Every game is a big one for Celtic, whether you are 20 points in front or 20 behind
Peter Grant knows exactly what it feels like to be part of a Celtic side charged with trying to haul back Rangers as they motor off into the sunset.
The Alloa manager was part of a Hoops team who fell 14 points behind their biggest rivals after losing 2-0 on January 2, 1991.
Exactly 30 years later, last Saturday Neil Lennon’s side went 19 points adrift of Steven Gerrard’s men.
You only got two points for a win in 1991, so the margin was even more formidable than the current gap, and Celtic have played three games fewer.
Billy Mcneill’s team did not succeed, finishing the 1990- 91 campaign in third, which cost the manager his job.
But Grant still remembers having pride in the pursuit, even when it became clear it was doomed.
“Everyone talks about big games. Well, every game you pull on a jersey for Celtic is a big game,” said the 55- year- old, who also had a spell coaching at the club as assistant to Tony Mowbray.
“That is the case, whether you are 20 points in front or 20 points behind.
“When I was a Celtic player, you were representing the badge on your jersey.
“That is the same today. The name on the back gets changed often enough – but the badge stays the same.
With the standards they have set, if they don’t win a trophy – or fall behind in the league – it is a catastrophe
“So right up until the end of this season, Celtic will be trying to win every game, and trying to play to the top of their form.
“If Rangers are going to be caught, that is what it is going to take.”
If not, Celtic will continue to get stick, something which, Grant argues, would happen even if his old club were failing to mount a decent challenge for the English Premier League!
“Let’s put things into perspective. Celtic have won 12 trophies on the bounce,” he said.
“They deserve great credit. That is the standard that they are at now. If they don’t win a trophy, or fall behind in the league, it is a catastrophe.
“That is the nature of the beast. You are just expected to win, win and win again.
“Outside of Manchester United – and I have seen it first-hand having worked down south – there is no one in the same league when it comes to the pressure of winning and being successful.
“If you finish fourth in England, everyone is delighted.
“But if Celtic were down there for five or six years, and they weren’t challenging for the league, they would be moaning about that!
“That is fact. You get all these teams aiming for top four or top six, but after a few years that would be unacceptable for Celtic.
“That is why a lot of people down there don’t want them. They know within a period of time if it is done right, they would be able to challenge any of them.
“Don’t get me wrong, it is hard to play for the Old Firm.
“I was in England for 24 years, and I saw an awful lot of good players coming up to Glasgow and fading because they could not handle the pressure of playing for Rangers or Celtic.
“You can either live with it, or you can’t.
“It is not about going from season to season under pressure – it is week to week.
“I was fortunate enough in my time as a player that a big percentage of our boys knew what it was about.
“It was only later on, when you saw a lot of different guys come in, and you think: ‘Wow, great signing!’.
“But then, when it came to a Saturday, for whatever reason they just could not perform.
“At the Old Firm, you are public property and you have to be able to deal with it.”
Back in the first few days of 1991, for Grant that meant having to face up to some unpalatable truths.
“The New Year derby defeat was a painful one,” he said of a Rangers win delivered through goals from two Marks – Walters and Hateley.
“You had to give 100% in these games. We did that, but we weren’t good enough.
“They had better players than us and deserved to win the game. But there were a lot of occasions over the years when we deserved to win against them and didn’t.
“Rangers had guys playing for them who were used to winning.
“It was a transitional time for Celtic, and we were maybe a bit short in that regard, not good enough and not consistent enough.
“Over that period, Andy Goram was magnificent.
“You speak about Allan Mcgregor having won the game last week. Well, there were games in which Andy had a lot more saves to make against us, make no mistake about that.
“Don’t forget either, the quality of the defenders they had back then – the likes of Terry Butcher and Richard Gough.
“No disrespect to the centre-backs at Rangers just now, but they are of a different level.
“They had some exceptional players in their nine-in-a-row run. Every one of them was a top international, not just someone with a cap or two. “And we weren’t.
“I always go back to 1995-96 under Tommy Burns, God rest him, and where we lost one league game all season and still never won the league. “We had too many draws.
“We had the likes of Pierre van Hooijdonk and Andreas Thom, but we were playing against a very, very, good Rangers side.
“We weren’t at their level, but we had our moments.
“Celtic were trying to get a new stadium built over that period, and spending all their money on that instead of players.
“Rangers were 10 years ahead in that respect. Their stadium was done, so they were free to pump money into their team.
“At the same time, you have to go out and buy the right players and Rangers certainly did that at that time.
“People will say: ‘Aye, but they were paying this and they were paying that at the time’.
“But we didn’t know anything about that. We just played the team that was in front of us.
“Whatever way they did it doesn’t really matter. The players they brought in were better than what we had.
“And at the end of any season, the team that gets the most points gets what they deserve.”