It’s a bit early to get the battle fever on but it’s certainly bubbling away underneath.
A tricky away trip to Armenia is the lid on the pan stopping it from boiling over just yet but we all know what is on the horizon, just around the corner and on the other side of the hill.
The first Old Firm derby of any season is always hotly contested, last years was moved – obviously – at the behest of Celtic, make no mistake, it was nothing to do with a random fixture generator that annually has the first meeting between the two sides in the last week of August mysteriously shifting it until the last round of fixtures in the hope that they could get fans through the turnstiles, but remember, the authorities are against them, of course they are.
We’ve already seen a shift in dynamic – after their defeat to Hearts on the opening day of the season, it was the referees – obviously – and yet, since going on a decent run of results, we’ve not heard a peep about the standard of officiating, funny that.
The hyperbole around their form is quite something, considering they have only beaten St Mirren – with ten men for 70 minutes – and Dundee in the league, the reaction from people like Michael Stewart has been borderline embarrassing, especially when you consider how little praise he afforded for the champions who went the whole of last season unbeaten, breaking records along the way.
Both sides have a point to prove going into this game, the first Old Firm with fans since 2019, coincidentally the last year that they beat us in, we are going in as champions, let’s show them why.