After a weekend when a certain Glasgow team was pumped in the Scottish Cup final, ending their pretensions and delusions of grandeur for at least another year, all eyes in Scottish football are now back where they belong, on the home of the Champions and the unveiling today of our superlative new boss, Brendan Rodgers.
This is one heck of an exciting time to be a Celtic supporter.
Rodgers brings with him more than just experience at the highest level.
He brings with him a philosophy, a style, a manner of approaching games and the sport itself, based on attractive attacking football and the need above all else to entertain the fans. It stood him in good stead at Liverpool. It will be an even bigger asset at Celtic, a club he has enormous affection for as we all know.
I can’t overstate how excited I am about this guy being here, at our club.
He is the best managerial appointment we’ve made since O’Neill, and I’m actually more delighted about this one than I was about that, although it redefined what getting good vibes from someone actually meant. But today is Box Office. Today we’re back in the big time.
The questions we want to ask could fill a book; who will the first signing be? What will the formation be? What are his ambitions in the short, medium and long term? Who does he think is the best player in the current squad? I could go on and on but all of those questions and many others will be answered in due course.
Today is simply his coronation, and it’s great that club is putting on a show down at Parkhead, with a band and a gazebo and, of course, making sure that everyone who wants one knows how to get their hands on a season ticket!
My advice all through the last few weeks was “wait and see”.
Well, the club has acted just as I hoped (but, I admit, never truly believed) they would. They went out and they brought in the very best. Season ticket sales should go through the roof, and the club deserves that because they have restored much of the faith (a few folk are still waiting on Resolution 12 and other issues; I have a feeling they’re going to be happy too) and earned the loyalty of the fans once more by giving them what they craved above all else; a vision.
Today Brendan will outline that vision at a press conference.
I hope Celtic have the hacks firmly warned not to deviate from that subject. Any who does, who tries to stir the soup, should be ejected from the ground and banned forthwith. We’re nothing to do with the shambles of Saturday, in spite of the best efforts of the Sevco PR arm to drag us into it.
Today belongs to the manager as Celtic Park becomes the Brendanbeu.
It’s going to be one Hell of a show, and this is just the warm-up act.
Next season can’t come quickly enough.