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sports writer with little love for Celtic, said in his match report from April 1990 that ‘Flair and determination have been replaced by mediocrity.’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. 

Paddy and the Minotaur

 Paddy and the Minotaur

 Xander and Paddy came to the top of Rhymer Street, the cold winter wind nipping at their ears and seemingly unimpressed by their cheap, thin clothing. ‘It’s still frozen!’ Paddy said with an excited smile, immediately preparing to slide down the hill. The long slope of the street, which led to their secondary school, was indeed frozen as the Scottish winter kept its icy grip on the land. The pavement was coated in a translucent carpet of ice which was partly the result of an overflowing sewage drain. The two friends glided by seemingly unaware of the frozen shit and toilet paper which lay beneath the ice like undiscovered mammoth bones in the Siberian permafrost. They found a simple joy in such things and hadn’t yet reached the level of awareness to question the social conditions they found around them in one of Glasgow’s poorest areas. They reached the bottom of the hill and gingerly crossed the icy street to the school which sat like a foreboding prison waiting for them.

The playground was already full and the sound of laughter and loud debates already filled the cold morning air. Despite the icy conditions there were also shouts from a robust football game going on in one corner of the yard. ‘Paddy!’ shouted the familiar voice of Tam McGarrigle, ‘We still going tae the game the night?’ Paddy nodded, ‘aye, cannae wait, I hear the buses are going on strike. How ur wi getting there?’ Tam was about to reply when an orange Mouldmaster football travelling at high velocity cracked him on the side of the head. ‘Arrgghhhh!’ he screamed clutching his stinging ear as his two friends struggled to hold back their laughter. He blootered the ball back angrily towards the waiting footballers with the sage advice, ‘fuckin watch it, eh?’ Those involved in the rough football match responded with sniggers and one called out in that inimitable Glasgow style, ‘shut it ya fanny.’  Pride dented, Tam, still rubbing his ear, turned back to his friends who had composed themselves by now, ‘My uncle John’s taking me in his work’s van, I’ll ask him if he can squeeze you in the back.’ The bell interrupted further conversation but a rough plan was made and they agreed to meet up later that night.

The day dragged past in school as Paddy daydreamed about only his second trip to Ibrox. They had gone to the Celtic – Rangers match at Celtic Park back in the warm days of the summer when a late Celtic fight back secured a stirring 2-2 draw but since he and his friends had started going to games independently of their fathers and uncles this was to be only their second trip to the home of Celtic’s greatest rivals and it filled him with excitement and a little trepidation. The voice of Mr O’Donnell the Classical Studies teacher interrupted his thoughts, ‘Patrick, are you listening? I asked you about Theseus and the Minotaur. Who helped Theseus escape from the labyrinth?’  Paddy looked up at the teacher who regarded him with a patient smile. ‘Some burd gave him a ball of wool, sir.’  The teacher rolled his eyes as the room filled with laughter, ‘Yes, Ariadne gave him a ball of string to do what?’ Paddy thought for a moment, ‘He wis papped intae a maze wi the bull hing and the string wis tae help him find his way oot?’ The teacher nodded, ‘That’s the gist of the story and pray tell us what happened next?’ The room regarded Paddy with quiet amusement as he continued his recounting of the Greek myth, ‘His burd gave him a sword as well and when the bull guy came, he plunged him. Then he followed the string back tae the door and got oot the maze?’ Mr O’Donnell nodded, ‘thank you, Patrick. I think you covered the main points there though not necessarily with the words Plutarch or Horace would have used.’ The bell signalled the period was over and the teenagers packed their stuff noisily before heading to the lunch hall. Paddy crammed his things into his Celtic themed school bag. As the teacher watched them leave, he lamented to himself that they’d all be geniuses if they put the same passion into their learning as they did into their following their football team.

