Of Bhoys and Men - Coup de grâce and the Bitter Sweet at Ibrox.

By: Cham | January 4th, 2007

Really, you can’t say much about this week’s Scottish Football news, or even just Celtic news, without screaming about the situation going down in Ibrox. It seems Rangers are doing their darnedest to steal the spotlight from Celtic’s runaway season by filling the headlines with nothing but outrageously bad club news.

After a December of poor press, the worse got better. To kick off the new year, Rangers (read: team manager, Paul Le Guen) decide to drop team Barry Ferguson from his captaincy. Of course, Mr. Ranger won’t take this lying down, since Le Guen himself was more so on the hot seat concerning his own position at Ibrox. Throw in a bit of teamsmanship and player-agent jockeying, a possible move to the Villa, and Barry Ferguson has a bargaining chip or two.

All this seemed to be taking the main headlines in Glasgow and Scotland, until the Coup de grâce: Paul Le Guen decides to step down as manager at Rangers. Not even wikipedia is up on the news, which is not to say this is hot off the presses, but will be the main talking point for the week and most likely the season.

Rangers have an important match with Dundee United, tabled ninth, this Saturday. Dundee hasn’t been the most ominous force in the Scottish Premier, but they did manage two good goals on Celtic, before the Bhoys mounted an exciting, late-game comeback to level at 2 goals all.

So, after seven months of discomfort, Rangers have to come to grips with many of the same difficulties that have plagued Hearts this season.

The silver lining for ‘Gers: they are still in second place!

Now, this is a struggling second place. Rangers lead third place Aberdeen by a single point, 39 to 38 respectively. Meanwhile, Celtic leads the table with a most healthy 56 points on 23 games. That’s an average of almost 2.5 points per outing. Imagine winning three out of every four matches, and at the fourth, taking a draw. Oh, and not losing.

And this is the statistic that I delight in, as a Celtic fan. It’s been a truly unstoppable season, setting Celtic Football Club apart from all comers north of Hadrian’s. Not to mention a berth in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. As one poster mentioned, it’s the UEFA that’s keeping Hoops awake; they’ve simply steamrolled the Scottish Premier.

Enough cannot be said about either accomplishment, which is why the trouble over at Ibrox is a bit bitter sweet. I never mind watching a good in-fighting in the rival’s clubhouse; serves them right for being damn Rangers. But with all that said, Rangers may still manage to finish out the season in second or third place, depending on their home stretch. And with all the calamity that has been going down at ‘Gers, a second place finish and an Old Firm draw will not seem like so bad a year; not a bad showing on their season and their decent placement in this year’s Scottish Premier, not to mention their own success in the UEFA (Mickey Mouse) Cup.

With an asterisk effectively saddled over Rangers’ season and results, will this undoubtedly cast a slight shadow over the grand success of Strachan and Celtic? Time will tell, especially as we see how Rangers respond to all their hullabaloo of the last week.

As for Celtic, we’ve got the always dangerous Hearts away this weekend. Hearts, as mentioned, have had their own difficulties with managerial and player retention (see: Elvis). Celtic will need to continue the spectacular form that assisted them in the most recent Tuesday 2-nil victory over Kilmarnock: one of those goals by the ever delightful and Irish Darren O’Dea, who is quickly becoming my favorite player of the year.

We are Celtic. This is the Celtic Offside Report.