ON OF the more-regular readers of these haverings contacted me some time ago and informed me: “Your posts are all about the Old Firm”. Now, this overlooks the opinion of a considerable sect of the Celtic Family, to the effect there no longer is an Old Firm; but, leaving that spurious argument aside, you have to admit, the Bigot Brothers is the gift that keeps on giving. So, it beholds any reasonable member of the Fourth Estate to highlight the latest stupidity to come out of eithr camp.
Which brings me to those cringe-worthy, totally embarrassing scenes on Saturday night at Hampden, as the Rangers players celebrated that epoch-defining 2-0 win over St Johnstone, as if they had won the European Cup. Worse, Manager Philippe Clement, who really ought to know better, joined in. FFS man, you've won nothing, you only beat the team which finished tenth in the league last season.
The official attendance was given as just under 39,000 – which means Hampden was only three-quarters full for the game. OK, there was some disappointment at Rangers crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers at home in midweek, while some of the Bears are none too happy at being froced to temporarily decamp to Hampden; there was also some upset at the game not being covered by a season ticket but, clearly some of the Follow Follow gang are being a bit more discerning as to when and what they are prepared to follow.
Or, might the High Heid Yins inside Ibrox be discovering, you might indeed be able to fool some of Ra Peepul some of the time, you cannot fool all of Ra Pepul all of the time. The fans are well aware they are being asked to pay good money to watch bad players, and, unless things improve, I can see a return to the 40 year old joke of the John Greig as Manager era, when it was said: “There's a design fault in the new look Ibrox – they built it with the seats facing the pitch”. These were the days when Rangers matches were played out in front of rows of empty seats.
As I have been saying for this entire calendar year – the bulk of the current Rangrers team are simply not Rangers Class, and even the true believers are starting to see this. If Celtic does not come up with a domestic treble this season, then Brendan Rodgers must be sacked – they are that far ahead.
I HAD a telephonere conversation this week with my pal Johnny, who is a life-long Somerset Park regular. His hearing has apparently gone off to look for the rest of his marbles, but I did learn, he is pleaantly surprised by the start his beloved Honest Men have made to the season.
Johnny knows, however, there have been past false dawns down Somerset Road, and it's still only August. But he admits to having his reservations about appointing Scott Brown assuaged somewhat. He believes the cross-culture combination of Broonie and number two Steven Whittaker offers some hope of a return to the good old Ally MacLeod era for Ayr United. He is also impressed by the way David Smith, the man currently custodian of the club has gone about things, not leat getting the new North Stand built and open, and investing in the club's Academy. However, as Johnnhy added: “These are early days in the new season”.
SOME 14 miles up the A77 things are not quite so rosey. Kilmarnock may still be in Europe, albeit having dropped out of the Europa League into the Conference League, but a pattern has developed of encouraging midweek results in continental competitions being followed by defeat in domestic matches.
Killie dropped out of the Premier Sports League Cup at the weekend, but, fortunately for them, their next fixture sees them back in Europe, to face FC Copenhagen on Thursday night. I have two fears for this game, the principal one being, will the Killie fans be able to keep the heid when faced with the delights of The Tivoli Gardens, or some of the wilder, more louche deligghts of the Danish capital.
My second fear is this, facing Copenhagen is a move up in class from the teams they have faced thus far. But, in Europe, as in so-much involving supportng one of Scotland's “diddy teams” - “It's the hope that kills”.
THURSDAY NIGHT is also a big night for another of our top clubs, with Heart of Midlothian kicking-off their latest European adventure, with their own opening Europa League game, against Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but, as far as can remember, Scottish sides tend not to fare none too well in the Czech Republic. On that spurious basis, things might not go too well for Hearts on the park, But given that Plzen is the home of Skoda cars and, more-importantly for the travelling Jambos, is also the home of Pilsner beer, making it one of the top destinations for fans with a thirst.
Viktoria are currently riding high in the Czech League, lying second with three wins and a draw from their four games thus far. Given Hearts have still to post a victory in therir three competitive matches thus far this season, their form wil need to improve somewhat in their match in Central Europe.
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