Are Celtic underdogs heading into this weekend’s derby against Rangers?
From the look of some punditry out there in the Scottish media landscape today, you might be forgiven for thinking so.
Amidst the chaos of coronavirus uncertainty at Celtic Park, and a positive start to the season for both sides, it’s the Ibrox lot who are the hyped-up outfit in the early goings this week.
Former Hoops attacking midfielder Kris Common has a column in The Scottish Daily Mail (12/10 print edition, Verdict supplement page 8) suggesting that the surreal nature of the crowd-less derby will suit Steven Gerrard’s men more than Neil Lennon’s.
He wrote: “There’s no doubt in my mind that this new scenario does favour Rangers. Home advantage is so much to do with the hostile atmosphere that the Celtic fans create. That’s one less thing for Steven Gerrard’s players to contend with.
“Similarly, the fact those Celtic fans won’t be cheering every throw-in or corner their side wins won’t do Neil Lennon’s players any favours. As a player, I thrived on getting our fans out of their seats.”
Senior Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson meanwhile has written a lengthy love letter to the chances of the Ibrox side highlighting how well, in his mind, they’ve started the season compared to the reigning champions.
He stated in his paper today: “Right now – should all things remain equal – Gerrard must be fancying his chances of repeating the victory he recorded the last time he made the trip across the Clyde back in December 2019, before the world was turned on its head.
“And not just because his opposite number is already preparing to take a headcount just to establish how many of Celtic’s men will be available for selection.
“No, the truth of the matter is the champions have been coughing and spluttering since the start of this campaign regardless of the ongoing health crisis outside.”
We’ve been here before though, haven’t we? The bluster from Ibrox and the outspoken pundits heading into the first derbies of the season is nothing new.
From the days of Mark Warburton’s promotion to the Scottish Premiership, through the hilarious Pedro Caixinha reign, to the trophy-less Steven Gerrard adventure, we haven’t lacked for Rangers hype.
Yet a simple fact remains – Celtic have won the first derby between the two sides in each of the last four seasons.
Home or away, we’ve bodied the Govan mob and set ourselves up for success every year since 2016.
And how about recent form? Again the reality of the situation is that the Bhoys have dropped fewer points than Rangers and scored more goals, having played a game less this season.
I’m not going to lie to you and say the performances of Lennon’s team have been perfect, far from it in fact.
However, the narrative that Gerrard’s team have us under the cosh heading into this match is absurd.
OK, we might be missing Odsonne Edouard. Yet nobody has scored more goals than Albian Ajeti in the top-flight this season, and he should be available.
Ryan Christie is definitely out. Yes, a blow, but the manager has excellent depth in his squad and talents such as Olivier Ntcham, Tom Rogic and David Turnbull to call upon.
Celtic are at home, as defending nine-in-a-row champions, and aren’t going to give anything away easily to Rangers this weekend.
Gerrard’s team may well turn up and do us over, but spare me any fear heading into this one.
Whether we have underdog status or not, they are there for the taking as much as we are.
In other news, Celtic have huge decisions to make on a quartet of players.
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