Do you miss the old firm game?

[bluebear54 0]

Yes of course I miss the build up and the raw excitement of playing them. Old Firm is a term that I shy away from these days.

After the past two years, and the openly active attempts of a lot of their support to bury us, I now would be quite happy if I never saw or heard of them again.

[calscot 0]

There are so many analogies which would explain it to people.

 

But the question is, no matter how much you enjoyed sparring with someone you hated in the past because they were the only one to really challenge you, even if you miss the bouts, do you really want to see someone again after they try to kill you and indeed keep telling everyone you are dead?

 

People miss many things in the past, their school days, their first car that was rusting to bits and kept breaking down but which helped them have some great times when they were young, an old girlfriend they had an intense and stormy relationship with and broke up with very acrimoniously, but do they in all reality, want to bring any of them back? The answer is usually no.

 

I think many of us would have forgone ever playing Celtic ever again to have been given the chance to work our way up the English leagues and eventually replace them with Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal as the main rivals.

 

Celtic have killed any romance of the rivalry and it's now just deathly poisonous, who really wants that? The only problem is that they are the only equivalent team to us in Scotland. Let's pray for a European league sometime soon. We didn't miss them at all during their own meltdown while we were beating Leeds etc.

[calscot 0]

Absolutely. Why? Because i know it's our passage to European football. To realise our clubs ambition the old firm fixture is a necessary evil.

 

I don't think many would disagree with that but it's not actually the question. How many would be happy enough if Celtic went to the wall and we were invited into a European league or even the English Championship? Could we enjoy living in either scenario without them? I think so.

 

We may have good memories of a day gone by when it was the most exciting game in the world but things have changed and it doesn't mean everyone would want them back if we had a decent alternative.

 

Do we really want to be by far the top team in a one team top league? Yes and no. The main problem is that what we really want is now way out of our reach.

[Hildy 0]

There are so many analogies which would explain it to people.

 

But the question is, no matter how much you enjoyed sparring with someone you hated in the past because they were the only one to really challenge you, even if you miss the bouts, do you really want to see someone again after they try to kill you and indeed keep telling everyone you are dead?

 

People miss many things in the past, their school days, their first car that was rusting to bits and kept breaking down but which helped them have some great times when they were young, an old girlfriend they had an intense and stormy relationship with and broke up with very acrimoniously, but do they in all reality, want to bring any of them back? The answer is usually no.

 

I think many of us would have forgone ever playing Celtic ever again to have been given the chance to work our way up the English leagues and eventually replace them with Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal as the main rivals.

 

Celtic have killed any romance of the rivalry and it's now just deathly poisonous, who really wants that? The only problem is that they are the only equivalent team to us in Scotland. Let's pray for a European league sometime soon. We didn't miss them at all during their own meltdown while we were beating Leeds etc.

 

Celtic isn't an old girlfriend - it's an ancient enemy. We're not looking to embrace them - we're looking to defeat them.

 

A European league is highly desirable, but so is a competitive sporting environment until an Atlantic League actually occurs.

 

We can't rectify this situation quickly, but we can surely be honest enough to admit that we miss participating in a football environment that gives us excitement, anticipation, jubilation, despondency, tension, hostility, elation and satisfaction.

 

We are currently on a toy train. We'd rather be on a roller coaster - apart of course from those who fear its giddy heights.

[calscot 0]

I don't see it as a toy train, I see it as an important local line that takes you from somewhere provincial to say Glasgow to get the Inter city to London from. Without the local line or an alternative you can't get to where you want to go. It might be a bit run down, slow and not be as pleasant and experience as the "big" train, but it's no toy.

 

Who wants to go on a badly maintained roller coaster where the owner has designs on you being dead? It's not about the stomach, it's about the brain.

 

You can miss swimming in the sea but when the biggest beach is dangerously polluted and almost killed you, and you're still recovering from the illness, it's normal to have no desire to go back it. If they clean it up, then that could be different but it will take you a while to trust it. Really, you want to find an alternative large beach or beaches, despite all the memories.

 

Swap beach for dangerous and out-dated roller-coaster or whatever.

[The Real PapaBear 0]

I don't see it as a toy train, I see it as an important local line that takes you from somewhere provincial to say Glasgow to get the Inter city to London from. Without the local line or an alternative you can't get to where you want to go. It might be a bit run down, slow and not be as pleasant and experience as the "big" train, but it's no toy.

