TETCHY TIMES AS RIVALS FEEL THE PRESSURE
MY wife used to say she could tell when an Old Firm match was coming up as my normal good nature became a little tetchy. She was probably right.
Since the earliest days, every player involved in these encounters is aware of how important they are to the fan base, all of whom are expecting their team to win, giving them the bragging rights for a while.
So it would be surprising if players in the days leading up to this match did not become a little nervous.
My own Old Firm career statistics make for interesting reading, although I should point out the teams only met twice a year in the league at that time, the other clashes being in the Scottish and League Cups. I’ve not included the Charity and Glasgow Cups.
From January 1965 to May 1972 I took part in 15 Old Firm matches, of which Celtic won nine, Rangers three, with three drawn.
The smallest attendance was for a league match at Celtic Park on January 3, 1966, when 65,000 were present. The biggest was the Scottish Cup Final of 1969, when a crowd of 132,870 crammed into Hampden. And the collective attendance for those 15 matches is an impressive 1,329,087.
Tomorrow’s Old Firm contest will go into the record books for having probably the smallest attendance for such a game.
Before Thursday’s Europa League loss to Slavia Prague, Rangers probably would have gone into the match as favourites.
Unfortunately on the night the Light Blues were sluggish and some defensive frailties got them into trouble.
They might have had a penalty awarded against them just before the break then within the space of 12 minutes in the second half they lost two players for some pretty reckless tackling and Slavia Prague took full advantage.
Unfortunately, the latter stages of the match were marred by what appeared to be, let’s say, an unfortunate comment by one of the Slavia players. These remarks should have no place in football and I sincerely hope the authorities clamp down hard with any punishment.
That defeat puts a different perspective on any prediction towards tomorrow’s clash. Will the loss put a dent into the Ibrox club’s morale and confidence and will it act as a stimulus for Celtic to rise to the occasion?
Celtic Park should be an interesting place on tomorrow lunchtime!