Jackson believes the Ibrox club is now a ghost ship, if so, Celtic has been towing them in their wake until now

Keith Jackson wrote an extensive article on the Ibrox side yesterday about how they have become an irrelevance in Scottish Football. They might be irrelevant to him, but for a long time now, they have been relevant to Celtic.

You might think I’m losing the plot here, but just hear me out on what I’m about to say.

Whether we like it or not, the hierarchy of our club has always wanted a competitive Ibrox club.

An awful lot of their decision making has been based around the level of challenge the Ibrox club represents to us.

In 2020/21, they grossly misjudged the level of challenge they represented to us.

We all know how that turned out.

But the seeds for that disaster were sown almost two years earlier in the Hampden dressing rooms after Celtic won the 2019 Scottish Cup final.

Peter Lawwell, at the time, believed that Neil Lennon’s limited abilities matched what he considered the limited level of a challenge the Ibrox club represented to us.

The short time it took for that decision and it’s repercussions to unravel was proof positive of what a gross error of judgment it was.

But to fully understand how the level of ambition our board is tempered by the position of the Ibrox club, you only need to look at the years they were absent from the Scottish top flight.

Where realistically, it can be said that, barring one season, the second place sides provided, in some cases, more of a challenge than the Ibrox side has since it’s return to top flight football in 2016.

In the 2012/13 season, Motherwell finished in second place, with 16 points separating the Fir Park side from Celtic.

In the 2013/14 season, Motherwell once again finished second, but this time, 29 points adrift of Celtic.

Aberdeen then provided the closest challenge Celtic had seen during the Ibrox side’s absence in the 2014/15 season.

They finished just 8 points behind us.

The following season, the last before the Ibrox side won promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history, Aberdeen finished 16 points adrift of us.

At this point, the top tier at Celtic Park was closed, with attendances somewhere between the 35,000 and 45,000.

Then the Ibrox side entered the top flight.

They unashamedly boasted they would win their first title in their first season in the top flight.

You had to admire their balls, even if they were somewhat misplaced.

Hilariously, they finished 39 points behind Celtic, in third place.

Aberdeen once again finished second.

The following season in 2017/18, Aberdeen were once again the side who provided the stiffest challenge to Celtic, finishing just 9 points behind us.

The Ibrox side were once again third.

It wasn’t until the 2018/19 season that they managed to attain a second place finish.

This, of course, was the season Brendan Rodgers left and Neil Lennon was brought in on an “interim” basis.

The old hero, answering the call when his club needed him the most.

What had happened at Hibs prior to that did not matter a jot to our board.

There was a man willing to do the job, and he’d do it on the cheap.

He would also happily accept the players thrown at him by Peter Lawwell, unlike his predeccessor.

A match made in heaven, for the CEO, of course.

That was where the decline began, and you’re probably wondering why I gave you the stats from all the seasons the Ibrox club were not in the top flight.

The point I was making was that during the time they were not in the top flight, both Aberdeen and Motherwell, with the exception of the 13/14 season, provided a similar level of challenge to that which the Ibrox side has provided since their return.

With the 2020/21 season being an exception to the rule, of course.

But during that time, the board downsized Celtic to a level that made the League somewhat competitive.

Even if that downsizing included shutting half of Celtic Park.

They based their ambitions on the level of challenge the nearest challenger provided.

Which in essence, shows that they have also done the same when it comes to the Ibrox side.

Barring season 2020/21, because they firmly believed Neil Lennon was capable of matching the challenge they provided.

Again, we all know how that turned out.

Which, after all of that, brings me back to Keith Jackson’s article in yesterday’s Record.

Where he stated that the Ibrox side have become an irrelevance.

Which in turn must result in two schools of thought at Celtic Park.

One school of thought belongs to the manager, who is realistic enough to know and understand that the Ibrox club is regressing.

Brendan Rodgers knows they are not currently capable of providing any serious challenge to Celtic.

So therefore, to maintain his interest in the project he wants to undertake at Celtic, European progression is now clearly his ambtion.

And he clearly wants to strengthen and prepare our club for that challenge.

He understands that for now, the Ibrox club ARE an irrelevance.

Celtic’s European adventure may end tonight, but there is no doubting the manager has made decent strides in turning us into a good European level side.

The results speak for themselves.

To a degree, they were hampered somewhat by the board not providing a replacement for Kyogo, or at least retaining his services until the end of the season.

The manager’s ambition after this season, will no doubt be to take us further into Europe.

But will the board match this?

The second school of thought, will be the way the board is thinking.

O** F*** inc. is officially dead now, it’s time they accepted that.

It’s time we moved on, once and for all, from that farce.

But there is no doubting the continued slide of the Ibrox side will alarm them.

And there is always the fear, due to past actions, that they will temper their ambitions for Celtic around the challenge the Ibrox side is capable of providing.

As I said in the headline, Keith Jackson may think they’re a ghost ship drifting aimlessly, but they’re not, Celtic have towed them in their wake since the day they arrived in the top flight.

And that is by design, not by coincidence.

The problem now is that Patrick Stewart and Fraser Thornton are cutting the tow.

They know the Ibrox club cannot keep up with us, and ironically, it looks like they finally want to stand on their own two feet.

Or sail under their own steam, if you want to retain maritime terms off the back of the ghost ship analogy.

So that leaves the Celtic board with a bit of a connundrum.

Do they match the manager’s ambitions and further strengthen to become more capable of a sustained challenge in Europe?

Or do they choose not to match the manager’s ambitions, fully in the knowledge that he will leave when his contract ends if they don’t?

By matching the manager’s ambitions, they finally cast the Ibrox side, and O** F*** inc. adrift.

This is something that is alien to the likes of Peter Lawwell, and of course by default, Michael Nicholson.

Because if they provide Brendan Rodgers with what he requires to progress in Europe, the gap between us and Ibrox widens exponentially.

They are now at a crossroads.

The alternative, for someone like me, and most Celtic fans I’m sure, doesn’t bear thinking about.

Brendan Rodgers leaves at the end of year three because his ambitions are not met.

A yes man is brought in, and our ambitions are tempered to match the status of the Ibrox club.

Thousands of fans who love nothing more than the domestic challenge will be delighted.

But those of us who see the potential of this club and where it can really go, will be left wondering if that potential will ever be realised.

Just as the manager did.

The Ibrox club may be an irrelevance right now, but they are inadvertently a dangerous irrelevance.

Two schools of thought.

One, where we aim to be the best we can be.

The other, where we choose the path of least resistance.

Retention of O** F*** inc.

Second tier European football.

Back to the project model.

All while just keeping the Ibrox club at bay.

Unfortunately, some people at Celtic have more ambition than others.

The question is, who will win out in the end?

I guess we’re going to find out.

I hope I don’t have to reference this article when we do.

Ultimately, only time will tell.

While the Ibrox side flounders in irrelevance, Celtic’s future will be decided.

I just wonder if the men in our board room have the stomach for that.

Because I know our manager does.

That’s why I trust him, and not them.

I never have.