Champions League again! Oh, I can already feel that little shiver running down my spine.
The nights are getting bigger, the stakes are getting higher and Celtic are standing right on the edge of something that could become very special indeed. The next obstacle is LASK, the Austrian champions, and let me tell you something right now: this is not a team Celtic can simply brush aside as if they have wandered into Paradise for a wee sightseeing trip.
No, no, no. This is Champions League football, and LASK are standing between Celtic and the league phase … and they are a better side than Kairat were when they put us out at the same stage in the competition last season.
The first leg comes at Celtic Park on Wednesday, with the return in Austria on 25 August. There is absolutely no room for Celtic to treat either one as anything other than a European battle. But here is where my Ginger Witch instincts start whispering in my ear.
What if this is exactly the moment Celtic have been waiting for? Because I look at Celtic now and I see something different. I see a team that has finally started looking hungry again. I see new faces arriving, albeit late in the day.
Kasper Høgh has already shown us that he knows where the goal is. Camilo Durán has started to announce himself. Mika Baur has arrived. Haissem Hassan is here. The attacking options are beginning to look much more exciting than they did last season.
And then there is Martin O’Neill. Our Martin. Back again.
I cannot help thinking there is something rather delicious about Martin O’Neill being the man standing on the Celtic touchline when the Champions League comes knocking again. Because this is a manager who understands European football. He understands pressure. He understands what Celtic Park feels like when the lights come on and every single seat seems to be screaming. And, importantly, he understands winning.
I don’t think we should underestimate how important that is.
Celtic have been through some painful European nights. We all know that. We have watched matches where Celtic looked nervous, hesitant and frightened of making a mistake. But Martin O’Neill? I don’t see that same fear in him.
I see a man who looks at a difficult European tie and thinks: right, let’s get on with it. Let’s just find a way to win. Perhaps that is precisely what Celtic need.
Because LASK are no mugs. They are Austrian champions, they have earned their place in this play-off round and Celtic know perfectly well that these ties can become horribly complicated if you give the opposition encouragement.
So, I am not sitting here pretending this is already won. It isn’t. Far from it.
LASK will come to Glasgow believing they can cause problems. They will try to make Celtic uncomfortable, slow the game down when it suits them, attack when Celtic lose concentration and make every Celtic mistake hurt. And that is why I want Celtic to start this tie like the champions they are.
Not cautiously. Not nervously. Not waiting around to see what LASK are going to do. I want Celtic to go straight for them, and if I have confidence in anything it is confidence in the man, Martin O’Neill himself, to get us where we need to be.
But I want the first tackle to say we are here. I want the first attack to say we are not frightened. And I want the first goal, whenever it comes, to make Celtic Park believe there are more coming. Because I am beginning to see that old appetite returning.
That hunger for goals. That hunger to dominate. That feeling that one goal is not enough. And that suits Martin O’Neill. It suits him beautifully.
The 4-0 victory over Dundee United was another reminder of what Celtic can produce when those attacking players begin to click. Trusty, Durán, Tounekti and Nygren all found the net, while Baur got his first competitive minutes in a Celtic shirt.
Now, I know what some people will say.
It was only Dundee United. Yes. I know. But I am not talking about the opposition. I am talking about the feeling. Something is moving at Celtic.
Perhaps that is why I am looking at this LASK tie differently.
I am looking at it and thinking: this could be the beginning of something. Because imagine Celtic getting through. Imagine the confidence that would bring.
Imagine these new signings experiencing Champions League qualification with Celtic, hearing that noise, feeling that pressure and then walking away knowing that they helped take this club another enormous step forward.
Imagine Høgh scoring in Europe. Imagine Durán causing chaos. Imagine Hassan running at tired defenders. Imagine Baur finding those spaces.
And imagine Martin O’Neill standing on that touchline, grinning like the fox.
Oh, I can see it. Perhaps that is my crystal ball calling me again.
But I like it. I really, really like it.
Celtic are not the finished article. I know that. Martin knows that. There are still questions around the squad. There have been departures. There are players missing and others who have barely had time to settle into the team.
So this isn’t perfect. But football rarely is. Sometimes you don’t need perfection. Sometimes you simply need momentum. And Celtic have some of that now.
They have goals. They have new players who look hungry. They have a manager who knows this club, knows the pressure and knows what winning with Celtic feels like.
And they have Celtic Park. Never forget Celtic Park.
There are football grounds. And then there is Paradise on a European night.
LASK might be Austrian champions, but walking into Celtic Park with Champions League qualification on the line is another experience entirely. They haven’t yet felt what happens when the lights are on, the Champions League music has played and 60,000 Celtic supporters have collectively decided that tonight is the night.
I know what that feels like. And I would not want to be the opposition.
So yes, I am excited. But I am also wary. My Ginger Witch does not give out spells without reading the small print! LASK must be respected. Celtic must be intelligent. The defence must concentrate. The midfield has to win its battles.
And those new attacking players have to be given the freedom to do what they were brought here to do. Attack. Because I genuinely believe Celtic have a massive chance here. Not because LASK are weak. They aren’t. Not because Celtic are guaranteed to qualify. They aren’t. But because I look at the ingredients Martin O’Neill now has and I look at the man himself and I see the possibility of something far more dangerous than the Celtic side we watched struggle for goals last season.
This is a different Celtic. A Celtic with fresh blood. A Celtic with new hunger. A Celtic with a manager who has already dragged this club through another difficult period and delivered the league title. And now?
Now he has another European mountain to climb.
I don’t know whether Celtic will qualify.
Nobody can know that before a ball is kicked. But I know this: I believe. I believe Celtic can beat LASK. I believe Celtic can make Celtic Park roar. And I believe Martin O’Neill can once again become the man who takes us somewhere we desperately want to go.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the Champions League has arrived at exactly the right moment.
So come on, Celtic. Bring on LASK. Bring on the pressure. Bring on the European nights. Bring on that beautiful Champions League music. Because this Ginger Witch has a feeling that something is brewing
And the reason I believe is that man who will be standing on the sidelines. The man who has been here, seen it and done it all before.
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