As the dust settles on the first Glasgow Derby of the season, the aftermath of the result will probably be spoken about by the Scottish press throughout the international break.
Long regarded by supporters of both Glasgow clubs as the best derby in the world, the Roar media outlet in Australia ran a story on the fixture and their feedback was one that in particular caught my eye.
The match analysis was thorough and in-depth but their opinion on the crowds and the marketing of such a fixture to a worldwide audience was particularly interesting, “Is there a better sight in world football than the vision of packed stadiums again?
“Even watching the game on TV, the atmosphere at Ibrox had to be seen to be believed.
“But the Scottish league would do well to remember that when you’re selling big games to overseas broadcast markets, the thought of Rangers banning Celtic fans from attending because the two clubs are squabbling over ticketing arrangements is a terrible look.”
And therein lies the issue. The two clubs are only squabbling about ticket allocations because one club took the hump at the continuous green and white parties at their place every time Celtic rolled up to their front door.
But not according to Alex Rae. The debate on ticket arrangements was a topic on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard and Rae tried to deny the allegation that a caller made that the tickets were cut for the very reason listed above.
Rae partook in a classic game of whataboutery as he tried to rope in other clubs to his own’s pettiness, “I used to love going to Parkhead as a fun. I love the rivalry, I love all the fans and I think that adds to the fixture.
“What’s happened now is Rangers are up to 45,000 But the interesting point is, I think that he (the caller) says it was because maybe they (Rangers) were fed up that Celtic were dominant and they wanted not to see many Celtic fans to be winning there.
“But what about the reduction in all these other grounds? Aberdeen have reduced their tickets and Hibs.
“So a lot of these clubs have actually reduced the allocation to Rangers and Celtic as well.
“Is that to stop their fans seeing them getting beat? It’s partly from demand from their own fans.”
It was never due to the demand of their own fans. It was due to childish antics from the Govan club and the revisionism Rae has shown here is startling.
At least if you are going to have an opinion on something, base it around the truth.