Roy Keane puts Ian Wright right on Glasgow Derby

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The Celtic Star

·11 April 2025

Roy Keane puts Ian Wright right on Glasgow Derby

Roy Keane has his own explanation for why theRangers triumphed over Celtic in the recent Glasgow Derby, and he dismissed Ian Wright’s claim that the Glasgow clubs are comparable to ‘Real Madrid and Barcelona’…

Hamza Igamane of theRangers scores his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Ibrox club clinched consecutive league victories over the Hoops and their first win at Celtic Park in five years last month, as Hamza Igamane netted a late goal to seal a shock 3-2 win for Barry Ferguson’s side.

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It had minimal impact on the title race

In the end, it had minimal impact on the title race, as Celtic stayed firmly in control and on track for their fourth consecutive league title.

However, it felt like a significant psychological victory for the visitors, with a 2,500 away crowd backing them in a Glasgow Derby for the first time in years, and with caretaker boss Ferguson in the dugout.

Roy Keane of Celtic runs onto the pitch for the Scottish Premier league soccer match against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park January 14, 2006. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Arsenal icon Wright tuned in and was impressed by the intensity of the encounter. During a conversation with former Celtic midfielder Keane on the Stick to Football podcast, he said: “A game I saw, Roy, was the Old Firm derby a couple of weeks ago when theRangers won 3-2. It was a game.

“It was end to end, players trying, tackles flying, no-one got booked for 35 minutes, the VAR didn’t get involved in it. And it wasn’t like, oh my God, it’s Real Madrid and Barcelona.”

“It was Celtic and theRangers and they were going for it. And it was one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen for a long time.”

Daizen Maeda celebrates scoring Celtic’s first goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

However, Keane wasn’t entirely on board with the idea that Celtic’s rivals were on equal footing, swiftly pointing out to Wright that the circumstances were far from usual. He believes that if it had been a match Celtic needed to win, the outcome would have been completely different.

‘The situation was that Celtic already have won the league’

Keane said: “Yeah, but the situation was that Celtic already have won the league, so theRangers are going to come and have a go, aren’t they?

Kasper Schmeichel picks the ball out of the net during the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park, Celtic v theRangers 16 March 2025. Photo O Rourke, Shutterstock

“When we’re watching games, our teams, like just United at the moment, or even City, their focus is more about not losing than going to win. That was definitely the case on Sunday. I know it’s not the case every time [Celtic and theRangers] play.”

Conor Spence

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