Be Worthy

 

Be Worthy

Only twice in my life have I felt in real danger at a football match. One was in Nottingham in the 1980s during Celtic’s UEFA cup tie with Nottingham Forest. The other was when I was leaving Hampden Park after a cup final at the old stadium. Things got so dangerous on the crumbling old stairway at the back of the Celtic end that I opted to slide down the muddy hill at the side of the stairway. I got home wet and muddy but it was worth it to get away from the crush on the stairway. On both of those occasions I felt the icy hand of fear gripping my heart and it wasn’t something I ever want to experience again in a football stadium.

The reason for beginning this article by stating the above is to remind that tiny minority of Celtic fans who think that mocking the Ibrox disaster is acceptable that they are out of order.  There but for the grace of God could have been any of us in those days, such were conditions in stadiums around the country.  Let others wallow in that sewer if they choose to but be worthy of the great tradition of solidarity and empathy Celtic fans are known for. Those 66 fans were working class folk going to watch their team. It’s unacceptable to mock their memory, it’s not funny, it’s not banter- it’s sinking to the gutter.

The events at Ibrox stadium last Sunday are still the subject of heated debate in the media and the usual and very predictable polarisation has a lot of people blaming the other side. From the outset, when the DJ played the full version of ‘simply the best’ and thousands of home fans blasted ‘F*ck the Pope and the IRA’ into the nation’s living rooms, it was obvious that tensions were running high. I’m sure the shorter version will be in use at the next Rangers home game after that exhibition of medieval tribalism.

Radio phone in shows, the press and general media are quite happy to use the ‘Old Firm’ label when describing the disorder at the end of the game. The reality was that a few dozen Celtic supporters invaded the field after their team won the penalty shoot-out. There was no intent towards violence although a few were goading the home supporters still in the stadium. Surely such an outcome was predictable and the whole phalanx of police and stewards on duty should have been proactive and stopped it occurring in the first place? Similarly, at the other end, there was no concerted effort to stop masked ultras invading the field and heading towards the celebrating Celtic fans, and they weren’t heading up the field to shake their hands and say ‘well played, lads,’ that’s for sure.

Let’s be clear here; I’m not a journalist. I’m just one guy giving what I think and hope is a balanced opinion. As I saw it, there was only one side attacking Celtic staff, (for the third time in recent seasons) only one side was attacking police and stewards and only one side on the field was intent on violence. The throwing of flares into a crowded stand was criminally dangerous. Yes, any Celtic fans who mocked the Ibrox disaster or damaged the stadium are completely out of order and any who contemplated running onto the field should have asked themselves; what is the likely response to this from those in the opposite end? The Union Bears seemed to act with utter impunity as little effort was made to keep them off the field and even less to arrest those guilty of violent behaviour.

There are various voices suggesting ways to make scenes like those we saw last Sunday less likely to occur in the future. Among them are banning away fans or making the wearing of face coverings and masks illegal in public places such as football stadiums. They are worn for one reason only; to make identifying individuals virtually impossible. Another suggestion was relocating the ultra-groups to the top tier of the stadium from where field invasions are virtually impossible. I’m sure many measures will be discussed behind closed door although Rangers’ statement on the trouble at the game omitted any mention of their fans’ violence, sectarian singing or field invasion. Their focus was on reminding us that there will be an enquiry in time and focusing on the stupid graffiti in the away end…

‘What we can say now is that issues of stadium safety and the legacy of the Ibrox Disaster are deeply personal to this club. We were appalled to discover graffiti within the stadium referencing that tragedy. The memory of the 66 supporters who lost their lives in January 1971 deserves dignity and respect. To desecrate their memory is vile. It is cowardly. It is shameful. This is not football rivalry and it is not banter. It is the abuse of a tragedy that claimed 66 lives. Finally, it is important that the reputation of Rangers supporters is treated fairly in this discussion. Tens of thousands of people attended Ibrox on Sunday simply to support their team with pride and to watch a football match. We will not accept a narrative that ignores the full context of what happened.’

Whilst wholeheartedly agreeing that abusing a tragedy is utterly abhorrent, they could perhaps offer the same courtesy to the thousands of Celtic fans who had nothing to do with the graffiti and would be heartily sickened by it. It was likely the action of one or two immature individuals who lack the mental acuity to see how hurtful it could be. Rangers might also want to have a word with the stadium DJ who played the full version of ‘Simply the Best’ surely knowing that many of those thousands who were there to ‘support their team with pride’ would belt out their nakedly sectarian ad-ons?

Scottish football took a step backwards last Sunday. The rise of the ultras culture is part of what is going on. The colour and noise they bring to stadiums is laudable, but for some football is a vehicle for poor behaviour and a photo opportunity for social media. The re-emergence of sectarian chanting on the scale we witnessed from home fans at Ibrox last weekend is unacceptable but those who indulge in it are emboldened by the lack of action by the club and the inaction of the police. We’ve tolerated the intolerable for too long but alas history teaches us that football's governing bodies in Scotland will release a report condemning the actions of the minority at Ibrox and recommending certain organisational changes but do they actually have the will to grasp this poisonous nettle and pull it out by the roots?  

