There was never any question of Ange indulging in any triumphalism yesterday, although some of the garbage we have had to put up with in recent weeks gave him every reason to do so. A five point lead and a massive goal difference is great to have, but Ange remembers well where this club was after six games last season and was never going to play that game.
Let’s be blunt and say what has to be said; there is no comparison between where we were this time last year and where the Ibrox club is right now. We were a club trying to move forwards. Once we got our feet under us, there was no stopping this team.
At Ibrox they have a number of big problems and with the closure of the window there is no way to solve them until January at the earliest, by which time they might have an even bigger set of issues to deal with. There doesn’t look like any prospect of them putting together the kind of form that we were on the brink of at this same stage in the race.
Even then, at that point, we had turned in two fantastic home displays in the league, which gave a hint of what we were about to produce over the course of the campaign. We had played some excellent football in Europe, to qualify for the Europa Groups.
So you could see that Celtic was on the right track. You could see that once we had some basic stability that we were more than capable of going on that winning run. I said so at the time. The media didn’t want to acknowledge it, but we made them do so in the end.
I understand why Ange won’t gloat. He simply expressed the fact that based on our form and based on the standards he wants us to meet that we will be very difficult to stop. This is September. There is a long way to go, and as I posted earlier we got here by treating every game and every opponent with the utmost respect. We take nothing for granted.
Still, we have an idiotic media which thinks it can trap the manager into saying something daft. I don’t know why they’ve not twigged yet that this man simply isn’t going to do it. He recognises the bear trap for what it is; he’s got too much class and too much savvy to step into it. Indeed, it is such an obvious one that only a very silly manager would.
So I wasn’t surprised in the least that Ange sidestepped anything that hinted at over-confidence. What did take me by surprise was the reaction from Jota.
He was asked a daft question about it on Sky, and he actually laughed as he pointed out that it is only September.
This is exactly why I am personally very confident; Ange has drilled this into every single person at Celtic Park. Confidence is one thing. Arrogance is another. We have learned the lesson from last season’s comeback that such a thing is possible.
It is why it will not happen.
Ange and this team will remain focussed and determined and because they are they will simply not allow it to. Every point counts. Every victory matters. Every game is massive. Every goal we score is crucial.
If the hacks think anyone at Parkhead is going to be tricked into appearing too confident they better think again.
Even if it wasn’t stupid, nobody at Celtic thinks that way.
We, the fans are allowed to be confident, we can make daft predictions and can get carried away. It is what fans do until they are brought back down to earth. I am sure we are all harbouring notions of another Invincible Treble and why not, we’ve done it before, so we can aim for it and hopefully do it again.
The players though do have a duty to remain focused and I’m sure they will be well drilled by the Club on saying the right thing whenever they are put on the spot by a hostile media.
They will continue to do their talking on the park and they will be be judged purely on that by our own supporters. The media?…..they can do one.
The difference between last season and this season is, we looked as if we where going in the right direction every game the ibrox club has played, they have looked heavy legged and static, even in Europe, where they’ve carried a lot of luck.
Ange is a class act.. and full of dignity, and I will also say in fairness van bronckhorst is also classy as well. These guys don’t do the we are this, we are that. It’s very early on in the season, with plenty of football to play. There is only 6 games played. It’s been a stunning start, but titles are not won in November. And Ange is a very classy operator, and he knows that only to well. It’s the old fashioned 1 game at a time scenario here. HH
Sorry September.. the old predictive text at play here lol
“Just chill”, quote of the day. Jota happy and in the post match presser handled it brilliantly, as you say James this squad are well drilled in both training and interview technics. Long way to go but we’re in driving seat just now.
I have read some over the top comments regarding our victory yesterday. James himself said that the present team is the most exciting he has ever seen, Others have also put the present team on a pedestal and although I am relishing the present football being played I cannot buy into them being the best we’ve seen and certainly not in my lifetime.
The best ever is still the Lisbon Lions that’s a given, it’s undisputed. The second best team is more recent and they were the Invincible Treble winners and the basis of the side that did the Quadruple Treble. I don’t even put the present side in 3rd place, at least not yet until they have fully earned it. The Blessed Martin Celtic side who won the league in 2000-2001 was probably the most exciting since the Lisbon Lions.
When we pumped the huns 6-2 with players of the ilk of Henrik Larsson, Lubo, Sutton, Lambert, Petrov, Valgaeren in that game along with Mjalby, Tom Boyd, Alan Thompson and many others during that great season. Can we seriously compare the present players with those superstars?
The answer is a definitive…. not yet, and possibly not ever. The present squad have still to earn their own plaudits and in time we may mention them in the same breath as some of our past heroes.
Until then let’s enjoy this side to the full, but without the daft, far too early comparisons with our past heroes..
Correction. The 200-2001 side won the Treble, not just the league.
Wasn’t it wee Johnathan Sutherland of the odious BBC Scotland ,who tried to entrap Jota into a quote ?
Sounds about right. HH