Football is often about moments.
If they’re emotionally significant, they usually get stored in long-term memory.
When Fashion Sakala made it three on 69 minutes, I suddenly had a very clear recollection of watching Rudi Vata scoring against the original Ibrox club at Hampden in 1995.
His free kick (scroll to 31 minutes) really shouldn’t have troubled Billy Thomson in goal.
It was a mark of how dark those days were for Celtic supporters that we cheered it like it meant something.
Celtic Park was being rebuilt, and the Hoops played their home games at the national stadium.
I recall leaving Mount Florida that day after watching Celtic and hoping this was a harbinger of better days.
Those were the days of bank-funded Rangers.
The previous year Celtic FC had been EIGHT minutes away from the bank’s deadline and going into Receivership.
Fergus McCann and his colleagues had just ousted the old board, and in building a new stadium at Parkhead he was, quite literally, investing in the future.
That result at Ibrox today is the one that the hope dealers on the sports desk were praying for.
They can now peddle an uplifting narrative of a Rainjurzz resurgence.
Consequently, a full stenography warning must remain in place until the next derby match in the new season.
Sevco’s three points in a league that has already been concluded at the top end mean just that.
The Postecoglou imposed mantra of “we never stop” was parked today, and his post-match displeasure was palpable.
After the summer break, Mr Beale’s charges have Champions League qualifiers and a meaningful derby match at the start of season 2023-24.
Until then, the sports desks will tell their dignified demographic that everything is fine at Sevco.
That pishful thinking will not give the ex-QPR legend more money to sign players.
Fergus understood that the club with greater financial strength would ultimately prevail.
The following season after Rudi’s free kick at Hampden, the financially doped Ibrox club prevailed again in the league campaign.
Ultimately, that nice moment didn’t matter.
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Would you rather finish the season with another treble and take one defeat from 6 games against the Ibrox outfit?
I know I would.
The media’s putting down a marker crap has no relevance if their trophy cabinet remains bare.
Yes, it is absolutely like that Rudi moment. I was actually expecting it. It won’t, however, prevent the premature ejaculation now being experienced in Darkest Alba.
I personally know Rudi and see him regularly. He is one of the nicest and most honest men I’ve ever met. His boy Rocco, is one of the young squad that we MUST keep. He IS a serious talent.
This result also shows we can`t rest on our laurels, no point having a bigger budget if we don`t spend it wisely to strengthen the team.
Ok. I’ll bite.
This has been an accident waiting to happen.
There were only “bragging rights” at stake but we have seen in the past how powerful they can be.
Looking at the comics today we see the gap has been reversed and Beale has “cracked the code” of Angeball.
However the system only worked against teams who “park the bus” something Sevco wouldn’t do.
I have said this at least twice before but MacGregor should be attacking and not filling that non-productive roll of “holding midfielder” and he is also not Captain material and I say this as I know that in difficult periods, I wouldn’t be looking to him for inspiration but perhaps someone along the lines of the injured Carter- Vickers or his ilk.
Ange had at least 4 near misses to avoid this.
Never happy with a defeat but at the end of the day Rangers have no trophy to parade with and will very likely be watching Celtic confirm yet another treble in a couple of weeks time.
I can live with that, can their fans?
The so called Scottish Sports Journalists will go to town with the optimistic pish stories regarding the Ibrox mob. Lets face it the close season is always the best time of the year if you’re a bluenose, and that result yesterday will put “how great The Rangers will be” into overdrive.
Celtic didn’t turn up for the dead rubber cup final and quite honestly could have left themselves open to a real doing. Some of our fringe players let themselves down but the experienced players around them didn’t help much.
Hopefully lessons have been learned, but I think when the League Trophy and hopefully the Scottish Cup are handed out at the end of the season the game yesterday will be long forgotten by the Celtic support.
I think this might be a rude awakening. We have been pretty poor for a little while. One good half against Kilmarnock dosnt quite cut it.
I think we lulled by the fact that we are one game away from a treble, but this team seem to be coasting.
Much easier when the pressure is off. Big teams celebrate winning big games, wee teams celebrate beating a big team’s reserves in a dead rubber game. No complaints about the defeat, we simply didn’t turn up.
Another thing – when are TV commentators going to apologise to viewers for the racist, sectarian and offensive singing clearly picked up by their microphones? It would actually be a small, easy but incredibly helpful thing to do.
Sevco’s season imploded after April’s semi-final at Hampden. They simply couldn’t handle the pressure when it really mattered in big games. Now Celts are looking at a potential treble. A world of difference between us and them.
Yesterday we saw a broadcaster air what what can only be described as a sectarian hate fest for 90 mins .
