Stop the ten? This crisis may yet play a part in title chase...
CELTIC supporters t hi nk t he SFA, Freemasons, referee John Beaton, Charlie Adam and the Scott i s h mainstream media are engaged in a plot to stop ten-in-a-row.
If that’s the case, it’s the worst conspiracy since Guy Fawkes was f ound under the Houses of Parliament with a truckload of gunpowder and a box of Swan Vestas.
The champions have now won nine straight titles. They’re on a run of 11 straight trophies with a chance of a quadruple Treble if they win the Scottish Cup.
They’ve wrapped themselves around the domestic game and squeezed tighter than a boa constrictor.
If Scottish football really is going full pelt to stop ‘the ten’, you’d hate to see the domestic game if the other teams put down the guns and stuck their hands in the air.
The champions have more money than the others. They have more trophies. They have the biggest stadium in the land. Fans of rival clubs think the SPFL reside in their back pocket.
Yet all that wealth, power and political clout can’t protect them from the one conspirator they can do nothing about. Covid-19.
In the quest to eliminate funny handshakes f r om Scottish society, coronavirus has been a ruthless campaigner.
Yet, to management and fans of Celtic, the virus is beginning to feel like a fully paid-up member of the secret society.
The strangest Old Firm clash in history f eels tailor- made f or Steven Gerrard’s Rangers.
Today, Celtic season- ticket holders can head for the Vue cinema at Glasgow Fort and pay £4.99 to watch Liverpool play Everton on a big screen.
But if they venture to within 100 yards of the wide open spaces of Parkhead, they risk a visit from Police Scotland.
Off the pitch, the absence of Celtic supporters does Rangers no harm. On it, the absence of Celtic players leaves them as confident over a trip to Parkhead as they have felt in years.
Whatever f ans say, striker Odsonne Edouard is the player Rangers fear most. And there are good grounds for that. In meetings with the Ibrox side, the Frenchman has scored six goals. He’s a veritable big-game hunter.
But, j ust recently, Edouard hasn’t looked himself. Visibly affected by transfer speculation during the window, he has spent the last ten days in isolation after a brush with coronavirus.
Israel pair Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed have also been laid low while Ryan Christie’s proximity to Stuart Armstrong on Scotland duty has been a costly and frustrating business.
Neil Lennon could lose all four and still put a team on the pitch capable of winning the game. But Rangers fancied their chances of pillaging three points f rom Glasgow’s east end even before the virus took a grip. And it has nothing to do with John Beaton being the man in the middle.
A visit to Parkhead offers a rare opportunity to utilise European tactics on a domestic stage.
Steven Gerrard can press high and use the pace of Ryan Kent to find pockets to attack. Captain James Tavernier and Borna Barisic are key to much of what they do and can punish the Parkhead side’s defensive frailties in the wing-back areas.
The only Rangers player who is ruled out through quarantine is new loan signing Bongani Zungu. And Gerrard won’t miss what he never had. Joe Aribo and Kemar Roofe remain doubts but the biggest threat to the visitors’ hopes comes from within.
After their last two meetings, some fans think their side are travelling across the city to administer a thrashing. And the expectation of supporters brings a dangerous layer of pressure for Gerrard’s players.
They coped fine when they claimed their first Parkhead win in nine years last December — but fell to bits when they returned f rom Dubai after the winter break.
A Rangers win t oday is not essential to sustain a title challenge but, given the problems affl i cting Celtic t his week, Gerrard will have nowhere to hide if they lose.
The stakes are equally high for Neil Lennon. He changed to 3-5-2 with this game in mind. However, a damaging Champions League defeat to Ferencvaros means the Celtic boss is only ever one Rangers defeat away from a crisis. And supporters will make no allowances whatsoever for the ravages of coronavirus.
If Edouard turns up fit, focused and firing, Celtic can pull the rug from under Rangers’ feet. If he doesn’t, home fans can take solace from one small crumb of comfort.
Whatever happens, Ryan Christie won’t be playing at centre-forward.