SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

There’s no doubt at all about the importance of today’s game at Ibrox, is there? We go into the game a whopping FOURTEEN points ahead after only eighteen games. If we can come out of that with a win which will see us seventeen points ahead at our halfway stage, we can certainly be thought to have a commanding lead in the title race. 

Projecting that to the full 38 game season would mean finishing 34 points clear,but even that is largely irrelevant. After all, we finished 39 points ahead only eight seasons ago. It would hardly be uncharted territory. But never mind us, think of the effect a lead like that would have on the hordes across the city? They are already revolting (I know. I know.) and a right good doing might just tip them over the edge. Which is a pleasant thought. And a trip to Easter Road on Sunday to face a Hibs side which is finally starting to get results would not be a pleasant prospect for them. So the question is, do we drive another nail into their coffin today, or do we go easy on them? (Holds onion to eye.)

Football is a strange business. In most businesses, the object of the exercise is to provide a product which is so popular with the customers that it drives your competitors out of business altogether. Because then you can hoover up most if not all of those customers too,strengthening your own company to enable you to drive even more competitors out of business. You get my drift. The goal is monopoly, in effect. Football though is codependent, meaning there has to be some competition there to allow your company to win. The goal in football is for a loyal and growing fanbase which will allow you to be up there when the trophies are won, because doing so ensures the loyalty and growth of that fanbase. It’s why the likes of Liverpool have such huge numbers of fans which leads to more sponsorship income which gives them more money to spend so the team can win more trophies and attract more fans. And so the cycle continues-unless the wheels come off, like at Man Utd at the moment. Clubs would cry if there were no worlds left to conquer-because they had driven the competition to the wall. In a business sense, it makes no sense at all. But in a football sense, it makes all the sense in the world. 

But there is one golden rule of business which applies at all times, and it doesn’t matter which business you are in either. Never give a sucker an even break. It is in our hands today, we have a chance to deliver a blow to our most loathed rivals from which they could take an age to recover. And in those hands we hold most of the cards. 

We are going into the game with a full squad. One which has had little more than the most minor of hiccups all season, if we ignore a horrible night in Dortmund! One which only lost two games in the whole of the calendar year just ended-and we were bloody cheated at Tynecastle as we know. We have a manager who is completely trusted by his own bosses, his players and the fans, a man in total control of his destiny. 

R2ngers on the other hand? 

They have real problems. Igamame up front is their only striker in any decent form, and he is very hit and miss. Let’s hope for the latter today. Cerny is struggling due to too much game time. Danilo and Dessers are just struggling. In midfield, they can rely for a while on the thuggery of Raskin and Barron, while Hagi will flatter to deceive while fading completely the minute he gets a dull one from AJ or CCV. At the back,they are in all sorts of disarray. 

Butland is out, and likely to be for a while. As is Tavernier. Souttar is still absent, while Balogun is more reliant on his zimmer frame by the day and is carrying an injury. Castlewirock (a wee reminder of home for SOLKITTS) is still absent from the left back role, and Yilmaz has the same problem with too many minutes as Cerny. These are not the kind of issues anyone wants going into a must-win match against runaway leaders in any country. And least of all in Scotland. 

So do you want my prediction for the day ahead? Well,only a fool predicts the out come of an O** F*** game (said Jock) so you won’t get one from me, I’m afraid. I’ve just explained though how we hold all the cards going into the match, and the selection problems facing Clement (who can’t even consult his sports science team, cos they are in the huff!) I’ve told you why the game is important to us, but I’ve also explained why it is more important to them. They’re my only concern.

What dark arts will be conjured up to enable a R2ngers victory, one which will give them the boost of reducing the gap to a measly eleven? Will the kick off time of 3pm on a public holiday in front of a 100% hostile and probably pissed up support (hardly helped by selling beer in marquees outside the ground, btw) endanger our playing and coaching staff? Will the officials be entirely faithful to their chosen profession? 

There are still some factors which can come into play on the day, totally unique to the occasion. But I’ll end as I started, which is how I hope we approach the game and deal with all the above. Never give a sucker an even break. 

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Above article by BMCUWP