COULD A CELTIC GUARD OF HONOR ACTUALLY HAPPEN? CELTIC PLAYERS DON’T CARE BUT THE RANGERS BOARD MIGHT
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The Celtic “guard of honor” debate rolls on. I guess one could call it a "Roll of Honor".
I said the other day that I personally think it’s pathetic that we even have to debate what is an established protocol of good sportsmanship.
However, it was ironically, Hugh Keevins of all people, whose comment on the situation on Radio Clyde the other night got me thinking.
Keevins said, when asked by a caller about the prospect of Celtic getting a guard of honor at Ibrox: “It wont happen. Players only do it because they are told to do it.”
He may be right, but then again, it depends on who is telling the players to do it.
Could a Celtic Guard of Honor be Part of Rangers New “Progessive Image”
We’ve had a good laugh on here in recent days at the numerous clumsy attempts Rangers and their current custodians have made to try and portray Ibrox as a haven of positivity and progressive thinking.
To us, and anyone else who has ever been there as an away fan it will always be, to quote the late, great Sir Alec Guinness “A wretched hive of scum and villainy”.
You certainly can’t accuse the Rangers board of a lack of effort though.
They came out and slammed the Union Bears and their recent fascist banner, in one of the strongest worded (and most grammatically correct) statements to emerge from Ibrox in years.
This did not go down well with the staunch brigade at Ibrox. However it was just a taste of what was to come.
Rangers fan media, message boards and social media accounts went into full temper tantrum mode just days later.
In the space of a week, Rangers flew a Pride flag at Ibrox, and then held an event at Ibrox for the Muslim festival of Iftar.
That was an interesting day on The “Follow, Follow” Forum. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many spelling mistakes and so much abuse of the CAPS LOCK Button in my life.
Now, if we didn’t know about the ongoing, and increasingly unlikely takeover over Rangers by an American consortium that has, supposedly, been brewing away in the background for months now, I would actually praise Rangers’ Board for all of the above actions.
However, we know its all just a cynical ploy to curry favor with these increasingly uncertain investors.
They’re slowing learning that Rangers and all the racist and sectarian baggage that comes with them and their fans is probably more trouble than it’s worth.
Americans do love a show of good sportsmanship though.
Whether its rivals embracing each other after a hard thought game, or both teams applauding a veteran player onto the pitch for a landmark game, our friends on the other side of the Atlantic love such sporting spectacles.
It’s all very facile, but at the same time, it’s exactly the kind of thing that American sports fans lap up. A guard of honor for Celtic would definitely fall under this banner too.
So, could the Rangers Board send down a directive to the manager and players that they need to give Celtic a guard of honor, as part of this new, positive and welcoming image they are so desperate to project to Andrew Cavenagh and his compatriots?
I really hope so, because watching that, and the utter meltdown it would trigger among the denizens of Ibrox would be absolutely hilarious.
The Rangers Board have already shown they will do whatever it takes to try and keep the Americans onside, no matter how much it offends their own fans.
This could be their most humiliating gesture yet, but don’t bet against it.
First of course, Celtic have to take care of business against Dundee United, which I am sure we will.
Celtic might just get that guard of honor after all.