Celtic fans are bleating, Scottish football’s aflame, there’s talk of masonic conspiracies running Hampden once more; Rangers must’ve won before the international break again.
Last time around we were subjected to two weeks of moaning, criticising, bleating and finger-pointing as Rangers ran out 1-0 winners v Celtic.
Back in September, things got decidedly nasty so plenty turned off. This time around we suspect Rangers fans might enjoy the next fortnight a little more.
The Famous Glasgow Rangers won the day at Ibrox dispatching their lowly Edinburgh rivals Hibernian 2-1 in a result which sent the Gers to the top of the Scottish Premiership.
This came after Celtic had beaten Aberdeen 2-1 at Pittodrie and were busy convincing themselves the 10 was back on.
After a much-needed breather – and as some of the club’s key players recover from injury – the Ibrox side will have the chance to consolidate their position against Hearts in a fortnight.
But before then Gers fans have already been indulging in buckets of popcorn as the meltdown continues over the nature of the Ibrox side’s victory over Hibs.
Disgraceful Porteous lunge deserved red and has no place in football
Hibs had taken the lead through Kevin Nisbet early on before Ryan Porteous was sent off for a disgraceful lunge aimed at Joe Aribo, the tackle full of the same bitter intent Porteous has inflicted on Lassana Coulibaly and Borna Barisic in the past.
It doesn’t matter if you have a distaste for Rangers; this behaviour is neddish, thuggish, and violent, and Nick Walsh should be saluted for sending Porteous packing.
Forget the notion that he didn’t break Joe Aribo in half or shatter his shin, the point is he was more than willing to.
And – according to the rules of the game – this is (and should be) more than enough to see red.
https://twitter.com/jonnyrmcfarlane/status/1444718376534818823
Yet we have Hibs voices, Celtic voices, uneducated, obsessive pundit voices, all unsurprisingly bemoaning the decision because it contributed to the Rangers victory.
Fans are annoyed at Rangers, Nick Walsh, the grand order of the masonic lodge that resides underneath Hampden and meets every Tuesday to sing Rangers songs and laugh at Celtic.
But none of them are annoyed at Ryan Porteous, a defender who apparently puts greater emphasis on physically damaging fellow professionals because of the shirt they wear than he does winning football matches.
Hibs had a better chance with 11 men on the pitch and the only person to blame for changing that is Ryan Porteous, not Nick Walsh.
Gutsy Rangers are ahead of Celtic and they can’t blame conspiracies
The reality is that Celtic fans (in particular) cannot cope with the fact that Rangers are so far out in front of them they are likely to dominate for the next few years.
It is easier for some Celtic fans to claim that Rangers are only better than them because of some deep-rooted SFA masonic conspiracy than it is to accept this fact.
It is easier for them to point to these deluded conspiracy theories than it is to ask why they ever thought spending the bones of £5m on Carl Starfelt was a good idea.
It’s easier to scream it’s not fair. And it’s hilarious – genuinely hilarious.
This SFA masonic lodge myth has been peddled for so long that ordinary people who support Celtic are now soothing the pain of Rangers’ dominance with these bonkers conspiracies.
The only thing all this really does – because let’s be honest it isn’t taken seriously by anyone who matters – is provide genuinely unique entertainment that we cannot find anywhere else and it’s set this fortnight up to be a doozy.
Keep asking Nick Walsh to provide his bank statements, keep demanding handshakes from John Beaton, heck, go and stage a protest against the Lanarkshire Referees Association at Hampden.
But just know that there will be plenty of smug Rangers fans watching on with popcorn in hand, counting down the days to the clash with Hearts.
One player on the opposite side at Ibrox caught the eye once again after being mentioned alongside the Gers only last week.
