A week in Scottish Football: ‘A bit like celebrating a bingo win on the sinking Titanic’

The Celtic Star

·21 marzo 2025

A week in Scottish Football: ‘A bit like celebrating a bingo win on the sinking Titanic’

Losers acting like serial winners, UEFA tackles Ibrox racists and a disgraceful day for Police Scotland…Just another week in Scottish football!

Barry Ferguson, Interim Manager of theRangers, celebrates with backroom staff after Mohamed Diomande scored the team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The past five days has seen theRangers supporters revel in their unexpected win at Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon against the current champions, soon to be champions for a fourth successive season. Indeed Celtic are on the verge of a remarkable 13 titles win in 14 seasons making this easily the most success run by any club – dead or alive – in Scottish football history. So they are quite right in enjoying their ‘we beat Celtic’ moment as they haven’t had too much to cheer about since their old club went out of business back in 2012

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theRangers players have also been enjoying their victory, although it’s perhaps been a wee bit over the top. Celebrating wildly in the stadium, dancing in the dressing room like they just won a trophy, and taking to social media to disrespect Celtic’s stadium whilst acting like they ruled the roost.

Jefte of theRangers appears dejected at the end of the Scottish Cup match between Rangers FC and Queens Park at Ibrox on February 09, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Did little Queen’s Park from the lower leagues behave like that when they knocked theRangers out of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox a few weeks ago? Or maybe Motherwell or St Mirren acted like this when they also won at Ibrox just the other week?

That’s not the attitude you’d expect from a squad of players who collectively combined are just slightly ahead in winners medals than that of Celtic’s third choice goalkeeper Scott Bain.

Scott Bain Photo: Jonathan Moscrop/Sportimage

They are quite simply serial losers. When the push comes to shove they implode, they don’t have the bottle as their honours count and league standing would indicate. The table never lies. Folding in the pressure cooker of the League Cup final to Celtic, failing to keep up the pace in the race for the title and enduring those home defeats to St Mirren and Motherwell, getting knocked out the Scottish cup by Championship side Queen’s Park. That’s simply not the pedigree of winners.

It was the same story last season when they were going to win the treble but ended up losing their advantage in the league with a defeat at Ross County and a draw at Dundee after celebrating wildly at Ibrox because they managed a 3-3 draw with Celtic.

Scotland’s Shame – Celtic Park after theRangers visit. Photo social media @Cooper.gb1888

As Chris Sutton touched on this week, I’d be mighty embarrassed if my side acted like that whilst sitting in second place 13 points adrift and having virtually no chance of winning silverware. As someone hilariously put it on X, it’s a bit like celebrating a bingo win on the sinking Titanic.

Let’s hope the Celtic players are keeping note of the disrespect and getting above their station antics of theRangers players for when we next meet them, and firmly remind them of their true place.

Everyone Anyone? Aye right, it’s all just to impress their American saviours

The Rangers have been hit with a UEFA charge relating to a banner displayed by that ultra confused bunch of delinquents that are known as the Onion Bears in the recent Europa league clash with Fenerbahce at Ibrox.

Scotland’s Shame at theRangers vs Fenerbahçe, Ibrox, Europea League, 13 March 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

The banner in question unsurprisingly didn’t make much sense and looked as if it was pieced together by the local nursery, but the message it proclaimed was quite obviously one that was attended to be racist, offensive and bordering on fascist, leading to UEFA quite rightly hit theRangers with ‘a charge of ‘discriminatory’ behaviour.

This has led the Ibrox hierarchy producing a long worded statement proclaiming that Ibrox is for everyone, regardless of what race, sexuality and ethnicity they may be.

Whilst that may be a good thing, and it should be applauded at a time of social discontent aimed certain groups in society, it’s probably not being worded for the benefit of the many minorities that the Ibrox supporters show prejudice towards, anything but.

It’s possibly more to impress their new ‘potential’ investors from The United States of America. The supposed cash rich consortium who are going to change their fortunes overnight. Any negative press towards the club could hinder any takeover in their minds and they want to make sure they are seen to be rectifying any form of narrow minded racist behaviour.

theRangers fans gesture during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Think about it. The same support has been revelling in the hatred of Catholics for decades. They are also quite vocal on their feelings towards the LGBT community, whilst in recent weeks they have shown their disdain towards the Muslim community, not to mention anyone else who the perceive as being different to their own ‘culture’. And they are claiming that their on club has thrown them under a bus with this statement as it attacks their core beliefs.

What have the club or the SMSM done about it? Diddly squat that’s what. They have turned a blind eye and had a case of selective hearing when it comes to the Ibrox support and their bigoted and racist views. Their song book at Celtic Park last weekend was a disgrace from start to finish.

This statement by theRangers Board is to me nothing more than them trying to save face with the chance of some precious cash coming their way. They don’t want to jeopardise the opportunity of topping up their finances, they need this deal to go through or things could get very difficult for them all.

If they really believed that Ibrox is not the place for bigoted narrow minded folk, then they would have to get used to playing in front of empty stands every week.

Police Scotland a disgrace, and the club aren’t much better

Last Sunday was a day to forget on the park for Celtic, and it proved just as bad off it as well. Police Scotland boasted about having new powers in the lead up to the game, and they used these powers to their full advantage to inflict suffering on innocent football supporters who had done nothing wrong.

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This isn’t a new thing, and I’m not just talking about Celtic supporters, but all football supporters, I even speak for theRangers supporters who were also caught up in the bully boy tactics employed by Police Scotland. For years now football supporters have been treated with contempt by the lawmakers, politicians and the police alike. When you compare it to the soft approach they deploy on followers of other sports such as rugby, it’s night and day.

But it’s our own supporters that feel that treatment more often others, and it’s been happening for far too long now. That’s not a biased opinion, it’s fact. We’ve seen clips in the past of the way the Police treat our supporters and it’s absolutely shocking.

I myself was a victim of their deplorable behaviour a few years ago when I was caught up in a crush that thankfully didn’t prove fatal when Police decided to shut a gate denying supporters access through the North stand. The police predictably denied any wrong doing despite supporters such as myself seeing what had happened. And of course nobody was held accountable after a review.

Police officer wearing a face covering prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

On Sunday they stopped 90 Celtic supporters most of whom were affiliated with the Green Brigade from entering the stadium. According to Police Scotland they were detained for refusing to show them proof of identity and also being subjected to a search. But why should they comply? They are going to a football game for god sake, not going through airport security.

These powers that the police recently received are disgraceful and the government also have to have a long hard look at themselves. At a time when crime rates and poverty are through the roof they are solely focusing precious time and money on ordinary law abiding folk going to a game of football. The Police bill on Sunday would have been enormous and with double time being paid on a Sunday too. Convenient that.

Worst of all it looks as if our club are complicit in all of this as they of course took the recent stance of refusing the Green Brigade the right to display any sort of tifo, and with relations between them and the club at an all time low, it certainly doesn’t look like a coincidence that this incident took place. Celtic issued a statement saying that they are investigating but the support wants more than that. We want to be able to go to our stadium free from Police harassment.

Police are seen lining up outside the stadium prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Celtic SLO John Paul Taylor gave an update on events saying that he attended the ‘incident’ on London Road from 12.25 and liaised between Police Scotland and the fans being held. He remained on the scene until 14.10 and says he has since passed his feedback onto the club.

I wouldn’t hold my hopes for any sort of positive reaction from Celtic, as unfortunately and sadly they hold the support in as much regard as Police Scotland.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style. Available at celticstarbooks.com