Last night was one of the best nights I’ve had as a Celtic supporter. It really was that special, that important. It felt like a vindication of everything we’ve believed over the last decade or so—namely, that we were a club that could, regardless of our domestic opposition or lack thereof, realise our potential and become a force again.
But we live in a world where everyone is looking for a quick fix and a short-term solution. And this is where I have to pay tribute to people I don’t often praise on this site: our board of directors. I don’t think they’ve made good decisions in a number of key areas, but the way this club is run is, for the most part, exceptional. We have not just stayed strong but have become stronger, despite the potential obstacles in our way.
Major changes to the transfer system could be coming, and we need to be alert about that. The coefficient situation is about to shift dramatically, presenting problems down the line. We don’t yet know what further changes lie ahead, with TV markets increasingly favouring certain leagues and widening the gap between us and clubs in those leagues. There are challenging times ahead, and ignoring these issues would be foolish.
Fundamentally, though, we’re in a good place.
We have a financial advantage over our rivals, and it’s not going away anytime soon—if it goes away at all.
We’ve just appointed Paul Tisdale, and if he has the kind of sweeping mandate we all hope he does, he can reorganise our academy, upgrade our training, improve our transfer strategy, and perhaps even shift us towards a more continental outlook. We have the resources and the time to plant those seeds and watch them grow, and if they grow right, we’re going to be even stronger than we are now.
All of this is based on one thing above all else: that our focus has to be on the broader horizon, not just on dominating Scotland.
The opposite has befallen the club across the city.
Last night wasn’t just the night of our great triumph; it was also the night of the most consequential US election in modern history. I’ll talk about it in depth elsewhere, but not on this site. I will, however, say a little here because it’s relevant to this discussion.
America has been on a dangerous path for a long time, and this outcome was always a possibility. My shock isn’t that it happened—it’s that it happened now, instead of further down the road. The reckoning was inevitable. For years, it’s been clear that the country was undergoing a profound and dangerous change. It’s tempting to think the coming years might bring it back to sanity, but I don’t believe that for a minute. It may already be too late for that.
Where this connects with our situation, and that of the club across the city, is in this: there are people who say it doesn’t matter how we got here, that only the next steps matter. But understanding how we arrived at this point is crucial if we’re to avoid repeating mistakes. Without this understanding, there’s a good chance things will only get worse.
The club across the city is looking at its current situation through completely the wrong lens. It’s not asking how it got here; it’s only asking how it can get out of this mess. And every answer it’s considering is wrong. Without understanding what caused this chaos, they’ll never find their way out. It’s as if they wandered into a maze and, instead of remembering the path they’ve taken, they keep treading the same ground over and over, getting nowhere.
If they had any sense, they’d recognise that at some point in the past, their club’s destiny branched into two roads: one led to a brighter future, and the other led to where they are now—and may even take them to a darker place. They had a choice when the road forked, and they chose the wrong path. Because they didn’t properly consider that choice, they’ve travelled so far down the wrong road that it’s now too late to turn back.
They can make the best of their current situation, and look for a glimmer of hope, or they can keep on going right down this road. Without recognising that choice they will walk until they drop.
They’re doing as many have urged them to do: clutching at straws, imagining a world where football runs on a cyclical basis—one day you’re up, the next day you’re down, and then you’re up again. But that’s never been true. Teams that rose to the greatest heights in sport often fell sharply, and some have never regained their former status or grandeur.
Some people will tell you America is the same country today that it was yesterday, and that’s true only in that we didn’t know yesterday how far it had already travelled into darkness. Now we do know, and America will never be the same again.
When will Ibrox fans realise their club is not Rangers anymore, and that Rangers itself was never as strong or powerful as it seemed, but another institution built on debt and unsustainable spending, bound to teeter and crash?
Their fans still talk about Celtic potentially being on the road to another ten in a row, as though that’s some magic number at which we’ll simply stop.
They sound an awful lot like American liberals today, telling themselves that if they can just get through four years of Trump, the nightmare will end. But it won’t—the nightmare is only just starting. There’s no reason to believe the extreme right will stop dominating their national politics.
That’s the path the country has been on for more than 20 years, and there’s no reason to believe someone won’t come along to pick up Trump’s playbook of lies, scare stories, petty hatreds, and divisive tactics. In fact, when you consider that Trump isn’t even a sophisticated man or a skilled politician, it’s chilling to imagine what someone smarter could do with that kind of power.
