Celtic remains at the heart of the Ibrox fan’s great global conspiracy nexus.

Celtic fans have many names for the irrationality of Ibrox supporters. I tend to describe it as a peculiar form of doublethink. Others prefer terms such as cognitive dissonance or paranoid delusion. Some descriptions sound clinical. Others, like batshit, are not.

Right now the Ibrox conspiracy theories are reaching peak levels again.

We are watching them at their most unhinged. If you ever want an entertaining afternoon, pick a day when they lose and dip into the forums over there. The spectacle can be extraordinary. After last weekend it was impressive. After Wednesday night it was even better. Every negative trait of that fan base appears in moments like these. That is precisely why I write about it so often.

The fear and loathing pieces I write are as much about that support as anything else. The fear and the loathing both come from them. Their irrationality often reaches levels that few other football supporters in Britain could match. Some of the things they believe are genuinely astonishing. The latest example is the refereeing conspiracy theory surrounding the 2025-26 season.

I have often written about what I call the Conspiracy of the Unseen Fenian Hand. That theory is impressive in its ambition because it stretches across the entire football landscape. However the smaller conspiracies are the ones that always make me laugh. One of the loudest claims that the SFA operates as some secret cabal of Celtic supporters. The idea sits so far outside reality that the phrase “howling at the moon” hardly covers it. In their case it feels more like howling from the moon.

At the heart of these Ibrox conspiracy theories lies a simple problem. Many of them cannot accept a basic possibility. Perhaps Celtic are not as poor a side as they have spent months claiming. Perhaps Celtic are still dangerous.

Maybe Celtic even possess more quality than they wish to acknowledge.

That possibility appears impossible for them to process.

Consider the reaction whenever Celtic score late winners. Their focus immediately shifts to the amount of stoppage time. They rarely discuss the goal itself. Yet a team that scores late winners usually reveals something important. Such a team tends to be resilient. It keeps pushing until the final whistle. It refuses to accept defeat. For obvious reasons that thought is not comfortable for rival supporters.

They also have a habit of ignoring facts. In many cases they simply invent new ones.

Take the outrage that followed our injury-time winner at Kilmarnock. Some insisted the referee added time specifically so Celtic could score. In reality stoppage time offers opportunities to both sides. Celtic fans know that very well. Bobby Tait once refereed his final match at Ibrox and added enough time for the home side to score a late winner. Instead Kilmarnock struck through Ally Mitchell. That goal helped tee up Wim Jansen’s title and stopped Rangers reaching ten in a row.

Naturally that memory rarely features in their conversations. Celtic supporters remember it perfectly well.

Another common reaction appears when Celtic win matches from losing positions. Those victories are quickly dismissed as luck. That explanation always reminds me of Gary Player’s famous line. The more I practise, the luckier I get.

They also struggle to accept that Celtic managers might know what they are doing. Their forums still debate whether Ange Postecoglou was actually a good manager. This debate continues despite the fact he won five trophies from six in Scotland and later reached a European final.

One of the funniest examples arrived when Celtic signed Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley. Both players arrived in time for the New Year match at Celtic Park. Their forums erupted with delight. Posters declared it the weakest Celtic midfield they had ever seen. A few hours later that same midfield dominated them completely.

This pattern repeats constantly. They overestimate their own side and underestimate Celtic. When reality arrives the gap between belief and truth becomes impossible to ignore.

Many of them now describe this as the worst Celtic team in more than a decade. I do not entirely disagree with that. However that claim creates an uncomfortable question. If you truly believe you are facing the weakest Celtic side in ten years, why are you still behind them in the league table?

Right now they sit third behind Celtic and Hearts.

Faced with that reality they reach for conspiracy theories. There must be referees involved. There must be outside interference. Anything except the obvious explanation that their own team might simply not be good enough.

Watching this worldview unfold is fascinating. It exists in a strange half-light of invented facts and twisted narratives. Above all it reflects a belief that their club deserves success automatically. That sense of entitlement probably belongs more to an older generation that grew used to winning everything. The modern generation carries the scars of years of Celtic dominance. Many now inhabit a strange universe where Celtic control everything.

In that universe Celtic control the referees. Celtic control stoppage time. Celtic control the SFA. We control the Scottish media. (I know.) Celtic even control government decisions that intersect with football.

According to these Ibrox conspiracy theories, their club cannot win because the odds are overwhelming.

That explanation might help them sleep at night. However it also creates a deeply defeatist mentality.

Celtic supporters once believed powerful institutions worked against them as well. Many of us grew up in a country that was not always welcoming to Irish Catholics. Yet that belief did not crush us. Instead we adapted. We educated ourselves and worked harder. We grabbed it.

Their response to that success produced another conspiracy theory.

According to them Celtic supporters infiltrated society and wormed their way into positions of power.

That is certainly one interpretation.

Another explanation is far simpler. We succeeded on merit.

That difference reflects mindset. Celtic supporters rarely believed success would simply arrive. We grew up seeing ourselves as underdogs determined to prove otherwise. If doors closed, we found another way through them.

Jack Nicholson delivers the perfect line in The Departed when he explains how the world works.

“Nobody gives it to you. You have to take it.”

That is the part they understand least.

Nobody knows how this season will end.

However the possibility exists that it finishes with them third and trophyless. Many of their supporters are already preparing themselves for that outcome. Instead of accepting that football rewards merit rather than entitlement, they retreat into the familiar world of conspiracy theories.

For a brief moment this week, however, those Ibrox conspiracy theories provided glorious entertainment.

If Celtic win on Sunday, do yourself a favour.

Clear some time on Monday and take a look down the rabbit hole.

You will not regret it.

Even if you feel the need for a shower afterwards.