Jim White has claimed that Rangers chairman Dave King and Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell should come together and agree that Neil Lennon’s men should be welcomed into Ibrox with a guard of honour on Sunday.
Rangers will not give the traditional welcome to the Scottish Premiership champions this weekend, a decision that has attracted widespread criticism.
Celtic-mad celebrity Rod Stewart has said that he would like the Bhoys to do it to the Gers if the situation had reversed in a bid to try and end years of bitterness and hatred between the two clubs.
Sky Sports and talkSPORT host White has suggested that the two men at the top of both Glasgow clubs should talk to each other about the situation to try and quell some of the animosity.
“You’re absolutely right,” said White, as shown by talkSPORT’s official Twitter account on Friday afternoon.
“What it needs Rod is Peter Lawwell of Celtic to be in direct communication with Dave King at Rangers and say ‘listen, let’s take lead here, both of us, and let’s do something here jointly’, because it’s 2019.”
Stewart agreed by saying: “Absolutely. We’ve got to move forward.”
“I find it childish and petty.” ?
“If Rangers won the league, I’d be proud for Celtic to do a guard of honour.”
“As Michelle Obama said, when they go low, we go high. Stop the bitterness.”
Rod Stewart slams #RangersFC for not giving #CelticFC a guard of honour. ?? pic.twitter.com/6qF1VrTQqm
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 10, 2019
OPINION
White is spot on here because this was a real chance to try and stop some of the bitterness and some of the hatred that has been shown between the two clubs for far too long now. Rivalries are one of the best things about football but sometimes it goes way too far when it comes to Rangers and Celtic and maybe some kind of sportsmanship or mutual respect shown between the two sides could have helped in a way. It just seems petty from Rangers when you look from the outside in. Celtic have won the league and it’s a tradition to welcome the title-winners with a guard of honour. Hearts will surely do it for the Hoops next week and that will just make the Light Blues look even worse. What would have been the worst thing to happen if there was a guard of honour anyway? Just a few people moaning in the stands or on social media. It doesn’t mean a lot except for showing a bit of respect and class. Rangers seem to be lacking in that department judging by this. Celtic have won the league and Rangers are throwing their toys out of the pram – that’s how it looks.