What do the leaders at Celtic want to do? What do those in charge of our club see as our future? If we continue on this path, we’ll make the club across the city an irrelevance, an afterthought. I don’t think we have any choice but to follow that road, as no other makes sense for us.
I’m not saying another Ibrox title in our lifetime is impossible.
I thought Harris would win the election because every campaign I’ve seen has been won by the disciplined side, the side that stayed on message, spent the most, had the most volunteers, and had the best story. But this time, all those trends were bucked. So, while I can’t rule out the possibility that their club, despite all our structural advantages, might somehow win a title, I would bet against it every single time. The circumstances needed would be almost unthinkable. Consider this: it took a global pandemic that closed stadiums worldwide for them to win their last one. That’s not even a moon shot or a lottery win—that’s madness.
In their 12 years of existence, they’ve made every mistake possible, squandered every opportunity, spent money they didn’t have, and still don’t understand what they’re doing wrong. Meanwhile, we’re getting everything right.
Last night, we finally saw Celtic’s potential. We saw where we can get to and the place we can be. Reaching that place is only a matter of will. If we want it, we’re good enough, clever enough, and resourced enough to get there if we play it smart. That is the journey we’re on, and we’re positioning ourselves for the next step.
They’re on the opposite track, heading downward as we rise. Our rivalry is now as dead as the promise of America. If we’re going to keep progressing down this road, that means leaving them behind in every way that matters. They’ll always be in our league, but they’re becoming irrelevant. That is how our club must view, and treat, them.
We have bigger horizons to focus on now.
We’ve seen the promised land, and for the first time in a long time, this is a club that looks like it believes we belong there, and that we can get there. The only way we fail is we allow ourselves to be dragged backwards again into this parochial little quagmire.
Whenever this club has aimed high it has climbed higher. When we’ve contented ourselves to being merely just one step ahead of them we’ve missed our chance at something more. We could not, even if we wanted to, change their trajectory … they made their choice a long time ago and are damned to follow that road wherever it goes now.
We can still choose our own. The summer past, we didn’t get everything right but we acted like a club that meant business by bringing in quality and aiming high. We know where that path leads now. We must not stray from it again.
Another fine article James.
This site, and its many contributors, has frequently highlighted many of the deficiencies we have seen in our club’s transfer strategy & forward planning, whilst proffering our own thoughts and suggestions, to rectify this.
When we eventually saw our board backing the manager with quality over quantity, there were real signs of genuine optimism, amongst our fanbase.
The results and performances thus far, have reinforced the feelgood factor, and there is so much more to be excited about, if we can continue down this road.
We are a tremendously well ran club, and we have to give our board credit for that.
If they are now listening to BR and have subscribed to his longer term vision, it should really be a case of continuing to build on the solid foundations that are now apparent, identify and add more quality, in every window, or as and when required.
This will not only preserve our domestic dominance, but will keep us competing PROPERLY, at the top table of European football.
Glorious nights like Tuesday, were in danger of becoming a figment of our imaginations as we had became a bit of a joke in Europe.
One game at a time, but hopefully they will now be the norm, rather than the exception! Celtic Park should always be our fortress on European nights and it is important to rebuild our reputation in this field…formidable rather than feeble!
These are hugely exciting times to be a Celtic fan and regardless of age or outlook, just enjoy!!!!!
Great Post Gerry !!!
On the subject of America, and general politics, I do doff my cap to your superior knowledge of this.
What I will say is that we are currently watching a world that is severely lacking in humanity, courtesy, care and compassion.
Where so many countries are ran by egotists and narcissists, and who generally do not give a damn about anyone other than themselves !
We are certainly living in dangerous times!
Does this sound like any Scottish institution we may know or recognise ?
Thank goodness for Celtic FC. HH
HOWZAT!!!!! Uncle Tom English and Hugh Hatesfenians. At the start of the last century had you said the rangers would become a tribute act for reactor 4RBMK you might have found yourself on a bus with bars heading for Carstairs. To round of 16 off, maybe, 2 popular cultural iconic slogans spring to mind, “every little helps” sevco and “do do do do do I’m lovin it”