JUST two weeks after legendary player and Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell had a statue erected in his home of North Lanarkshire, it might be time to make another addition to the collection outside Parkhead after another crazy and hectic week for Celtic Football Club.

The question has been one that has floated across social media ever since the Derry native returned for his second and third spells in the dugout, and surely now he has cemented himself among the greats of Paradise.

Not only did Celtic head to Ibrox for a fourth consecutive away fixture in 11 days, which included the victories at Pittodrie and Stuttgart amongst the miraculous comeback against Sunday's opponents just a week prior, but they did so with one of the weakest starting line-ups many fans have seen don the green and white hoops.

But before that, last Wednesday evening saw the champions set north-bound for Aberdeen to play their refixed game with the Dons in the midst of one of the toughest few weeks O'Neill could have asked for, but still his side got the business done against an albeit poor Aberdeen side.

Kieran Tierney's early goal gave some much-needed relief and hope that Celtic would storm to victory. But when Liam Scales was deemed to have fouled Olusanya the hosts were able to level proceedings through Kevin Nisbet.

A much-changed Celtic squad would huff and puff, but they looked to the eternal presence of a Swede in hoops to bail them out, and Henrik Larsson – sorry Benjamin Nygren – struck a second goal to decide the game and help the Hoops cut their deficit to within five of Hearts.

Then on Sunday panic set in when at 11:45am the Celtic Twitter account announced that Callum McGregor, alongside star man Kieran Tierney, had both been left absent from the match day squad. It meant that Celtic entered the tie with SEVEN key starters missing from the squad.

Liam Scales replaced the Hoops captain in the unnatural left-back position with Auston Trusty partnering novice Benjamin Arthur in the centre-half positions.

Dress it up however you like, but when Celtic emerged from the tunnel and the 7,500 travelling support joined in with the home crowd as the Tina Turner classic roared out, it felt like what Celtic would lack in quality in footballing terms would be levelled out by the heart and desire to grasp a victory by any means necessary at the home of their bitter rivals.

Daizen Maeda's diving header looked to have given Celtic an unlikely lead at Ibrox but the imaginary lines somehow perceived Liam Scales as offside, despite what seemed to be a glaring omission of the last Rangers defender, which left the score-line level once more.

Celtic, or more so Martin O'Neill and Co, pulled off a masterclass in defending as Celtic fans held their nerve for the remaining 75 minutes with extra-time being added to a game which lacked any real quality. Fernandez handled home for Rangers as their celebrations were cut short in the extra period.

Penalty kicks and Celtic are not something which have gone hand-in-hand in recent years, having lost a Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen last season, as well and the famous Kairat Almaty result also seeing Celtic knocked out of Europe's elite competition back in August after the same result.

The nervous tension was cut instantly when James Tavernier smashed his spot-kick off the bar, unusual for a man with as much practice as he gets from the spot, but then again when the pressure is on...

Celtic were perfect from the spot and when Tomáš Čvančara slotted his penalty beyond Jack Butland to win 4-2, the jubilation in the Celtic end was a sight to behold.

Sadly, the narrative around Sunday's victory will be less on Saint Martin's masterclass once more against all the odds, but it will revolve around the ugly scenes at the full-time whistle at Ibrox Park.

Let's make one thing clear, however, before we start the point-scoring as is custom with this rivalry, Celtic fans entering the pitch is wrong and illegal – of course it is.

But to any fan of this sport, I ask, how many times have you seen a late winner or shoot-out victory end in a similar fashion with a few fans getting carried away wanting to hug and kiss the men who stood tall and gave them an unforgettable day? The answer is hundreds. Plain and simple, so if scoring a winning penalty in a game which looked to be beyond Celtic so much that Rangers were heavy favourites and the odds were stacked so heavily in favour of the Ibrox club causes you to act out of the ordinary then I think it can be understood.

This problem is not a two-way street however. When the Onion Bears and their blue, white and red jubilee masks stormed the pitch assaulting Celtic coaching staff and trying to aggressively assault the Celtic end, the narrative became "Oh those two at it again".

The reality of the situation is that in 2018 we saw Celtic's ticket allocation for Ibrox cut by Rangers because simply put, they are such sore and bad losers that they could not handle a green and white party in their own backyard. Eight years on and this is still the case and Sunday will be the tale retold in years to come as to why the allocations were cut again. 

Yes, the damage done to the stands was awful and those involved should be be arrested or banned, but do not let it distract from the actuality of the situation at hand.

But the unsavoury scenes which involved the Rangers Ultras with grown men masking themselves as if they were set for a lynching mob were exactly that and if Celtic have a backbone they could defend their own fans from this media onslaught. The famous 'We are not half of anything' statement springs to mind.

Three wins and a draw in four tough away fixtures is nothing short of miraculous, and something which not only would earn you a stamped ticket to heaven, but the very minimum, a club funded statue honouring the man who could keep Celtic on course for success this season.