Heaven was a place on Perth for Celtic on Sunday afternoon.
The champions produced some scintillating football and scored goals of the highest quality at McDiarmid Park; Aaron Mooy's counter that made it 3-1 is best described as a thing of beauty.
Actually, both Jota's assist and Mooy's finish were pure filth from two Celtic players who are at the top of their game at this moment in time.
While Ange Postecoglou's men were hitting all the right notes on the park to stay nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, it was a beautiful Sunday for something that didn't happen off the park too.
Confession time. I am and I always will be all about the football. That's why it was a joy not to hear the odious 'Super Trouper' song being belted out after some in the away section had sang it with gusto at Tannadice a week ago as Celtic defeated Dundee United 2-0.
Let me state for the record right now: that disgusting and awful dirge belongs in the bin. For good. It is never what Celtic have been about - or at least it shouldn’t be. Sadly that had not been the case recently.
READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Aaron Mooy pulverises Perth Saints
It besmirches the name of Celtic Football Club and should sadden every football supporter greatly. It also relinquishes any claim on the moral high ground you would seek to make when opposition fans sing songs about the Lisbon Lions, Scott Brown’s sister or Tommy Burns.
Thankfully, those of a green-and-white persuasion appeared to get the memo in Perth.
There was no downright insult and singing to desecrate the memory of some Rangers legends - Walter Smith, Davie Cooper and Andy Goram, in particular. Yes, the Ibrox support has heroes just like Celtic do. Funny that, isn't it?
What’s the difference? The colour of the jersey. I've always said that there’s more to unite than divide supporters in football. Always.
It was Burns who famously said: "When you pull on that jersey you're not just playing for a football club, you're playing for a people and a cause.”
It was always viewed as a noble cause, a worthwhile cause; a charitable one that represented everything that was good about the fanbase themselves and their football club.
The Celtic fans have always prided themselves on the fact they support a club like no other and that they stand for common decency. Those who would sing the Super Trouper song lack that decency. It's a song that is as far removed from the club’s founding principles as anything.
Some Hoops supporters may be conflicted as they’ve heard this, that or the other about Goram but they certainly haven't heard the same about Cooper or Smith. Me? I respected all three for their football abilities alone. They were formidable opponents.
I knew Goram personally because of my mode of employment. He knew who I supported from day one yet he was always great with me in a professional capacity.
Burns respected him big time too - as a football opponent. Why else would he come away with another memorable ditty when his Hoops team could not get the better of Rangers in the mid-90s?
"Put it on my tombstone," he said back then. "Andy Goram broke my heart." Ten words which cut right through the heart of the rivalry.
It also showed you the mark of the man that was Burns and how he respected an adversary who caused his team so much pain and anguish simply because of his ability to keep the ball out of the net.
I never got the chance to interview Cooper but he still scored probably the greatest goal ever seen against Celtic. If you haven't watched the 1979 Drybrough Cup final highlights on YouTube, then do yourselves a favour.
It is mesmeric. The grainy cinematic footage and Cooper's untimely death in 1995 from a brain haemorrhage have given it even more mystique over time. It was world-class.
𝗗𝗮𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗲𝗱𝗮 6⃣
— The Celtic Way (@celticway1888) February 5, 2023
𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗴𝗼 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘂𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶 8⃣
𝗔𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝘆 🔥
🆕 @AHaggerty10's detailed player ratings as Celtic cruise past St Johnstone 4-1 🍀👇https://t.co/qfievlYoj1 pic.twitter.com/ZcezNEubbx
As for Smith, well, he carried Burns’s coffin at his funeral. If that is not enough to bin that vile song for good then nothing will be.
As I said at the start of this piece: for me, it will always be about the football. That was the Jock Stein way. That was the Tommy Burns way. That was the Martin O’Neill way, the Brendan Rodgers way and the Ange Postecoglou way.
Believe it or not, it was also the Walter Smith way.
It was a beautiful Sunday in Perth for the champions. Celtic were on song. Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota and Mooy all hit the right notes. So too did the visiting fans by not singing Super Trouper. It should never be welcomed back, ever.
Postecoglou and his men deserve to have another ABBA classic dusted down for them anyway, if truth be told.
With 13 games of the Premiership campaign left, a League Cup final against Rangers at Hampden to look forward to at the end of this month and a Scottish Cup fifth-round tie against St Mirren scheduled too, the domestic treble is well and truly within Celtic's grasp.
The Winner Takes It All is more apt for this team and these times. See, I told you it's always about the football.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel