One of the most satisfying things about the Manchester City game was the way the supporters enhanced a fantastic game on the park. It was a wonderful game of football, but the fans in the stands elevated it to something more.
There’s a well-known, and much viewed, video online right now of a couple of City fans who came up here to watch the match.
They were blown away by the Celtic Park atmosphere, and they aren’t the only ones.
There are reams of top football players who have come to our ground for competitive games and left awe-struck. Numerous reports from the match have talked about how our players were “lifted” by the singing, chanting and cheering and that’s undisputedly true.
There are players at our club who’d never experienced that, not in their careers, not at other clubs, not even as football fans, sitting in other stands. Poll after poll has put our atmosphere in the top five in Europe (many put us in the top two; the club we most commonly go toe to toe with is Liverpool), and that’s as it should be.
Champions League football gives us one huge leg-up when it comes to attracting top players. The atmosphere at Celtic Park, being part of some of the most special nights in the sport, is another part of it. Our presence in this tournament is a fantastic showcase not only for where we are as a football club but of how great our fans are. It’s not for nothing that so many players come away from Celtic talking about how we’re not a football club but an institution.
Mark my words; this will help us grow the team and our club still further. We can sign a better class of player because of nights like that, and I say that as something completely separate to how well we played on the night and the style of football Brendan has brought, which are features, in themselves, which will be attractive to future signing targets.
I am going to do a piece on our transfer strategy later today, because there are a couple of interesting stories doing the rounds at the moment which I want to look at, but for the moment I’ll say that I’m optimistic, not only about the January window but what happens in the summer next season. I have faith in the manager and his judgement, but I also know our club is attractive again to the sort of footballers we need to get better.
The money is there too. That’s a fact and it now falls upon our board to give it to the manager and let him do what he has to.
The fans will continue doing their part, and against City not only did they fill the house but they raised the roof and inspired the team to a superb performance.
Europe is watching us again.
That brings nothing but benefits.