The November chill shrouded the city in freezing mist as Paddy and Xander sat on the metal fence outside Tam’s close on Royston Road. Both boys were well wrapped up against the cold and excited about the prospect of the big derby match. Tam opened his first-floor window and shouted down to them, ‘be doon in a minute. This’ll keep ye going.’ With that he placed a stereo speaker on the window sill and music began to pour into the cold dark street…

‘Hail, Hail the Celts are here,

what the hell do we care? 

What the hell do we care…’

The music did indeed keep the two friends going until Tam appeared at the close opening, wrapped up in a scruffy duffle coat, his Celtic scarf around his neck. ‘’My uncle John will be here in 5 minutes,’ he smiled. Before he could continue, his red-faced mother appeared at the first-floor window and the music stopped abruptly. Her hair was in rollers and her countenance was that of an angry woman. ‘You trying tae get me evicted? I’ll draw ma haun across your jaw if ye dae that again ya wee shite!’ Tam was a little embarrassed and mumbled, ‘It wisnae that loud, maw.’ The window slammed shut and the curtains were drawn. ‘Yer maw no like Glen Daly?’ asked Xander, Tam shook his head, ‘she likes aw that country shite. Jim Reeves, Boxcar Willie and aw that yodelling pish.’ Paddy smiled, ‘Boxcar Willie? Is that no a disease?’  Tam grinned, ‘If it is you’ll be catching it soon.’

Uncle John duly arrived in a van much smaller than they anticipated. He wound down the window and smiled at Tam with a cheerful moustachioed face, ‘Awright wee Tam, jump in the front and I’ll open the back for yer mates.’ He ushered Paddy and Xander in among the pipes and tools in the back of the small van. It stunk of grease and chips but the two friends were happy to rough it if it meant getting to and from Ibrox safely. They had chanced the Subway the year before and it had not been a pleasant experience.

It wasn’t a great game of football but then the tension ensures these games seldom are. On 12 minutes Bobby Lennox burst into the box and was scythed down by John Grieg. The referee immediately pointed to the spot as Lennox writhed on the grass his ankle broken. Paddy and Xander on the chilly terraces behind the goal screamed at the official like thousands of others, ‘fuxake ref, send that hacking bampot aff!’ To their astonishment the referee changed his decision to offside and as Lennox was stretchered off, Greig continued without so much as a warning.

The game thundered on with Paul Wilson replacing Lennox and it was grim viewing. It needed that touch of vision and only Kenny Dalglish seemed to have it. On 36 minutes he glided through the midfield and fed Roy Aitken. The big midfielder slid it to Craig who was 20 yards out with his back to goal. The striker feigned a move to the left before turning right and unleashing a powerful swerving shot towards goal. As the three friends watched transfixed and open mouthed, the ball arced through the air. Time seemed to slow as the ball, a white blur in the floodlights, curved beautifully towards the top corner of the goal to the keeper’s left as he dived despairingly. It slammed into the net and half the stadium erupted. It was a moment of sublime beauty amid the grim attrition of the derby match.

The Celtic end was going mad, strangers hugged strangers. Paddy grabbed a man in a long overcoat and roared, ‘Yesss! We’re gonna beat this fuckin mob! Mon the Celtic!’ In the split second after those words left his mouth, recognition flooded his mind. He was hugging his Classical Studies teacher, Mr O’Donnell. ’Fuck me! Mr O’Donnell, I never knew you followed the Celtic.’ He instantly regretted swearing but his teacher smiled back. ‘Life is not all Aesop and the Iliad, Patrick.’ They refocussed on the match as Rangers kicked off and songs poured from the Celtic end onto the field… ‘and if ye know the history!’ Paddy couldn’t resist a sneaky look at his teacher and was amused to see him singing along with all the rest on the chilly terrace.

Celtic were on top and they wouldn’t be losing this game. For the first time in over a thousand days they would taste victory against their ancient rivals. Despite the cold of a Glasgow November evening there was fire inside warming the Celtic support massed behind the goal.

