The Soul of Celtic

The Soul of Celtic

Michael Jordan, the legendary basketball player, is often quoted as saying that ‘talent can win games but teamwork wins championships.’ There is no doubt that there are talented players at Celtic Park but the organisation, consistency and cohesiveness the team has displayed over the past few years has clearly diminished. Every successful team reaches a point where renewal is required. We saw it during Celtic’s first nine in a row period when the team ran out of steam after the turn of the year. We saw it again when Celtic won the title in 1998 as Rangers’ success came to an end. What is different this time around is that Celtic entered this season with a strong hand. They were financially strong and had a decent squad which was on paper the best in the league. So what has gone wrong?

Any honest examination of Celtic’s fortunes this season can’t dismiss the improvement in their main rivals. Rangers are now an organised, hard-working and competent side which is stubbornly hard to beat. They do the basics well, defend competently and use set plays to great effect. They do their homework and it is no accident they scored against Celtic in both games this season from set plays, an area that has plagued Celtic this year. The so called ‘banter years’ when they stumbled from one embarrassment to another seem to over but there is more afoot than Rangers getting their act together. They are better but Celtic’s dramatic decline this season has allowed them an easy passage to what now seems an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

The signs were there last season that Celtic was weakening. They were being dominated in the derbies despite winning their fair share and the sale of good players without recruiting adequate replacements diminished the squad. They rallied well after the winter break as Rangers lost form and won their ninth successive title but it papered over the cracks.

In the past few years players of the calibre of Dembele, Lustig, Tierney, Sinclair, Gordon, Simunovic Roberts, Armstrong, Boyata and Forster have moved on and that takes some replacing. Seven of Celtic’s starting eleven which trounced Rangers 5-1 at Ibrox in 2017 are no longer at the club and of the senior pros remaining, injury, particularly to Forrest and Rogic, and loss of form has impacted on the side hugely.

Confidence is infectious in team sports and so alas is lack of confidence. Celtic’s toothless display against Livingston yesterday did not make for pleasant viewing and it was clear we were watching a team with a diminished supply of confidence. Yes, there were experienced players missing and having to change so many personnel isn’t good for any team but this malaise has been affecting Celtic all season. The supporters, frustrated and in some cases angry at the club seemingly blowing their chance of immortality by winning the ‘ten’ have watched in dismay as Celtic stumble from one poor performance to another.

Livingston demonstrated what hard work, organisation and a team playing to a well-structured game plan can achieve. Celtic in contrast looked ragged in phases of the game and unsure how to unlock a tight, tough tackling defence. Most big clubs have a pattern of play they teach to aspiring youngsters and on through the ranks to the first team. Celtic currently look as if they haven’t decided what formation and style suits them best and that is a worry. There are mitigating circumstances of course but the side is still underperforming.

Those of us who have watched football for long enough know there is a cycle to such things. Celtic’s domination in the Stein era came to an end as did Rangers’ in the 1990s. However, losing the title in 1998 spurred Rangers on to recruit well and rebuild, albeit at a price which eventually bankrupted the club, and they did snatch the title back in the next two seasons before Martin O’Neill arrived to reorganise Celtic.

Celtic have huge decisions to make in the next few months; do they stick with Lennon and risk some supporters not renewing their season tickets? Lennon has been a fine servant to Celtic and has endured a lot during his 20 year involvement with the club. Not only the abuse, threats and assaults from that bigoted, brain-dead minority in our society but also the lingering discontent of a section of the Celtic support who were underwhelmed when he was chosen to replace Brendan Rodgers.

History teaches us that the most successful modern Celtic managers, Stein, O’Neill, Rodgers, Strachan and McNeill have been, at least initially, backed by the board as they look to rebuild the side. We accept that Celtic will sell the odd prized asset as the silly money down south continues to tempt both players and club. This is particularly true in seasons when the hoops fail to make the Champions league but any new Manager must have assurances that his judgement will be backed and players will not be sold or purchased without his say so.

The next few months will be vitally important to Celtic and the choices made need to be the correct ones. Should Rangers gain access to next season’s Champions League Group stages, and their form in Europe suggests it is very possible, then Celtic will have a real fight on their hands again. That is why the club needs to appoint a competent manager and invest in decent, seasoned pros to meet the challenge.

There is a nucleus of good players at Celtic Park and as the old guard face the final curtain of their Celtic careers, we should look to build around players like Turnbull, McGregor and Soro. A perfect storm of circumstances hit Celtic this season, although some of the club’s problems were undeniably self-inflicted. A golden opportunity to cap a splendid era of success with a record tenth successive title looks to have been squandered and that hurt the fans.

History will tell if the club made the right decisions to remedy the current situation and set course on a new era at Celtic. It is a time for vision and leadership both on and off the field and part of Celtic’s renewal will doubtless see some familiar faces move on but that’s football.

Chief executives, managers and players come and go but the club remains as do the supporters. In them resides the soul of Celtic and if they seen critical at times it is because they care so deeply about their club. When they accept a season like this one with resigned indifference then we’ll truly have a problem. For now though they stand, as they always have done, behind their team.

‘They’re there and they’re always there’ as a good man once said, but no one should take them for granted or treat them as mere customers. This is their club so give them a team to be proud of Celtic.