Hugh Keevins: Who? Me?

Outrageous, I know.

I ask you, would anybody possibly do such a thing?

Would one of football's elder statesmen, like Walter Smith for example, ever do anything as provocative as to suggest that Rangers should go and get Derek McInnes from Aberdeen as their manager to replace Mark Warburton?

In other words, would Walter use an appearance on television to promote the idea that, whatever Rangers do next, they should resist the temptation to take a gamble and appoint the Portuguese, Pedro Caixinha, as Warburton's replacement?

Perish the thought.

And would a clearly thoughtful man like Brendan Rodgers indulge in verbal gymnastics of the sort likely to have people accusing him of bending over backwards to stir up controversy?

I mean, it's a perfectly innocent remark to make in the week of game four in what will now be a six game series of meetings with Rangers this season to state that St. Mirren are the best team Celtic have faced so far in domestic competition.

Isn't it?

Only Richie Foran, the Inverness Caley Thistle manager, can take exception to that remark on the basis that his side got a draw with Celtic, which is more than anybody else has managed since Rodgers arrived at Celtic Park.

St Mirren might be five points adrift of Ayr United at the foot of the Championship table, but what's wrong with saying they're better than Aberdeen, Celtic's nearest "challengers" for the league title?

Or better than Rangers, who will meet Celtic in the league on Sunday and then in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup next month?

What's wrong with Brendan saying that? It's a free country and on the basis that Brendan is the only undefeated manager in Britain he must know what he's talking about.

What you've done in a previous life might be a problem however.

Smith, in what I believe to have been a carefully thought out, strategically timed statement for public consumption on live television, said on Saturday that he believed Aberdeen's Derek McInnes was the best man to fill the current managerial vacancy at Ibrox.

The coded part of the message was that Rangers should get McInnes and minimise risk rather than take a massive gamble and appoint Caixinha.

This opinion was ruled out of order by a caller to Superscoreboard who denounced Smith on the basis that he had taken money out of Ibrox and not put any in during the club's hour of financial need.

Contractually agreed wages have apparently become akin to illegal earnings in the eyes of some fans and resulted in Smith's opinions being rendered invalid, presumably for the remainder of time.

But the former manager and chairman's words were well meaning so far as McInnes was concerned and intended to weaken the case of the Caixinha, who has designs on being in the dug-out at Celtic Park on Sunday, on the other hand.

Next Sunday. Next month. Next May. The two clubs are scheduled to provide a rip-roaring finale to the season, bearing in mind there'll be one, last derby to fit in after the split.

And we wouldn't have it any other way, would we?

Celtic call it the Glasgow derby now that it has become politically incorrect to use the term "Old Firm," which is to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

But the moral to the story is that the pair of them can't live with each other and they can't live without each other.

That's why we will have three sell-outs at Celtic Park, Hampden and Ibrox before the season ends. That's why tonight's Superscoreboard will officially begin the "My dad's bigger than your dad" debate which will rage from now until May.

We love it. We wouldn't be without it. And neither would both sets of fans despite their disingenuous claims that they don't care about each other.

The rivalry is all they think about and so a personal debt of gratitude to Brendan and Walter for the statements which have fanned the flames of controversy and kicked off Derbygate.

There's no point in looking at me. They said it. Now you can fight amongst yourselves.

It's the only show in town.

And you love it. You know you do.

• superscoreboard
• Hugh Keevins