A week later Paddy and Xander sat in Classical Studies with twenty other teenagers. Mr O’Donnell was warbling on about the battle of Thermpylae. ‘You should have read chapter six by now. The story tells us that King Leonidas led 300 Spartan warriors to block the Persian advance into Greece. What happened next?’ He scanned the room for a volunteer and his eyes met Paddy’s. ‘Patrick, perhaps you can tell us in your inimitable way?’  Paddy shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. ‘The Spartans were gem guys, never loast a fight. The Persians attacked them but couldny get through their defence. A bit like the huns last week.’ His teacher smiled slightly as he went on. ‘There wiz a path o’er the mountain and somebody grassed it tae the Persians. They sneaked behind the Spartans and attacked them. Everybody died, though somebody must have kidded on they wur deed so they could head back tae Sparta tae tell folk aboot the battle, otherwise how wid we know aboot it?’ The teacher nodded, ’Good point, and Leonidas? How important was a good leader like him?’ Paddy thought for a moment. ‘Every team needs a good captain. Look at King Kenny at Ibrox last week. The teacher smiled. ‘Thank you, Patrick. Once again you covered the main points.’

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Everything But The Goal

Everything But The Goal

There are moments which turn football matched and we witnessed one today when Nir Bitton was caught wrong side by Alfredo Morellos and decided to attempt to hold him back with a less than subtle grab around the waist. The corpulent Columbian needs little invitation to go to ground and duly fell over. Bitton's rashness saw him deservedly red carded; had it been at the other end most Celtic fans would have been screaming for a red card. Up to that point Celtic had looked the better side and under fire manager Lennon had set the side up in a manner which had Rangers hanging on. Griffiths had clipped the post, Edouard came close as did McGregor and late in the game Elyounoussi smashed one inches over the bar. It was a good display overall from Celtic which had everything but the goal they needed to really get under Rangers; skin. 

The two greatest pillars of a winning side are defending well and taking your chances. Celtic defended well for most of the game until Bitton's foolish tackle and McGregor's unlucky deflection for the goal.The side have been vulnerable at set plays all season and it came to haunt them again.

In a normal season we would curse our bad luck and move on from such a loss confident that the team had the match of Rangers but this is no ordinary season. Celtic sit 19 points behind their rivals in a season which started with such high hopes of completing the mythical ten in a row. Celtic's autumnal collapse which saw them embarrassed in Europe and slip miles behind in the title race came home to roost today as did the squad's lack of depth in central defence. Bitton is a midfielder who really doesn't have the nous to be a good central defender. He can handle it against lesser opponents but against more pacey, streetwise players is often exposed. It says much that Celtic preferred him in that position to Shane Duffy, an experienced international player who looks strangely ill at ease in Scottish football. With Jullien out for months with injury, it may be an area Celtic need to address in the transfer window or, as some would like, give youth a chance now that the league looks beyond the team. All of that being said, Celtic should not be going to Ibrox in January needing to win to save their league season.

There will be no admission from Celtic that the title is gone until it is mathematically impossible to catch Rangers but long experience suggests the Hoops best hope of silverware this season will be the Scottish cup. The past decade has seen a remarkable period of dominance for Celtic and despite what their detractors say, they won four consecutive trebles, nine titles in succession, achieved an invincible season and gave their followers enough good memories to last a lifetime. There is a feeling though that we are now at the end of an era. Celtic need to rebuild for the future and move on any player deemed surpluss to requirements. There is no reason to suggest that Celtic can't come back stronger next season and look to reassert their dominance. What will be in doubt is whether Neil Lennon will be the man to lead the rebuilding process. 

