A Very Special Season?

Celtic eased into the next round of the Scottish Cup today, with a 2-0 victory over Dundee at Dens.

Leigh Griffiths continued his excellent run of form with a well placed header just seven minutes into the match, and Celtic created a string of chances in a one-sided first half.

In spite of our dominance, it took until the second half to score another, although it was taken early – just two minutes into the second 45 – when yet another Griffiths header was well saved by the Dundee keeper, only for Johansen to ghost in and put away the rebound.

Overall, it was a comfortable, capable, performance albeit a tougher encounter than the League Cup semi-final last week, with Gordon having to make one excellent save.

The victory keeps alive Celtic’s ambitions to win a treble under Ronny Deila, a quest that will be immeasurably strengthened when Mackay Steven and Armstrong have bedded into the team.

Neither is available for these cup games, but their presence in the squad gives the manager a lot of options to play with and allows some rotation of our stars.

This is especially important in light of Kris Commons coming off at half time after feeling a tightening of his hamstring.

We also lost Michael Lustig early in the second half, although that, like Kris’ substitution, appears to have been more a precautionary measure than anything else.

Good squads negate the risks of such moments, and this Celtic team is as strong as any I can remember in a while.

The only area where some minor doubt remains is up front, where you just feel there’s still a need for a predatory, penalty box finisher.

That can be taken care of in the summer, and it should not adversely affect our chances in the meantime.

Today’s victory comes at the end of a tremendous week for the club, in which we resoundingly, effortlessly, beat Sevco, enjoyed an excellent end to the transfer window and saw Kris Commons sign a new two year deal with the club.

The overall effect of this is that the club is now surrounded by a “feel good factor” which is being reflected in our on-field performances.

We’ve not conceded a goal in seven matches and we’ve got a 100% win record in 2015. Our comfortable win in the League Cup semi-final gives Ronny a chance to win his first trophy next month, and that would give us a further massive surge of momentum to go on and reach that historic milestone of a clean sweep in Scotland.

And on top of this we have the prospect of an exciting double header against Inter Milan in the Europa League, where we probably have a better chance than we’d have thought when the draw was made.

As our club continues to improve, theirs appears to be in some turmoil on and off the pitch and so there is an opportunity there to claim a major scalp and send out a message to prospective opponents in next year’s Champions League.

It’s been a while since Celtic fans enjoyed a week as much as this one. With Thistle to play on Wednesday, followed by St Johnstone at the weekend, our schedule could not be busier as we hurtle towards the Inter game, but we have the squad, and the momentum, on our side.

Off the field, we’ve also enjoyed the publication of good financial results, which are especially satisfying as they come in a season where we haven’t had that Champions League income.

We are clearly doing everything right at the moment, on and off the pitch.

Most importantly, the recent success in the transfer windows suggests that lessons have been learned in the boardroom, and the manager is going to get the backing he needs.

That has to be applauded, and welcomed. Ronny has good ideas, and with the support to realise them we’re only going to improve further.

It’s a good time to be a Celtic supporter, and as this season moves forward the impression is growing that we’re witnessing the start of something very, very special.