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A Year Ago Celtic Went Top Of The Table. The Shock Of It Has Never Left Our Rivals.

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A year ago, Celtic Park thrummed with noise like I’ve only rarely ever heard it. The light show was as spectacular as I’ve ever seen it.

As the team did the famous Huddle, the whole stadium was plunged into darkness except for the players, who were bathed in a circle of green light. It was a tremendous way to open up the game … and their players looked genuinely unsettled by it.

To be honest, they’ve been unsettled ever since. We shocked them to the core that night, and they’ve been lost in shock for the past 12 months. When that season started they were sure they were on the brink of a new era at their club. Our bad start convinced them that they were going to be champions for years to come.

They believed that we were a complete mess. They persisted in that belief all the way up to that night at Parkhead, and we blew them out like a birthday cake candle, went top of the league and we have never looked back. There has not been a weekend since where they have sat at the top of the table for longer than a day and only because of games in hand.

We absolutely upended their whole world that night. All the belief went out of them and flowed into us. We looked light years in front of them, and that impression has not left us in the year since; in fact it has only grown.

It is fair to say that the full impact of that night is still being felt today.

Celtic continues to get stronger. We will face their club at the end of this month in Ange’s second cup final, and should we win that he will almost certainly have secured four of the first five trophies for which he has competed.

We already had the first of course by this time last year, and in many ways that was the launchpad for the successful campaign … but a year ago we sealed our rise by moving to the top of the league. I said at the time we would stay there for the rest of the campaign. I had an inkling that we would be top for the full duration of this one too.

That game at Parkhead was the start of their nightmare. Until then they had convinced themselves that our cup win could be put down to a fluke, the result at Hampden in the semi-final where Hibs beat them. But under the lights that night at a ground that reverberated to the sounds of only our own fans, we showed them their future.

Oddly enough, it looked an awful lot like the Celtic dominated past except faster, more aggressive, with better football than we’d seen in years.

For all that, it stunned them and they stayed stunned. The aim now is to make our dominance so obvious that even their most avowed internet nutcases cannot deny what they are watching.

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  • Benjamin says:

    Well said James. Long may our dominance continue!

    I will say this though: Beale is a much better tactician than Van Bronckhorst ever was. Since his appointment, their defense looks a lot more organized and a lot more difficult to play through. Part of that no doubt is getting healthy bodies back so they’re not relying on the hapless James Sands – our equivalent of Efe Ambrose. But a lot of it is simply players knowing their assignments and being able to do what is asked of them as well. Organization goes a long way even with substandard talent. On the other side of the pitch, their attack seems like it’s moved up a gear in the last month. They’re no longer relying on the obligatory penalty or a prayer that one of Tavernier’s or Barisic’s crosses end up in the back of the net. Sakala, Kent, Tillman, and Jack are actually starting to create some scoring chances, and with sufficient volume of opportunities even Morelos is able to find the back of the net with some regularity. If I’m being honest, I don’t see them dropping any points except against us.

    The interesting part of this dynamic is that almost all of the players performing well for them right now are out of contract this summer. Whatever you think of the likes of Kent, Morelos, and Tillman, they’re not going to be able to replace them with comparable quality while shopping at Poundland. And it will take some time to get replacements up to speed. How many points will they drop in the early stages of next season, and will they successfully navigate Champions League qualifiers with that many new players? They’re playing just well enough to give the fans hope, but not quite well enough to actually come home with a trophy. It’s the hope that kills, and the body count is starting to pile up.

  • Johnny Green says:

    Well said, a sensible assessment of the present situation.

  • Finbar muldoon says:

    When did this beat the pundit shite, start on radio clyde? Was it the year huns went into liquidation? I remember when there was more than 10 callers to the show. And it was only an hour. Now they’re on for TWO hours. You’re lucky if you get 8 callers. The host(whoever he is), seems to think it’s a comedy show. It’s as funny as a wet weekend. HH

  • Paul James McInally says:

    Sorry lads but there’s already blue white and red ribbons on the league cup. We would be as well not turning up for that final as there’s no way we can win. Var will make sure if ref doesn’t.

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