Today we marked 50 years since the dreadful events at Ibrox in 1971. Both clubs respected the memory of those lost as did the vast majority of Celtic and Rangers supporters around the country. There were a few classless morons waiting outside Ibrox to hurl their brain dead abuse at Celtic players and officials as they arrived for the game. The usual 'Paedos, fenian c*nts,' etc, was shouted at players as Police officers standing idly by did absolutely nothing to stop it. How does that behaviour honour the memory of the 66? All big clubs have their share of fools and knaves following them but the Ibrox club has what Graham Spiers once described as a 'white underclass' attatching itself to them like a limpet to a rock. It must be embarrassing to welcome a visiting club to your stadium while the uncouth and unreconstructed morons outside holler out their outdated prejudice with impunity.

Others took it upon themselves to engage in a graffitti war with a few of Celtic's less cerebral followers and painted, 'Kill All Taigs' onto the Kingston Bridge. I wonder if they realise that half their team are 'taigs?' Most Celtic and Rangers fans hate this bullshit. It demans the game and gives outsiders the skewed and unfair impression that supporters of both clubs are bigotted idiots which is far from the case.

These fools represent no one but themselves and really need to grow up.  Of course it's all posturing, gesture politics with a nasty, bigotted edge? No it's a national embarrassment that has gone on for too long because too many, including it seems the police, accept it as normal. 

I hope 2021 is a good year for you and that the scourge of Covid 19 is lifted in the months ahead. 

I also hope some of our less enlightened citizens wisen up. you may have been brought up to express hateful sentiments towards others but you don't have to stay that way. People can change and when enough of them do, so does society.

Ibrox 1971

 

Ibrox 1971

A frigid mist hangs over the dark city

Covering it like a funeral shroud,

A point of light breaks the gloom

Near the dark ribbon of the Clyde,

A shoddy colosseum, where gladiators

In blue and green grimly struggle

The baying crowd seethes and sways,

Everything staked on a winning hand,

Two mighty roars punctuate the gloom,

No victor’s laurel for either today

They must wait till the next time

To settle their never ending grudge

Torrents of humanity pour from the scene

A mindless river pushing ever onwards

Unseen, unheard, someone has stumbled

A child clings to a rusting fence for dear life

As the raging river rushes, crushes past him,

Unaware of conspiring fate’s pernicious whim,

White handkerchiefs and anguished cries

Lost shoes speak mutely on the stairway

Telling of the fragility of life and hope

A granite policeman, used to calming brawlers

Carries a covered bundle from the scene,

Ashen faced, he mutters over and over,

‘He’s only a little boy, only a child’

Desperate hands work on those

Caught between life and death

Then a silence which shrieks to the heavens

No Billys or Tims today… just human beings

Suffering their own Via Dolorosa

Rivalry and hatred seem tawdry and small

In the face of such immutable suffering

 

The great cranes standing sentinel on the Clyde

Turn away sadly from the scene

And drip silent tears into the dark water below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vertigo

 

Vertigo

In the spring of 1980 Celtic was charging towards what seemed an inevitable league championship. Rangers were to finish fifth that season well off the pace and only an emerging young Aberdeen side under their fiery young Manager, Alex Ferguson, looked as if they would give Celtic a run for their money. However, Celtic lost a 2-0 first leg lead to Real Madrid in the European Cup to go out 3-2 on aggregate and the cracks began to show. They did beat a poor Hibs side before overcoming Rangers in the derby match. New signing Frank McGravey scored an 86^th minute winner to put Celtic in a strong position for the remaining league games.

Next up was a home tie against Fergie’s Aberdeen and in brilliant sunshine a big crowd turned up at Celtic Park to watch Celtic in a game which, should they win, would virtually seal the title. The game started ten minutes late to allow the big crowd in and it looked as busy as the Derby match a few days earlier. Celtic stated that 40,000 were in attendance, a suspiciously round figure, but most who were there knew there were many more inside Celtic Park. Bad luck and injuries, combined with a missed penalty saw Aberdeen win the match 2-1. Celtic was still 5 points clear with seven games to go in an era when it was 2 points for a win. Aberdeen started to believe they could win the title as Celtic started to have their doubts. A 3-0 drubbing of Celtic by Dundee United the following week and a 5-1 humiliation at Dens Park had the Dons scenting blood.

