The season of goodwill. Not.

Published 16th Dec 2019

'Tis the season to be jolly.

Are you having a laugh?

First of all we had Alfredo Morelos' sending off at Motherwell on Sunday prompting an explosion of whataboutery.

Then Steven Gerrard accused the referee, Don Robertson, of being unable to wait to hand out a red card.

Not a shred of evidence to support his claim, of course.

How do you go about proving an accusation like that if the match official says, "No, I wasn't?"

And then we had the self-appointed political wing of the Celtic support displaying one of their obscenely worded banners decrying a well known individual for having the temerity to express a personally held opinion that conflicted with their world view.

And they pass this off as the uniformly held opinion of the "Celtic family."

They obviously don't do irony these chaps.

Likewise those who raced to social media to highlight other cases of people who made the inflammatory gesture that Morelos made in times gone by.

There was Neil Lennon at Ibrox during his time as Hibs manager. And then there was Scott Brown at the end of a game against Rangers at Celtic Park.

The problem is, if you believe Lennon and Brown were guilty and should have been punished then you must obviously believe Morelos was equally culpable.

Still, it all adds to the gaiety of nations as we approach the glut of enticing fixtures which take us up to the Winter break.

At least Gerrard was as candid as he was honest when he admitted Rangers had no complaint over the decision to send off Morelos.

He should have left it at that rather than accuse the referee of having an insatiable need to send off anyone on the park when that verdict comes across as contradictory and inconsistent.

Better to stick to the observation that Rangers had a "Strong, solid win."

That much was undeniable, totally accurate and a tribute to a side willing to do the hard yards to take Celtic all the way in the title race.

Edinburgh has been the home of capital punishment for Hibs and Hearts this season.

Both clubs saw fit to bin their managers and appoint new ones in the first quarter of the season.

But now Edinburgh becomes the festival stage for the next round of matches in a title-winning contest that is no business of Hearts or Hibs other than having the chance to booby trap the progress of those involved in a two horse race.

Hearts are so appalling their new manager, Daniel Stendel, is already appealing for calm after just one match in charge.

Someone had better explain to him that they might very well have time for circumspection in Barnsley, his last known address in a coaching capacity, but it's not a defining characteristic of any club up here.

Wednesday night will either be a cakewalk or a banana skin for Celtic. If it is the former then Stendel will be a Boxing Day Edinburgh derby defeat away from a full blown crisis.

Jack Ross will welcome Rangers to Easter Road on Friday under less demanding circumstances.

Hibs are not relegation material and they have a better, younger side than their civic rivals.

Hibs, at the same time are not a match for Rangers, with or without Morelos.

If Rangers or Celtic lose in Edinburgh it will be through their own fault.

But it is to the eternal credit of both Celtic and Rangers that they have given us a season to relish.

I have pointed this out on Superscoreboard on several occasions and therefore rejected the criticism from a caller on Sunday who insisted I was only interested in taking Morelos to task.

Unfair and inaccurate.

But who said life was fair?

Tonight we will enjoy the Europa League draw, thanks to Celtic and Rangers having also given us that appetising dimension to the season.

One set of fans will hope that the other goes out and that expulsion leads to a collapse on the domestic front.

The rest of us get to hitch a free ride on the roller coaster at what is a Christmas carnival of football.

What's not to love.