Never mind a resolution. It could be time for a New Year’s revolution in Scottish football.
It has now been almost 41 years since a club outwith the Old Firm won the Scottish title. Could this be the season that the duopoly is finally ended?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen were the last side to do it, retaining their league crown in 1985. There have been a few false dawns since then, but current Premiership leaders Hearts seem to have a little bit more about them than their predecessors.
Celtic and Rangers, meanwhile, both have a lot less about them than they used to. In truth, they are poor imitations of Old Firm sides of the past.
And it’s hard not to think that they have brought it all on themselves.
Now, sympathy for Glasgow’s big two has always been in short supply, and supporters of both clubs would argue that they do not require it anyway.
Celtic have struggled this season, losing the League Cup final to St Mirren
Wilfried Nancy has only recently taken the reins at Parkhead but is already under pressure
At Rangers, Danny Rohl has started to steady the ship after the chaos of Russell Martin’s reign
They could both point to trophy cabinets bursting at the seams following four decades of utter dominance over their domestic rivals and wonder who should pity who.
Yet, there are signs the tide is turning – the Scottish Cup win for Aberdeen and St Mirren’s League Cup triumph for instance – and now there are serious questions to be asked.
Given their dominance in terms of trophies, fanbase and finances, why are Celtic and Rangers currently struggling to assert themselves? Why do they both have rookie bosses? And why do they both have squads that need serious surgery?
Why have they been asleep at the wheel as their reputations off the pitch have taken such a battering, with supporter revolts, poor behaviour in the stands, and boards who you wouldn’t trust to buy the steak pie for New Year’s Day dinner never mind a quality signing?
And why would some think that this downfall of sorts is necessarily a bad thing for the rest of our game?
Because, quite simply, it’s not. Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be.
For years we’ve been fed the line that a strong Celtic and Rangers is necessary for Scottish football to flourish, while all evidence pointed to the contrary.
A strong Old Firm has always been good for two teams and two teams only. The more duplicitous in the game might point to the crumbs from the table that fall down the league in terms of European prize money, or the like, but that’s always been no more than a PR exercise.
The last two cup finals have been won by teams outwith the Old Firm, with Aberdeen beating Celtic in the Scottish Cup final at the end of last season
Hearts have beaten both Rangers and Celtic… and currently sit top of the Premiership
The same goes for B teams, or the meddling with lower-league structures at the expense of smaller clubs, whose loyal fans have always deserved better from those at the top of both the SPFL and SFA. It’s never really been about the greater good.
In fact, was it really a coincidence that the more the Old Firm had a stranglehold on the game, the worse the national team seemed to get, with those painful absences from major finals only recently coming to an end.
What seems to be occurring this season feels like a perfect storm – although it’s been gathering for quite some time.
Go back to 2012 and Rangers’ liquidation. They were absent from the top flight until 2016. Fans from both sides of Glasgow have much to say about that ordeal but what it should have done is have allowed both clubs to reset.
They both no longer had to worry about being ‘No 1 in Glasgow’. They both had the chance to change that blinkered mentality, to build clubs with strong youth development programmes, to sow the seeds for the future.
Not only did they both squander that opportunity but, in Rangers’ case in particular, they wasted millions of pounds on bang average, or worse, signings. The less said about the Ibrox boardroom in those days, the better. But it was chaotic, and managers came and went … along with promises of a brighter future.
Celtic looked on at the struggles of their bitter rivals and laughed. Jokes were made in AGMs, titles were accumulated, hubris was cultivated and developed far more than any burgeoning young talent in their ranks.
St Mirren saw off Nancy’s Celtic to win the League Cup final last month at Hampden
The Parkhead club hit the jackpot with a few transfers and seemed to believe that would continue, regardless of clubs across Europe cultivating their own scouting networks and approaches to talent identification.
Celtic were sleepwalking into the future and it’s no surprise that their failure in last summer’s transfer window saw the chickens finally come home to roost in dramatic fashion.
To be fair, Brendan Rodgers did warn that he needed to strengthen his squad. At the same time, he also recruited poorly when he did have money to spend. Then he said he could improve players, then complained about his players, then defended his players. Then he said he might stay longer, then he said he would definitely see out his contract… and then he resigned. So there’s all that to consider, as well.
Across the city, meanwhile, it felt like managers were being recruited from a temp agency.
The damage done to both clubs – by failing to have a forward-thinking, sustainable strategy – is clear.
Their failures on the pitch, with Champions League football now far from guaranteed, makes them a far less attractive proposition to any prospective signing, or manager.
Enraged fanbases – and boardroom ineptitude – have the same effect.
Throw in the fact that the competition they face for players, and managers, has increased considerably – with more money across the likes of the English Championship for instance – and it makes recruitment even more difficult.
Rangers and Celtic now face a January transfer window in desperation, as they seek to repair some of the damage done. Any signings will be a gamble, however, and, when the chips are down, mistakes can be made chasing losses.
Meanwhile, it has been intriguing to see Hearts take advantage this season, seemingly bolstered by the involvement of Jamestown Analytics. Suddenly, after decades of being outspent by the Old Firm, the Tynecastle club appear to have the advantage when it comes to transfers.
Of course, that does not mean Derek McInnes’ men will be able to last the pace. They are heading into uncharted territory, and their lack of experience of a title race could have an impact.
Motherwell outclassed a poor Celtic at Fir Park earlier this week in a 2-0 victory
In Hearts’ favour, however, is this. Given the mess that both Glasgow giants have made of their seasons to date, neither are now led by a manager who has a Scottish title, or even Cup, to their name.
Which brings us back to the original question. If the Old Firm were trophyless come the end of the season, would it be good for the Scottish game?
Undoubtedly so. It may only prove to be fleeting but our top-flight needs a shock. It needs jeopardy. All great sport does.
The scenes that greeted the cup wins of Aberdeen and St Mirren last year were simply marvellous. Imagine the reaction if Hearts were to win the league? Although perhaps Hibs fans might not be so keen…
Even seeing Motherwell dismantle Celtic the other night at Fir Park was a sight to behold.
We’ve had four decades of the Old Firm dominating. Let’s try a different way. Who knows what the revolution would bring?
