Shortly after dropping the financial results last night, Celtic delivered another piece of absolutely excellent news—one that, in terms of its overall impact on the fans, probably outweighed the financials.
We announced that we had won a successful appeal against Maeda’s red card, reducing his suspension to just one match instead of two. That means he will be available to face Bayern Munich after all, giving us a massive lift ahead of our biggest game of the season.
I think this changes the entire dynamic of the match. It significantly increases our chances of getting a result because the energy that Maeda brings to the team is immense. Losing him felt like a massive blow, and the idea of going into this game without him was daunting.
He’s in the form of his life. I think it was Alistair Johnston at the weekend who said he must be one of the most in-form, high-performing players in Europe right now, and I completely agree. We missed him at Villa, but this is on a different level entirely. With a home crowd behind us, we should be well up for this one.
All I could think about for the past week was that our best player wouldn’t be on the pitch—but now he will be. Tremendous news for all of us.
The club played a blinder here. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks lacerating them furiously for not properly preparing us for this game, but they’ve taken a huge step towards rectifying that.
At the very least, they’ve made a real effort to put us in a better position than we were. The success of the UEFA ban hearing, which pushed that issue further down the road, was excellent. That allowed us to have fan representation at the away tie. But this? This is on another level. This is class. This is brilliant.
Yes, we could have signed a striker. Yes, we could have done more in terms of strengthening the squad. But ensuring that we’ll have away fans in Munich and securing Maeda’s availability for the first leg? I have to give them credit for both. It would be churlish not to.
Now, I’m genuinely looking forward to the game. Not just marking it on the calendar as an “interesting night,” but actually anticipating it with excitement. This news has completely transformed the outlook for the match. The manager can now field his preferred tactical system.
We know we’ve got our two speed demons out wide—unless he decides to drop Idah and play Maeda through the middle, though I don’t think he will. I reckon we’ll see both of them in the starting XI, with Jota making way. No harm to our Portuguese wizard, but that’s our strongest front line. Maeda. Idah. Kuhn.
The midfield is another discussion, of course, and the defence pretty much picks itself. But the forward line is going to be crucial. As the home team, we need to be on the front foot, creating as many chances as possible, scoring goals, and giving ourselves a fighting chance in the second leg.
This doesn’t guarantee us a win. It doesn’t even guarantee that we’ll get something from the match. But it massively increases the likelihood. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this is a huge boost for us and seriously improves our chances.
On the podcast the other night, Joe rightly pointed out that we might have ended up in the latter stages of the game needing to bring on Yang or Johnny Kenny to see us through a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich. Now, the likelihood of that scenario has been greatly reduced.
It’s just one player. But what a player. A big, big player.
And the lift this gives the dressing room, the manager, the fans, and Maeda himself—who has been imperious in recent weeks—is immense. He will want to repay the club’s faith in him, and he will want to do it for the supporters, to make up for the mistake of a young player that nearly cost him his place in this match.
Munich now have another reason to be wary.
They won’t be sweating it—after all, they’re used to playing against top sides in high-stakes games. But this is not the tie they thought it would be anymore. That’s how big yesterday’s news was—a game-changer.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
The other night we put up our latest podcast. Recorded just after the Ibrox club went crashing out of the cup, we called it They’re Simply Depressed.
Yep – It’s one truly AWESOME fuckin boost for sure…
It’s probably in a perplexing kinda way a bigger feel good factor than if he wasn’t suspended in the first place…
Sort of like they tell you they’ve found your loved one ‘rangersed’ (deceased) and then they walk in your back door again…
Aye – And while I sometimes slag ‘Daddy’ Lawwell and Lord Lucan-Nicholson take a bow Mr Lawwell and Mr Nicholson this on this occasion…
I’ll actually get cosy for once – Well Done Peter And Micheal !!!
The board are actually receiving some praise from the usual greetin faces????
Wonder were our new £10m striker would have fitted in?
I think Jota, Maeda and Khun will start.
Idah will replace Jota later in the game.
This is massive for our forward line no matter what position he starts in. I’d have him on the wing to start with, bring on Jota later and depending on how Idah’s and Kuhn’s fitness and performance move him more central. Also depends on the score at that point.
That said the game may be reliant more on whether our defence turns up. They simply can’t perform like we did at Villa.
Anything’s possible. Hail Hail