When this game kicks off tonight, what our fans will be looking for is not some glorious victory, not some big result which reverberates around Europe.
We’ll be looking for application, effort, commitment, a little fight, a little drive, a little will to win.
In short, we’ll be looking for everything that was missing at the weekend.
That performance against the Ibrox club was one of the most abject most of us have seen from a Celtic side in many a year, but it was not entirely out of character for this team because we’ve been playing like that for a couple of months.
The performance matters more than the result tonight. What fans want to see is a sign that this team has found its spark again, a sign that something in our approach or in the attitudes of the players has changed, for the better.
Celtic fans can take losing games; what none of us will accept is players not even making an effort, or a manager who refuses to change things. What we witnessed at the weekend was not just inept, it was weak. It was gutless.
It was characterised by a lack of investment in the importance of the occasion, and this is what worried, and angered, supporters most.
If we had fought like tigers and lost that match it would have been easier to take.
It was the insipid way we went about our business which truly infuriated people, and in truth we’ve been playing like that for too long in this campaign.
Lennon could do himself, and the team, a favour by not putting square pegs in round holes tonight.
He could stop with this crazy system of forcing players to stay in a rigid shape.
Guys like Callum McGregor would benefit from being let loose, from being allowed to make space for themselves and for others.
That little bit of freedom would liberate the whole team.
Really, what our supporters need to see most are signs of life. A manager who is engaged again.
Players having the ability to express themselves. A more consistent effort.
Not only will it raise morale amongst the fans, but a good display tonight will get at least some of the media writing nice things about the players again and both they and the manager needs that as well.
Obviously, a positive result would be huge … and it will require a good performance if we’re to get one.
But for now, the performance will be enough. Just to see this team go for it, just to see them attack another side with the fervour we showed last season, just to see them perform at the level we all expect from them … that will do it for us.
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