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For A Minute Yesterday All The Celtic Haters Were Joyous. Then We Snatched It From Them.

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In the moment yesterday as Giakoumakis put that ball over the line, I think all of us were too happy to give much thought to anything else. This team could have laid down and quit.

Nobody would have been surprised.

The concession of a goal that late in a game is more often than not a disaster from which few can recover.

But we did recover.

Now that we’re living in a new age of nuclear sabre rattling, you would be forgiven for revisiting all those fears of the 80’s and the 90’s and “what if?”. I used to be haunted by the thought of the sirens and the three-minute warning.

I always thought that those three minutes, if they came, would be the quickest (and last) of our lives.

But in fact, what I’ve learned is that in moments when the clock is ticking down you get more thinking done than you might otherwise believe. I now think that those three minutes would be almost sanity breaking long. That they would, if you’ll pardon the pun, give us all the time in the world to think about loss, regret, fear and even anger.

For a little over a minute yesterday I know that our haters were rewriting league tables and dreaming up the headlines about how Ange and this team were collapsing before their eyes. In that short span of time, I know that there was a lot of back-slapping being done and big, big re-evaluations of the last eighteen months underway.

I don’t know what Celtic fans were thinking, but that’s what all those who can’t stand us and want to see us fail were doing.

They savoured the moment, but the mental calculations were happening at lightning speed, even from those who normally can’t think that fast. Because that equaliser “confirmed” every prejudice they had about us.

I know I was looking at the clock, ticking down, and thinking “there’s time … there’s still time here if this team hasn’t given up the ghost.”

As if.

I should have known better than even to let such a stupid idea enter my head.

The mantra holds true. “We never stop.”

For that one minute and change they got to have the world back the way they want it, and then we snatched it out of their hands.

They say that at the very end, before the bombs fall, that the sirens will actually stop; electromagnetic pulse, maybe, from a more distant detonation … but in that moment I don’t doubt that a lot of people would believe, perhaps, that salvation had come, that it was all a mistake, that it wasn’t really going to happen.

That was those people yesterday, celebrating way too soon, excited about something that was really nothing, before the flash of brilliant light which brings all other thoughts to an end.

Can you even imagine the funereal atmosphere at Ibrox yesterday before kick-off?

Over on Clyde they were talking about fans over there “honking their horns.”

Their panellists were honking their own pretty loudly.

A few seconds later … despair.

The same despondency was felt in the newsrooms.

They know what that late goal means. They know that it’s this side remembering what it is and what it can do.

This Celtic side didn’t just pull their dreams out of their hands, they stamped on them with full force.

They temporarily forgot we were strong.

Now they know better, and let me tell you, what comes next will not be lessened by duck and cover.

This will be shock and awe. We’re back.

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  • Roonsa says:

    I get what you are saying but I only really focused on how important Tony Ralston’s goal, away to Ross County last season, was when the league was in the bag. Do I care the huns’ afternoon was ruined? It’s a nice thought I suppose but it doesn’t matter much if we don’t finish the job.

    ‘mon the Hoops! We can DO this!

  • Finbar muldoon says:

    We’ve NEVER stopped. I’ve been watching Celts since 1965. HH

  • Martin says:

    GG’s goal was no less than we deserved as well, having had 2 goals wrongly chalked off and at least one stonewall penalty denied. The narrative for those 70 seconds or so was that we were poor yesterday and plucky St. Johnstone deserved their equaliser. We were only poor in terms of goals vs chances. And even at that, had AR2 done his job right, or VAR in place it would’ve been at least 3 nil (probably 4 with the penalty) by the time of their goal (which I doubt they’d have gotten in the circumstances).

    Yes we have underperformed in frobt of goal, but we absolutely steamroller Ed St Johnstone for 80 minutes yesterday and were only within touching distance due to some very very poor calls from the officials.

  • Johnny Green says:

    They were all spewing when we got the winning goal.

    Get it right fkn up them!

  • Katana67 says:

    [Keevins – In – Da – Box] : Inhaling Laughing Gas, Like Wee Jimmy (On-The- Fence) Sanderson,

    Back In The Day !!

    https://celtsarehere.com/audio-celtic-are-imploding-pundit-brought-back-down-to-earth-in-70-seconds/

    Heavens Aline, Synchronicity….

    Priceless !!!!

  • Saulgoodman says:

    These front players need to get a grip in the box the amount of sitters these guys miss is terrifying all the time putting pressure on our defence most weeks when game should be done after 60 mins -hope santa delivers 2 strikers for Xmas!

  • Slugger O’Toole says:

    Nuclear war and football not to be compared.

  • Pan says:

    The manky mob live in a dark and hate-filled world with no lasting joy.
    That’s why they are zombies.

  • harold shand says:

    A certain radio show that rhymes with snide proving how anti Celtic they are in the space of just two minutes

    Hearing them going from gloating , laughing and total joy one minute

    Then hearing the dejection in their voices , is still making me smile when i think about it

    The mask most definitely slipped for a certain presenter

    At least with morons like Boyd you know what they are they don’t try to hide it

  • Paul Fitzpatrick says:

    I had to leave the house at the final whistle and had radio Scotland on in the car and the pain was palpable with every pundit arguing about which Saint’s players were to blame for the goal apart from Packie Bonnar and it was fantastic ?

  • Jim says:

    Even by Keevin’s standards of idiocy, that was epic.

    Hughie, have ye no been paying attention?

    WE NEVER STOP.

    HH

  • Frank Kelly says:

    To be fair, on Radio scotland, Phil Goodlad I think it was said after the equaliser “this game’s not finished yet”.

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