Tom English: 'To some in the Celtic support, this minute's silence is a provocation'

ANOTHER DAY, another controversy in the deepest, darkest recesses of Old Firm football. We're not talking about Celtic and the issues they have with referees, their supposed chicanery and the anger its caused. No. There's been enough hullabaloo about that already. You can summarise it very quickly. Celtic have been the victims of at least eight really poor decisions by officials in the past five months – five penalties they should have got but never did and three goals they should have b

There's been something bubbling under the surface these past few days, something peculiar to the Old Firm in its twisted thinking. At Ibrox this afternoon, there is going to be a minute's silence for their former goalkeeper, Gerry Neef, who died on Tuesday at the age of 63. Neef has a certain resonance in the Rangers story in that he was in goal on the day of the Ibrox disaster when 66 people lost their lives. He was also part of the Rangers squad that won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. The man is deserving of tribute today. Rangers have decided to remember him by way of silence rather than applause. That's normally how they do it at Ibrox.

To some in the Celtic support, this is provocation. They're fizzing about it. Shame on Rangers, they cry. The silence, it seems, is part of a Rangers plot to make their rival supporters look bad because when that whistle sounds and the silence begins there's going to be an element in the visitors' end that may not respect it, that may shout and roar and maybe come out with songs that will bring mortification crashing down on the entire club. It only takes a few to humiliate the many.

So, there you have it. A conspiracy to embarrass Celtic.

But there's more. Isn't there always? There's going to be a surreal moment at half-time today. Simon Weston, the Falklands hero, is going to be presented with a Rangers jersey with a poppy on it. This one has come from beyond left-field. Away off in the distance in Lalaland. This is not marking any particular anniversary of the Falklands and it's not to celebrate Weston's support of Rangers either, because he's never shown any great support for the club – or any club – in the past. This is the first Old Firm game he's ever attended.

He's going to be there because, well, he was guest of honour at a fundraising event for the Rangers' Charity Foundation, making a speech about his life and times. He's an extraordinarily brave man, Weston. You might well ask why is this happening now, since Remembrance Sunday has been and gone. But then you could just as easily ask, why not? It's a fund-raiser for charity and he's a good man. What's the problem?

Some Celtic people know what the problem is. It's, er, another conspiracy, another attempt to make them look bad. Because what's going to happen? Weston, a British soldier, is going to come on the field and Ibrox will salute him to the rafters and that's going to act as a red rag down the Celtic end, where there will be inevitable outbursts of animosity. "Scotland's shame," say Rangers fans. "You lot can't even treat a war hero with respect." And "Scotland's shame," repeat the Celtic fans. "You lot are using this man in a sick attempt to get a reaction out of us. This is not about paying tribute to Weston, it's about trying to antagonise us."

If this is a plot, as some on Celtic-minded internet messageboards are saying, then the course of action available to Celtic fans is straightforward. They can either take the bait and boo and disgrace themselves in front of a worldwide audience of millions or they can show a bit of decorum and rise above it. There is no law that says they must be disrespectful to the minute's silence and then hound Weston off the park. It's not written in blood that even a tiny element among them must behave this way. If they think it's a set-up job to trap them, then don't be trapped. It's simple, right?

Joe O'Rourke, of the Celtic Supporters Association, had this to say on his website: "The most worrying thing about this is that this was not concocted by somebody in the PR office, this has come from the very highest level, the owner, the chairman and indeed the whole board of directors are involved in this attempt at extreme provocation, I have been following Celtic for over 50 years and this is the lowest they have stooped since Moonbeams (David Murray] banned us from the match. I would be interested to hear what the match commander for Sunday had to say about this, they continue to tell us this is a fixture with a fire burning under it, well they have just thrown more petrol on top."

Maybe they have. Maybe Murray and Martin Bain and Alastair Johnston are using a deceased player and a brave soldier to provoke Celtic fans into booing and singing sings they shouldn't be singing. Maybe that's it. They all got together and said: "Right, let's get Weston up here on Old Firm day and give him a jersey. Their mob will go crazy."

If that's what you believe, there isn't a person in the world who's going to persuade you otherwise. But if this is a wicked plot, you don't have to fall for it. Now, do you?