They came to play at Celtic Park again in late April knowing that a win would see them top the league on goal difference. A certain Gordon Strachan had a magnificent game as Celtic seemed nervous and error strewn. The 48,000 crowd watched the Dons win 3-1 and knew the scales had tilted in their favour. Not only were they ahead on goal difference with a few games left, they had the psychological belief that they were the better side having beaten Celtic twice at Celtic Park inside a month. Celtic would stutter past Partick Thistle and beat the same Dundee team which had hammered them 5-1 but 0-0 draw at Love Street in which saw Tommy Burns hacked down several yards inside the penalty box only for the referee to astonishingly give a foul a yard outside. It mattered little in the end as a Celtic win would have meant losing the title on goal difference rather than by the one point they did lose it by. Celtic poor form during the run in to the championship handed the flag to Aberdeen who won their first title since 1955 at Easter Road.

The reason that season came to mind forty years on was the predicament Celtic find themselves in at the moment. Last season Rangers defeated Celtic at Celtic Park for the first time since the new club’s inception and were seemingly ready to take over at the top of the league. They seemed to get vertigo though and returned from Dubai and a sunshine break full of confidence only to collapse and find themselves 13 points behind Celtic before the emerging Covid 19 emergency saw the league called with 8 games left. Celtic were rightly declared champions and Rangers left wondering what the hell had gone wrong.

This season sees Celtic well behind although games in hand could reduce the deficit significantly if the hoops find their form but there is no room for error. Rangers wobble at St Mirren in the League cup and their late comeback against Motherwell shows that they are far from invincible but like Aberdeen in 1980, Celtic need to find their form and plant a seed of doubt in Rangers’ mind. That would be best done by defeating them at Ibrox in January.

Celtic need to go on a run now and kick start a season which began with high hopes but has stuttered along with poor results and dreadful individual errors. Key players such as Odsonne Edouard look off form or disinterested and that can’t stand. He was Celtic’s talisman last season, the one guy you could rely on to show up in the important games. He is a shadow of that player so far this season. That lack of a focal point up front has affected Celtic who have lost and drawn games they dominated as their inability to turn possession into goals haunted them. Of course the whole team has suffered from a malaise this season but Edouard is symbolic of the loss of form and confidence throughout the side.

Recent performances have shown some improvement and a win in today’s cup final against Hearts would give the team a timely boost. Celtic need to show up though, as the game will be far from easy. Hearts gave them a hard game in the 2019 final when the aforementioned Edouard was on song and scored the winning goal. The lack of atmosphere in an empty stadium will hardly help Celtic who feed of their fans energy but a good professional, error free performance is required today.

Winning the cup is always nice and to complete a quadruple treble would be an incredible feat. However the title is what we all desired most this season and for that to happen we must find our form and hope the dizzy heights of the top of the table induces vertigo in Rangers again. It’s a long shot with Celtic currently 9/2 to win the title but as we saw in 1980, 1986 and even in 2008, it can be done. It’s never over till it’s over in football.

I hope Celtic turn up today and bring the cup home for the 40^th time. It would give the whole club and support a lift and then we can focus fully on the league and give it our best shot.

Many who follow the Ibrox club think it’s as good as over but there’s many a slip between cup and lip. We’ll see in the fullness of time.

The Gallowgate Guevaras

 

The Gallowgate Guevaras

Back in 1994 as Fergus McCann fought to gain control of Celtic Football Club from the families who had run it for over a century, he had the advantage of the backing of most of a Celtic support which saw the old board as no longer fit for purpose. Football was evolving fast and entering the new age of satellite TV and those running Celtic were thought by many to lack the imagination and business acumen needed to drag the failing institution into the modern era. It is of course a matter of history that Celtic came perilously close to going into administration and that would have been the greatest humiliation in an era where hoops fans had to deal with a few.