All clubs have their share of less cerebral followers within their support but we should never lose sight of the fact that most football fans are decent people. The fact that this particular fixture brings out the worst in some should spur the police, stewards and clubs to be more proactive in their planning and not be so easily caught on the hop when fairly predictable events occur. Some fans need to get a grip too or they’ll face being locked out of the very fixture so many of them love best. They'll also deny the opportunity to enjoy the game to the vast majority who know how to behave.

 

 

Sectarian Trash

 

My old man told me once that in his youth he attended a Celtic v Rangers game that was among the most subdued ever. It took place in 1952 and came on the same day as the Celtic side and a good few of the Rangers team, attended the funeral of John ‘Jackie’ Millsopp. The young Celt was just 22 and breaking into the side when a burst appendix took his life. He was, by all accounts, a lovely young man and his death hit his team mates hard. Sean Fallon said in his biography;

“I had got to know him well because we’d shared a cabin on the boat over to America the summer before, when the club took us over for a tour after we had won the Scottish Cup. We became good friends and Jackie was a lovely lad. Everyone at Celtic liked him, and it affected us all for a long, long time.”

Before that Celtic v Rangers match on the day of Jackie’s funeral, a minute’s silence was held and was impeccably observed before a voice cut through the silence shouting an obscenity about the Pope. My old man, brought up in the Calton area, informed me that this incident led to the culprit receiving some rough justice from fellow Rangers fans. Some things, even in the rough and multi-layered Celtic–Rangers’ rivalry, were considered going too far. Celtic won the match all those years ago but goalscorers, Walsh and Rollo, barely raised a smile given that they’d attended their team mate’s funeral just hours before the game.

That incident came to mind when I watched the Rangers v Celtic match on Sunday. All clubs, Celtic included, have their share of idiots in their fan base but Rangers have a fan base that seems totally lacking in self-awareness. The club has had fines and parts of the ground closed for racist/sectarian chanting and were warned by UEFA that they will close the Copland Road stand if there is one more act of racism. Yet on Sunday, the old poisonous bile was pouring from thousands of throats as the SPFL and SFA look on and do nothing. One English based newspaper had the cajónes to print what it saw after Rangers took the lead…

‘At this point, Ibrox was raucous. Far too much of that racket involved the kind of sectarian trash Scotland’s football authorities and Rangers themselves have allowed to return due to pitiful inaction. Rangers, now under American ownership should be working hard to remove this archaic stain on the club’s reputation.’

The Scottish editions ignored the songs of hate which echoed around the stadium and focussed instead on a couple of idiotic Celtic fans who seemed to be mocking the Ibrox disaster. As long as the football authorities, the police and the media keep ignoring the poison at Ibrox, the longer it will continue. As a society we need to look with fresh eyes at this and say to ourselves, this isn’t normal behaviour, nor should it be acceptable in 2026.

Another aspect of the home support’s behaviour that went unremarked in the media was the banner mocking Jock Stein, a man who literally helped with dead and dying Rangers fans on that awful day in January 1971. Jock is one of the towering figures of Scottish football; a man who put our game on the European map. The success he brought to Celtic stuck in the throats of many with no love of the club. He led Scotland to the World Cup and literally died guiding them to another. What are Rangers’ directors going to do about these shameful banners and chants? The answer appears to be nothing.

Any time I write about these matters, we are deluged by a tsunami of whataboutery, but this is not about putting the boot into Rangers, it’s about asking their more reasonable fans to speak up on forums and to the club about this barnacle of intolerance and bigotry which sticks to the club like superglue and drags it through the gutter. There seems to be no sewer the lumpen element at Ibrox is unwilling to trawl in their quest to try and offend the ‘tarriers.’ From banners about Jock Stein and ‘Popery’ to songs about child abuse and Fenian blood. More worryingly though, is the fact they do it with such impunity and such a blinkered view of the damage it does their own club.

So, what can be done about such a deeply ingrained culture? It isn’t the fault of players so deducting points for such behaviour isn’t a fair or viable option. Imagine that scenario when the league is as tight as it is this year? UEFA deal with it by closing stands or even having matches behind closed doors if racism or bigoted chanting continues to be heard, but we all know the SPFL and SFA are a pretty spineless bunch and lack the leadership skills and courage to drain this swamp.

