Thanks Phil – Clement celebrating 3-3 moral victory handed title to Celtic

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·17 May 2024

Thanks Phil – Clement celebrating 3-3 moral victory handed title to Celtic

His reaction after that 3-3 ‘moral victory’ looks even more foolish now and it helped hand the title to Celtic, so thanks Phil!

Just six short weeks ago we left Ibrox with mixed emotions after a thrilling 3-3 draw. We led 2-0 at the break and looked comfortable for the win, but before we knew it we were pegged back to 2-2, and then instantly went back in front before conceding a last minute equaliser.

We would have settled for a draw before the game, but after throwing away a victory it felt like a bitter blow, although not a fatal one. After all we remained top albeit having played a game more but ultimately the title was still in our own hands.

OneFootball Videos

The title was also still in the hands of our rivals of course, but they had blown the chance to go top despite having the advantage of an entire home crowd. Despite coming back from two goals down, and equalising in the closing minutes, it should still have hurt the Ibrox side to have passed on taking full advantage in the title race.

Had theRangers actually won that day then Celtic would have been looking for favours so a draw suited Celtic much more than theRangers as so it turned out to be the case.

Not judging by the celebrations at the end though, as Philippe Clement led his players on a ‘moral victory’ lap of honour, fist pumping the roaring crowd.

You’d be forgiven if you thought that the Ibrox side had won comfortably by three or four goals. It was quite a bizarre moment that was not surprisingly ridiculed by many.

Had they won that game then they would have been firmly in the driving seat for the league title. Instead their false sense of superiority, or delusion went to their heads and they dropped five points in their next two games. Thus leading to them ending the season in the all so familiar position of second place.

That ‘victory’ parade now looks even more foolish than before, and will be a major source of embarrassment for the Ibrox club. But then again nothing seems to embarrass them does it?

Former Celtic midfielder Peter Grant has no doubt that this embarrassing blunder by Philippe Clement had a major bearing on the outcome of the title race. Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show the Celtic TV pundit explained why this incident was so significant in turning the fight for the flag back in Celtic’s direction.

“Something that didn’t involve Celtic. When they played the 3-3 game, I thought Philippe Clement made his first boo-boo as the manager. I’ve been really impressed with him the way he’s got the team galvanised but when you celebrate moral victories…you’ve got be careful of that in Glasgow.

“The punters yeah, get sucked into that if you want. Up celebrating and saying it was 3-3. Remember it’s a home game and you’ve dropped points against your rival who nine times out of 10 would take a point away from home. Celtic left the park disappointed and I thought that was his first boo-boo.

“I said afterwards ‘that could come back to haunt him.’ And sure as fate, what happens? Not what I expected, the Ross County results comes up and the Dundee result comes next These are wee moments that give you a lift. And Celtic still had their moments when it wasn’t going swimmingly.”

Just an Ordinary Bhoy