Hugh Keevins: Is everybody happy? That'll be the day

I don't know whether to be happy to be proved correct for once or sad that my take on the negative side of Scottish football has been supported by someone who gave as much to the game here as Fergus McCann.

Celtic's saviour, and the man who created the model for the modern day version of the club, has had one of his periodic looks at the domestic game from afar and come to the conclusion that nobody here likes each other.

And what have I said all along on Superscoreboard?

Scottish football runs on malice. It's a place where, if you can do someone a bad turn then that'll do nicely, thank you very much.

Fergus says the fans of all other clubs hate Celtic and Rangers, in spite of the fact they are biting the hands which feed them.

He might also have added, but didn't, that the supporters of both Glasgow clubs wish each other nothing but ill at the same time.

Witness the Rangers-supporting caller to the programme last week who delighted in telling us that he had the opportunity to watch Celtic play Manchester City in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium and would be going there in the hope that Brendan Rodgers' side were "destroyed."

So much for the co-efficient table that Celtic have battled to make respectable enough to help the case of Scottish clubs in Europe.

Mark Warburton will now be getting a sense of the negative side to life in Scottish football as well.

Rangers' failure to beat a Kilmarnock side who played the the last third of their game at Rugby Park on Friday night with ten men immediately inspired a social media backlash against the previously lauded manager.

Ibrox supporters don't like the look of their team's start to the season any more than they do Celtic's flawless beginning to the league campaign they expect will give them Six in a Row.

If Warburton can't come up with a plan that avoids an emphatic defeat at Celtic Park on September 10 he and some of his high profile signings will be on the receiving end of a blast which signifies how quickly the wind changes in these parts.

Last season's watershed moment for Celtic came when Rangers eliminated them from the Scottish Cup. A club statement was rushed out to the effect that Ronny Deila would be nowhere near the club in the season which followed and the trail which eventually led to Rodgers being appointed manager was undertaken.

Warburton needn't think he's immune to sudden alterations of opinion where he's concerned.

Gordon Strachan's not out of the woods either.

Scotland must begin the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign with a win, and nothing but a win, against Malta on Sunday, otherwise the section we're in will be off to a demoralising, and potentially destructive, start.

It was all selfies and self-delusion when the Euro 2016 campaign ended with a worthless win over the mighty Gibraltar, but even the potential for two flops in a row will bring out the mutinous side in a support who eventually tire of wanting everyone to love them and demand change.

If nothing else, this weekend and the one that follows will provide us with that kind of car crash watch at club and international level which fans and the media find irresistible.

There's no point in asking anyone to retain a sense of perspective about any, or all, of this. We never lose that loathing feeling.

But Leigh Griffiths should nevertheless be commended in the passing for the gesture he made towards the grieving family of thirteen year old Kieran McDade on Saturday.

The child who lost his life after playing for his school team was honoured by Griffiths donning a tee shirt in his memory after scoring for Celtic against Aberdeen on Saturday.

No parent could have failed to locate a lump in his or her throat while trying to imagine how Kieran's mum and dad are coming to terms with their loss.

Griffiths made the only simple gesture of support he could think of, and won the respect of those who gratefully accepted a moment of conciliation and consolation.

Now we can pause for breath and get back to the business of looking for scapegoats.

If we've got the player, Oliver Burke, who's just become the highest priced Scot in the transfer market following his move from Nottingham Forest to Red Bull Leipzig in the Bundisleague might it be logical to expect he'll play against Malta on Sunday?

And if Leigh Griffiths is passed fit should he and his apparently bottomless pit of goals not make him an automatic pick at the same time?

If not, why not?

We need to know how this story ends before the country sits back and takes in the first Old Firm league game for four years.

I will call it the Old Firm game, and will refer to the history of the fixture, at regular intervals between now and match day because it annoys so many people with nothing better to trouble them on such an intense level.

If the game likes to run on malice then you might as well give the malicious something to get worked up about while the rest of us concentrate on the football.