It took one Ibrox title win to shatter an army. But it wasn’t Celtic who were smashed by it.

Over on the Ibrox fan forums, this week has been another exercise in looking backwards, a recurring theme that we’ve touched on many times on this website.

Their delusion is glaring, and it’s easy to gauge how foolish they are by examining what they actually believe. One of their wildest fantasies is the idea that the club was on the cusp of some historic breakthrough when they won the Covid title. They seem to think Gerrard had led them to the promised land and that all they needed was to stay on the same path, give him the tools he needed, and they’d permanently replace us as the top club in Scotland.

It’s laughable. And those who subscribe to this nonsense are entirely deluded. If they could see it in historical context, they might finally start to understand the mess they’re in today.

In 279 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus won the Battle of Asculum against the Roman army. However, his victory came at such an enormous cost that when his generals celebrated, he famously remarked, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.” And so, the term Pyrrhic victory was born—a win so costly that it destroys the victor’s ability to capitalise on it.

History is littered with such examples, and near-misses too. The Battle of Monte Cassino during World War II almost broke the Allied advance in Italy; it came at an immense cost. Bunker Hill was another British “victory” that did so much damage to their forces that it made some question whether the entire American campaign was a fool’s errand.

It wasn’t Celtic who emerged from the Covid campaign in disarray. Gerrard won a battle, but the Ibrox club lost the war. And they lost it because of what that title cost them. Even before the Covid season began, they were financially weakened by the massive sums they had allowed Gerrard to spend. Dave King is on record admitting they spent more than they should have, front-loading the spending to stop Celtic from securing 10 in a row.

They gambled everything on Gerrard, risking their long-term stability by handing him the funds he demanded. Then Covid hit, and the financial impact was brutal.

It hurt us too, but we weathered the storm far better because, to use another historical analogy, we had the larger treasury and the bigger army. We could afford to rebuild when the skies cleared. Our surplus got us through the worst of it, and although it took a hit, we never even had to resort to taking the Scottish Government loan.

Across the city, things were far bleaker. They won the title, yes, but they ended that season with record losses. Between the money they had spent and the impact of the pandemic, they were lucky to avoid administration, let alone challenge us the following year.

It never ceases to amaze me that their fans don’t get this.

There was never any historic opportunity to put their foot on our throat. We made some mistakes, the most significant of which was the second hiring of Neil Lennon. We signed poorly, and we suffered more than most from the lack of fans in the stadiums. But our core strength was never in question. We came out of that crisis the same club that went into it. Sure, we lost our chance at 10 in a row, but other considerations were at play.

We had assets in that squad, and when we sold Edouard, Ajer, and Christie, our new manager was able to rebuild the team in his own image. Once we had his players, we were unstoppable. Even though we started that season poorly, we were never out of the race. The hacks didn’t realise it, but we were always going to win the title.

Celtic’s structural strength came to the fore. Dave King’s fantasy of building a long-term power base was doomed from the start because his view of our club was fatally flawed. He never grasped the fundamental truth that Celtic had the financial muscle to tear it all down, rebuild, and come back stronger. Without that financial foundation, our recovery would have been much slower. Instead, we’ve gone from strength to strength.

A lot of them believe Gerrard left because he wasn’t backed properly.

I suspect he left because he knew he had been backed as far as the club could go. He saw Celtic rising again and understood it was a simple choice: stay and go down with the ship or leave while he still had a reputation to protect.

I’ve spoken to people who know Gerrard, people down south who are friends of the blog, and they tell me he couldn’t wait to leave. So, for those across town who believe Gerrard would still be ruling the roost, they don’t have a clue. His so-called loyalty to that club was paper-thin, and he was always going to bolt at the first opportunity.

When he saw Celtic rising from the ashes, he jumped on the first train south.

Everything the Ibrox club has done since then only confirms the dire state they were in. Even selling players for decent sums didn’t give them any significant spending power. They’re now in a period of savage cost-cutting, evident in the steady departure of key executives.

Among their fan base, there are still those urging the club to take one last colossal gamble to stop Celtic. Personally, I hope they succeed in making that pitch. I hope every penny they’ve hidden away is thrown at one last roll of the dice. It wouldn’t even bother me if some shady investor stepped in, betting everything on hitting the jackpot. Because they won’t. All they’ll do is prove that it was a gamble they should never have taken.

In 1944, with World War II nearing its end, Hitler launched one final desperate offensive: the Ardennes Offensive, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. Initially, it worked; it was a brilliantly conceived plan that paid early dividends. But the German army was so overstretched and under-resourced that it was vulnerable to the inevitable counterattack. The Allies had the manpower and resources to deliver that blow, and deliver it they did.

That’s what would happen to the Ibrox club if they mounted one last push to overhaul Celtic. They’re already exhausted. The enormous effort it took to win the Covid title left them fragile, and that victory has done them more long-term damage than they realise. And no matter how many times you tell them that the opportunity they think they missed never existed, they’ll never believe it. Because to believe that would be to accept what the future holds: more pain, more suffering, and more watching Celtic dominate.

Dave King’s fantasy was unsustainable because they, not us, were the house of cards. The irony is that it took a victory to expose just how fragile they truly were.