TOP OF THE TABLE CRUNCH
The SPL season is just a couple of weeks old but even this early there are only two teams with 100% records and, gee whizz, they meet at Ibrox on Saturday. That the other lot will be rigged out in green and white will surprise no one but, whoopeedoo, as the Two Jimmies will tell you, they made it sure it isn't Them. Welcome to The Brox, Bobby Williamson and the Trainspotters XI. Are you suffering altitude sickness yet?
I've got a lot of time for the Hibs boss. He ain't afraid to speak his mind and, having shared a shandy or two with him in the Bella Hotel in his time with the Gers, I've always thought of him as a Bear. But these days he is portrayed as Scottish football's Mr Grumpy and, if I was a Hi-Bee last Sunday, I too might have been more than a bit miffed when Grant Brebner got an early pass-out. Not the first hasty red of Stuart Dougal's career but we're not here to badmouth refs. We don't want to sound too much like the Tims do we?
Winning a derby with only ten men will have put a smile on all faces at Easter Road and they will come to our place fancying their chances of going away with at least a point. All of which means they will pull everyone behind the ball and seek to send us to sleep. Don't let them do it! Even if the game is going against our team, stick behind them, pump up the volume and make yourself heard. If you must moan, keep it for the pub afterwards.
Hibs will play it tight and much will depend on how quickly Rangers can break them down. My big worry about our attack these days is our lack of pace and penetration. Our man-to-man passing is up there with the best of them but the killer ball to split the defence is lacking and, without a quick thinker or a flying machine (hurry back Blue Peter), many attacks tend to fizzle out with one pass too many. Patience is the name of the game, for players and punters alike, and I'm sure, if our guys stick to Big Eck's game plan, the Sons Of will be clear at the top on Saturday night.
Which is hardly likely to turn Mr Grumpy into Laughing Boy. However, instead of moaning about his lack of a toothy grin, maybe I'll just tell a story about his old man and Jimmy 'Louey' Hunter, an ex-ice cream man from Easterhouse. Apparently, Louey and Mr W were stuck for something to do one Saturday afternoon and Bobby's dad suggested they 'go and see ma boy playin fitba'. Now Louey isn't really a fitba man but he knew Bobby was a bit of a player at Clydebank so imagine how he felt when they turned up at the main door Ibrox and walked into an Old Firm game.
Hey, and this one has a happy ending, folks. Bobby Williamson scored the only goal of the game with an overhead kick and if Louey Hunter tells me the story one more time I'm off to Baghdad for the quiet life!
So the Hibs boss is an OK guy in my eyes. In fact, when he was manager at Killie, one of the rumours doing the rounds was that Tricky Dicky was ready to add Bobby to his backroom team, in much the same way as Graeme Souness made use of Walter Smith's knowledge of the Scottish game. It didn't happen but it is one of those might-have-beens I turn over in my head from time to time.
Mind you, Bobby did himself no favours when Shug 'I'm-not-a-bigot' Keevins interviewed him a while ago and quizzed him about being a Rangers fan. "When we're younger, we've all got to support somebody," was the answer which disappointed me.
Maybe Bobby will wish he was a Rangers man when the Teddies sort his lot out on Saturday.
LITTLE BOY BLUE