‘Would mean nothing’ – Ex-Rangers man’s Celtic title claim

An ex-Rangers man has said that if the title were handed to Celtic, that the SPFL championship would mean absolutely nothing.

Tons of debate about how the season should either continue or end has been raging for weeks. Club and league officials have been debating and deliberating on how to best, and safely, find a suitable conclusion for the league. Many are claiming that Celtic should just be handed the title.

However, most fans would agree that the matches should be played out. Whether it be behind closed doors, or waiting until the ‘all clear’ is given by government officials. But, what if that doesn’t happen? Will Rangers take it quietly (spoiler alert: no).

Speaking with the Daily Record, John Hartson believes that Rangers would get a lot of credit for allowing Celtic to walk away with the title:

"” Rangers would come away with an awful lot of credit if they were to say ‘you have been worthy champions, you have a massive lead.“I can honestly say I’d be saying exactly the same if Rangers had the lead. Celtic have got to probably lose five of their last eight games to be overtaken.”"

However, that does leave open the possibility that some could call into question the legitimacy of a 2019/2020 title. That would not be the best course of action. And ex-Rangers man Hugh Burns brings that to light in the same article by the Daily Record:

"“There is no chance Rangers can concede the title. If that was the case then Celtic’s ninth straight title would mean nothing.“Big John is talking absolute nonsense. He doesn’t have a clue and I don’t think he is living in the real world.“It’s a case of playing to the crowd and trying to appease the Celtic fans.“Of course the odds are stacked against Rangers and it looks like Celtic will win the title if the season is played to a finish.“But for Rangers just to roll over and accept their fate right now is crazy.“I genuinely think the Celtic players and fans don’t want to win the league under these circumstances.“I have mates who support Celtic and they do not want to be handed the title.“They want to win it properly and are happy to sit tight until football finally resumes.”"

Oddly enough, Burns is not completely wrong. Across all forms of social media, Celtic fans want to win this championship outright. What would be more annoying than Rangers fans holding on to the near impossibility that they could have won the league but it was forfeited to Celtic?

Yes, Celtic have earned it, and yes, they will be crowned champions (rightfully so). But it has to be done in a way where the legitimacy of it can never be called out. Otherwise, some could say that the eventual ten-in-a-row was ‘tainted’.