A decade ago, Legia Warsaw played one of the biggest games in their history when they met Real Madrid in the Champions League. Due to the behaviour of some Legia fans in a previous match with Borussia Dortmund, the Polish club were ordered to play the Real game behind closed doors. It stung the decent majority of Legia fans and their anger wasn’t only directed at UEFA, but also at the unruly fans who caused the ban. It needs fans themselves to see the damage certain behaviours inflict on their club before change occurs. Just as you can’t pass laws to stop people hating or behaving badly, it needs education and cultural change too. It is now half a century since Willie Waddell, stood on the Ibrox pitch and said…

‘It is to these tikes, hooligans, louts and drunkards that I pinpoint my message. It is because of your gutter-rat behaviour that we are being publicly tarred and feathered.’

We have made great changes to the football experience since then. The stadiums are safer, the alcohol culture lessened and the game is more of a family experience. It can still be the visceral and tribal occasion it always was, but there are, there must be, limits. Some though, seem unable to control their base instincts and still wallow in old hatreds and behaviour patterns. If they refuse to join the 21^st century then the game would be better without them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A load of balls

 

A load of balls

Back in 1994 I attended the League Cup Final between Celtic and Raith Rovers. It was a match Celtic could have and should have won, but fate degreed otherwise and it came down to a penalty shoot out which Celtic lost. The decisive penalty miss came from one Paul Michael Lyons McStay. The guy is Celtic to his core and that miss hurt him as much as any of the watching Celtic fans. Three days later we trundled along the M8 to play Hibs and the Celtic support sang McStay’s name and held up a banner reading; ‘You’ll never walk alone, Paul.’

Those days were tough. Celtic had gone five years without a trophy at that stage and in truth we thought we’d have too much for Raith Rovers on the day, but they gave their all and took the cup. McStay would exorcise the demon of failure the following May when he led Celtic to a Scottish cup win over Airdrie. It wasn’t the renaissance we thought it would be, but we cheered out skipper loudly as we were delighted that he was a winner. We were all in it together, backing our team through thick and a lot of thin in those years. Our day would come but we had more near things and disappointments before we would again be kings of Scotland.

To some of you younger folk reading this and thinking, ‘here goes another Celtic da warbling on about the bad old days of the 90s,’ I’d say that the bitter taste of defeat helped us enjoy success all the more when it finally came. We didn’t meekly accept defeat then, it bloody hurt. It was all the harder to swallow when it was sauced with the triumphalist bigotry of some of the followers of EBT United across the city. But we stuck with the team, gave them tremendous backing and knocked the pretenders off their perch in the end. There were those who took issue with Fergus McCann and his seemingly parsimonious transfer policy and the acrimonious departure of Wim Jansen. Elements of the media were only too happy to do a hatched job on McCann to the degree that some fans actually booed him as he unfurled Celtic’s first championship flag in ten long years. Subsequent events when the good ship Rangers hit an iceberg of debt and sank, led to a reappraisal of McCann’s business model and the ‘bunnet’ was cheered to the rafters when he appeared at Celtic Park a few years ago.

What I’m getting at here is that there was a time when success wasn’t a given. We had to dig in and earn it. We had to accept that some years things would go wrong and we wouldn’t win anything. I’m pleased to say that the past 25 years have seen Celtic experience a degree of success to match any period in our history.  Since the year 2000, Celtic has won 19 league titles, 12 Scottish cups and 12 league cups. The one constant in the good times and the bad was the Celtic support. To paraphrase Tommy Burns, ‘they were there and they’ll always be there.’ We have prided ourselves on being the ‘12^th man’ who drove Celtic on and provided an atmosphere which was praised throughout Europe. That reputation is crumbling before our eyes.

As one Celt said to me, ‘we are eating ourselves from the inside out.’ He has a point. Yes, the board has overseen a drastic reduction in the quality of the side over the past couple of years. That is unforgivable given that they sit on a huge pile of fans' money like Smaug the dragon in the Hobbit. The last transfer window was an epic failure as they seemed to put all their eggs into one basket with their pursuit of Kacper Dolberg who strung them along before joining Ajax in the last few days of the window. That led to the frantic last-minute scramble at Celtic to get players in. The fans are right to be upset about these issues and are perfectly within their rights to protest, provided it stays within safe and reasonable limits. We all want the best for Celtic and failure to build on a position of strength is a recurring theme in the club’s history.

The form the protest took against VFB Stuttgart the other night was self-defeating and worked against the team. Martin O’Neil would have given them their instructions about getting in the Germans’ faces early on and pumped them up before the match only to find that 15 seconds in, a handful of self-appointed disrupters have taken it upon themselves to hurl a load of balls onto the pitch which held the game up for three minutes. It knocked the stuffing out of what had been a decent pre-match atmosphere and didn’t help the players one bit. Martin O’Neill was quite clear about what he thought of this type of protest…

‘Anybody who thinks that’s a good idea needs their heads examined. It sends out the totally wrong message, we’re playing against Stuttgart, the game is hard enough and they’re coming here. The problem is that away back years some ago this was an incredibly intimidating place to come to. I’ve managed here when sides like Juventus were scared stiff coming here. That sort of thing doesn’t help at all. There’s been battles going on but that doesn’t help because what it does do is that Stuttgart who come to this wonderful football club find that there’s a lot of infighting going on here and things are being thrown onto the pitch. It doesn’t make any sense to be because if I’m a Stuttgart player I’m thinking, I’m pretty happy in this environment if that’s the case.’

