is there for the taking. If they don’t, they’ll deserve everything that comes their way.