What if Rangers beat Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup Final at Hampden next month?
And is it not the case there’s more chance of Celtic dropping league points against Hearts at Tynecastle and Aberdeen at Pittodrie than of Rangers slipping up against Dundee United and Kilmarnock at Ibrox on the same days? If that happened the title race could involve three – not just two – teams before we get to Hampden for the first showpiece of the season on December 15.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement seems to have been declared dead and buried without any factual evidence that a fatality has taken place. And it’s Rangers fans, and nobody else, who have come to the conclusion the manager is a dead loss based on their matchday reaction. They’ve had problems with the stands at Ibrox since the season began, of course. First of all, there was that business with the steel that was late in arriving for the refurbishment of the Copland Road stand.
The latest difficulty appears to affect all four stands at the ground. The problem is they face on to the pitch. And the people in them can’t wait to get out, driven to evacuate the premises by the unwatchable nature of the manager’s tactics and the unfathomable aspects of his team selection. A growing percentage appear to believe Clement doesn’t know what he’s doing and have ruled out any rethink while he remains in charge. The Belgian is on trial in the court of public opinion.
The spectator gallery is full for the proceedings while Ibrox regularly empties before the end of matches. There was a succession of radio callers last Sunday night following the final whistle in Rangers’ 1-0 win over Hearts. Each specified the exact time when they’d had enough and left the premises long before a game, which was hanging in the balance, had reached its conclusion.
There is an indisputable law governing two-horse races in the Premiership. You can’t finish third. Not when you are Rangers and the patience of the fans has been tested beyond human endurance for years while playing runner-up to the team across the road on the other side of the city.
Likewise, Clement will have to beat Celtic in the cup final to avoid a guilty verdict. But Philippe appears, to my way of thinking, to have been made a felon before all the evidence has been gathered. What if he wins the final and reduces the deficit before the next Old Firm game? I celebrated my 75th birthday last Tuesday and, being a lifelong Glaswegian, I know the rules relative to that rivalry from top to bottom and back to front.
If Clement loses to Celtic and goes six games without a win over Brendan Rodgers’ side, he should go home and Google removal firms in his adopted part of the city. The manager of Rangers who can’t beat Celtic can’t remain as Rangers’ manager.
I know the charge sheet. Rangers have scored the same number of league goals as 10th-placed St Johnstone. Clement also looked along his subs bench last Sunday, during a tortuous display against the second-bottom team, and put on Danilo, Robbie McAusland and Kieran Dowell while ignoring Ianis Hagi as a possible performance enhancer.
But am I to believe that, with 27 league games left to play and a one-off cup final to come that, Clement is kaput? I’ve done some backtracking in my time but Clement’s critics from within his club’s fan base will need to perform a somersault of Olympic proportions if they’re wrong about him.
They can hardly claim it’s a misunderstanding and their derogatory words have been taken out of context. English might not be the manager’s first language but he’ll still know that the meaning of baloney doesn’t get lost in translation. Clement has, meanwhile, got to make the most of what happens between now and December 15.
The fixture list offers a sequence of solace or grounds for dismissal that will speak eloquently for themselves. It’s up to him.