Like many Celtic fans, I understand the anger at the board but no protest should be detrimental to the team. The squabble isn’t with them so when that whistle blows, get behind them in the manner we have done for decades. In the aftermath of Martin O’Neill’s comments, a small minority of fans on social media turned on him. A club legend who dragged us up by our bootstraps and made us respected in Europe again during his first tenure at the club was suddenly a ‘board lapdog’ and a ‘mouthpiece for the board.’ It takes a particularly myopic and ignorant mind to reach those conclusions. I abhor this division in the club and the vicious cycle we are now caught in. There needs to be a bit of humility and compromise on all sides so that we can get back to what we should be doing; building a better team and making our stadium a place where opposition teams worry about coming too.

Season 2025-26 has been a turbulent one for Celtic FC. We have had three managers, including that disastrous month under Wilfred Nancy and one of our ultra groups is banned from the stadium. The ongoing struggle between the board and a sizable section of the support is helping no one but our rivals. Yet, despite it all, we’re still in touch at the top of the league, still in the cup and have a manager who has yet to lose a domestic match this season. There’s much to play for so when the whistle blows get behind the team and remind the football world of the difference Celtic supporters can make.

Let the players know, just as we did for Paul McStay in 1994, that they’ll never walk alone.

The Year of the Ox

 

The Year of the Ox

Watching Alex Oxlade Chamberlain curl home that exquisite winning goal against Livingston this week, made me think that this gifted footballer might just be a difference maker as the season reaches the decisive phase. Celtic have struggled at times to deal with teams who park the bus and utilise a low block to frustrate them. The art of shooting from the edge of the box seemed to have been somewhat forgotten this season as the antidote to packed defences. The powerful Englishman is no stranger to shooting from outside the box and has demonstrated his skill in this area on a few occasions over the years. The other players’ reaction to his goal spoke volumes too. There was relief that the game had been salvaged, but as they mobbed him, it was obvious they were delighted to have a player of his calibre on their side.

Martin O’Neill has organised and motivated a squad that was in honesty running on empty. His second stint at the helm this season has seen 7 domestic matches, with 6 won and a draw at Tynecastle with ten men.  It hasn’t always been pretty and there have been some late, late heroics to win the games, but there is a feeling that the squad will fight to the very end for the manager. He seems reasonably happy with the business the club did in the transfer window and it has to be said that the squad looks as if it has more depth now. Hopefully we see one or two of our injured players back too as the spring weather arrives and the boss has more options.

The mantra now is to win at all costs. An improving Kilmarnock side will provide a stiff test for Celtic on the plastic pitch on Sunday. The Hoops also need to start converting a higher percentage of their chances. In the recent games with Dundee and Livingston, they had over twenty attempts at goal in each game and still only managed to win them in stoppage time. With Adamu, Cvancara, Iheanacho and Maeda all capable through the middle, O’Neill now has more options up front than was the case. Hopefully that’ll pay dividends as the heavy fixture list unfolds. Celtic now have 11 games in the next 4 weeks and squad rotation will be needed. Every game becomes a must win when the league is so tight, but there are more twists and turns to come in this fascinating league season.  

Hearts have improved as have Rangers but in truth the competitive edge we all wanted to see in the SPFL has come about because of a levelling down, not a levelling up. Celtic allowed a lot of firepower to leave the club without adequate replacements being brought in. Key players were injured and the squad depth and quality were proved inadequate. Brendan Rodgers was dismissed, rightly or wrongly and the board sanctioned the hiring of a manager who knew nothing about Scottish football and stuck dogmatically to his 3 at the back tactic, even when it was clear that Celtic didn’t have the personnel for it and it wasn’t working. Wilfred Nancy was at Celtic Park for 33 days and oversaw the worst run of results in nearly 50 years. Six of his 8 games ended in defeat and 12 league points and a cup final were lost. Such was the defensive chaos under the Frenchman, that Celtic conceded 18 goals in his 8 games in charge. They lost 15 goals in the previous 24 games. Celtic have lost 6 matches in the SPFL this season and 4 of them were lost in that mad month under Nancy. We can but hope that we now have enough in the tank to recover from that self-inflicted wound.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the sensible thing to have done when Rodgers was fired would have been to leave Martin O’Neill in charge for the rest of the season. That being said, he has steadied the ship again and there is all to play for in the league and the cup. We may Ibrox on 2 consecutive weekends, but should Celtic hang in there in the SPFL, we have both Hearts and Rangers at home after the split so all things are possible. New players have arrived and will in time contribute more fully. If they are on loan, then it is likely that they weren’t purchased outright because the new manager arriving in June will doubtless want a say in who comes and who goes.

