It has been enjoyable - and sometimes a bit weird - watching the Scottish football community work up its own particular lather over Scotland's looming independence vote.

The place is a scattergun of Yes, No and Don't Know. All of which is fine. Where there is spiky argument and some right verbal rammies…that's all good for me, too.

But football clubs - and their fans - often throw up stereotypes, don't they? Supporters like their clubs to have a specific "tradition" or "culture" wrapped around them and, whether these are phony or otherwise, they tend to pander to human herding.

I need hardly say that Rangers and Celtic fans are specialists in this. In truth, I enjoy the ardour with which Old Firm supporters apply particular values to their clubs. It is refreshing, though, when their fellow supporters, caring for football and football alone, couldn't give two tosses about reputed "tradition" and happily dissent.

Thus we find a horde of passionate Rangers fans defending the Union come September 18, and equal groups of Celtic fans claiming Yes is the only way.

It's the way it is. You get Rangers fans flapping Israeli flags and some Celtic fans doing likewise with Palestinian flags.

Some of this is genuine feeling. Much of it is posturing and showmanship. And quite a bit of it is: "This is the side we take, right?"

I've met a number of Rangers and Celtic fans who are going against the grain: Rangers fans who intend to vote Yes and Celtic fans who will vote No.

I quite admire these guys - they are refreshing, a touch bold, and simply cannot be bothered with the unwritten rules of the herd.

In terms of such stereotyping…don't bother trying to wade into the history of it all. It is interesting, but also far too complex.

In the case of Rangers, something buried deep in the club's genes, according to some, means it is "the football club of the Union" and "very British". I've never actually been able to find sound historic evidence for this, but maybe this is to be overly nitpicky.

When Rangers played the 2008 Uefa Cup final on that unfortunate day in Manchester, the Rangers fans inside the stadium were a swarm of Union flags. Enough said. Forget the semantics of it. Their point was made.

As for Celtic…how come so many are very noticeably pro-Yes and, for that matter, pro-Palestinian?

Again, don't venture too far into the historic evidence for it all…you won't get very far. But the modern-day positions on these issues are perfectly explainable.

Celtic to a degree represents the incomer, the political underdog. For many of the club's fans, who love Ireland and Irish Nationalism, read also a jaundice towards Britain and a sympathy for the plight of Palestine.

In all of this, we get politics swilling into the football arena in Scotland. I'm not saying this is anything new, but the vote of September 18 and recent tragedies around the Holy Land have served to sharpen it all again.

Around Scotland, such stereotypes prevail. There is a very strong No vote among Hearts supporters - and, let it be said, many dissenters. Around Hibs there appears more of a Yes sway, though again, diversity prevails.

In my lifetime the game of football has always latched on to politics, sometimes wretchedly so. Many modern fans are, more than ever before, keen to align their club with a particular political tradition.

Sometimes, it is just plain idiocy, such as with a section of the England national support. They were widely reported for singing "F**k off Scotland" at their recent international against Switzerland, prompting some to believe that tensions might rise when Scotland face England at Celtic Park on November 18.

It's good to know England fans have a considered view of the issues. What you still can't stop, though, is political event and opinion finding its way into the football bloodstream.

If it is a Yes vote which wins this week in Scotland, it is hard to see how football in this country will be radically altered. In terms of international competition, and European club football, not a lot will seem immediately different in an independent Scotland.

In time, issues and urgencies might come out in the wash.

For now, it is enough simply to remember how you, espousing the "tradition" of your football club, ought to vote.