As Rangers prepare to host Celtic in the second Old Firm game of the season, even the staunchest bluenose in Bridgeton couldn’t have predicted what’s happened since the first.
Rangers – buoyed by bullying their Eastend rivals on Celtic’s own patch in a comfortable 2-0 win – have won all 10 league games since beating Celtic, their most recent win against St. Mirren stretching the run to 13 games in total.
In the spell between the last Old Firm and this Rangers have conceded only two league goals – bringing the season’s total to five – and have swept aside all before them.
The Gers also qualified from their Europa League group without losing a match –the copybook’s only real blot that excruciating away defeat to St. Mirren in the League Cup.
This defeat offered our rivals a semblance of hope in a season generally devoid of it as the Gers faced questions about their title credentials after a 7th trophy slipped by Gerrard’s wayside.
Celtic, in contrast, have been skiting mightily close to the edge this season as their campaign threatened to fall off the face of a cliff result by result, awful performance by awful performance, all in the immediate aftermath of October’s Old Firm.
Rangers’ victory over Celtic kickstarted a run of two wins in twelve games which has only now been brought to a halt by a run of five victories and last season’s Scottish Cup.
In the time preceding this Celtic crashed out of Europe – by a hair’s length of being the tournament’s worst-performing team – and their spell of Scottish dominance came to an end against Ross County.
This was the final straw for many of their fans who – seemingly ignorant of the Covid-19 pandemic – took to their stadium to incite a junior riot and voice their discontent.
It was genuinely pandemonium.
Rangers fans looked on in aghast as the Celtic support’s fraught fingernails clutched at metal fencing in scenes reminiscent of the end of days.
How poignant for a once all commanding empire in what felt like the last days of Rome.
This – whilst many might not admit it – was a direct result of Rangers’ form as the first sign of Rangers pressure proved too much and forced the Celtic support to collectively flinch.
There were Celtic fans demanding the sacking of their manager, the shooting of their board, the answers to the Rangers squad’s apparent immunity from Covid-19.
The thought that Rangers could have sneaked up behind them with all the grace of a trumpet-playing bear clattering cymbals on a unicycle delusionally unfathomable as the jelly and ice cream collectively melted in the palms of their hands.
Since then the Parkhead club have regained their composure but still find themselves 16 points adrift in the Scottish Premiership with a 19 point difference the carrot for a hungry Rangers side this weekend at Ibrox.
But it’s not just the points difference which should be encouraging this Rangers side to go for the throat of the wounded Parkhead beast.
It was Rangers who kickstarted the last meltdown and its Rangers who can light the fuse on the next one by establishing an effective ten-point advantage at Ibrox this weekend.
Here’s the team which we’ve picked to do it.
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