The wind of change is blowing through Scottish football and I feel the Celtic side we see in July will be much changed from the one we are backing now. Hatate and Maeda look likely to be moving on and Schmeichel may decide that it’s time to hang up his gloves. Engels is attracting interest too and we surely won’t resist another £25m bid for him in the summer? The new boss will want a decent budget, and the fans will accept players trying their luck elsewhere provided the revenue raised is spent on replacements of a similar ability. We saw how the downsizing of the last year left the team weaker and that cannot be allowed to happen again.

Before we even contemplate season 2026-27, there is still much to fight for domestically this season. It remains to be seen if Oxlade Chamberlain can reach anywhere near the levels he did at Arsenal or Liverpool. If he can, then we’ll have quite a player on our hands. This is the business end of the season; there is little room for error, but despite the trials, tribulations and squabbles, we’re still in there swinging. We might still look back on this topsy turvy season and remember it as a good one. With a bit of luck, we might even recall it as the year of the ox.

 

 

Boys Keep Swinging

 

 

Boys Keep Swinging

Glasgow, May 1979

Mick McGee pushed open the bar door and gazed through the haze of smoke. A group of young lads were crowding around the new jukebox as if it was some magical apparatus. The dulcet tones of Debbie Harry could be heard singing ‘heart of glass’ above the hum of chatter and laughter. A voice called to him, ‘O’er here, Micky boy. Don’t staun there like a spare prick at a wedding.’ Mick eased through the busy bar and playfully slapped his long-time friend Gaz, on the shoulder. ‘Alright, Gaz. I hope you’ve got me a Wilson Picket for this gem the night. Feckin’ walked miles there, wi these buses being on strike.’ Gaz nodded, ‘I sure did Mick, I got ye a pint as well but ye took so long tae get here, I tanned it.’ ‘I’ll get them in,’ Mick replied, ‘will I get wan for Barry?’ Gaz nodded towards the door, ‘speak of the devil and he shall appear.’ Mick turned to see Barry McGowan walking towards them. He was wearing an old Celtic shirt under his zipper which he swore Kenny Dalglish had given his old man, but then Barry was known to tell the odd fib.

‘Alright lads, sorry tae keep yeez, I had to go the long way roon wi Bridgeton full of that mob the night,’ he began. ‘Are we winning this league or what?’ Barry was nothing if not an eternal optimist. Even in the dark days of winter when Scottish football was snowed off for two months and Celtic were stuck in 8^th place in the league; he was still confident they’d win it. The resumption of the league in March saw Celtic cram in an astonishing number of fixtures in the last ten weeks of the season. They had found form and rose inexorably up the table. In May, they had been forced to play 8 games in 20 days and had given it their all. Now, it was all down to their last match of the season; beat Rangers and they’d be champions. ‘The way I see it,’ Gaz said, handing his mates their pints, ‘I’d have bitten yer arm aff for a shot at the title like this. We were miles behind but before the snow and whatever McNeill did during the bad weather seems tae have got them playing again.’ Mick nodded his head, ‘that lot are aw power and muscle. That only gets ye so far. Match their tackling and we’ll do them.’ Barry was as equally confident, ‘Cooper apart, and maybe Bobby Russell, they full of hammer throwers. Get the first goal and they’ll fold like a cheap suit.’

As the three friends made their way along the Gallowgate towards Celtic Park, the streams of people heading for the stadium merged into a swaying, singing river of humanity. They cut down Camlachie Street where scores of men stood urinating against the walls on either side of the pot-holed road. Discarded beer cans and broken wine bottles littered the street and grass verges, and everywhere the sound of singing filled the air. The excitement, mixed with tension was palpable as they turned onto Hollywell Street and saw the stadium before them. Groups of grim-faced cops stared at the fans as they passed. Mick joined the turnstile queue and joined in the song the waiting fans were singing. ‘When we score a barrowload, up the Copeland Road, we’ll be there!’ With his friends close behind him, he squeezed through the turnstile and into an already raucous stadium. ‘Jungle or Celtic end?’ Barry asked. ‘Celtic end,’ Gaz replied. ‘The Jungle will be packed tonight and I want a good view.’ Barry grinned, ‘Celtic end it is, short arse.’ Mick led them up the concrete stairs a feeling a real excitement building in him. When he topped the stair and saw the asymmetrical bowl of Celtic Park laid out before him, he smiled. ‘I fuckin’ love this place.’

They squeezed into the packed terrace behind the goal and allowed themselves to be swept up in the raw theatre of the whole occasion. At the far end, Rangers fans congregated and their songs were met with jeers and loud chanting from the Celtic fans, as the pre-match rituals played out. ‘This is it, boys, now or never!’ Barry grinned, his face flushed with adrenalin. At that moment the teams came out of the tunnel and were greeted by an enormous roar. ‘Come on Celtic!’ Mick shouted, ‘intae this mob!’ The game started and Celtic now had 90 minutes to snatch an unlikely title or go down trying. History was beckoning.

