Celtic sealed the Premiership title with their 2-0 win over Hearts away at Tynecastle Park last weekend. The result means that the Hoops will be entering Ibrox, to take on the Rangers in the last Glasgow Derby of the season, as the champions of Scotland. Will Michael Beale’s side give them a guard of honour though?
Deep down, every Celtic fan knows the answer to that question. And the suggestions have been more tongue in cheek than anything.
Nobody will be really expecting to receive a guard of honour from the Rangers. To be very honest, if the shoe was on the other foot, the Hoops would not be expected to give one to their Glasgow rivals either.
Ange Postecoglou seems to have a clear stance on the matter as well and does not seem to be sweating about the idea of receiving a guard of honour at Ibrox. As reported by Sky Sports, the Celtic manager said:
"“It’s no big deal for me, those things tend to be symbolic more than anything real.“Respect is shown in different ways and I don’t need a guard of honour to know that. There’s respect between the two sides and certainly between the two sets of players.“It might be grudging but they know how hard it is to be successful. Rangers won it two years ago and we have won it the last two years so that respect is there and we don’t need a guard of honour for that.”"
Celtic boss sends clear message about guard of honour
The Celtic players and coaching staff should not waste a second thinking about a guard of honour. Instead, the complete focus has to be on the result of the match.
If Celtic are able to win or even draw at Ibrox, then they will be able to go an entire season undefeated against the Rangers. That is a huge achievement to say the very least. Let’s see if Postecoglou’s side are able to make one last push and pull it off.
Till now, they have won four and drawn one of the five Glasgow Derbies this season. Thus, a lot will be riding on this game for both teams, but especially for the Rangers, for whom this is the last chance to get something of note out of this season. Beale’s side are guaranteed to finish the campaign trophyless.