Wrestling with pigs can only bring the Blues

By Donal Glass

George Bernard Shaw famously said, "Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." It’s a good line to keep in mind when observing some Celtic bloggers and their obsession with every last twitch and squeal coming from Ibrox.

There are times when it makes sense – before an “Old Firm” derby (however distasteful that term may feel), interest in Rangers (or TheRangers, or Sevco, or whichever name you pick this week) is natural. And if the league is tight, of course we glance across the city to see how their results might impact us. That's football. That's rivalry. It comes with the territory.

But frankly, the sheer volume of Rangers content pouring from Celtic sites when it has little bearing on us at all is just embarrassing. Endless think-pieces, microscopic analysis of their financial statements, forensic study of their latest failed signing, dissections of games that have absolutely nothing to do with Celtic – it's an obsession verging on mania. And it doesn't sit well with me at all.

What I find especially bizarre are the same folks who loudly insist that Rangers and "TheRangers" are entirely separate entities – yet when it comes to derby week, they're trotting out head-to-head records from decades ago as if nothing ever happened. You can't have it both ways. Either they're a new club, in which case history is irrelevant, or they're not. You don't get to pick your reality according to the point you're trying to make that week.

This fixation also grates because it’s so deeply contradictory. Some bloggers recoil theatrically at the phrase "Old Firm," yet the same people see literally everything Celtic through a Rangers-shaped lens, permanently framing our success or struggles in opposition to them. It’s exhausting and tiresome – and surely Celtic deserves better than being forever cast in some tedious binary opposition.

It reminds me of those religious folks who can’t enjoy their own faith without constant reference to the devil. You know the type – so fixated on Satan’s deeds, temptations, and assorted wickedness that they fail to ever appreciate the intrinsic joy, comfort, or inspiration of their own faith. Celtic, surely, can be celebrated and enjoyed on its own merits without constant reference to a club whose very identity we apparently find distasteful.

Isn't there enough within Celtic – our history, our achievements, our culture – to fill a thousand articles without resorting to another forensic examination of how our rivals conduct themselves? Do we genuinely find no meaning, no sense of pride or joy, without comparing ourselves to them?

We’d do well to find ways to celebrate Celtic positively, to articulate our passion and pride without always wrestling that proverbial pig from across the city. Because the longer we engage in this tedious roll-around in the mud, the dirtier we get. And you can be sure they’re enjoying every minute of it.

Shaw was right. Leave the pig to enjoy its own dirt. Celtic’s story is richer and better told on its own merits.