You have to say Scottish football hasn’t been shown in a great light recently.
Celtic have had off-field issues, crashed out of the Champions League, and then produced a dire Glasgow derby display before the start of the September international break.
Rangers are still useless; they somehow produced a worse Champions League qualifying performance than Brendan Rodgers’ side, sitting seventh in the league, and are yet to win a game.
At least Celtic can smile because they are the champions of Scotland, and also sitting top of the table, but Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker aren’t impressed by what they have seen.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesAlan Shearer and Gary Lineker on watching Rangers vs Celtic at Ibrox
Given that it’s the international break, the panel on the Rest is Football were discussing the recent matches on the international circuit, including Scotland’s win over Belarus and their point against Denmark in their World Cup qualifiers.
That’s when Shearer turned the topic to Celtic’s recent trip to Ibrox, including how he was in Scotland when that match took place.
The legendary striker didn’t mince his words and stated that the game was ‘dreadful’, before Lineker agreed and added ‘thankfully, their national team is performing slightly better.’
Micah Richards: “I played with the Scots. I love the Scots. I watched the game, though. I didn’t watch when they won (against Belarus). I watched the 0-0 vs Denmark.”
Shearer: “That was a hard watch.”
Richards: “I actually really enjoyed the game. It was weird because Scotland just couldn’t get out, no matter what – but actually, Scotland defended really well when they needed to.”
Gary Lineker then asked, ‘when was the last time Scotland reached a World Cup?’ Before he shared that it was in 1998.
Shearer: “I was in Scotland last week. I didn’t go to the game, but I watched it with a load of Scotsmen, watching Rangers v Celtic, and that was dreadful.”
Lineker: “Oh, I watched that game. I watched it all.”
Shearer: “Oh, God. How bad was that?!”
Lineker: “It was poor. I mean, Rangers were okay in the first half, but in the second half, there was nothing. No efforts at goal or anything. There wasn’t much quality on display there. Thankfully, their national team is performing slightly better.”
Worst Glasgow derby in living memory?
Celtic and Rangers fans don’t agree on much, but the feeling after the goalless draw was the fact that it was one of the worst derby games in recent memory.
Even pundits, from both sides and those on the outside, felt that way, with both teams only mustering nine shots between them and two on target.
Those who hate the xG stats won’t care one jot about the following stat, but both teams generated 0.32 xG in that game, the lowest recorded in a Premiership match since records began.