Get over yourselves

Published 10th Feb 2020

Should there be a sense of relief that Celtic and Rangers have avoided each other in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup?

Or should there be a sense of foreboding that we might be moving closer to the day when we have the reality of a cup final and a league decider involving the pair of them in what would be the not so merry month of May?

You can get too much of the more toxic aspects of the rivalry which exists between the pair of them you know.

And it's chilling to know we're not yet out of the woods when it comes to the possibility of the pair of them winning their way through to the last sixteen of the Europa League and being drawn against each other for the first time ever at that level.

Home and away.

All respect is due to the players of both clubs. They have been outstanding in Europe and thrown up compelling entertainment on the domestic front at the same time.

It's the other stuff off the park that wears you down.

The endless fascination with conspiracy theories. The allegations of bias. The thinly disguised contempt for each other.

Put it this way, you wouldn't need a tracker device under your car to point you in the right direction of the next controversy where the pair of them are concerned.

Michael Beale, one of Steven Gerrard's backroom team, is the latest to be sent to the naughty step.

He's admitted that his five match touchline ban, imposed by the SFA last week, was incurred for questioning the integrity of the referee, Kevin Clancy, after he sent off Alfredo Morelos at the end of Rangers' win over Celtic on December 29.

Beale has now conceded that he should not have accused the referee of cheating.

Very decent of you old chap.

But when will you, and them, ever get over yourselves?

If there was a conspiracy against Celtic would they have won ten domestic trophies on the spin and had the incredible distinction of winning thirty-three League and Scottish Cup ties in succession?

Would it not be better, where a febrile support is concerned, to praise the players rather than suggest there was a plot to subvert the course of their history-making progress?

If Mister Clancy lacked integrity would he not have seen to it that Celtic won the match in December?

Would it not, Mister Beale, have been better to give due praise to the display given by the Rangers players instead of making a fool of yourself over the referee?

It's not as if we don't have enough to be going on with in the never ending war of attrition among supporters.

There's the admittedly dodgy translation of what has become Morelos' infamous television interview.

Now the broadcasting authorities have have got to act on one television company's failure to prevent an inaccurate translation which impugned the Celtic support where a false allegation of racism was concerned.

And another broadcaster is embroiled in controversy over a contributor of theirs who made on air comments which they considered to be worthy of punishment.

Talk about mind how you go.

Celtic and Rangers are the only show in town, but the entertainment comes at a price.

Beale, for example, will be absent from the touchline once again when Rangers go to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night in the league.

It'll give him additional time to reflect on the error of his ways.

It's not as if he can say he's English, a former Liverpool employee and new to the ways of the Old Firm rivalry.

Rangers already have one of those and he manages to conduct himself in a dignified manner. Gerrard I think his name is, Michael.

Think about it.

And temperament is going to be increasingly important as the finale to the season approaches.

Storm Ciara will hopefully have done its worst by the time Wednesday comes, but can anyone put the wind up Celtic and Rangers in the title race?

Kilmarnock put the kybosh on Rangers' title aspirations last season when they got the home win that created a mood of pessimism that could not be overcome inside Ibrox thereafter.

But Killie have won two of their last ten games this season. On that basis they do not present the most formidable of hurdles for Rangers in midweek.

Or do they?

And then there's Hearts. Every game is an adventure under their new manager, Daniel Stendel.

Five goals scored in their last two league games. Five points out of six dropped at the same time.

It'll be top versus bottom when they go to Celtic Park on Wednesday night.

A potential banana skin for Neil Lennon or is the reality that Hearts are out of their depth against a team who are carrying all before them?

If it isn't the latter then Neil's side will have shot themselves in the foot and sabotaged their title hopes.

All of this is enough to be going on with. We really don't need any more extra-curricular activity to excite those who are on the verge of hyperventilation.