A new Olympic sport?

Published 5th Aug 2019

Jumping to conclusions is the most common form of exercise indulged in by football fans, particularly after the first round of league matches on the opening weekend of the season.

It is a time when optimism is at its highest point and the intrusion of reality is simply not welcomed by the jumpers concerned.

The supporters of Celtic and Rangers offered perfect examples of the mindset which makes assumption far more relevant than any other consideration.

Neil Lennon's side scored seven goals against St. Johnstone on Saturday by dint of a performance that was justifiably summed up as "Perfect" by the manager.

The only problem with a display as stunning as the one delivered by Celtic is that it prompts the kind of hysteria which leads the more excitable to believe things will always be that way.

Nine in a Row is assured. The historic tenth title is just a heartbeat away. No further questions.

Rangers, by comparison, played functional, as opposed to inspirational, football while scraping by against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.

The assumption made there, if the subsequent callers to Superscoreboard were an accurate barometer of public opinion, was that Steven Gerrard's side had finally learned to win ugly and had demonstrated the character and resilience of title winners as a result.

Rangers, in other words, had done a Celtic, all the way down to a winning goal coming off a corner kick in the manner in which Celtic had effectively won the championship at Rugby Park last season.

Job done. Balance of power certain to switch from one end of Glasgow to the other at the end of the season. No supplementary questions required. Thank you and goodbye.

As ever, the truth is somewhere in between.

Rangers would probably have left points behind at Kilmarnock had this been last season, but the reality is they will need to play better than they did on Sunday over the course of the next thirty-seven games before readying themselves for a title-winning party.

Likewise, Celtic will undoubtedly have days when everything they touch will not turn to gold and a bit of grit will be needed to compensate for the temporary absence of genius.

But who am I to burst anybody's bubble?

The weekend provided a wonderful curtain raiser to the new season and the league campaign promises to be as incident packed as we hoped it would be.

Meanwhile, in order to satisfy the ever present bloodlust for recriminations we could have done without what went on off the park.

The banner displayed by the Green Brigade at Celtic Park was unnecessary and does the club no favours.

The structural damage done to the construction used by disabled supporters at Rugby Park was an unthinking act of delinquency which thankfully did not carry any serious repercussions.

One lot will accuse the other lot of inflammatory language.

Another lot will accuse the other lot of wantonly reckless misbehaviour.

All of them provide a dull, whirring noise in the corner which is best left ignored, other than to say the kind of disregard for the safety of those less fortunate than themselves was a concern that has to be denied any repetition.

There is a private world of anti-social behaviour within the game and it is to be condemned by those of us just trying to go about our law abiding business in an orderly fashion.

Better to think about the delights of next weekend instead.

Will Motherwell let the grass grow on their pitch to the extent that it obscures Mikey Johnson from view and impedes Celtic's slick passing game?

All is fair in love, war and the pursuit of points after all.

Will Hibs improve on Kilmarnock's total disregard for defence and offer Rangers a sterner test at Ibrox next Sunday?

Will jumping to conclusions ever be recognised as an Olympic sport?

We've got a few prospective gold medal winners if that's the case. But it's all good, clean fun and a better topic of conversation than dodgy banners and mindless folk with a scant regard for the safety of others