Failure to defeat Jablonec could cause a complete meltdown at Ibrox, especially if Celtic win on Tuesday evening

The last time the Ibrox side faced a season with no European football was during the failed Pedro Caixinha expiriment.

In July 2017, their exit from Europa League first qualifying round at the hands of minnows Progres Niederkorn from Luxembourg, was considered the most embarrassing European result in Scottish football history.

Jablonec would not be quite on the same level.

The Czech First League is a decent European League, probably of a similar standard to the Scottish Premiership, if not slightly better in some aspects.

Defeat to Jablonec would not be as bad as the infamous loss to Progres Niederkorn.

No, that would take some beating.

But that would be of scant consolation to the Ibrox fanbase were they to go out against a side like Jablonec nonetheless.

They take a 1-0 lead to the Stadion Střelnice.

A stadium with a similar capacity to that of Ross County or Montrose.

The Ibrox side took a 1-0 lead to the Stade Josy Barthel back in 2017, it didn’t do them much good then.

This one is balanced on a knife edge.

This is an Ibrox side that hasn’t exactly been in great form of late, and a side which displayed a lot of nerves last Thursday night.

By the time they take to the field against Jablonec, we will know Celtic’s fate when it comes to the Champions League.

Rest assured, nobody is taking qualification for granted, even with a 3-0 lead to take to Linz.

LASK showed exactly the kind of threat they will present last Wednesday evening.

Despite this, I’m confident Celtic will score goals as well.

In this tie, the first goal will be crucial.

If Celtic score first, that will knock the stuffing out of LASK, and at 4-0 they will start to feel it’s beyond them.

However, if LASK score first, then that’s a different story.

It could become a very nervous affair for Celtic then.

That said, you would feel that Celtic have done just about enough to see this one over the line.

It won’t be easy, but we saw that we are good enough to beat a side like LASK on Wednesday evening.

Come Thursday evening, if we’ve already qualified for the Champions League, this applies another level of pressure to the Ibrox side.

Financial pressure.

They aren’t far behind us when it comes to spending in the summer transfer window thus far.

But they are miles behind us in terms of what they’ve brought in as a result of outgoings.

Derek McInnes has stated he needs at least 5 more signings.

With 12 already in the door, will spending come to a swift halt if Europa League Conference qualification falls flat on its face in Jablonec?

The Ibrox side have recruited and spent like a side that expected Europa League football.

That is now gone.

But failing to qualify for Europe at all is unthinkable.

The financial impact of failing to do so could be very damaging to a club that seems to fly in the face FSR in comparison to Celtic.

The loss of revenue from the home games in any European competition is pretty substantial.

Especially for a club like the Ibrox club.

I think it’s fair to say that if Derek McInnes fails to guide his side to the Conference League, there will be a total meltdown at Ibrox.

The hardcore element of the support will be demanding his sacking.

Because this is what they always do.

The sensible element of the support will continue to cling to the idea that he should be given time.

But let’s be fair here, nobody has ever been given time at Ibrox.

In addition to that, if Celtic have qualified for the Champions League, once again, the financial gulf becomes huge between the two clubs.

The last time a club playing out of Ibrox tried to keep up with Celtic financially…well, you know the story.

This will be the level of pressure on Derek McInnes’ shoulders going into Thursday night’s game.

And as I’ve said many times before, McInnes does not handle pressure well.

In fact, he has never really been under this level of pressure in his career to date.

Not at St. Johnstone, not at Bristol City, not at Aberdeen, not at Kilmarnock, and certainly not at Hearts.

His teams could play shite at those sides, and he knew he was never under the threat of being sacked.

McInnes wasn’t expected to compete on all three fronts domestically, with the expectation of European qualification thrown into the mix too.

This is all uncharted territory for him.

And so far, he hasn’t been handling it well.

Thursday night will either make or break him.

If he loses, the pressure from then on will be savage.

There will be no room for maneuver from Thursday night onward if they leave without European football in the bag.

Come October, we could be looking at the same old scenario at Ibrox.

In fact, it could be September.

Do you think Derek McInnes can survive two defeats at the hands of Martin O’Neill and Celtic in September?

If you think the klanbase would be mad after a defeat next Thursday night, just imagine what they’d be like after that??

Tough times for Staunch Del.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

I can see why he chickened out of the job in 2017.

One supposes pressure is a concomitant symptom of the job at Ibrox.

Oh dear….

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