THE Old Firm match has been cast in many roles in its turbulent history, from the greatest show on Earth to the most poisonous event to seep through the sporting world. As a new year breaks, it has been reduced from gaudy grandeur to mundane insignificance by the death of Phil O'Donnell, the Motherwell captain.

The mood at Lennoxtown yesterday morning was as grim as the dreich weather. The Celtic players and staff met and came to the decision to approach the Scottish Premier League for the postponement. It came as no surprise.

The earlier indications were that the impact of the death had not been absorbed. Gordon Strachan conducted his normal pre-match press conference at 10am in an air of unreality. The Celtic manager, properly and courteously, was adamant that the Old Firm match could not be discussed in its normal context. "I feel uncomfortable talking about football when there is a family grieving, when there are four kids wondering where their dad is after a game of football. It's too much for all of us," he said.

He was aware, even before his staff had reported for duty, how deeply O'Donnell's death had affected the squad. "I think if I watched them today you would probably not pick four of five of them," he said of his players. However, he added that the football pitch was the "one place" where players can escape the emotional pain. "I have done it myself when something horrendous has happened to the family . . . but for the 90 minutes you can lose yourself, especially in the madness that will ensue."

The players will now have to wait for a full-blown match to exorcise the ghosts that were released after 4pm on a Fir Park Saturday. The match with Rangers and the game with Motherwell on Sunday have now been cancelled. Celtic will re-enter the world of football with a Scottish Cup tie against Stirling Albion on January 12.

Strachan yesterday gave a glimpse into how small that world is. Everyone has met everyone, everyone is linked. The Celtic manager only knew O'Donnell "to say hello to" but had been personally told of the midfielder's kindness by his son, Gavin.

"My son phoned me," said Strachan, "and told me of the time he went to Sheffield Wednesday on trial. He said when you go on trial to clubs like that it is very unusual to get a warm welcome, but the one guy who looked after him was Phil O'Donnell, who was injured at the time. His death has repercussions not just throughout Scotland."

This notion of Scottish football itself as a grieving family is accentuated by Stephen McManus, the Celtic captain, Willie McStay, the Celtic reserve team coach, and others having close links to the extended O'Donnell family. Tommy Burns, the Celtic coach, signed O'Donnell for the club and was deeply affected too by the tragedy.

Strachan was told the news on Saturday night in his office by McManus. "I don't think it had sank in for Mick," said Strachan of his captain who travelled to Fir Park the next morning to pay personal tribute with Scott McDonald, the Celtic striker who was also a former team-mate and firm friend of O'Donnell's.

"When the news came filtering though, we had some very upset people," said Strachan. "The Motherwell lads and the Celtic lads get on very well. We just all wanted to get home."

He confirmed that Mark McGhee, his friend and the Motherwell manager, had come over to the Strachan household on Sunday just "to sit and talk".

That talking will continue at Celtic even as the playing is suspended. Strachan was asked, before the news of the postponement, how he could prepare his players for an Old Firm collision. "I have no idea," he said with commendable candour. "We will just have to wing it."

A meeting later made it clear that it would be difficult for Celtic as a club to fulfil the fixture. McManus said: "Having met this morning as a group for the first time since Phil's death, the Celtic team, management and backroom staff feel very strongly that our match on Wednesday should be postponed as a mark of our sincere respect for Phil O'Donnell, a great player and a great man. A number of our squad have very close connections to Phil's family and feel it would be inappropriate to proceed with this match at such a time, following such a tragic event."

The decision was then made to approach the SPL. The announcement that the game was postponed was made at lunchtime. It will be the most silent of tributes to O'Donnell. But it will not be the last. Strachan confirmed he had been in contact with Dermot Desmond, Celtic's majority shareholder, and that "we will be doing something for Phil".

That is for the future. The present, though, is reserved for mourning.