Jock Stein used to say, “Make sure you’re good enough on the day, regardless of refereeing decisions that may go against you”.

Celtic’s legendary manager was far more interested in the performance of his team than any match official’s failings on the day.

Fast-forward over 30 years since the great man left Celtic Park and there is no longer a great team on the park. What you get is a ‘source’ stoking the fire ahead of the third Old Firm encounter of the season.

Timing is everything and this ‘source’ is trying to get the excuse in early, before the really hard questions are delivered in the aftermath of a must-win fixture.

It’s win or bust for Celtic. The pressure is on like never before and there’s nothing like a conspiracy theory to stoke things up before a ball is kicked in earnest.

The referee is now under intense pressure and that’s the way Celtic want it.

I have never known a time like this at the Parkhead club, when pandering to a section of the support that thrives on paranoia and the notion that ‘the establishment has got it in for us’, is considered acceptable.

Wake up, smell the coffee, open your eyes and look at the bigger picture. This game shouldn’t be do or die for Celtic.

Given each side’s financial state of affairs, Celtic should be comfortably clear in the league, but instead find themselves complaining about all the breaks that have gone against them.

Tony Mowbray’s defence, however, affords everyone a lucky break – and that’s why his team are in the position they currently occupy.

Rangers will be happy with a draw and I think they’ll get it because this match is perfectly pitched for a team to play the Walter Smith way.

Ride out the storm from the opposition and pick your moment is exactly how the Rangers manager will view this game and I feel they will get the point or more they’re looking for –with or without Allan McGregor.

I want Celtic to win and I make no excuses for stating that a victory for the away side keeps us all interested in a league that has been on the ropes all season.

Ask any former player about the key to winning the game and desire is always up at the top end of the list. The first crunching tackle will tell you all you need to know about the will to win this fixture.

Who’s the best at the back? Rangers’ statistics tell you Weir and Bougherra are solid; Thompson and Rogne are raw and about to be tested to the full. If Loovens or Hooijveld make it, they will be rusty, with one half of that pair suspect.

In the middle, there could be Scott Brown and Steven Davis in a head-to-head. I firmly believe on the flanks Celtic win hands down – McGeady and Kamara will be a handful.

But it’s up front where the excitement in the fixture is contained – Boyd and Miller against Fortune and Robbie Keane.

Let’s wait and see who is the real class act in a big game. Good players score in big games and regularly too.

I still get excited about the build-up, but although many will exaggerate the standing of this derby in world football, for me, it has lost something as more and more inferior players wear the blue and the green.

I think it will end in a draw, but there’s a sour taste going into the game as the ‘source’ attempts to deflect criticism away from Celtic’s failings.

Dougie’s top man

Dougie McDonald was, for me, one of the worst referees in Scotland.

Now I think he’s one of the best and a sensible choice for Sunday’s Old Firm encounter.

That itself tells you that with time and experience he has, in my eyes, started to eradicate the majority of his blunders.

In our country, we are all too quick to make our minds up about whether a match official is good or bad.

Over a period of time, McDonald has managed to swing opinion back in his favour and distance himself from the ‘teacher and pupil’ syndrome that seems to dominate the attitude of many younger officials.

I hope for his sake Dougie avoids a contentious moment on Sunday that awards or denies either half a goal, penalty or a sending-off.

I make no bones about telling you a third consecutive game with decisions going against Celtic will have the wagons surrounding Hampden to ask Hugh Dallas to explain the ‘agenda’ to the conspiracy theorists.

Ibrox 3 deserve taste of the boos

Good luck to Craig Levein in his first game in charge of the devalued Scotland side against the Czech Republic next week.

We all need to stand behind him and look to the future with some kind of optimism that he can get it right.

But I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with 55-times capped Maurice Malpas about the honour of getting picked for your country, even once.

Today, the modern player seems to decide when they are available to play for their country and under what manager.

Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd are back in the squad because we are at this point dire and desperate to qualify for a major tournament.

Levein may well have wiped the slate clean and offered an amnesty to all, but that won’t stop a section of the Tartan Army letting both players know what they feel about their attitude under George Burley.

Allan McGregor will also get it when he returns for the qualifiers after his own brand of misdemeanour.

Oddly enough, though, I still have my doubts about whether Barry Ferguson will receive any backlash because I still can’t see him agreeing to come back.

I can only hope that if we don’t get off to a flier in the qualifying group that the dummy is not thrown from the pram for a second time by those pampered prima donnas.

We move on and hope Craig delivers success for Scotland and that the fans rally behind his banner.

But it will take more than a save, a telling pass, a crunching tackle or a killer goal to eradicate the feeling of dishonour many feel for the Rangers ‘amigos’ when they wear the dark blue shirt at Hampden in the future.