Dream boss at Rangers cheers Celtic

It has now been established that Barry Ferguson is a disruptive influence at Ibrox Park and footballing genius Paul Le Guen has taken strong steps to eliminate such elements from his team. This should be welcomed by everyone who loves football – therefore Celtic – and can’t help chortling at the Gorgie-esque pantomime that is currently developing at Rangers.

It is well worth remembering that Wee Bazza is the same veteran of the Battle of Bothwell and a younger sibling of Derek, who Graeme Souness once sold to Hearts without consulting him, apparently believing that Fergie major would prove to be the undoing of Ian Durrant. And that should be remembered for two reasons – as a reminder that Bazza hadn’t benefited from the ideal example of how to handle the Old Firm ”goldfish bowl” and, more importantly, the strides that he has taken towards attaining the maturity required to recognise the potential for good or ill that attaches itself to an Old Firm captain.

Many Celtic fans seem to feel that antipathy towards Barry Ferguson should be a natural response, given his foolish youthful ventures, and chest-pounding demonstrations of his near-obsessive love for Glasgow’s second team. Yet, it is clear that he has grown up and learned that a degree of dignity doesn’t take 132 years to develop. That has translated itself to a degree of – whisper it – respect from a substantial number of Celtic fans who are prepared to forget youthful aberrations and maybe even see shades of Paul McStay in the loyalty Ferguson has shown to a club in decline.

But of course, loyalty is in abundant supply at Ibrox, according to Sir David Moonbeam, who brushes over the hundreds of staff who lost jobs at Rangers shops when he talks of how cleverly he moved on Walter Smith, Dick Advocaat and Alex McLeish. And already Ferguson’s loyalty to Rangers is being questioned by the “please let’s have a miracle” element of the Govan Thistle support. After all, didn’t Bazza run out on the club – having signed a contract and then accepted a move to the Blackburn Bank of Souness that many cynics interpreted as the ultimate act of sacrifice from a player who had been made aware of the fact that his beloved club’s desperate need for money was more pressing than their need for a midfielder.

Then, the revisionist story goes, he “came running back” from a far better opportunity, with Rangers ploughing through a quagmire and commentators questioning the fine line between loyalty and insanity.

Today, his failings are more extreme. He has been trying to exert too much influence on a Rangers team that is, quite frankly, abysmal. This is not working the way Paul Le Guen wants. But Le Guen, before his crude attempt to cash in on and vilify Ferguson in one move is more reticent on a number of key facts
- the ONLY players at Rangers who have been any good this season are those who were deemed inadequate by Le Genius
- Ferguson has been the best of all of them
- Le Guen has demonstrated the sort of horse sense in the market that sees people come home with 20-year-old Clydesdales with ginger under their tails.

But more importantly, it seems that Ferguson’s complaints that his team-mates haven’t performed to an acceptable level equate to unwelcome interference, as interpreted by Le Guen. Luckily, the fair and loyal Sir Dave is on hand to repay loyalty with a P45.

All of this is great news for Celtic. Our only credible rivals are in a financially frail condition while their manager gets rid of his best player for suggesting that standards improve.

2007 looks like being a happy and prosperous gloat-fest of a year. Enjoy it!

No fee required, Gordon, advice is free

Broad shoulders, big heart, self-belief, determination and the respect of his peers. Ach, I suppose Steven Pressley will do.

It’s times like these when you sit back smugly and are glad that you were so clever as to point to the man who became your latest signing as an example to your central defenders. To be fair, Gary Caldwell is obviously a discerning reader and he was sorting out his game quite nicely until knee-knockerooney afflicted him.

And clearly Wee Gordon knows how to take a telling too as it surely can be no coincidence that the wise words published on this site pre-empted the signing that Rangers were too skint or too stupid to make.

True, Caldwell has greater potential, and Stephen McManus is a very similar player to Elvis but you really can’t have too many players who know how to say: “ach, gie’s the ba’”.

That actually makes Celtic’s injury crisis appear as something of a blessing in disguise. Sure, it’s bad form to slag a player who has just suffered a serious injury but then again, Bobo Balde started the bad form and was paid sweetly for it.

So welcome to the club, Steven, we can think of nothing but good surrounding the move – what’s that? he played for Rangers? ach, we were aw young an’ glaikit once – but so long as you stick to what has made you perhaps the most admired pro in the Scottish game over the past 12 months, you’ll do just fine. Enjoy.

Now Gordy, see yon Russell Anderson……

Lennon wronged - but days may be numbered

Ultimately, the people are to have what they want.

The people are of course Rangers fans and the contingent amongst Celtic supporters who have always desired to see the back of Neil Lennon. Saturday, 23rd of December may well be noted as the day that the final decision was made to replace the Celtic captain, following the 1-0 win over Falkirk.

First, the good. Since signing for Celtic in 2000, Neil Lennon has made an immense contribution to the club’s success, including four SPL championship wins, three Scottish Cups, two league (CIS) cups and a Uefa cup final.

In each of those season’s, Lennon has been integral to the club’s success, playing in a defensive/holding midfield role. Lately, though, it has been apparent that a player who was never the most naturally athletic footballer has struggled a little to keep up with the game. With a player like Lennon, the decline is not always dramatic and startlingly obvious. A general lack of pace and acceleration has generally, in the past, been overcome by excellent reading of the game and rigid adherence to a role that did not involve covering a huge area of the pitch.

However, Lennon’s judgement of the flow of a game and anticipation of opposition players’ runs and passes has allowed him to perform at an exceptionally high level when younger, quicker players would find themselves out of their depth. Now, though, he is becoming a little exposed and, though the thought would horrify him, arguably a weak link in the Celtic midfield.

The sad irony is that Celtic need a player with his incessant desire to be better and to push ever harder for that extra ounce of success. Recent weeks have seen a team with ever growing talent occasionally appear to lack the hunger to face SPL teams with the relish required to perform to the ultimate level.

In the midst of this has been Lennon, roaring his team-mates on. But the incident with Aiden McGeady at the end of the match against Dunfermline has taken on a new significance in the context of today’s events. He may well have been unfortunate to receive a red card, if his head-to-head with Anthony Stokes was ill-advised.

However, his vitriolic reaction is perhaps indicative of a state of mind in which the player is becoming more acutely aware of the growing pressure he is under.

Last week, he complained that Kenny Clark’s decision to wrongly deny him a penalty against Rangers was perhaps due to personal antipathy referees have towards him.

And in truth, Ian Brines decision to award Celtic and Lennon a penalty, after Gordon Strachan noted that Celtic hadn’t had a spot kick in 19 matches - and then send Lennon off -- looked suspiciously like a man trying to dampen down criticism of his colleagues while sticking it to Lennon at the same time.

But, however understandable his anger was, the fact remains that Lennon has lost control of himself for the second time in three games. When that happens to a player of his experience, there is always room for suspicion of some underlying cause. In his case, a realisation that his days at the heart of the Celtic team and the prospect of a likely replacement in Evander Sno might be one explanation.

If such thoughts are also on Gordon Strachan’s mind, they would surely be weighed against the difficulty of phasing out a captain and iconic player. The probable lengthy ban Lennon will face just made that decision much easier.