Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has provided Hoops fans with some light relief after a rather testing fortnight for the club. The former Liverpool captain made the comical claim that his side could lose every Old Firm derby this season and still go on to win the Premiership title. That has never happened throughout history and it sparked a number of mirthful comments among Celtic supporters, who enjoyed the distraction from a tense couple of weeks.
“If he loses to us four times they’ll want his head on a stick,” said one, while another speculated that if he loses the first two he will not be in charge by the time of the third. He was branded Pedro Mark 2, urged to stop sniffing glue and generally laughed at across social media. The first derby takes place on Sunday and Gerrard said: “I haven’t even thought about the Old Firm game. I’m not obsessed with Celtic. I am more obsessed with being successful as the Rangers manager. I could lose every Old Firm game I go into and still win the league. Why should I be obsessed with them?”
Considering the Hoops have won the last seven titles in a row, it might make sense to grow an obsession with them. The last time they met, it finished 5-0 to Celtic courtesy of an Odsonne Edouard brace and strikes from James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor. The time before that it was 4-0, and Celtic’s domination has been absolute of late. If you check out an analysis of YouWager and find market leading odds on the Premiership, you will see that Celtic are odds-on favourites to beat Rangers once again on Sunday.
However, those odds have drifted in the past couple of days, as the Hoops have looked somewhat unconvincing. Brendan Rodgers railed against the club’s hierarchy for a lack of signings after his team crashed out of the Champions League qualifying process at the hands of AEK Athens. That followed an unexpected 1-0 defeat at the hands of Hearts, and suddenly the early season gloss had worn off. Celtic returned to winning ways at the weekend, but their performance was positively lacklustre in a 1-0 victory over Hamilton.
Dedryck Boyata rescued them from a fourth straight game without a win when he bundled in from close range in the second half. Fans had unfurled a banner before the game declaring him unfit to wear the jersey – he is accused of refusing to play in order to secure a move away from the club, but he insists he has merely been injured – yet it was just as well he did. Anger at Boyata adds to a slightly toxic atmosphere at the club, which is not what we have really grown accustomed to in recent years.
Chris Sutton pulled no punches as he laid into the Belgian centre-back: “I think the great Jock Stein said, ‘Celtic jerseys are not for second best, they don’t shrink to fit inferior players.’ He’s disrespected the shirt. He shouldn’t have been picked today, and he ends up scoring the winner. Can the fans forgive him? I think a lot can’t. I don’t think he should be forgiven but people do make mistakes. It would help him a lot if he turned round and say, ‘I’m sorry’. The fact he hasn’t done that yet what do we make of his character then? It’s arrogance beyond belief. We aren’t talking about a world-class player here. We’re talking about a player who’s made high-profile mistakes in big games for Celtic.”
Rodgers declared himself sad at the situation, and he raised concerns about the player’s fitness. Before the Rangers game, the Bhoys must host FK Suduva, and Rodgers is without Boyata, Edouard and Jack Hendry, all of whom are injured. If they are missing from the Rangers game too, it will put Celtic at a further disadvantage. Now is the perfect time for Rangers to travel to Celtic Park, but their 3-3 draw at the weekend left a lot to be desired, so the Hoops should approach the game full of confidence. What the club really needs now is a thrashing of Rangers in the Old Firm derby to restore order, unite everyone and continue laughing at Gerrard.