I love Martin O’Neill, and I would never argue with him on almost any subject. He’s one of those guys who consistently talks sense almost every time he opens his mouth.
But in this case, I have to respectfully disagree with his recent comments about how we need a strong club at Ibrox to push us.
This is a mantra I’ve heard before, and it’s at the heart of a belief that some of our fans hold — that our club operates on a “one step ahead” policy. They believe there are people inside Celtic who can’t envision a scenario where we get too far ahead of the club across the city because they think it would negatively impact us.
There are, by the way, a lot of Celtic fans who believe the same.
But there here’s why I dismiss the argument.
First, is it’s not within our power to prop them up.
No matter what we do, we can’t guarantee they won’t backslide further, find a way to shoot themselves in the foot, or conspire to wreck their own chances.
They are very, very, very good at that over there. So, if we were genuinely pursuing this as a policy, we’d have to keep going backwards at the same speed as them. And whatever I might accuse our club of, I cannot accuse them of doing that.
And if it’s not within our power to prop them up, then tying ourselves to any policy that involves hanging on to their coattails would be madness. The chances are high that no matter what we do, we will leave them behind anyway, simply in the way the club is run day-to-day.
Let’s put it this way: even in a scenario where we decided tomorrow to sell off all our high-value assets, a good manager like Rodgers would get enough out of that money to build another hugely successful Celtic team. Don’t forget that Ange Postecoglou built his all-conquering side — the one we’ve already sold £75 million worth of talent from — for just £18 million. It’s always going to be within our capabilities if the right guy is in the dugout.
We are not responsible for the abject state they’re in, at least not in terms of any decisions taken inside Parkhead. Tying ourselves to whatever mess they create would be more akin to a suicide pact than a business strategy.
I think that if you’re on the Celtic board, ambitious or not, strategically smart or not, you have to recognise that the mess they’re in is not something we want to chain ourselves to. At some stage, we will inevitably have to look towards larger horizons.
See, it doesn’t matter whether you believe we need a strong club at Ibrox or not. Unless we are actually willing to write the cheques and deposit them in their bank account so they can buy better players, we have the rival we have — shambolic though they may be, chaotic though they definitely are. That’s the hand we’ve been dealt. And believe me, there are plenty of us who enjoy it and don’t mind one bit that they are in such a mess.
You can’t have a business strategy predicated on a strong rival when the simple fact is, you don’t have a strong rival. Instead, you have an incoherent disaster zone — a club that’s out of money, mentally exhausted from the long struggle of trying to keep up with a team that’s miles ahead of them, and which can’t even begin to see a way out of its own mess.
So if we’re not looking towards Europe for our challenge, if we’re not at the forefront of efforts to make this league stronger, or if that’s impossible, looking beyond it entirely, then the people at Celtic are asleep at the wheel — and in a much bigger way than just failing to get some transfer deals done in a timely manner.
Now, I’m torn here because I love the guy, but this is where Martin shows his age a little bit and the generation he’s from. Some in that generation obviously find it very hard to conceive of any future that doesn’t have them in it.
But guys like me, just 20 years younger, are from a different generation. We have a different mindset about this stuff. I think most of us get that the rivalry is a bit played out now, a bit unsatisfying in certain ways. And it’s got nothing to do with how abject they are because I quite like that we can squash them whenever we like. But there’s no lustre in something that’s so poisonous, hateful, and warped like the Glasgow Derby.
A big European night at Celtic Park is worth ten derbies. A victory against a Juventus or Barcelona lives in the memory far longer. A moment like Nakamura’s free-kick against Manchester United might be equalled in sheer emotion once in a blue moon — maybe a late winner in a cup final — but it’s a goal I’ll be talking about until the day I die because of everything it represented and all it meant for our place in the game.
The more I’ve spoken to fans over the last week, the more it comes across that many of us see our future as part of a European league. That means we have no interest in perpetuating the myth that the only thing that matters is a local derby.
For a lot of fans, this is a mindset shift that has been years in the making. For others, it’s something they’ve only recently come to, but a large and growing number of us genuinely believe that the sooner we cut this cord and focus on where our real future lies, the better.
The klub across the city are full of PONCES so why the fuck should we be carrying them,if roles are reversed the klan klub would bury us alive.
Show them no sympathy or mercy,because they wouldn’t show us any,just think back to before Fergus appeared on the scene.
Murray had his tickly handshake men at the Bank of Scotland call in our debt and finish Celtic of once and for all,that’s the level of hatred that klub was playing at in the past and the new klub will try to succeed in doing in the future if they ever get the chance again.
A very true post indeed Scud Missile – My thoughts entirely as well !
Come on Saint Martin… McLeish was in an arms race with you in your tenure at Parkhead…
And he beat you twice in the league Albeit by cheating – But non the less ya were a loser to him twice in the league and a couple of cup finals as well…
I love you Saint Martin but no I don’t need them as rivals and frankly neither should you my friend !
We may need stronger opposition but not the one across the city. The whole spfl needs to improve (except them).
