What a fickle bunch we Celtic supporters have become; something I believe has come of this magnificent run of 68 games unbeaten.
Some want it to end. I’m sorry but I don’t. I was incandescent with rage after we squandered a 2-0 lead which frankly should have been more. I had a horrible gut feeling as young Shaw’s side footer was unleashed, only to see Lustig clear and save the day.
After yesterday’s draw against Hibs at Easter Road the internet was awash wish theorists and self-proclaimed football managers. Or should that be Football Managers?
Is it a monkey on our back? Yes, possibly.
Is it painful to draw games that you should have won? Yes, of course it is.
But that any Celtic fan who wants the run to end beggars belief.
Let’s keep making records, let’s shut the critics up. Ram it down their throats whilst we can because believe me when it’s gone it’s gone. There’ll be Souvenir Specials for the team that manages to end this run, that’s how much some people want it. Talk-In shows will have extended programmes for the queue of punters wanting to take aim at the Hoops.
The fact is, this season Celtic has played 32 competitive games, which equates to two games every single week. I don’t buy into this bollocks theory of “but they are professional football players.” – It’s not just about physical shape, it’s about mental toughness.
Imagine what it takes to keep a run like this going. Imagine how tough it is on your physical and mental well-being? It is pressure of the toughest kind.
There’s going to be close run games but this adds to the utter excitement of this rollercoaster ride. Bear in mind, Celtic’s squad is packed with Internationals too and been a busy old time in that sphere too.
We have used around 23 players in all games this season.
Almost every single one of those players has had an injury at one point or another. To compare it to where we were this time last season is lunacy. We’re umpteen more games into the run and a lot of our players have not had a true break.
I totally agree that the games that we’ve drawn have been torture but look at the games we’ve won comprehensively. We utterly destroyed Aberdeen at Pittodrie, spanked St. Johnstone 4-0 and crushed Motherwell 5-1 and have collected a trophy on the way there.
We have six games to take on in the remainder of December, four of which are at home starting with Hamilton this Wednesday followed by Hearts at Tynecastle this weekend.
Again, these are followed by two home games versus Partick and Aberdeen then Dundee away. The end of month sees us face Sevco to end the year, and how good would that be should we still have the run intact?
We definitely will need a rest after but I’m confident we can get through them all unscathed and return refreshed on 23rd January.
We sit five points ahead of Sevco and Aberdeen with a game in hand and have won four out of four trophies available since Brendan Rodgers joined.
It’s crystal clear that we need to add to the squad, not just in terms of quantity but quality too.
Boyata looks back to his old, careless self with some other players treading water. Rodgers should be given a decent wedge for January as we build towards another treble and to aid our foray into the Europa League again.
Obviously a special mention to Scott Sinclair who answered his critics in abundance yesterday. He’s came in for some sharp criticism over the last wee while but with 14 goals and a number of assists this season perhaps we’re looking for a bit too much of him.
Andy Walker was right on top of Sinclair yesterday willing him on to failure.
My only criticism would be that he should have scored the winner near the end yesterday but that’s pretty pedantic.
Overall, it’s possible to be disappointed at some of our performances but delighted overall with where we are.
Here’s to another victory on Wednesday and to sixty-nine without defeat.
Gavin McCann doesn’t want our run to end. Ever.