Nothing more nothing less
Thousands upon thousands of men woman and children spewing out anti catholic bile on live tv .
Very disappointed.
And disappointed for a little while now in recent form, all be it results have been okay.
Our performances have been perfunctory at best since being 4 – 0 up first half away to Kilmarnock. (It may have been 4- 1? wotever)
Since then? Perfunctory at best.
We have beaten Sevco, only by dint of their help in recent games.
Today, their help was not forth-coming.
Role reversal in fact.
The performance today required radical substitute change a lot earlier than the familiar/predictable/dare I say rather dull 1 hour mark. Other teams are aware of this strategy and are prepared for it. Familiarity breeds contempt.
I didn’t rate any individual performance above a 5 out of 10.
This smelled of Lawwell today.
Alternatively, it may be a cunning Ange plan to shout out, ‘I need better for the coming Champions League campaign’.
I may be falling into the trap of a sense of entitlement to win.
But we are struggling to beat a diminished ‘Rangers’.
I would not compare this, or recent Trebles to the feat of Martin O’Neill where we faced a formidable (all be it cheating) challenge from the other side of Glasgow.
I just needed to vent.
Hail, hail.
I hope we realise that they had us sussed today and played accordingly…We were bullied all over the park…and they pressed us in a way we couldn’t cope with…I lost count of the number of mis-placed passes we came up with under pressure and the number of 50/50 tackles we lost…I also saw players not good enough at this level of fixture…Finally I’d like to congratulate Starfelt on a vg performance…He was my MOM…Over to you Ange.
David Brent has now managed Sevco five times against us, and got his first win. But, in how many of those five games have we actually played well?
He seems to know how to stop us playing; we need more variety in our play, we are far too predictable.
What a disappointing season for Celtic. Winning the League, Winning the League Cup and a possible Treble next month all count for nothing as we lost 1 game in 6 to the World’s Most Successful Team.
Best result possible today for Celtic
1. Their board will spend less
2. Our board will spend more
3. No one got harmed at ibroke
4. Celtic will be re-motivated
5. The ibroke players will all be thinking they’re Joey Barton
6. The hope will kill them
sevco – The Dead Rubber Champions, 2023?
This meaningless result might help sell a few more Ibrox ST’s.
Beale can crank up his soundbites right through until the start of next season,
and the obedient SMSM will metaphorically kiss his @rse in their media coverage.
If today has riled Ange, and he has a clearer idea of which players are NOT good enough and need replacing,
then it was probably a good day for us too! 🙂
If this game mattered a different result would have been had.
Yes Phil, Rangers can now indeed claim the ‘We Were Second Best Again League Trophy.’ Hip, hip, hoorah. 😭
Not a great day for the Celts but with yet another treble one game away I can live the with the result, usually I would be gutted.
The three points gained today by the Ibrox club is completely meaningless in the bigger picture.
4 wins 1draw and 1 defeat…
I’ll take that every season..
Championees☘☘☘
Phil,
All they have done is narrowed the gap at the top of the table to 10 points and reduced the goal difference to 26.
No doubt they’re still hanging around waiting for their presentation.
HH
Phil, expect the Scottish football journalists too bash their gums at how terrific The Rangers are and the top stars they are looking to sign. Same old tired dung💩
Our course the positives are clear.
Beale will stay now.
Cantwell has a totally unfounded sense of competence.
They have hope.
Much as I regret the score today and the way we played, Ange will have learnt from it (as he said). It will only lead to us strengthening next season.
5/6 new players is a rebuild to them. The same to us is us tweaking our squad whilst making a few 10’s of millions in the process.
The gap is huge.
Gutted at the result, big ange don’t get many things wrong, but that starting 11 was poor. Unless the big man was saying to the board “ I can’t go into the champions league with these guys “.
Anyway, still champions and on course for a treble
HH
I wish I had a pound for every Celtic fan I heard say that if we had to lose one Glasgow Derby out of all the recent meetings, it would be the game today. I agreed. The best team on the day won but only the most deluded will fail to recognise it for what it was…a dead rubber. For Celtic fans we got to see an almost complete change of defence with a few 1st team starters left out and of course the return of young Abada from injury. One thing we can take from today is that we got a reminder of who is Europe/big game capable going forward and who clearly isn’t.
A lot of over confidence in many.From all the games apart from the first game when we routed Sevco 4 nil,there has been very little between the teams. Hopefully this is just a blip,but passing game has been really slack recently including our captain . Sevco worry me more with Sakala than Morelos ever did also,and big Joe isn’t the greatest keeper either. The boy Cantwell ran the show today which was surprising and totally bossed McGregor. Sevco might have little money but they could still find a few gems like big Ange,so it will be interesting over the summer.