Despite being hilariously out-sung and out-classed in their own backyard by 2,400 Celtic fans last weekend, Rangers have doubled down on the delusion — wheeling out Tina Turner’s Simply the Best once again at Ibrox for their match against Aberdeen.
Yes, really.
The same anthem that Celtic fans commandeered before the Glasgow Derby — belting it out with such cheeky confidence it shook the stands — was back on the speakers at Ibrox on Sunday, as if the last public roasting hadn’t taken place. Perhaps they hoped no one would notice. Or maybe this is the musical equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and singing louder.
It’s not just Celtic fans laughing either. A sizeable number of Rangers supporters took to social media after last week’s derby to suggest retiring the anthem altogether, saying it had become a running joke — a constant reminder that, in Scottish football’s modern era, their club are anything but the best.
Let’s talk facts. Celtic have won fourteen of the last fifteen league titles. They’ve completed FIVE trebles in the past decade. They sit proudly atop the all-time major honours list in Scottish football. Once upon a time, Simply the Best was Rangers’ rallying cry — now it feels more like a karaoke punchline that even Ally McCoist had to laugh along with.
But fair play. If they want to keep playing it, who are we to stop them? Just know, every time that chorus blares out across Ibrox, the rest of Scottish football — and especially Celtic fans — will hear something else entirely.
Not Tina Turner’s power ballad of triumph. Just a sad wee remix:
“Second best… better than all the rest (apart from Celtic).”
Some songs age gracefully. Others just age… awkwardly.
