I'd empty the bank for Rangers but I wouldn't part with two bob on Celtic and here's why – Hugh Keevins

I would not, on current form put two bob on Celtic’s chances of still being in the Scottish Cup by four o’clock this afternoon in Paisley.

You could hardly claim that a win for St. Mirren would have to be filed under “Cup shocks,” given the way Stephen Robinson’s side are playing, could you? I would, however, empty the bank and put the grandkids’ inheritance on Rangers being top of the Premiership table by ten o’clock on Wednesday night after they have finished with managerless, rudderless Ross County in what will be the equivalent of a public flogging.

And if Celtic assume second place as a consequence that’s a position they might very well occupy from then until the end of the season. Such is life when one half of the Old Firm is in the ascendancy and the other one is being forced to issue pleas for calm in the face of supporter unrest. You’ll know who you are. It would be truly remarkable if a club who sacked their manager seven league games into the start of a championship, and who were eight points behind their greatest rivals by that stage, went on to win the Treble.

As extraordinary a tale as a Treble-winning team having a trophy-less season next time out. But that is the horror story confronting the Celtic fans, and that is why the game against St. Mirren today has taken on such exceptional significance. I believe in plain speaking. It makes for the best form of newspaper copy and radio soundbites.

You would not, based on the poverty of their displays since the end of the Winter break, open your curtains to watch Celtic if they were playing in your back garden. They have been baled out by own goals and penalty kicks against Ross County, Aberdeen and Hibs in quick succession.

It was Brendan Rodgers who asked for