The Glasgow Derby hype has already begun, even though there’s a pivotal midweek game for Celtic against Dundee Utd on Wednesday.
The team will certainly not be looking beyond the game against the Arabs at the moment but everybody seems to be focused on the weekend.
Celtic go into the game so far behind their rivals because they have played three games less. However, even if they were to win the three games in hand, it would still see them sit seven points behind the league leaders.
That’s why the game at the weekend is very important for both sides. The current leaders would be able to extend the gap to what would appear to be an insurmountable number of points. A Celtic win would bring things right back down to earth and give the bhoys a massive shot in the arm.
To his credit, the Gers manager isn’t getting carried way publicly and has learned from his mistakes last December.
He’s paying tribute to Celtic knowing he can’t appear, outwardly to look like a manager who thinks he already has this in the bag.
“It’s my job to try and keep the players grounded and humble and realise there’s still tons and tons of games to play. You know the game very well yourself and I’ve also had experience of this as a player. December is never a time to get carried away, whatever your lead is. There are no guarantees.” The Rangers boss told The Athletic.
“Celtic are a very good team. Yes, they’ve had a rough patch of form, but you’re talking about a group that have serial winners amongst them, a manager with experience, so we know it’s certainly not a time to get ahead of ourselves. The focus for me is the next game and the next challenge.”
All this, right now, becomes less important if Celtic don’t beat Dundee Utd, so until then, we’re trying to keep the weekend’s game in the back of our minds.