McCann’s dreams were backed with the hard cash of Celtic fans who poured millions of pounds into Celtic to rebuild the club on and off the field. The club did indeed rise from its slumber and was once again challenging for honours in Scotland but it took four hard years to prise the title from Rangers and in that time Celtic fans had some tough days to endure. We dealt with the painful Tommy Burns sacking, losing to Raith in the League Cup Final and missing out on the title after losing crucial matches to Rangers as they closed in on nine in a row. McCann’s insistence that he would run the club on sensible financial lines despite calls from the fans to spend more on players led to some turning on him. They were egged on by a Scottish media which was for the most part hostile to McCann and when he did eventually deliver the title in 1998 he was booed by some of the club’s supporters as he unfurled the first league flag in a decade.

The death of Rangers in 2012 led many to reappraise McCann’s legacy as the man who in reality led the revolution which saved Celtic and set them on the road to the domination of Scottish football. The engine which drove this domination was financial probity and success on the field. Celtic has won 18 major trophies in the past 9 years, 16 titles of 20 played for in the new century, has the highest average attendances in Scotland and the biggest turnover by some distance. Their business model was rooted in qualifying for the Champions League every other year and garnering all the riches that has to offer. They also expected to be selling players they developed for substantially more than they bought them for. This twin strategy along with the support of over 50,000 season ticket holders saw Celtic dominate Scotland and continue to make a profit with regularity. The club was held up as a model of sensible sustainability and while the trophies stacked up there were few dissenting voices.

This season has been one of the most bizarre in Celtic’s history. The Covid 19 pandemic has meant matches are played in the surreal atmosphere of empty stadiums. Celtic’s bond with their fans is well known and I don’t doubt the lack of atmosphere has affected them. However that in no way excuses some of the lamentable, error strewn performances we have seen of late. Celtic are currently on the worst run of form in 25 years and have already crashed out of the Champions League, Europa League, League cup and are currently well of the pace in the SPFL. They badly miss Fraser Forster’s influence at the back and missed out on the excellent John McGinn who headed south to make his fortune in the Premiership. I still feel he was a player made for Celtic but who will now be out of their reach probably forever. Players brought in during the summer have failed to sparkle so far and established players have run into some dire form. With Rangers resurgent, it is clear Celtic is running out of time to find their form again.

It has been a bad season so far but hey some perspective, we Celtic fans have gorged on success over the past decade and when you’ve watched football for as long as I have you know the odd season from hell can occur. As a lad I watched Celtic follow the double season of 1976-77 with the dreadful 5^th place finish the following year when they lost 15 out of 36 league matches. Yet the year after that in 1979 they won the title back again only to throw it away the following season when Aberdeen won the old SPL. The point is there is no divine right to win; you need to earn it every time you cross the white line.  In the past couple of months Celtic’s confidence has clearly been affected and basic errors are killing them in games. Neil Lennon carries ultimate responsibility but whoever has been scouting players in recent years must share that responsibility.

A list of players purchased in recent years for millions of pounds but who seldom if ever looked like breaking into the first team was published on social media recently. When you look at the millions of pounds wasted on players who simply weren’t up to it you could weep. The revenue spent on so called ‘projects’ who haven’t made the grade would have been better invested in experienced professionals who could have made a difference in this potentially historic season.

The protests by a handful of supporters at the stadium have gone from heartfelt concern about the team’s form to hostility and anger. Fans of other clubs must look on agog at the sight of Celtic supporters chasing their own team’s bus shouting abuse at players who have delivered 18 trophies in 9 years, 3 Trebles in 3 years, (with a fourth only one game away) nine successive championships and an invincible season. Yes their form has been abysmal of late and perhaps the mythical quest for the ten has hyped some fans up to almost hysterical proportions but come on, are we seriously suggesting abusing the players, management and board will help their confidence? Celtic is in the midst of one of the most successful periods in its long history. Only the Lisbon Lions nine in a row era eclipses the success Celtic currently enjoy.  

