I'd empty the bank for Rangers but I wouldn't part with two bob on Celtic and here's why – Hugh Keevins

Rangers manager Philippe Clement with Tom Lawrence, Todd Cantwell and Rabbi Matondo at full time

I would not, on current form put two bob on Celtic’s chances of still being in the Scottish Cup by four o’clock this afternoon in Paisley.

You could hardly claim that a win for St. Mirren would have to be filed under “Cup shocks,” given the way Stephen Robinson’s side are playing, could you? I would, however, empty the bank and put the grandkids’ inheritance on Rangers being top of the Premiership table by ten o’clock on Wednesday night after they have finished with managerless, rudderless Ross County in what will be the equivalent of a public flogging.

And if Celtic assume second place as a consequence that’s a position they might very well occupy from then until the end of the season. Such is life when one half of the Old Firm is in the ascendancy and the other one is being forced to issue pleas for calm in the face of supporter unrest. You’ll know who you are. It would be truly remarkable if a club who sacked their manager seven league games into the start of a championship, and who were eight points behind their greatest rivals by that stage, went on to win the Treble.

As extraordinary a tale as a Treble-winning team having a trophy-less season next time out. But that is the horror story confronting the Celtic fans, and that is why the game against St. Mirren today has taken on such exceptional significance. I believe in plain speaking. It makes for the best form of newspaper copy and radio soundbites.

You would not, based on the poverty of their displays since the end of the Winter break, open your curtains to watch Celtic if they were playing in your back garden. They have been baled out by own goals and penalty kicks against Ross County, Aberdeen and Hibs in quick succession.

It was Brendan Rodgers who asked for calm while having a team who, ironically, provoke panic with the manner in which they play. Sideways and backwards is not the way forward, particularly when Joe Hart is getting more touches than some of the outfield players.

And wasn’t it the Celtic manager who said, following the now characteristic game of two halves against St. Johnstone in early December, that the interval in Perth had been the angriest he had ever been as a manager? There’s an obvious inconsistency there, surely, if he started the anger surrounding his team in the first place.

Prior to the jail break that was staged at Easter Road last Wednesday, Brendan said, “It’s my job to control the inner voice of the team.” This sounds dangerously like mumbo-jumbo to me, but I can well understand why the manager’s head has been turned by the events of a season dictated to by questionable signings.

What Rodgers says for public consumption is one thing, but I would give anything to be a fly on the wall inside any room where he is in private conversation with Celtic’s chairman, Peter Lawwell. It would have to be more about raised voices than inner voices, I can’t help but imagine.

The manager adopts a conciliatory tone in the face of adversity, which is the equivalent of Brendan taking a hit for the team. But when the supporters took a banner to Pittodrie last weekend that was critical of their club’s board of directors they did so when the team was five points clear at the top of the league table, so they appear to have a fear of what might be coming down the pipe without having to be schmoozed by the manager in the meantime.

And the biggest danger of all comes when a club is fighting with itself and not their greatest rivals, when the boardroom is more talked about than the dressing room. Adam Idah prevented the outbreak of civil war with his time added on penalty winner against Hibs last midweek, but the disgruntled are going back behind the barricades today in Paisley. The Viaplay League Cup was a goner on the back of frailty against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on a Sunday afternoon. Another mishap of that magnitude against St. Mirren could only exacerbate tension.

I am old fashioned. My belief is that, if Celtic go out of a cup competition, Rangers automatically become the favourites to win it, as they did in the case of the Viaplay Cup. Also, the idea that beating Rangers is the benchmark for any Celtic team has been shown to be incorrect regarding the championship.

Rodgers has done it twice, at Ibrox and Celtic Park, this season and might still be off the top of the table in a few days’ time because he couldn’t beat Hearts and Kilmarnock in the league. Rangers’ manager, Philippe Clement, has publicly stated his ambition is to win every domestic trophy while being less than a full season in the job at Ibrox.

He may have felt emboldened enough to make that statement after taking a close look at Celtic. The best bit about Easter Road for Rodgers, apart from Idah proving you don’t need to do a dance routine in the run-up to a penalty kick, was the tackle from Anthony Ralston to set up the move which led to the award.

Ralson’s not a first pick but he has a love of the jersey that’s invaluable in times of stress. The midweek substitute would be the first name on the team sheet for me this afternoon, because Celtic are in a place where they need volunteers and not conscripts with a lot to learn about valour.