Now that Celtic have wrapped up number 55, 56 becomes the the number to eclipse any Ibrox achievement, real or not

Yesterday, I was at my Celtic supporters club for the game against Dundee United, I had a few good pints of Guinness and really enjoyed myself.

For the rest of the day, I was in celebratory mode.

I knew everybody else would be writing about our title win, and if I’m honest, I didn’t have the head for it yesterday.

Now that the dust has settled somewhat, I DO have the head for it today, despite feeling a tad seedy.

What we achieved yesterday, numerically anyway, would not have mattered a jot if Dave King had not made such a ridiculous thing out of the number 55 back in 2016.

Last November, I wrote an article saying that the number 55 had morphed into a rod for the Ibrox side to beat themselves with.

We were 11 points clear of them at that stage, and it was becoming clear that we would inevitably end up where we did yesterday.

With Celtic clinching title number 55 with ease.

In reality, it was never in doubt from then on.

For a side that apparently valued that number so highly, the Ibrox side’s defence of it was pathetic.

I thought at the outset of this season, they would do their utmost to stop it from happening.

The fact is, they just didn’t have the ability to stop it.

It’s clear that from the outset, with the whole Copland Road saga thrown into the mix as well, that they were in freefall.

They are incapable of challenging us in their current guise.

Which leads me to the question, will they be capable of mounting any challenge to us next season with title number 56 on the line?

55 was an insignificant number, idiotically made significant by the glib and shameless liar.

So idiotic was it, that it when it first appeared, it stunned the then Ibrox manager, Mark Warburton.

Warburton has since admitted that he knew his career at Ibrox was at the beginning of it’s end when he first saw the #Going for 55 slogan.

Warburton, unlike King, was a realist.

He knew that to expect a newly promoted team to the top flight to challenge Celtic and win the league at the first attempt was insane.

And so it has transpired.

Or backfired.

Whichever way you want to look at it.

Because Celtic have just wrapped up their 55th title.

And in doing so, they have killed the significance of that ridiculous number and consigned it to the history books, alongside all of the rest of the hairbrained schemes we’ve witnessed over at Ibrox down through the years.

For those of us that know the real truth, that was and is, the only title that club has ever won.

Which makes it all the more satisfying to know that that lie, along with many others, has been put to bed.

Celtic is now undisputedly the most successful side in Scottish Football history.

By two clear trophies, possibly to become three in just under a month’s time.

However, next season, title number 56 takes on a whole other significance.

Because by winning that title, (and you may think it’s funny that I’m talking about next season’s title, but that’s what we do at Celtic, 55 is won, time to look forward to 56) we pull ahead of them on titles won.

In reality, we are already ahead.

Rangers 1872 won 54 titles, the current entity has won one.

We know that, but they claim otherwise.

So that particular claim, or lie, it’s all about perspective, can also be put to bed next season.

How hard are they willing to fight to maintain that lie?

Well, that’s an interesting scenario, for a few reasons.

Firstly, if the takeover goes through, none of these numbers mean shit to the yanks.

They mean absolutely nothing.

It’s becoming abundantly clear that this will be a business to them first and foremost.

Not an institution designed to massage egos and sell fantastical lies to it’s fanbase.

They won’t care about title number 56 in their first season.

It’s most likely that their first season will be all about cost cutting, and establishing long-term stability.

Stability for a club that wouldn’t know that word if it hit them in the face.

My article yesterday highlighted the fact that the media are already setting about tempering expectations in advance of the takeover.

It’s highly unlikely that they will even be in a position to challenge us next season.

Were Celtic in a position to challenge Rangers 1872 during Fergus McCann’s first full season in charge?

You all know the answer to that.

But for the current Ibrox fanbase, they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

They desperately want this takeover to happen, but they also desperately want to stop Celtic.

But stopping Celtic will take time, if that’s even possible at all.

And time is something the Ibrox fanbase affords no man.

But once the old hierarchy has been paid off, and has left the building, all the old real Raynjurz directors will be gone.

These were men who attempted to appease that fanbase in every way they could.

Instead, they will have a new board, who really have no in depth knowledge of the club’s history.

Men who come from the most liberal city in the US.

And men who certainly will not tolerate racism, bigotry, sectarianism, and all the horrible things that go with that club.

Nor will they give a damn about title number 56.

In fact, it’s likely that they will encourage the fanbase over there to forget about stopping Celtic.

They will encourage them to accept stability and the process that it will take for them to become successful.

By doing things the right way.

Which, in my view, will have catastrophic consequences for the older generation of Ibrox fans.

The current generation do not know what it’s like to win things.

It is now almost 30 years since that club dominated Scottish Football through all of it’s ill-gotten gains.

For Celtic, 55 is wrapped up, it’s now time to move on to 56.

56 will kill another lie, until eventually, all of the lies will be dead and buried.

And what will be left?

Celtic will still be Celtic, the most dominant and successful club in Scottish Football history.

The Ibrox side will learn to live within it’s means, with a new generation of fans who might start to understand how that works.

They might grow to a level where they will challenge us on occasion.

But they seem to discount the fact that Celtic also grows too.

Every season.

And Celtic is miles ahead of where they are now.

55 is now in the bag, 56 is almost a certainty, whether the takeover goes ahead or not.

But 56 will be the number to eclipse any achievement over there, real or not.

While we dream of progress in Europe, they dream of Sugar Daddies and transfer warchests.

Instead they will get real businessmen, with a real business plan.

They will get stability, and long-term growth.

Hell, they might even turn a profit in a few years time.

The things that most football fans crave scare the shit out of them.

They want instant success, and they want it now!

It doesn’t work that way.

Just like creating magic numbers doesn’t magically make you the most successful club in Scotland, let alone the world.

No, that accolade belongs to Celtic.

And who knows?

Maybe some day we’ll catch up with Al-Ahly?

For now we’ll enjoy 55.

But you can be damn sure 56 is in our sights already!

Enjoy this title win folks, it’s in the bag.

As an old manager once responded when asked the question, “Which title is the most important?”

“The next one!”