Few games of football have ever been infused with such drama, passion and plot twists as the match played between Celtic and Rangers on that May night in 1979. Celtic began in traditional style and pushed their opponents back in the opening exchanges. Rangers seemed content to sit in, bide their time and wait for the chance to hit on the break. As Mick, Barry and Gaz watched in horror, Davie Cooper raced up the right wing and swept the ball across goal where the onrushing McDonald swept it home. It was like a punch in the gut to the Celtic support, but they continued to roar Celtic on, hope still strong that the men in green could turn things around. Celtic resumed their attacking and a header from Aitken smashed the bar. Half-time arrived in what seemed an instant with the score still 1-0 to the visitors. Mick shook his head, ‘how are they winning? They’re feckin’ gash, man.’ Barry, ever the optimist shrugged, ‘these games open up in the second half, they’ve been lucky so far, but we’ll still do them.’

Shortly after the second half began, a further body blow was delivered to the watching Celtic fans. Winger John Doyle got involved with Rangers’ Alex McDonald, who was lying on the ground at the time. Doyle aimed a petulant kick at him. It wasn’t a brutal assault, more of a ‘get up, ya dick’ type of flick with the boot, but the watching linesman raised his flag. The referee showed Doyle the red card and Celtic found themselves a man down and a goal down. ‘Jesus Christ, Johnny, wit did ye dae that for?’ Mick asked no one in particular. The game restarted and Celtic, like a boxer on the ropes who knows he needs a knockout, threw themselves at the Rangers defence with almost fanatical fervour. The crowd seemed to sense it and roared them on. In 66 minutes, Roy Aitken flicked the ball to the left wing and raced into the box. Provan crossed and the big midfielder smashed the ball home. Three sides of Celtic Park erupted, the noise was deafening. Celtic were level! The three friends behind the goal jumped for joy with thousands of others. It was still on! They could still win this title. Just 8 minutes later an Aitken shot was blocked and a gleeful George McCluskey fired the ball home. Celtic were leading 2-1. Nothing would stop them now… would it?

As the Celtic support celebrated McCluskey’s goal, Rangers, in a rare foray up field, won a corner. It was headed clear to the edge of the box where Bobby Russell fired a hopeful low shot. To Mick’s horror the ball zipped through a forest of legs in the Celtic box and ended up in the net. Mick looked at Barry in disbelief. ‘Jammy bastards!’ Even the ever-hopeful Barry wondered if it was going to be their night. ‘There’s still ten or twelve minutes to go. They’ll give it everything.’ As they watched the minutes tick past, Celtic swept towards the Rangers defence in waves. McCloy saved an Aitken shot and an increasingly desperate defence got deeper. Then with barely 5 minutes left, the skilful McCluskey cut in from the right and hammered the ball towards goal. McCloy threw himself to his right and parried the ball wide. To his horror it struck the onrushing defender, Colin Jackson, and spun into the net! ‘Yaaasssssss!’ roared Mick behind the goal. ‘We’ve done it! We’ve fuckin’ done it!’ He hugged his friends for all he was worth.

Rangers seemed to sense the game was almost up and fired high balls towards the Celtic goal. As the clock read 90 minutes, a long clearance found Murdo MacLeod in space on the Celtic right, He drove towards the Rangers goal with thousands of Celtic fans urging him to smash it into the crowd as time was almost up. Mick watched mesmerised as MacLeod strode towards the Rangers penalty box and unleashed a fierce shot. The ball flew like a stone from a slingshot and flashed into the top corner of the Rangers net. The deafening roar that greeted that goal was one made up of pent-up emotion, utter joy and maybe a hint of relief. They had done it! Despite the odds, the set-backs, the ordering off of Johnny Doyle, Celtic had risen to the challenge time after time. It was an astonishing night of drama, passion and emotion as the ten men of Celtic showed the guts, steel and indomitable spirit of Champions.

After they sang themselves hoarse and celebrated with the team after the match, the jubilant army of Celtic fans left the stadium chanting, ‘we are the champions.’ Mick, Gaz and Barry headed back to the pub to see if they could still catch a pint before they headed home. As they walked into the bar, there was a cheer from those who hadn’t been to the game but had followed it on the radio. The three friends punched the air. ‘What are we?’ Mick shouted, ‘we’re the champions!’ Barry headed for the juke box and slid in his coin, before looking at the barman. ‘Nae Celtic songs on this machine, Jimmy?’ The man shrugged and shook his head. Barry scanned the song names before making his choice. As he headed back to join Gaz and Mick, the unmistakable intro of David Bowie’s latest song filled the air. Mick handed him a pint and joined in the song, which somehow seemed to hit the right note on this night of nights…

‘Heaven loves ya, the clouds part for ya! Nothing stands in your way when you’re a bhoy!’

