Behave yourselves! Rod’s appeal to all Scottish football fans

It is not known whether Sir Rod Stewart danced around the room following Celtic FC’s 2–1 away win against Hibernian FC in Edinburgh yesterday, as he once did after a derby victory over Rangers. What is certain, however, is that the three points in the Scottish capital gave him immense pleasure. “Celtic celebrated a fine victory at the Hibs,” said Sir Rod in a video posted on his social media channels. “They (Hibs, ed.) were a bit unlucky because they were down to ten men.” But I celebrated it; my wife painted my fingernails green to mark the occasion,” the singer laughed into the camera.
That said, not everything about what manager Martin O’Neill’s Hoops produced on the pitch at Easter Road was a laughing matter. Despite overwhelming dominance and a total of 27 shots on goal, the first half yielded only a single goal from Daizen Maeda to make it 1-0 (43'). But the joy was short-lived, as in stoppage time of the first half, Hibs midfielder Joe Newell scored a surprise equaliser following a corner (45+3).
Celtic continued to dominate the game after the break against a Hibs side reduced to ten men from the 21st minute. But it was not until the 72nd minute that substitute Kalechi Iheanacho scored the winner for the Glasgow side. With this victory, Celtic have drawn level on points with leaders Heart of Midlothian, who face Rangers in a top-of-the-table clash on Monday. With three games remaining, the race for the title is therefore heating up further. Celtic hold their title defence in their own hands, especially as they still have to face both rivals at home at Celtic Park.

In particular, next Sunday’s Glasgow derby against Rangers has brought Sir Rod back into the picture. Following the last clash on 8 March in the FA Cup quarter-finals, there were disturbances between the two sets of supporters. Consequently, Celtic Football Club had called for a ban on some Rangers supporters for the upcoming match next Sunday, whereupon the Gers asked the Scottish Football Association for help, with the result that the association did not wish to interfere further in the disputes between the two arch-rivals.

A fan ban – for Rod Stewart, an absurdity. “As you all know, I play my concerts all over the world. And there are always Celtic supporters in their shirts in the audience. Many of them have spoken to me and wanted to know what happened after the cup match. And I say there are no excuses for that. I find behaviour like that very outdated these days. Okay, I’ve stormed the pitch myself once – at Wembley, after Scotland beat England 3-2. But back then, it was simply down to joy and celebration. Ahead of the Old Firm, I’m calling on all fans: let’s stick together and behave ourselves! Because the only thing I miss is the 10,000 or 15,000 Rangers fans in the stadium, but even at Ibrox, the atmosphere isn’t the same anymore when there are no Celtic fans there. So let’s really stick together – no matter who wins this week – let’s give it our all, behave ourselves in the last three games and bring Scottish football back to the top, where it belongs.”