 

Who wants to go on a badly maintained roller coaster where the owner has designs on you being dead? It's not about the stomach, it's about the brain.

 

You can miss swimming in the sea but when the biggest beach is dangerously polluted and almost killed you, and you're still recovering from the illness, it's normal to have no desire to go back it. If they clean it up, then that could be different but it will take you a while to trust it. Really, you want to find an alternative large beach or beaches, despite all the memories.

 

Swap beach for dangerous and out-dated roller-coaster or whatever.

 

I see the Analogy classes are going well

[Hildy 0]

I don't see it as a toy train, I see it as an important local line that takes you from somewhere provincial to say Glasgow to get the Inter city to London from. Without the local line or an alternative you can't get to where you want to go. It might be a bit run down, slow and not be as pleasant and experience as the "big" train, but it's no toy.

 

Who wants to go on a badly maintained roller coaster where the owner has designs on you being dead? It's not about the stomach, it's about the brain.

 

You can miss swimming in the sea but when the biggest beach is dangerously polluted and almost killed you, and you're still recovering from the illness, it's normal to have no desire to go back it. If they clean it up, then that could be different but it will take you a while to trust it. Really, you want to find an alternative large beach or beaches, despite all the memories.

 

Swap beach for dangerous and out-dated roller-coaster or whatever.

We suffered a near-death experience, but while there was a complete absence of friends and sympathisers, many of our club's difficulties were self-inflicted. I think we forget that sometimes, perhaps conveniently.

 

Sport provides a situation where we can engage with those we may not like or respect and defeat them. What we're seeing in the Rangers support now is an element that would rather steer clear of them altogether.

 

On the contrary, we should be counting the days until we are back in the top division and able to topple Celtic. That won't be easy given the mess that we are currently in, but it's still the place that we have to be - need to be - and want to be.

 

This idea that we don't miss locking horns with them is bizarre and unhealthy. We don't have to like Celtic, but we certainly need to engage and compete with them - and when we do, we'll be more alive then than we'll ever have been during this miserable and tedious journey.

[JTP 0]

I only miss the nerves and adrenalin. I dont miss anything else to do with them. Infact I now never watch them so it would mean actually having to watch them for 90 minutes.

[The Real PapaBear 0]

We suffered a near-death experience, but while there was a complete absence of friends and sympathisers, many of our club's difficulties were self-inflicted. I think we forget that sometimes, perhaps conveniently.

 

Well, the only place there was a 'complete absence of friends and sympathisers' was in the top flight that you are so desperate to get back to. All of those jackals would have been quite happy to see us die

Meanwhile, the clubs in the lower divisions, the small, decent clubs with no agendas to peddle - your"non-entities and no-marks" - turned out to be true friends who offered their hand that we could get back up on to our kness at least.

 

As to whether our difficulties were self-inflicted, that's something that will come out in time, but personally speaking, I believe we have been the victim of a conspiracy.

[Hildy 0]

Well, the only place there was a 'complete absence of friends and sympathisers' was in the top flight that you are so desperate to get back to. All of those jackals would have been quite happy to see us die

Meanwhile, the clubs in the lower divisions, the small, decent clubs with no agendas to peddle - your"non-entities and no-marks" - turned out to be true friends who offered their hand that we could get back up on to our kness at least.

 

As to whether our difficulties were self-inflicted, that's something that will come out in time, but personally speaking, I believe we have been the victim of a conspiracy.

 

We may indeed have been the victim of a conspiracy or some kind of criminality, but our ownership in recent times has let the club down - badly. The details may or may not come out in the fullness of time, but Rangers' failure has been our failure and we can't run away from that. If we're going to claim success for ourselves when times are good, we can hardly duck responsibility when things turn sour.

 

Our new-found 'true friends' were quick to shut the shop on the long-standing SFL when Celtic and friends came calling, and their CEO soon found himself ousted. As the saying goes, with friends like these . . .

 

We have been marooned and marginalised, and if we are honest, we miss the intensity of competing with Celtic - and they miss us too.

 

We can either admit it and look forward to facing them again, or remain in the huff until the next Old Firm game shakes us up and rekindles our enthusiasm for meaningful and competitive sport.