Huge overreaction from both sides of Glasgow’s divide

The Celtic Star

·17. März 2025

Huge overreaction from both sides of Glasgow’s divide

Following yesterday’s defeat against theRangers there are many fans angry with the Celtic team and its manager, which of course is to be expected…

Arnie Engels of Celtic and Ianis Hagi of theRangers during the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park, Celtic v theRangers, 16 Mar 2025 O Rourke/ Shutterstock

The flak they are currently receiving is probably justified in the short term as we are all annoyed after yesterday’s game and having our biggest rivals gloating is always going to.

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I’m more ‘disappointed’ than anything

I hurt but let’s be realistic here. It’s not the end of the world. Far from it in fact. If yesterday’s game had of been a crucial match which could potentially decide who claims this seasons league title I would be absolutely fuming with our display. Instead I feel pretty much like James Tavernier has felt his whole career. I’m more ‘disappointed’ than anything.

I know I will receive plenty of stick myself for this article as it’s never acceptable to get beat by your bitterest of rivals (and boy are they bitter), especially at home, but the way I look at it is well at the end of the day I would much rather be in our position than theirs. The overreaction to the win across the city has actually amused me today. Barry is the new Pep. Raskin is prime Xavi and Igamane has just added to his £30m price tag. It’s all nonsense however.

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Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Let’s be honest here. When Daizen Maeda scored early in that second half most of us would have felt the match was only going to end with one winner. Once it went 2-2 I felt it was only a matter of time until we went on to get a third.

Igamane’s winner was more a moment of sheer luck

They showed nothing until that point and Igamane’s winner was more a moment of sheer luck than brilliance. As I said in my article yesterday, Johnston’s miss at the end pretty much summed up our luck on the day. If we had of won 3-2 after being down 2-0 the angry bears would have been out in full force. Barry Ferguson should have never got the gig. Clear out all the players in the summer as none are fit to wear our precious shirt. Instead they think they are world beaters.

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Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, looks on prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

They will get tanked by Athletic Club Bilbao

This is a recurring theme with them. They will get tanked by Athletic Club Bilbao and it will be all doom and gloom again. Thankfully we aren’t like them. Yes our players underperformed yesterday. They also failed to show up at the New Year’s game too. This season however has been a roaring success so far, that cannot be doubted. We have massively improved in Europe. We are fully on course to claim the treble. At times we have played some fantastic football worth every penny of the admittance fee. A few sub-par performances against theRangers should not define our season.

Truly the Espanyol of Glasgow

It’s been clear that the players have not been as up for these last two Glasgow Derby’s as we would like and this is something they have to reflect on. As I said it’s never good enough to just turn up for these matches and expect to beat a rival who you know will be fully up for it to save their own embarrassment this season. However if you told me they would beat us twice this season but we would win all three trophies I would have bitten your hand off. The fact that the best achievement they will end the season with will be beating us a few times shows where that club is it. Truly the Espanyol of Glasgow.

READ THIS…Celtic 2-3 theRangers – An atrocious start, Hoops were so passive and sloppy

Reo Hatate of Celtic celebrates scoring to tie the game 2-2 with Adam Idah of Celtic. Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 16 March 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

In regards to some of the stuff I have read about Brendan Rodgers too I think most of it is a huge overreaction. To say that he should go at the end of the season is truly mad. Okay he has been humbled in quick succession by Clement and Ferguson over these last two Derby games but come on.

We will not find a better manager than Brendan Rodgers

Anyone who thinks he should pack his bags at the end of a season where we could potentially win a treble and have performed better in Europe than we have in over a decade is having a laugh. We will not find a better manager than Brendan Rodgers once he leaves. Yesterday will have hurt his ego more than most and he will be determined to correct it at Ibrox next time.

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Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic holds off Cyriel Dessers of the Rangers as Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel catches the ball. Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 16 March 2025 Photo: Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

The players let Brendan Rodgers down

I have also seen some fans say he was outfoxed by Ferguson. He wasn’t. He sent the best starting eleven out he had at his disposal and they let him down. He didn’t beat about the bush and changed things up at half time and his subs made an instant impact. If we had of went on to win that game which looked a strong possibility at 2-2 he would have been hailed a genius. The players let him down. The amount of individual errors being made in that first half was almost unbelievable, especially as it was from experienced players, the ones you can usually fully rely on. It’s on them to redeem themselves next time.

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Cyriel Dessers of theRangers goes down with an ‘injury’ and is checked on by Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic during the Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Come May Glasgow will be green and white

Yesterday was a bad day at the office but in the grand scale of things it changes nothing. I’ll certainly not be thinking about yesterday or the New Year’s game if we are lucky enough to be celebrating a treble come May. Let them have their day. It won’t be long until proper order is restored.

Come May, usual service will have been restored and Glasgow will be green and white.

Conall McGinty

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books. Photo: The Celtic Star.