Keith jackson
Brown’s hug with Rangers ace Glen will stay in the memory long after derby draw fades... classy gesture is the most significant this game has seen in years
AN instantly forgettable derby perhaps. But it all began with a moment so profound and a message so powerful that it ought to stand the test of time.
Yes, in the final analysis Rangers got away from the home of their rivals with a draw which means they remain unbeaten in the championship-winning campaign.
True, Alfredo Morelos will remember the day he netted against the neighbours for the first time.
As for Celtic? They can console themselves by knowing they were the better of the two sides and even though they failed to get the result their performance deserved, at least Steven Gerrard cannot now match the record 106 points tally which Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles racked up four years ago.
Not that any of it really matters. For once this Old Firm showdown was rendered pretty much irrelevant given that the destination of this season’s title has long since been determined.
And perhaps predictably, long before the end, this was a contest which had run clean out of steam.
But what happened shortly before kick-off when Celtic skipper Scott Brown marched across the halfway line to offer Glen Kamara a warm embrace, was by far and away the most significant coming together this fixture has seen in years.
It was a classy gesture and an image which ought to transcend all of the rancour and deep-rooted division upon which this bitter rivalry feasts.
Brown – the shaven-headed embodiment of Celtic’s years of dominance and the warrior who so many Rangers fans have loved to hate – showing genuine compassion and decency to a man who has been subjected to the very worst kind of human behaviour over these last few days.
And let’s not forget either, Brown too has been on the receiving end of some seriously vile abuse down the years – with one particularly sickening and harrowing incident taking place outside the front doors of Ibrox as he made his way on to Celtic’s team bus.
So his actions yesterday were steeped in sincerity and by lending Kamara his support, Brown showcased his importance to Celtic as a true leader of men.
They’ll be losing more than just a captain if he does decide to call it a day when his contract expires at the end of this season.
That he then went on to dominate so much of this match, patrolling around the centre circle with chest puffed out, is a reminder too of what they’ll be losing on the pitch if this does turn out to be Brown’s last campaign in a Celtic shirt.
He certainly didn’t look much like a man whose legs have gone but if Brown’s head is already drifting up the road towards a future career in management at Pittodrie, then he’s going to take some replacing. That much can be in no doubt.
As for the game itself, it was a difficult one to get excited about, even though it too had its moments.
Rangers started brightly enough but it wasn’t long before Celtic began to hem them into their own half with greater levels of energy and desire.
Odsonne Edouard quickly identified the gap between Connor Goldson and stand-in right-back Leon Balogun as an area to exploit and the Frenchman lurked around in there with the intent of doing some serious damage.
It was his darting run and outstanding cross which unlocked the Rangers defence for Mo Elyounoussi to head home the opening goal and Edouard also felt aggrieved when he was denied a penalty soon after and booked for taking a dive by ref Willie Collum.
The result of the match very probably hinged on that decision but while Celtic believe they were badly wronged, TV replays certainly appeared to support Collum’s decision that the striker had taken a tumble without good reason.
No, the biggest problems plaguing Celtic this season have come at the other end of the pitch and have been entirely of their own making.
This is a group of players that breaks out in a rash every time they’re asked to defend a corner kick and it came as no surprise at all then when Rangers pulled level from one shortly before half-time.
Balogun won the first header as Celtic’s defence froze under Borna Barisic’s delivery. Then Morelos won the second, nipping in at Scott Bain’s back post to finally break his Old Firm duck from less than a yard out.
Again, it was another example of Celtic’s woeful inability to defend their own penalty box and this failure to learn lessons will certainly not look good on John Kennedy’s job application if the interim manager has any hope of landing the job on a more permanent basis.
As if to rub salt in their gaping defensive wounds Allan McGregor popped up every now and then with the kind of saves which he always seems to make on derby day, the best of which stopped Edouard and Elyounoussi from putting Celtic back in front before the interval.
But even though Rangers needed their veteran keeper to keep them in it – and despite their tank appearing close to empty for so much of this match – they could have nicked all three points late on in the second half when Goldson got on the end of another two Barisic corners and Bain’s defence deserted him all over again. All in all then, this was a match which taught us nothing much that we did not already know.
But it was also a day that will be remembered for many years for one man’s heartfelt gesture to a fellow human being.
Celtic will be losing more than a captain if Brown does decide to call it a day