GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 01: Celtic's Tomas Cvancara scores to make it 1-0 during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park, on February 01, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
When I consider Celtic’s title challenge, it’s not Hearts or the club from Ibrox which brings me out in a cold sweat. It’s the schedule that scares me. It scares most Celtic fans. That brutal run from February into early March is so unforgiving that you genuinely wonder whether we can fight our way through the thickets and still have a real chance to win.
By the time we leave Ibrox, we will know a lot about ourselves and about the other two contenders. None of us has an easy road ahead. But we are the ones staring down that god-awful fixture list. That reality adds serious pressure to this midweek’s game.
Martin O’Neill was asked about prioritisation on Friday, and he addressed it directly. That alone tells you everything you need to know. Prioritisation will be unavoidable, because it is the only way to survive that punishing schedule with anything left in the tank. The real questions are where you prioritise and what you prioritise.
For me, the answer is simple: you prioritise the domestic games.
I understand why O’Neill will resist that idea.
He will not want to make domestic football his only consideration. He will want to compete on every front. That instinct is part of who he is. He built his reputation at Celtic not just on domestic dominance, but on restoring our credibility in Europe.
Reaching the UEFA Cup Final remains his towering achievement. Had we won it, he would already have a statue outside Celtic Park. He knows he will not win it this time, but if this is his last job in management, he will want to go as far as he possibly can.
We have been here before.
When we went that deep in Europe, we ran the Ibrox club all the way domestically but crucially won nothing. They pipped us to the post. Whatever you think of the circumstances under which they won it, the fact remains that it is written in the history books. Just as it is written that two of their own European final runs ended in title failure. I am not saying those adventures directly cost them those leagues, although they will insist that Manchester did. Still, it is worth thinking about. European runs always come with a price.
No one understands that better than Martin O’Neill.
That is why this schedule looks so frightening. Not because the opposition is extraordinary, but because the calendar itself allows no compromise. It leaves no margin for error. Every mistake will be punished.
We do not travel well after European away games, and that makes Ibrox the worst possible destination on our return from Germany. While I am no more worried about that match than any other on the list, plenty of people will circle it as a potential banana skin.
Personally, I am just as concerned about playing Stuttgart and then Hibs at Celtic Park within three days. Both matches will test us severely. We will need to be very good to win them. I am not even sure how much I care about beating the Germans, but I know Martin does, and I know this squad will want to prove itself too.
Before this month ends — and February is shorter, remember — we will play seven more games, making eight in total. Then Ibrox arrives on the first of March.
The games comes thick and fast: Aberdeen away, Dundee at home in the Scottish Cup, Livingston at home in the league, Kilmarnock away, Stuttgart at home, Hibs at home, Stuttgart away, and finally Ibrox away. All of that crammed into four weeks.
By the end of that spell, the fate of this title race may well be decided.
And honestly, short of a fully focused, fully driven, fully engaged Brendan Rodgers, there is no one I would rather have in the dugout than Martin O’Neill.
He has walked this road before. He knows every inch of it.
But let’s not kid ourselves. This schedule is horrific.
Every player at this club will have to give everything to get us through it.
Not just those already here, but those we have signed — and those we may still sign.
Let’s face it we’ve no fuckin chance over two games v Stuttgart…
And it will cost us to drop points at Liebrox and maybe even v Hibernian as well which could be a draw which is almost as costly as a defeat to be honest…
It is brutal indeed but with the squad we have we have no chance on all fronts therefore that’s why I wanted us to lose to Utrecht…
Unfortunately it didn’t happen and could cost us very dearly domestically and cost us domestically going forward !
I think we’ll beat them over 2 legs. They’re 4th in their league with no chance of winning it and only 3 points ahead of Leipzig who I’d fancy us to beat home and away if they were the opposition. Nobody expected us to go all the way to Seville in MON’s first stint as manager and Stuttgart were one of the teams we brushed aside in 2003. Nobody gave us a chance in Bologna a couple of games ago.
