It’s always the same for Celtic. No matter what has gone before, a cloud of doubt seems to be hoisted above Celtic Park. Why should this season be any different.
Last season, Gordon Strachan took over the club in the most difficult circumstances possible.
His predecessor had been deified by the fans – and had left in circumstances that could only add anguish to the disappointment of his departure.
There were the remnants of a squad who had achieved much but blown plenty too. So Strachan was looking at an ageing group of players who had just received a kick in the guts on the last day of the season.
But there were other negatives. “Big personalities” was what we were always told we had at Celtic, meaning players who had attained a certain status for their past achievements. There was a downside to that – the same big personalities had enjoyed the favour, and some would say excessive paternal indulgence, of their manager. The result was that too many of them no longer needed to perform to earn their places. In any competitive environment, that’s a disaster waiting to happen.
The best professionals push themselves further and further regardless of what they have achieved and who is barking at them – the Roy Keane mentality. These are rare. Most “ordinary” players – even very good ones - need to be under pressure to perform to maintain the highest levels.
For too many players, that wasn’t happening and they weren’t doing the business as often as they should. The other result was the stifling of emergent talent, bitterness and resentment within the squad. Great performers like Jackie MacNamara felt hard done by seeing players who rarely approached his consistency rewarded far more handsomely.
In walks Gordon Strachan a man who, let’s face it, would be handicapped in any circumstances because he lacked that “Celtic-minded” background that guarantees an opening balance of goodwill and trust from the Celtic faithful. The guy was even assaulted by a Celtic fan when he was an Aberdeen player!
But, with no small amount of guts, he set about rebuilding a squad with precious little money (much of it tied up in old guard salaries) and that meant upsetting favourite players – fans’ favourites and favourites of a much-loved manager).
Strachan made mistakes – learned the hard way about European football; crashed and burned against Clyde. But through it all, in a season in which we were treated to the emergence of a very good Hibs side being eclipsed by an incredibly improved Hearts, he took on the role of alchemist and won the league by a mile – Strachan’s half-built squad skooshed it!
So why the fear? Pre-season was “not ideal” as we keep hearing but then we played some good sides rather than rattling up 12-0 results against Dutch part-timers as was traditional.
Against Kilmarnock, in contrast to the whining mean-spirited observations of Jim Jefferies – Celtic were, in parts, inspired. The “forward unit” displayed real quality – playing pass-and-move football at a pace that Celtic fans have not seen for many years.
Against Hearts, the deficiencies were obvious – but this squad is not built yet. Petrov looks bound for Aston Villa and a comparable replacement will be hard to find. We all know about the full-back situation but when a decent left-back comes in (and he doesn’t even have to be a world-beater), we will find ourselves with a quality right-back to boot (please don’t boot him).
I have to admit that I am gobsmacked to hear Strachan say he is happy with his central defensive pairing – not least because I have yet to see Gary Caldwell play a solid game for anyone and he ain’t half the footballer he’s cracked up to be.
But ultimately, we have the makings of a very good team. Strachan will downplay it because he knows the dangers of the burden of expectation. But he is an excellent coach who is building a team capable of playing fast-moving football that is technically and tactically excellent. I really believe it is starting to happen but our friends in the media – as well as our famed prophets of doom – disagree.
Are we good enough yet? No. The best in Scotland with better to come? I sincerely believe so. Let’s just watch, shall we?
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