 

 

A winter’s tale

 

 

A winter’s tale

Celtic’s reaction to the club’s latest defeat was swift and decisive. Wilfried Nancy became the manager with the shortest reign in Celtic’s 138-year history after being sacked after just 33 days in charge. It was brutal and there were mitigating circumstances surrounding his appalling 25%-win rate. Important players were injured, those who were fit struggled to adapt to his system of play and Celtic’s forwards squandered at least 20 great chances in Nancy’s 8 game tenure. The final straw came when Celtic failed to show up for the second half of the Glasgow derby, having controlled the first half and squandered some excellent chance to go in at the break more than one goal ahead. His team looked far too open at the back and individual errors were punished by a frankly very average Rangers side.

The Celtic players need to look at themselves too. Nancy’s system didn’t miss sitters or misplace passes. They can and should have been much better. There was confusion and discomfort in the team when Nancy changed the set up from day one, instead of building on what he had been left by Martin O’Neill. Celtic simply do not have the players to play his 3-5-2 system. To see Yang and McCowan being asked to play as wing backs was a reminder of how short the club is of specialist players. It was starkly brought home when Celtic lost two goals in the opening 8 minutes to a Livingston side who have averaged one goal a game this season. Both goals were caused by Livi exploiting the space down the right side of the Celtic defence.

Nancy seemed more bellicose in one of his final press conferences when the press badgered him on his future. He was a mixture of angry and fatalistic when he replied…

"So now, as you know, I need time. I know that I don't have time, as this is the way it is in my job, but with the small amount of time that I've had, I saw things that we did better than when with a team for four weeks in pre-season. Yes, I want to ask you: Give me time and you'll see my team. You're going to see what I'm going to do, because you can see already what I did before. I didn't start yesterday.”

As we know he wasn’t given any more time. Those in control didn’t see enough progress to continue with their experiment. The league season is just over half way through and Celtic sit 6 points behind Hearts. It will take a major improvement in form for Celtic to turn that around. They face Hearts away in 3 weeks with the tie coming only 3 days after a tough European trip to Bologna. Before then Celtic really need to be taking full points against Dundee United and Falkirk as well as seeing off Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup.  

Martin O’Neill will return to guide the club through the rest of the season and he knows the size of the fight Celtic have on their hands to retain their title. Football is a confidence and momentum game. O’Neill needs to get the squad motivated and believing in themselves again. He demonstrated during his initial interim spell in charge that with a pragmatic formation and some determination and fighting spirit, the squad can win games. He will hopefully have identified areas in need of strengthening in the side and suggested players who might come in and make a difference. The team is crying out for a striker to convert some of the chances they make. Things could have been very different for Nancy had the current strikers taken even 50% of the chances they created.

The board need to back O’Neill now, interim coach or not. There is still a chance this season in the SPFL and while that is the case, Celtic should fight for every point. If Celtic can stay in touch at the top of the league when the spring comes around, they will have both Hearts and Rangers to play at Celtic Park and a chance to put right some of the errors made this season. I still believe that the squad at Celtic Park is capable or rising to the challenges ahead. As Martin Luther King once said, 'The ultimate measure of a man is not when he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge.' 

These are certainly challenging times for Celtic; the club and its supporters have had an astonishing run of success in the past decade. Things have been tougher this season due to many factors, chiefly; injuries, a team coming to the end of its cycle and a manager who wanted to implement his changes too quickly and with little attention paid to the context he found himself in. The pressure to win is always intense at Celtic and I don’t think Wilfried Nancy fully grasped that. Martin O’Neill knows what is required at Celtic and should be given the tools to do the job.

The night is darkest just before dawn. Let’s hope the first rays of dawn are seen in our upcoming games. The challenge is there, Celtic. Now go and meet it.

The Sacrament

 

The Sacrament

Well, that’s another year over and for those who follow Celtic it has been a strange mixture of wins and worry, of trophies and tribulation. 2025 began with the team well in control in the title race but slipping to a 3-0 defeat in the derby match. The team then won ten domestic games in succession to surge towards the title and put up a decent fight against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The team wasn’t always firing on all cylinders as the spring arrived but nonetheless were expected to win the cup final with Aberdeen and complete another treble. Celtic trounced the Reds 5-1 at Pittodrie two weeks before facing them at Hampden and in retrospect that may have fed the notion that they were certain to win the cup. As we all know, Aberdeen parked the bus at Hampden in a show of defensive defiance, and doggedness the likes of which has not seen since the Zulus attacked Rourke’s drift in 1879. Celtic seemed to run out of ideas and stumbled towards a penalty shoot-out, which, with an almost fatalistic sense of history, they lost. Few could begrudge the dogged Dons their moment of glory but it really was one that got away for Celtic.

