The Wind of Change

                                            

                                            The Wind of Change 

Celtic’s latest wretched display, this time against a St Mirren side who won their first game at Celtic Park since 1990, was depressingly predictable. The team seems unable to overcome even moderate opposition and continually defend as if they just met. The Hoops lacked pace, guile and goal threat as they stumbled to defeat. Neil Lennon was scathing of his team. Saying they had let him down. Callum McGregor was blunt and honest and admitted the team is in transition and has much to learn. He added that it was just not good enough. 

Celtic’s fall from grace this season has been spectacular. They have won 14 of 24 league matches so far, losing 3 and drawing 7. Last season Celtic averaged 2.66 points per game in the SPFL; this season it has fallen to 2.05. Europe was a disaster with defeats from teams on a fraction of Celtic’s budget and the league cup was given up in an insipid display against Ross County. 

Players who could be relied on to produce those moments which turn games have gone into their shells. Edouard is a shadow of the player he was last season, Rogic looks lost and Christie frustrates most weeks. Players who delivered astonishing success to Celtic now seem shorn of confidence and fight and the supporters are mystified about the cause. Could it be complacency has set in after a decade of dominance only surpassed by Stein’s great sides?  

In sport you can’t live on yesterday’s successes for long and every good team has its sell by date. Rangers have improved and any who deny this fact are fooling themselves. They are competent and tough to beat and as they moved up a gear this season, Celtic seem to have run out of gas and watched as they sped past. With the budget and squad Celtic have at their disposal, they should not be out of the running for the title in January. This Celtic side needs major surgery and a Manager who will invigorate the team, clear the dead wood out and instil some organisation, belief and fighting spirit. 

That win for St Mirren was their first at Celtic Park in 31 long years. Paul Lambert, up and coming youngster scored that day in 1990 as Saints won 3-0. Jim Traynor, a sports writer with little love for Celtic, said in his match report from April 1990 that ‘Flair and determination have been replaced by mediocrity.’ I never had much time for Traynor and his strangulated prose but amid his barely disguised pleasure at Celtic’s struggles in that 1989-90 season, he went on to say…. 

‘The place is overrun by mediocre professionals who have no idea what this club is supposed to be about. Flair at Celtic Park has always meant more than looking good in fancy clothes and cars. Too many of them don’t have what it takes. In the past two matches Celtic have been devoid of flair and determination, two qualities which Celtic teams always had in abundance.’ 

He is right that Celtic sides, no matter their limitations, always sought to play with flair and fight right to the end in games. In a parallel with today’s situation with Neil Lennon, Celtic manager Billy McNeill, said of that defeat to St Mirren in 1990… 

‘I thought I’d suffered the final humiliation last week, (a 3-0 loss at Ibrox) but this team proved me wrong.’ 

Celtic fans of today can sympathise with that and perhaps the pain is more acute because  the recent banquet of success has been followed so swiftly by this collapse in form. 

Lennon seems to have run out of patience with the players who have let him down so badly this season and probably cost him his job. We may know in the fullness of time, the truth about want-away players, rumours of fall outs and players not wanting to play for him, however no professional should ever give less than 100%.  

The various Celtic blogs all have their theories but much of it is based on speculation. I see a team lacking leadership on and off the field and that needs to be addressed. The nucleus of a good side remains at Celtic Park but the next few months should see plans laid for a resurrection of Celtic’s fortunes next season. The acquisitions Celtic make in preparation for next season should not consist of projects but rather a few solid, experienced players with the balls to take a game by the scruff of the neck and drive the team on when the going gets tough. 

Celtic have been a soft touch this season, leaking soft goals, (especially from set pieces) failing to break down packed defences and missing chances which would have been snapped up last season. St Mirren demonstrated what a side built at modest cost can do with organisation, a solid game plan and sheer effort. The high press they deployed today took a lot of energy but they were full of running and effort. The least we expect from Celtic is that they match the organisation, energy and effort of any opposition and then hopefully the better individual players Celtic have will prevail. 

The wind of change is blowing through Celtic Park. Peter Lawwell is retiring in the summer after 17 years and 29 trophies during his tenure. His legacy is considerable although some will feel it tarnished somewhat by this season’s events. Others still, will complain at his failure to vigorously pursue issues like Resolution 12, the five-way agreement and the state of refereeing in this country. His intransigence in some transfers has also been raised with the case of John McGinn being brought up again; a player tailor made for Celtic yet allowed to slip the net. Some disliked his perceived acquiescence in the resurrection of the new club at Ibrox and their acceptance into the Scottish game with no meaningful sanctions for the behaviour of the original Rangers. His financial training would have suggested to him the idea of Scottish football without a Rangers would result in a poorer product and this would, in the end, hit Celtic financially.  

Most fans though accept he did a solid job steering the club through some difficult financial times and ensuring it was in good financial condition when unforeseen events like the Covid pandemic hit. Yes, his policy of buying young ‘projects’ developing and selling them on wasn’t to everyone’s taste but while the good times rolled few complained. Celtic have taken a big financial hit this season, as all clubs have. The missing revenues brought in by fans on match days combined with failure yet again to reach the Champions League will make the rebuild required at Celtic harder.  

Incoming CEO, Dominic McKay, will no doubt inherit a club in the midst of flux and must facilitate strengthening of the playing squad as best he can. It may be that some familiar faces move on from Celtic Park in the next six months and the money raised used to bring in hungrier players and above all, a manager of genuine stature. 

Celtic’s challenge is to prove this season to be a blip and come out all guns blazing next season. They have enjoyed a period of total domination in domestic football and although such success tends to be cyclical, there is no reason to think that they cannot bounce back from the disappointments of this campaign if they make the right choices in the months ahead.  

They need the fans onside and they are no mugs. If they are to part with their hard-earned cash again when season book renewal letters drop through the door then they better see signs of renewal at the club and an end to the complacency which will seemingly stop the Ten. 

This is not 1990. Celtic is in a far stronger financial position than they were when the Taylor Report demanded that they rebuild their stadium. The infrastructure is in place at Celtic, the stadium is magnificent.  All we ask is a team good enough to grace it.  

Over to you Celtic.