Mind the gap

                                                                                                                                                     Mind the Gap

There was a feeling of déjà vu among Celtic supporters after last weekend’s win in the derby match against Rangers. Once again the visiting side lost their discipline and finished the game with three players either red carded or, in the case of Ryan Kent, facing an inevitable ban once we got through the charade of an appeal which had no purpose other than to make him available for the Hearts game. The media of course presented it as an ‘Old Firm shame game’ despite Celtic’s players being guilty of little more than winding up more volatile Rangers players. Such gamesmanship is as old as football and to take the bait as spectacularly as Morelos did is just plain stupid. Scott Brown was accused of behaving like a ‘complete tit’ by Journalist Graham Speirs who was unimpressed by his winding up of opposition players but anyone who has played football at any level knows there are players out there who like to give the opposition the ‘verbals.’ They also know that the best thing to do is to smile in their faces not plant an elbow on their chin. Alfredo Morelos is responsible for his red card and no one else. Steven Gerrard said after the game of Scott Brown…

‘You're playing against a player who loves to antagonise. Morelos and Kent are both provoked. Celtic fans have the right to celebrate but not to do it right in your face. Halliday has the right to protect his own people. The guy who antagonised it all from the beginning deserves to be punished as well. When you're provoked, it's only fair that both sides get punished in my view. We've hurt ourselves badly this season with a lack of discipline.’

So Halliday was ‘protecting his own people?’ Against what exactly, someone smiling at them? Gerrard has played at the highest level for 20 years and was no stranger to winding up opposition players or fans on occasion during his playing career. He rightly fined Morelos for his violent reaction and in doing so admits his player’s guilt. His statement that Ryan Kent’s punch on Scott Brown wasn’t violent simply defies belief though. Does he actually believe this guff or is he just trotting out nonsense like that to justify his doomed appeal against Kent’s inevitable ban? Callum McGregor was close to the mark when he said... 

'If you look back to December's game, Rangers deserved to win and they celebrated on the pitch just as much as we did. We took it on the chin, we accepted that - we weren't going to shout about it and make a noise and try and deflect from the actual result.'

He really does have a lot to learn about being a manager as his utterances prove this season. His comment after drawing at Pittodrie this season that Aberdeen were not in Rangers class seems very hollow after the Dons dumped them out of both cups and defeated them at Ibrox in the SPFL too. Morelos continues to be an enigma who scores most of his goals against lesser opposition just as Kris Boyd did during his time at Ibrox. When the chips are down in the big matches with Celtic, the Columbian is either firing blanks or petulantly stomping and snarling his way through matches to no avail. Meanwhile the SFA continue to bumble along like the committee of an Ayrshire Bowling club and there was a risible reaction to their decision to send a notice of complaint to Scott Brown who is charged with breaching Disciplinary Rule 77 which states…

 ‘A recognised football body, club, official, Team Official, other member of Team Staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall, at all times, act in the best interests of Association Football. Furthermore such person or body shall not act in any manner which is improper or use any one, or a combination of, violent Conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.’

Brown, who took an elbow to the face in the game as well as that punch from Kent, was guilty of nothing more than raising his hands in victory near those poor, sensitive souls in the away end who fill the air with bile every time they visit Celtic Park. We see players showing out to opposition fans every week in the SPFL, indeed Mr Halliday wasn’t slow to gesture to the Celtic supporters after his team scored a goal against Celtic recently. We’ve also witnessed Kyle Lafferty, openly celebrate in front of Celtic fans after scoring a rare goal. I’m not complaining about any of this, it’s all part of football and you take the rough with the smooth. The SFA have contrived once more to make themselves look foolish with this trumped up charge against Brown. It did not go unnoticed that his hearing comes in early May and if the charge is upheld Brown could well miss the game at Pittodrie and/or Ibrox.

Celtic will vigorously fight the charge of course and so they should as they have logic as well as video evidence on their side. Mind you when did logic ever influence the folk who make decisions at Hampden? They have led Scottish football into the wilderness with predictable ineptitude over the years and I have little confidence they’ll show common sense over the latest storm in a tea cup involving Brown. It’s fair to say that none of this would be being discussed had not Andy Halliday lost the plot and charged 40 yards to confront Brown like an emotional 5 year old. As their season turned to ash before their eyes, he behaved like a spoilt brat instead of leaving the field with that ‘dignity’ they’re always going on about. Contrast his behaviour with Celtic leaving the field at Ibrox after December’s defeat.

The common thread here is a team unable to take defeat with any grace. It’s plain to see that they really thought this would be their year and believed the press hype which surrounded their appointment of Gerrard and the signing of Defoe and Steven Davis in the January transfer window. Even former Celtic star, Charlie Nicholas, stated that they’d win the title. Disappointment, it is said, is to be found in the gap between our expectations and reality. The reality for Rangers is that despite spending millions on players and Celtic having a host of players injured this season they are still a country mile behind the Champions in the SPFL and out of both cups. Like any side they can rouse themselves when facing Celtic and give them a real game but they have spilled points against the better sides in the SPFL and that has killed any hopes of a title challenge. The frustration of their season ending is such disappointment is a more likely underlying cause of their poor behaviour than anything Scott Brown did.

Celtic will now march on to their eighth consecutive title and continue a once in a lifetime journey towards the magical ten. The Board has a big decision to make about who will lead the side next season and should Neil Lennon complete the treble it would be hard to bet against it being him. Whoever it is will deal with a squad requiring investment and reshaping to ensure this golden opportunity isn’t lost.

This season has been a tumultuous one on and off the field in Scottish football but as Celtic close in on ten in a row I get the feeling we will see much more controversy and discord. Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football is too much for some to take. We saw that last Sunday.