Long, long way to go.

There was a real roll-the-stone-away gravity to yesterday’s only SPL fixture. Not just the fact celtic lost one of their vital games-in-hand but the manner in which it happened, gave their 2-1 loss in Gorgie all the hallmarks of a dynsaty-ender.

Okay, it’s only been a two-year “dynasty”, but when a team you usually put three or four past on their home turf, smack in a thirty-yard wonder-goal to clinch the match in the ninety-third minute - the time of the match in which celtic have an established monopoly on match-winners - there’s a sense that history is giving you a very strong hint.

We on the Blue side know this feeling all too well. Ally Mitchell’s late winner for Kilmarnock at Ibrox in the closing stages of the 97/98 title race went similarly against the grain of foregoing seasons. During Nine-In-A-Row we always won the games which mattered and, if we were to lose, it was never in such dramatic circumstances. It was clearly never going to be Ten when that particular stunner hit the back of our net.

So it’s tempting to think Austin McCann’s goal-of-a-lifetime will mean, for Martin Appeal, it’s never gonnae be Three.

However, if we’re gonnae get into portents and patterns, we should be damn wary of the downright siamese nature of Rangers and celtic’s 2002/2003 SPL results.

Up til a few weeks ago, both halves of the Old Firm had dropped points to the same teams, at the same grounds over the length of an extraordinarily tight campaign. We both drew at Pittodrie and Rugby Park. Motherwell defeated McLeish AND O’neill, each by a single goal, both at Fir Park. To make it even more scary, Rangers lost by one goal at Parkhead and celtic lost by one goal at Ibrox - the only other SPL Old Firm clash finished in a draw.

For this reason, I was hoping like mad to see Dundee fail in last week’s bid to make the top six. But they didn’t. So now we must go to Dens Park on league business - the same ground on which the hooped horrors dropped two points a fortnight ago. And, of course, Rangers also have a trip of their own to Tynecastle, in our only remaining Saturday SPL fixture.

Eight points clear, five if celtic win their one game in hand, two if they were to come to Ibrox and win next week (Which they must now be favourites to do as they NEED to win - also, they clearly play a lot worse when they’ve had a full-week’s rest!). That only requires ONE unexpected dropping of points by Rangers between now and the season’s end to let The Smell retain the title. That’s not too hard to imagine. So, let’s not get over-excited just yet.

AND, sticking to the theme of predicting stuff through stuff which happened in weeks, months and years gone by, ask yourself a wee question or two:

When did Rangers last beat Motherwell in the semis of the Scottish Cup? 1976. What happened that year? We won the Treble!

When did we last win the Treble previous to 76? 1964. Who did we beat in the Scottish Cup Final that year? DUNDEE!!

So you can rest assured I’ll be wanting Inverness to crash and burn in today’s second Hampden semi.

Apart from anything else, I don’t want the build up to May 31st ruined by the prospect, albeit an outside one, of losing to a First Division side in the final game of the season. I mean, imagine losing to Inverness Caley in the Scotish Cup??!! How humiliating would that be??!! Let’s ask someone who knows: Oh, MARTIN …