Glasgow’s Green and WHITE
It was a day of glory and gloating for Celtic fans at Hampden as once again Glasgow was turned Green and White.
Officially the hoops earned a place in the final of the Scottish Cup to face Motherwell but the performance and scoreline meant much much more than that.
It was 4-0 going on whatever with Celtic barely getting out of third gear as they cruised to within 90 minutes of another treble.
Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor have previous in this fixture and didn’t disappoint Brendan Rodgers’ vote of confidence.
They crushed Sevco with two first half goals that are the trademarks of their game.
It was all over when McGregor’s shot hit the net, especially for Andy Halliday who let his anger spill over as he clashed with the Sevco management team in the technical area.
Moussa Dembele has been a complete pest to Sevco since he joined Celtic, it was hard to imagine how much more damage he could inflict but a Panenka style penalty did the job today.
The young French striker had the Sevco defence terrified, none of them wanted to challenge him in a 50-50 with that attitude and fear spreading through the tribute act.
By the time Olivier Ntcham drilled in the fourth goal of the day there was less than 3,000 fans in the Sevco section, for the delighted Celtic fans the party was only starting.
And for good measure the two clubs will meet again in a fortnight.
THE MAIN MAN
He really has them spooked, there was no Andrew Davies figure to try and take Brown out with the Sevco players scared to get close to the hoops skipper for fear of being embarrassed.
Brown was well assisted by Olivier Ntcham although it’s doubtful if on the French football academies they are taught how to own a game and opponents in the way that Brown does.
The Celtic skipper shows no signs of complacency, every derby win is treated like the first as again and again the Fifer reminds everyone just why he has been so highly rated by successive Celtic managers.
WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE?
The usual anti Catholic poison was heard in the early stages but as their team, including a true blue midfield of Andy Halliday, Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy surrendered the despair transferred to the supporters behind the goal.
Halliday expressed the anger of many but after another season of misery there is bound to be a significant number of fans wondering just what they are buying into with their season tickets.
SUPER LEIGH GRIFFITHS
Three times three different Ibrox managers have been bossed by Brendan Rodgers, the next candidate knows what to expect with the Irishman fully subscribed to 10-in-a-row.
As recently as two years ago Hampden was a bogey ground for Celtic, some painful defeats had been inflicted at the National Stadium.
In seven visits under Rodgers’ Celtic have kept five clean sheets, next month they’ll be back at Hampden with just Motherwell standing between the hoops and a double treble.