I think their death and reincarnation, the transfer of the previous clubs honours to the new club, and the lack of title stripping for the years of cheating have made me want to be part of a larger European league more than ever. Especially if that club weren’t part of it, that would make it all the sweeter. I would rather be part of a UEFA run league, than remain under the governance of the amateur outfits the SPFL and SFA.
Martin when he first came to Celtic used to tell the media what they wanted to hear, that Rangers were the benchmark. What he said to the players was something quite different. I suspect his comments were tongue-in-cheek.
There is a strong possibility that there will never again be a strong local rival.
That being the case, should we just give up?
I think NOT!
Meant to say James that I am one of the older generation, older than MO’N, and I would be OK with the huns dying off.
Our future lies elsewhere.
But people who think that we need the huns, in the words of Virgil Solozzo………….
” Pensa d’ antica”
I agree.
It was never a concern to have a strong Celtic or how bad it was for Scottish football when Rangers ruled the roost. They and everyone else were quite happy to see us flounder under the old Board. Now it is a different story. I am older than MON and I certainly enjoy their predicament and long may it continue. They still benefit from a corrupt system trying to maintain their relevance although they abuse their enablers at every opportunity. We and Scottish football are better off without them.
We need 9 strong teams in our league. Not simply one that happen to be also in Glasgow. The basket of assets are simply one of the teams that should be trying to improve and push Celtic. We don’t NEED Rangers and neither does Scottish football.
Contrary to Regan and Donkeycaster neither does the wider Scottish Society.
They and their obscene philosophy wouldn’t be missed.
We don’t have ‘Rangers’ BroxburnBhoy and neither does Scottish Football…
But yip – would indeed be pure fab to have 9 strong teams in our league…
Just not as you say one that happens to be in Glasgow called Sevco !
I’m only about 8 years younger than Martin is James,and I totally agree with you on this one.In fact I said to my mate 2 years ago,I wouldn’t give a shiny one if we never played them again if it meant progress in Europe.Our Derby is toxic,pure poison.I remember the big European nights as a kid under the lights and I want them back.Thats football,pure football,not hate.
Think you’ve kind of missed the point on his comment, a proper challenge at home pushed his team into Europe to compete at a greater level. He used sevco as it was in context with the question asked (which always gets the headline). Greater competition no matter who it’s from will make us more competitive in Europe, I think that was the point.
I think you’re reading too much into MONs thoughts/looking at it from the wrong angle. I’m sure like the rest of us he enjoys seeing them struggling year after year.
I think he’s referencing the Rangers he found when he arrived in Glasgow. They were a strong team and he used that to challenge the players and the board, it had a galvanising effect.
We had to spend money back then because they were strong to then go on and challenge, the board had to open the biscuit tin and we were able to challenge in Europe.
History shows in the ten in the row years when they were not strong the board felt they could get by without spending a lot of money and pushing on (which shouldn’t be the case, nor should we need them to be strong for us to have to push on but alas) hail hail
Couldn’t agree more about our future success being in a European setting. However I also think that we should be laying the ground work for that success by loaning out more of our younger players to teams where there would be mutual benefits I.e. player development, increased competition within leagues as a result of providing higher quality loanees. It would provide these younger players with a more competitive edge at an earlier time in their career. It may also help the game in Scotland to produce more home grown talent which can only help Celtic.
When MON arrived as our manager in 2000, the Glasgow landscape was very different, to the one we view now.
He was up against a very strong “Rangers,” albeit a team, that from 2001-2010, were deceitfully and shamelessly benefitting from EBTs.
We witnessed fantastic times with MON & his teams, but also varying degrees of heartbreak, domestically & in Europe.
As people on here have already declared, “Rangers,” were the benchmark to MON’s teams, and you can probably understand why he may still hold those views.
However, I really could not care less, if Sevco evaporated and ceased to exist. It is not a strong Sevco that Scottish football needs… we need Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts , Dundee Utd and the others to flourish and provide the competition that has been lacking for so many years.
From there, we get tested every week at home, which we can then take into European competition and start making progress on that stage. That has to be a priority.
That also has to be the benchmark for so many more of our SPFL teams.
Though to achieve that, we would definitely need complete reform and huge professionalism improvements in the governance of Scottish football. Not the amateurish set-up, we currently have!
Not holding my breath on that one !!!
I agree to some points.
Celtic should have their eyes on success in Europe otherwise there is a definite lack of ambition. You could argue the powers that be should do more in that direction.
However, even if you get the right players in place, they would be better served in Europe by having harder tests, week in week out, domestically to get them prepared. That does not have to be the Ibrox Club however. This season I suspect that Aberdeen will be closest to us. But I doubt it will be a serious challenge and, bar maybe the odd game, I doubt many games will be at a level or quality to be expected from European games.
So, no, I don’t care what’s happening specifically with the Hun, but I would love teams like Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts etc. to challenge us a bit more when we play them. It would be better for us in Europe.
You can’t just jump from a game homey to Dundee and expect it to be similar to an away game against Dortmund!