Celtic may be vulnerable at the moment, but remember, we weren’t given a snowball’s chance in hell of beating the Ibrox side the last time we met them

Last September, in the run up to the first derby game against the Ibrox side, we weren’t given much chance of getting a result against them on their home patch.

We were going to a partisan Ibrox, with no away support, and an injury list that could fill a small hospital.

Nobody gave us a chance.

Only a fortnight previous, we had been turned over by Kilmarnock in the League cup after a scrappy, lifeless performance against them.

That was followed by a dour nil all home draw to St. Johnstone.

The Celtic players were booed off the park that day.

Nobody, including me, held out much hope for the derby on September 3rd.

Our form was bad then, maybe not as bad as it is now, but it was bad enough.

We were starting the game against the Ibrox side with a completely inexperienced central defence, and a midfield missing the skills of Reo Hatate.

Hatate had gone off injured in the win against Aberdeen a few weeks previous, and we were definitely missing his creative spark after that.

Clearly we’re missing it now too.

But let’s look at the upcoming derby at Celtic Park, and put it into context.

Sometimes, it takes a particular fixture to spark players into life.

The derby at Ibrox last September seemed to have that effect on Liam Scales.

He hasn’t really looked back since.

Scales was selected by default that day, because we had no other central defenders available.

He didn’t waste his opportunity.

Every player seemed to step up to the mark that day.

Even David Turnbull.

He was calm and collected, and his ball distribution throughout his 66 minutes on the field was excellent.

Callum McGregor ran the show in midfield.

This was McGregor at his best, something we haven’t seen enough of this season.

I guess what I’m getting at is this, if a fixture like this doesn’t spark you into life, and bring the best out of you, then you shouldn’t be at Celtic.

It had that effect on the Celtic players the last time out, so why shouldn’t it have the same effect on them this time around?

Undoubtedly, we are probably going into this game as underdogs too.

If you look at the form book, referee assistance aside, the Ibrox side are the form side.

They have the momentum.

They have the first trophy in the bag.

But as last September proved, form goes out the window in a fixture like this.

In Celtic’s case, it very much needs to be the old cliché, form is temporary, class is permanent.

We need to show our class that day.

This is the first time the Ibrox side will have faced a real test.

Granted, they got a decent result against Betis last week, but a Glasgow Derby is a whole other kettle of fish.

This will be Clement’s first experience of this fixture.

It will be his first time at an extremely partisan Celtic Park, with no away fans permitted to attend this game either.

That’s a subject that was well covered yesterday by the media and the bloggers.

I don’t need to elaborate on it.

But what we do need to do, is tap into it.

Just like we did in February 2022.

In order for us to do that, we need the board to take their collective fingers out of their asses, and resolve the situation with the Green Brigade.

We need every facet of the home support to be behind the team.

The Green Brigade are a big part of that home support.

This is the opportunity to knit all of the fractures that are currently evident at the club right now.

It is an opportunity be a united force for what is now a must win game.

If the board cannot see that, then they are beyond the point of no return when it comes to the disconnect between them and the fans.

If they decide to deprive the team of the support it needs in this most crucial of games, then they’d better be prepared to face the backlash that will come their way if we lose it.

Because if they thought last Saturday was bad, that will be like a wet fart in comparison to the shit storm they’ll face if we lose on the 30th.

A loss in this fixture will only serve to prove where their lack of investment has landed the team.

For us, the fans, it’s unthinkable.

For them, it should be the same.

But can we rely on them actually caring enough to give us the strongest possible chance of winning?

I think it’s fair to say we cannot really rely on anything when it comes to Peter Lawwell or the board.

The only thing they care about is themselves.

If we win on the 30th, they’ll think the heat is off them.

But we cannot let up on them.

Brendan Rodgers is going to need the players he asks for.

If they drag their feet on that, then they must be made aware, in no uncertain terms, that it will not be accepted.

We may be the underdogs once again going into this game, but remember what happened on September 3rd last?

Celtic always seem to step up to the plate when it’s needed most.

This time we’re at home.

This time we’ll have 60,000 passionate fans behind us.

They had all the advantages last time out and they still lost.

Remember, form is temporary, class is permanent.

Our class will shine through in the end.

It always does.