Barry Ferguson dismisses Guard of Honour talk as ‘piece of nonsense’ ahead of Rangers v Celtic
Barry Ferguson has dismissed the talk around a potential Guard of Honour for Celtic against Rangers as a “piece of nonsense.”
The Bhoys travel to Ibrox on Saturday (13 May) as Scottish Premiership champions, having secured the trophy with four matches to spare.
There is a tradition that a Guard of Honour is granted to teams in such a position, but that has been broken in recent times given the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers.
“One issue that has come up this week is the question of whether Rangers should give Celtic a guard of honour,” Ferguson wrote for the Daily Record.
“But honestly, it’s a piece of nonsense. Who cares? I am sure Callum McGregor and his teammates don’t.
“They’ve won the league and all they’ll want to do is beat Rangers on their own patch. It won’t make a blind bit of difference to them if they are clapped onto the pitch.”
Bitter rivalry continues
The rivalry between the two Scottish giants will reach another climax this weekend when they come face to face at Ibrox, with Celtic certain to be in very high spirits after clinching their second successive league title.
Rangers spirits meanwhile will be at the opposite end, having been forced to settle for another second-placed finish.
The current season has highlighted the gap between the two clubs, with Celtic currently 13 points ahead of Michael Beale’s men.
That gap, along with the historic rivalry, would suggest that the hosts will be in no mood to give the visitors a Guard of Honour at Ibrox this weekend.
Fortunately there should not be too many issues inside the stadium if there is no Guard of Honour, with no Celtic fans present at Ibrox due to safety concerns around the fixture.
It will, however, fire up the visitors on the pitch. That in turn should force the hosts to step up their game and give Celtic one last real test this season.
In other Rangers news, one player’s fate at the club beyond the end of this season rests in the hands of Beale, according to Chris Jack.