(Credit: Imago)

Barry Anderson aims dig at Rangers and Celtic as Sky Sports video clip emerges

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior football journalist specialising in refereeing and officiating; former contributor to The Football League Paper, Late Tackle, and the Premier League; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Refereeing controversies, football finance and governance, PGMOL decisions, and officiating analysis across the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL. THE INSIGHT Harri utilises a network of officiating and industry contacts to deliver verified, expert analysis of refereeing decisions and PGMOL policy. He provides the regulatory clarity behind the controversy to ensure fans get the full picture.

Published on:

28 Dec 2023, 12:40 pm

Barry Anderson has aimed a dig at the Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic after watching the celebrations from the Edinburgh derby on Wednesday night.

Following Lawrence Shankland's last-minute winner for Hearts away to Hibernian, Anderson praised the celebrations in the away end, rating the Edinburgh derby as the best in Scotland, above the Old Firm derby.

The National World journalist believes that Rangers and Celtic can learn from the fixture, with the two Scottish giants not allowing away fans when the Old Firm derby comes along.

That roar and scenes from the away end is why the Edinburgh derby is the best in Scotland for atmosphere right now. Similar at Tynecastle in October. A proper away support contributes enormously. Celtic and Rangers could learn a lot from the co-operation between Hearts and Hibs. https://t.co/uSi4PEkhn7
— Barry Anderson (@BarryAnderson_) December 28, 2023

"That roar and scenes from the away end are why the Edinburgh derby is the best in Scotland for atmosphere right now," Anderson wrote on Twitter on Thursday (28 December).

"Similar at Tynecastle in October. A proper away support contributes enormously. Celtic and Rangers could learn a lot from the co-operation between Hearts and Hibs."

Missing a key aspect of football

The fact that the two sets of fans cannot be trusted is extremely disappointing for the Old Firm derby, with the fixtures often lacking atmosphere due to no back-and-forth between opposition fans.

"Fan safety" is such a sad reason for no away fans at Celtic Park on Saturday. It is reported that Celtic were offered 708 tickets for the return fixture in September but the club turned the offer down due to the aforementioned reason.

And it will be the same for the second Old Firm derby of the 2023/24 season, as reported by the BBC (19 December).

With Rangers just five points behind the current Scottish Premiership champions, the lack of away fans could make the difference between the Gers closing the gap on Celtic or letting the league slip out of their hands.

Rangers are unbeaten under Philippe Clement since his arrival in October but Celtic pose a whole new challenge, especially without the support of their fans in such a hostile environment.

Rangers have claimed just one win in the last eight attempts against Celtic. It will be interesting to see how the atmosphere impacts the result on Saturday.

In other Rangers news, a journalist has tipped one player to be a “surprise” star under Clement at Ibrox.

Rangers

Celtic

Barry Anderson