The following season began with the team failing to defeat Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-off match and suffering yet more penalty shoot out misery. For many fans, this result, coupled with the down sizing of the team hurt. How could a club with £70m in the bank allow the side to decline so quickly? Good players left and were not adequately replaced. Stalwarts were out injured, adding to the problems and the manager was clearly hinting in interviews that didn’t feel the club was supporting his in the manner he wanted. With the fans increasingly feeling ignored and patronised, it all came to a head at the end of October when Brendan Rodgers resigned. The club’s response was curt and ungracious…

‘Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation. It has been accepted by the Club and Brendan will leave his role with immediate effect. The Club appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the Club. Brendan leaves Celtic with our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success for the Club and we wish him further success in the future.’

Worse was to follow when the club’s biggest shareholder, Dermot Desmond, used the club’s website to launch a barbed critique on why Rodgers quit. Rodgers was accused of misleading fans over his contract talks and the club's transfer business and it was claimed in the article that Rodgers was "divisive" and had "fuelled hostility" toward the board and executive team. Desmond suggested Celtic's recent struggles were down to "one individual's desire for self-preservation" Amid the backdrop of increasing fan protests, which have called for the board to be sacked, Desmond blamed Rodgers for "contributing to a toxic atmosphere" at Celtic.

It was explosive stuff and as sections of the support were in open rebellion against a board they saw as overseeing an almost managed decline in the team, the hunt was on for a new manager. With Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney doing a good job as the interim management team, there were many who thought that they should be allowed to lead the team for the rest of the season. He had steadied the ship, organised the team in a manner suited to their abilities and if they weren’t in the same class as the team O’Neill built 25 years ago, at least he had them confident again and winning. The board in their wisdom pulled the plug though and brought in Wilfried Nancy from the American league. Most fans were willing to give the Frenchman a chance, but rather than stick with O’Neill’s pattern of play, Nancy immediately reverted to a back three. Without injured defensive first team players such as Johnston and Carter Vickers, the team looked confused and ill at ease with the system and began to leak goals at an alarming rate. Hearts came to Celtic Park and won 2-1 in his first game in charge. It wasn’t the tactical master class from Derek McInnes that some claim as Celtic missed some good chances to take something from the game. It was, however, clear from the Hearts’ goals that the defence was struggling. Next up was a very good Roma side who defeated Celtic 3-0 in a match they seldom needed to get out of third gear to win. Alarm bells were ringing though and fans began to question why the manager was playing ‘round pegs in square holes’ when it was obvious the team wasn’t coping well with his tactical demands. The league cup final with St Mirren followed and it seemed the time to switch to a more traditional set up as the Saints are a big, awkward side to play against. In fairness to St Mirren though, they brilliantly exposed Celtic’s defensive frailties and defended well to deservedly win 3-1.

No previous Celtic manager had lost their first 3 matches and it was with some trepidation that the side headed to Tannadice to play a Dundee United side that hadn’t beaten Celtic in 11 long years. Celtic started well, took the lead and missed some easy chances to kill the game off. However, when United equalised there was a nervousness about Celtic which saw them go into their shell and eventually lose the match. It had been a horrendous start to Nancy’s managerial career at Celtic Park. It seemed as if any team with a good tactical nous could exploit the spaces down the sides of Celtic’s back three. To play that system, a team required three good, pacy centre backs and wing backs who can get up and down the line well. O’Neill had that a generation ago with Didier Agathe and McNamara flanking the likes of Valgaeren, Mjallby and Balde. Nancy doesn’t have players of that quality today.

Celtic did defeat Aberdeen and Livingston in their next two matches. In the Aberdeen game they should have been out of sight at half time and yet found themselves at 1-1 with ten minutes left. Two late goals won the match but in truth Aberdeen played poorly. Livingston having won just 1 SPFL match all season managed to exploit Celtic’s leaky defence and in an extraordinary start to the match had the game tied at 2-2 after ten minutes. Celtic eventually wore them down with the help of one of those fortuitous penalties the VAR system doles out now and then, but the fans remain unconvinced with the manager’s style of play and tactical know how in a league he is new to. The match at Fir Park earlier this week seemed to confirm that any decent, organised team will give Celtic trouble. The alarm bells were ringing loudly after that toothless, confused display. Two wins in seven matches is unacceptable at a club like Celtic and Nancy is feeling the pressure.

So next up is the Glasgow derby with a Rangers side who are grinding out results and have had the rub of the green via recent VAR decisions. They’ll know of Celtic’s defensive set up and be out to exploit it. This match has great significance for Celtic which goes beyond a mere 3 points. The intensity of the rivalry and the ongoing split between the board and sections of the support mean that defeat could turn discontent into something much stronger.

I was chatting to a fellow fan on WhatsApp about events at Celtic Park in recent times and what the manager needs to do to turn things around. He responded with one of those darkly, unintentionally funny typos which made me laugh out loud. It read, ‘Wilfried might not be on the last rites just yet, but he has had the sacrament of the dick.’ Even in these troubled times for Celtic, we had to laugh at that one.

So welcome to 2026. Strap yourself in as I have a feeling it’s going to be quite a ride.