Tucked away inside New Douglas Park in a quiet little boxroom that doubles up as a media space, one might have expected Hollywood’s Bill Murray to make a guest appearance last Sunday.
As Elena Sadiku vowed that her side will learn the lessons from the defeat to Rangers, the suspicion is that cracking Groundhog Day in this fixture isn’t coming any time soon.
For her opposite number, Leanne Crichton, this was a victory at the first time of stepping into the dugout in this particular game.
For Sadiku it is now eight straight games against Rangers without a win, a sequence that now stretches to three draws and three defeats on league duty and two defeats in cup ties.
Both managers were always going to play down the significance of the meeting given the early nature of the campaign and in fairness the tightness of the table and the volume of games to be played would see the sense in that approach.
But for Celtic this was an opportunity to go five points clear over one of their certain rivals for the title. Regardless of how early that comes in a season, it could never be described as insignificant.
Instead they now find themselves a point behind Crichton’s Rangers team who have had to cope with the same significant shift in key personnel changes as Celtic.
More than just the points, though, is the fact that it is a Celtic team who do not look like they know how to win a big game. They can compete in flashes but there is a lack of conviction, aggression and, crucially, belief when the pressure is on.
Other than a win over Glasgow City at the start of last season that came via a penalty, there have been no games that the Parkhead side have come out of on top against teams that they are going head-to-head with for the Championship.
They managed one shot on target against Rangers in the opening period of the game last Sunday. Jenna Fife, the Ibrox goalkeeper, might well have watched the second period from the stand with her feet up and gloves off so little was she troubled.
And that rather than the lessons of the 90 minutes is where Celtic have a problem. If they are to be seen as genuine title challengers they need to be believe it themselves and that looks like the biggest issue Sadiku has.
The other problem is players whom she simply isn’t getting the best out of.
For Rangers, the win last weekend will have underlined that they hold the upperhand when it comes to this fixture. Crichton is too level-headed to ever say too much publicly but the players themselves and their instinctive reactions with the win underlines the importance of it.
Sadiku was right to say this it isn’t one game that is going to define the title but it certainly goes a long way.
The early evidence would point to the fact that this is a Celtic side who remain stuck in the same movie.
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AND ANOTHER THING
Glasgow City and Hibs face very different challenges this week as they look to European football.
City’s 3-0 lead over Irish champions Athlone Town looks sufficient to open the door to the second qualifying round of the inaugural Europa Cup but Hibs’ task looks significantly tougher.
Having been paired against Inter Milan, Grant Scott’s side were always facing the possibility of a sobering experience in the tournament and so it proved this week; they are now faced with having to turn around a 4-1 deficit from this week’s trek to Italy.
With the second leg at Easter Road this Wednesday night, though, they will still be keen for a decent crowd to back them as they look to do the impossible.
Eilidh Adams’ goal will also have offered a little bit of encouragement for some of the players who have been exposed to what the standard is at elite level.
It was difficult, though, not to concur with Leanne Ross this week as she suggested that it is harder to envisage another Scottish team doing a Glasgow City and progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The acceleration in the women’s game elsewhere has been rapid in terms of development, resources and attention.
Scotland has struggled to keep pace.
AND FINALLY
Chelsea have to be applauded for the arrival of a menstrual coach to the club as they look to offer their elite athletics an elite sports science education.
The Chelsea players warmed up for the opening game of the WSL wearing shorts that were designed to look as though they had a blood stain on them, designed to highlight the issues all females have when taking part in sport.
Their partnership with ‘Here We Flo’ is set to normalise such conversations which is clearly a necessary step. However, greater investigation into hormonal imbalance and the biological effects on athletes is desperately required.
The monitoring of a monthly cycle and tweaking training to be in step with when players may need to lessen the load is commonsense. As the women’s game grows and the value of players increases, it would be remiss of clubs not to be focussing on every aspect of athletic preparations when the stakes become so high.