I believe that MON believes we can go all the way again, otherwise he’d have put out a makeshift XI against Utrecht to concentrate on the domestic scene. He isn’t content with just being better than Sevco and their cousins. I know none of us are either, we wanted/demanded progress. Have we given up even hoping for that with a manager we’re unlikely to improve on again?
The odds are obviously against us or any SPFL team ever winning anything in Europe again. But that was the case in 2002/2003 as well and even Sevco made it to a final in Seville under van Bronkhurst I think since then? Under MON I fear nothing except self-sabotage above his head and that’s reached its peak for this season at least.
We’ll finish double digits ahead of Rohl’s jokers by the end of the season. Hearts are an unknown entity over the whole season with the pressure of holding onto 1st place a hard thing to deal with even for us who are used to it. It’s an added burden on them while they remain there.
What’s Albert Kidd up to these days btw? Hopefully he’s joined the Green Brigade and will be there in place on flag day with them! KTF HH 😀
surely that Hibs game will get moved to the Sunday. The schedule is brutal but its the engine room that has to deliver. We have a bundle of midfielders who need to get with the programme if we are to get through Feb.
Interesting title race …
Hertz are limited beyond Braga but are gaining confidence.
We are having the season from hell but still in the hunt.
Govan FC look good for 20 minutes then it all goes very flat.
M/well seem to be playing well without the help of Ludge MIB / VAR.
Win the league — 80 points vs 82 points — discuss !?!
Dont forget hearts, who in in reality to workload the comparision is night and day. Out of all comps, no europe and still they can only scrape by in the hoofball stakes. You wont expect any notice of that to be flagged by the press corp thought. I near vomited calling them that actually !! Zombie corp mibbie, mindless lot, feeding on scraps would do it.
To be honest, I would rather we played the Huns after the 2nd Stuttgart game than any other SPL team. At least then after a Euro tie we will not take the following game too lightly, for the motivation will be there, the tiredness will be shrugged off and the players will be up for it.
The schedule isn’t the most important thing. It’s what happens in this window and who gets brought in. If we come up short in this, we can forget about the league. Just give it over tae either of the other 2 right now. We need quality players in and ahm talkin 3 or 4, by the time this window shuts. That’s what’ll make or break our season.
Afraid it’s dream on Kevcelt59……
We go with what we’ve got with just maybe, possibly if the stars are aligned,
the two that are in the ‘works’ according to Martin.
We are nowhere near a successful European level…Get out ASAP… Concentrate on domestic stuff…which will be hard enough.
***** THE ONLY THING WE NEED TO DO TO ENSURE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEXT SEASON IS WIN THE EUROPA LEAGUE!!!!!! JUST SAYIN’ ******
With this squad FFS.
JUST SAYING LIKE.
Still waiting to see what happens before 11 PM, the guy that looks a good bit of business so far is Araujo on loan from Bournemouth. I’m looking forward to seeing him for the rest of the season, he looks a real competitor, a couple of more signings with his attitude would be good.
Message to the Board, do yourselves a favour and bring back the GB. Show a bit of business sense and commonsense for Gods sake.
I would go heavy rotation in the SC against Dundee and we should be looking to rest / sub players early v Livingstone at home. I’d like to see Stuttgart’s fixtures after our ties with them – do they prioritise a top 4 Bundesliga for CL football over the EL route to the CL?
Stuttgart will prioritise both the bundesliga and europa and so should we and we will under MON.
Stuttgart are well down the betting order but will fancy their chances to win it like Eintracht did a couple of seasons ago. They are not generally UCL quality similar to us and if we play out of our skin we can beat them. The Ibrox entity went to the final with a good draw and a bit of luck. Its not impossible
The only teams in the europa league that can make an impression in the UCL are Roma and villa.
Many Celtic fans dont see the scottish cup as much of an achievement, and more that it should be a formality. Rest players v Dundee I agree.
The collective may call a boycott v Dundee anyway though I’m not sure they have the bottle for that. There will be a poor attendance anyway, possibly half full or less, similar to the Deila years.
Hearts became bookies favourites to win the league straight after their win at the weekend for the first time this season. It was short lived though, we are again favourites like we have been all season…no miracles required!