It's a sign of the times that again this season the international break comes welcome to most Celtic fans. Another poor display all round from the team today saw a winnable game versus Hearts slip out of their grasp for the third time this season already in the SPL. Two goals in the second half sunk Celtic without trace as they couldn't find a way back into the game despite huffing and puffing for ninety minutes. It leaves us ten points behind Rangers albeit with a game in hand. In early October this is a grave situation that needs rectifying as soon as possible.
There are reasons for today's loss outwith the box marked 'Criticism', namely the number of injuries to key players the squad is suffering from this season. As much as it was a poor result it seems bizarre to me that the majority of fans would look at today's team line-up and think "This is going to be tough, we'll do very well to win today" and then ninety minutes later lose the plot exclaiming "That was terrible, I can't believe we lost today". Two of our first choice defenders were missing and three first choice midfielders were missing. Our squad players are good enough to cover a position when the rest of the team remains strong but any club would find it difficult to shore up five positions and maintain consistency. While today's loss is explainable at least, it's sadly typical of the way this season has gone so far. As we continue to struggle from week to week every bad result sparks a brutal and thorough inquest into the failings of the club.
Last season the fans fell in love with Neil Lennon's Celtic. Some even saw a passion re-ignited that had lain dormant for a large proportion of the decade. The players and backroom staff became one with the crowd, everyone was on the same page. This even culminated in a spectacular show of support to a team that lost the league on the last day of the season with their bitter rivals picking up the silver. I was at Celtic Park that day and I don't think anyone that attended will regret standing up and applauding the team. We lived in very strange times and it seemed appropriate to 'stand as one' in backing the manager and team after what was an extraordinarily difficult season on and off the pitch. The team did amass a very large points total in the league and they did deliver a thirty-fifth Scottish Cup. The season was considered a minor success in that Lennon had managed to spearhead a revitalisation of the team and 'bring the thunder back' to the terraces in grounds wherever you found Celtic. Ultimately though they failed in their main objective of wrestling the title away from Rangers and it seems the disappointment of this failure has lingered more than any other feeling in the relationship between fans, manager and team.
The problem we have as fans is that we are a mere point in a love triangle involving Celtic and another it is betrothed to: mediocrity. We are not the force we were even five years ago. Our squad is littered with players who are paid to train and do little else. Even the stars we gushed praise for last season are contributing in bursts instead of the week after week form you need to win championships. Did we go too far, too soon with our adulation? There's an argument for that. At one point it seemed inevitable that Celtic would build on last year and become the top team in Scotland once again. A team that is successful does not require massive change to continue it's glories. In the Summer we were not coming off the back of a successful campaign even though we were overly positive about the strengths of the team we adored. We required significant looks at a number of key positions. We needed fresh faces to push the complacent 'successful failures' into championship winning form. It seems at this point that Celtic and Neil Lennon have failed to address the issues which caused us to fail in our main objective last season.
There is still a possibility Celtic will turn this around. We did so last season after a poor December. As our squad slowly returns to full fitness we should see an upturn in results on a regular basis. Every game from now until the next derby game at least is a must win game. Rangers are currently rampaging their way through the rest of the SPL yet they have not visited the traditionally difficult Easter Road, Pittodrie, Celtic Park or Tynecastle. We must capitalise on their failings as they do ours. Neil Lennon has never been under this much pressure in a sporting context although we know from other issues that he has as strong a character as you could hope to have. Calls for his resignation or sacking are extremely premature but they won't go away for the foreseeable future. It's now about Neil Lennon conducting his own inquest into our failings and finding working solutions to these. We are in a dark place at the moment and whether he can lead us out into light will be the making or breaking of him as Celtic manager. In the past we were hopelessly devoted to another Celtic team, Tommy Burns'. Let's hope this time around the team can be bringers of success rather than precursors to success. We can't keep waiting to cement our relationship with truly meaningful silver jewellery.
I've re-written, re-drafted and then, finally, deleted several lengthy comments. I don't want to stick the knife in to a guy I think has shown so much strength in the face of adversity, so I won't go into the details but I don't think it's working out. I wish it wasn't the case, but I do. I don't see where we get to somewhere from here.
ReplyDelete- I think the players who were on the pitch were more than capable of beating the hearts team. Every squad player who filled in for a missing first team player was good enough to do so but the way they were playing wasn't working. They weren't playing well enough as a team. Bad match preperation? Poor instructions?
ReplyDeleteI think that Lennon get's far too much 'slack' from my fellow fans. He's not the messiah, or MON reincarnate, he's a young manager learning his trade on a massive stage.
@AGlasgowBoy
Some are slightly blinded by who he is for sure. Realistically at the moment he's probably only about 3 bad results away from the dole queue. The aftermath of Hearts has turned the tide against him somewhat, he's being slaughtered in some places. It's getting harder and harder to defend him.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he'll get the sentimental treatment if it comes down to replacing him. Though I don't know of any viable alternative.
I think we'll pick up form. If we drop more points before the visit of Rangers it'll be a disaster.
Celtic at the moment are operating with one arm tied behind there back.
ReplyDeleteI think there are plenty of viable alternatives out there. When I say that, I mean managers who would be open to coming to Celtic and who a club like Celtic could afford/attract.
The problem is I don't trust the board to appoint one.
I suppose it's like a formula one team. You can have plenty of money and a great driver but if the engineers aren't producing a good enough car to compete, then you'll always be hampered.
@Aglasgowboy