Some of the banners saying things such as ‘FC not PLC’ suggest some are unhappy with the way the club is run as a business but the model of liberal capitalism which gives Celtic such an advantage in Scotland was never seemingly questioned when the team was winning and stacking up trophies. Changing the political and financial culture at a football club isn’t an easy process as it is owned by thousands of shareholders. Many would like the voice of the fans to be heard in the boardroom and even some form of fan ownership of the club but that takes thought, time and logical discussion and is unlikely to be achieved by standing in the Celtic Way chanting ‘Lennon, Lennon get to f*ck.’

There are many with no love of Celtic who are enjoying the discontent around the club at the moment. Some of the scenes we have seen around Celtic Park recently plays right into their hands and gives them more ammunition to snipe at Celtic.

Peter Lawwell came in for some abuse too from the Gallowgate Guevaras but ask yourself, what is the job of a CEO at a club like Celtic? It is to run the business in a sustainable way and provide adequate funds for strengthening the team. Has he done this? The answer is yes and if his pay cheque annoys some then it is the going rate for running a club like Celtic. He turned down a far more lucrative job offer from Arsenal some years back to stay with the hoops. Yes we are annoyed by repeated failure to beat teams in Europe with a fraction of our resources. The defeat to Ferencvaros potentially cost the club £25m and there have been other humiliations along the way. But the real issue has been the poor acquisitions Celtic have brought in.  Who thought Bolingoli was in any way a decent replacement for Tierney? Shved was another who drifted out of sight with barely a sniff at the first team and there have been others. Allowing Forster and Gordon to leave and spending millions on the unimpressive Barkas was foolish. The identification and purchasing of such players remains the Achilles heel which is causing Celtic to stumble. We have not bought wisely in recent years, with a few exceptions like David Turnbull, and that combined with good players moving on has weakened the side.

The new Rangers was always likely to improve with the sort of money they invested in players. They weren’t going to stay hopeless forever and Celtic’s poor recruitment in recent times has allowed them to catch up. That, combined with a loss of form and confidence, the Covid crisis and perhaps playing in empty stadiums has created a perfect storm of circumstance which has damaged the team’s chances this season.

Managers live or die by results. Neil Lennon faces a cup final and a trip to Ibrox in the next few weeks and defeat in either of those games could be the straw which breaks the camel’s back as far as his job goes. He’s old enough to understand that and would doubtless accept it. What is less acceptable is the vitriol he has received from an uncouth minority who seem to forget all he has contributed and endured during his association with Celtic as a player and manager. He has spoken in the past of the bigotry, the bombs and bullets, the assaults, the struggles he has had with depression and if he has to leave his post he should be allowed to do so with some dignity.

It can be unpleasant on social media when Celtic is not playing well. Some lose all perspective and in an echo chamber of like-minded voices the vitriol increases. Dissenting voices are drowned out or abused until they no longer want to contribute to the debate. They are called ‘happy clappers,’ ‘panty wetters,’ 'Soup takers' or ‘Lawwell’s lapdogs’ if they offer an opinion which differs from the more aggressive voices. We all know there are serious issues to be sorted out at Celtic Park and hopefully the team will be on their winning ways again soon. Europe was a disaster this year and much ground needs to be made up domestically. To call for unity at such a time isn’t to ignore the problems the club has, it is to realise that division only helps our opponents.

In the fullness of time I hope there is intelligent discussion about the way forward for Celtic as every club needs renewal now and then. I hope there is also some perspective too; the distasteful ‘Shoot the Board’ banner was defended by some who thought it a witty reference to a similar banner from the early 1990s. We live in very different times from the 90s. Back then the old board had run Celtic into the ground, the team was failing and the stadium in dire need of rebuilding. Today Celtic has the best stadium in the land, a decent squad and sound financial results even in these difficult times. 

How we harness those things to put a good, consistent team on the field is our challenge.