The "Old Firm" tag is being used again to create a story of equivalence that flies in the face of reality. Let's not lose sight of some facts.
The fans
Rangers fans chanted every vile song in their repertoire of filth. The famine song, Who shagged all the Boys?, the Billy Boys, I Was Born Under A Union Jack, to name but a few.
And lest anyone say that Celtic fans are the only ones whose songs sometimes recall Ireland's fight for independence, let's not forget Father's Advice, whose lyrics include: "Oh my father said to me 'I must join the Y.C.V' [youth wing of the UVF], With a rifle or a pistol in my hand".
These are the same people who sang taunts about the death of Tommy Burns from a support which thought it funny to abuse a homeless man and throw him in a fountain.
The players
Not for the first time, Rangers attempted a systematic destruction of their opponents' most skilful players. The trouble is that, at present, Celtic have too many of them. Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal, Emilio Izaguirre and Kris Commons in particular were subjected to out and out brutality in a bid to injure them. Rangers under Walter Smith have form for this. Wednesday night was one of the worst examples and resulted in a glut of red and yellow cards.
Among their ranks in the spiritual home of the gormless, undignified fool, is El Hadj Diouf. For some reason it has become accepted that Neil Lennon was partly to blame for confronting a player who had stopped to make aggressive contact with a physio who was running on to treat an injured player, while en route to the Celtic technical area - running all of 30 yards to do so.
The confrontation resulted in two members of the Rangers staff encroaching on the Celtic area (admittedly Kenny McDowell seemed only to be trying to harness the snarling buffoon in the blue shirt). For this, Ally McCoist and many in the Scottish media seem to think the Celtic coaching staff are to blame. Had Smith or McCoist taught their players any manners, they would be observing the same unwritten rules as teams all over the world - players don't engage with opposition coaches or approach their bench.
But the lower Rangers go, the worse their problems become, the more they respond by dispensing of a pretence of basic dignity and indulge in the boorish behaviour of the thug.
We also witnessed the spectacle of Madjid Bougherra manhandling the referee at least twice. For players of any other club, one instance of such behaviour results in a red card, a fine and an extended ban. Bougherra's second offence came while trying to physically prevent the referee from sending him off after a malicious challenge on Kris Commons that would be best described as an attack.
In the meantime, Scott Brown was booked for pulling out of a challenge with Davie Weir, who nevertheless sprawled on the floor as if pole-axed. We should be kind and presume he just wanted a rest.
The coaches
McCoist and Smith sent a gang out to destroy a football team. Neil Lennon, Johan Mjällby and Alan Thompson sent out a group of professionals to pass the ball, play attacking football and maintain their discipline.
Neil Lennon should keep his composure better, I will concede. At the same time, the message that the coaching staff at Celtic will not take abuse lying down is resonating with fans and players alike. There is a fighting spirit, a passion and a pride at Celtic that appeared to be in serious jeopardy in recent times. The coaches are to be praised for their defence of the cause, even if Lennon's temper can be to his detriment.
Instead of reprimanding Neil Lennon, McCoist should deal with the likes of Kyle Lafferty, who publicly mocked him on Twitter or their new 19-year-old idiot Kyle Bartley who, despite being two months into a loan deal now seems to be authorised to single out the Celtic captain in the media and square up to Johann Mjallby. When on-loan teenagers behave like that, without reproach, it says much of the culture of the club.
The Chief Executive
Putting the cherry on top was the bronzed figure of Martin Bain - you know the guy who sort of suggested that singing the racist Famine Song might be a bad idea because some fans might get in trouble with the police? Bain is obviously aware that the camera images show a picture of indefensibly indisciplined behaviour. How do we know this? Because his only defence is of unsubstantiated provocation by things that were allegedly said out of earshot to his shrinking violet players.
As if briefed by Media House, Bain's response is to resort to smearing the opposition, rather than asking better of his coaching staff who, in one more of his delusions, he believes are respected the world over. In doing so and in pointing to the referee - without a word of criticism of his own players - he is endorsing their behaviour. It's the Rangers way.
The referee
Let's get one thing straight - there have been three decent performances by referees in recent meetings with the R-word. But Callum Murray has not bent over backwards to help Celtic.
At Ibrox, he wrongly sent off Fraser Forster - not his fault; he was cheated by Steven Naismith and given no help by his linesman. He also wrongly ruled Giorgios Samaras offside when onside by yards - again at the behest of the same linesman.
On Wednesday, he wrongly booked Scott Brown, as mentioned above and failed to award a penalty when Bartley used both hands to block the ball. There could be no argument about the yellow cards to Mark Wilson or Daniel Majstorovic. Otherwise, his major crime was being overly lenient towards Rangers players.
However, under appalling pressure from Rangers players, he kept his head and punished clear fouls and dangerous play, though Bougherra should have been sent off much earlier.
In his criticisms, Martin Bain seems to be calling for a reversion to the recent days when Rangers booted opponents with impunity while the world watched. It can be interesting to hear the language used by commentators from other countries. For example, when Lafferty tried to break Andreas Hinkel's leg, Spanish commentators branded him a "criminal bastard". The Scottish media were rather more kind.
And the day after all this carnage, what does Hugh Keevins focus on? The Celtic manager, of course.
The fact is that Rangers are an institution the like of which the world has never seen. The club has no sporting ethos but is comfortable being a vehicle for bigotry and hatred. They should be isolated and condemned.
We are not like them and never have been. We must never stop challenging lies to the contrary.
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