There’s been some hysterical reaction to Sunday’s Premier Sport Cup Final with some people even saying the match should be replayed.
I’d be all for it. In fact, perhaps I should dig out my boots and we can have another go at the 2003 Celtic v Rangers League Cup Final. Remember John Hartson’s goal that was ruled out for offside when he was about 25 yards onside and Rangers went on to win the trophy? Let’s do that again. In fact, if we are going to replay finals for refereeing mistakes, we might as well have another bash at just about every final in history.
That’s how daft an idea it is. Rangers won’t take much comfort from Willie Collum coming-out and admitting the VAR officials made a mess of the controversial penalty call. But what they can’t do is use this incident as some sort of deflection tactic from yet another defeat to Celtic – and yet another trophy that has escaped their grasp. It might have been a penalty but it could have been missed and Celtic might have come back again. It’s all ifs, buts and maybes.
It was the same in 2003. We had opportunities to score after the offside call but didn’t take them. That’s the way it goes. The way Rangers have reacted since Sunday just smacks to me of how far expectation levels have fallen at Ibrox – and the losers mentality that is still around the club.
There’s been a narrative that they were robbed at Hampden and they played really well. Excuse me, didn’t they concede three goals? And against a Celtic team that wasn’t really firing on all cylinders?
Are we handing out more moral trophies again because Rangers didn’t get pumped? This isn’t the Ibrox club I came up against. They are using the big decision as a crutch, when in reality they finished second best to Celtic once more.
They did play fairly well, especially in the first half when they curtailed Celtic. They did show spirit to come back from 2-1 and 3-2 down. But they still fell short and ended up empty handed. And there are still major question marks hanging over them.
Things have picked up in recent weeks under Philippe Clement. I thought they were outstanding against Spurs and improved in other games. It’s such a small sample of games though. Have we just to forget about the previous four months?
Clement has bought breathing space but I still think he’s on his last legs. Failure to beat Celtic at Ibrox at New Year and I can’t see him surviving.
He was bleating about the Hampden call but it should paper over the issues that remain. It also shouldn’t diminish Celtic’s achievement. Unlike their rivals, they do know how to win.
I’ve seen some people criticising some of the performances of late. I think it’s unbelievably harsh. They clearly don’t understand just how hard it is to win every week. I do – and it’s tough.
The games are coming thick and fast and Celtic are admirably still grinding out results. They’ll need to keep doing so as the schedule is not going to get any lighter any time soon.
The same goes for Rangers and the rest. It’s not like Celtic are struggling though. They haven’t lost domestically since March and the only time they’ve scored less than two goals in a game in Scotland was when they won in the freezing Pittodrie monsoon a few weeks ago.
That’s not struggling. The difference between Celtic and Rangers is one has more levels to come. One also has more spending power come the January window. There’s already talk of Kieran Tierney coming back.
I can understand the excitement among fans. It would be a real feather in the cap if they can persuade him to return. Tierney is a quality player – if he’s fully fit. That’s the big question after the last few years.
I also have other reasons to be sceptical over the move. Finances for one. I can’t say I know him that well but it doesn’t seem that he is overly money orientated.
That could be good news for Celtic. But there is absolutely no doubt there will be interest in him from clubs in England and abroad – and figures that can blow Celtic out of the water.
It might become a heart over head job at that point for the player but if you were advising him, would another two or three year deal on big money somewhere not make more sense than taking a substantial pay cut now? Only he can answer that one. Even taking a slash in wages, it would still mean Celtic taking a serious deviation from their financial model. It would be a lot of money for not a lot of sell on value.
Some players are worth it – and Tierney could be one of them. It goes back to the fitness issue though. He’s had a torrid couple of years and needs to be back playing regularly. It’s a gamble English teams can afford to take, but would Celtic? It’s a big question – and there are others around Greg Taylor and Alex Valle.
I know I have been critical of Taylor at the Champions League level but he’s been a brilliant signing for Celtic. Ideally he’d sign a new deal but that now looks unlikely. Valle might fancy cracking it at Barcelona as there’s no sign of a permanent deal at Celtic in the pipeline. Tierney could be the answer to all of the above. I’ll not be holding my breath – and I won’t be digging out my boots for the 2003 replay either.