This is the day we turn things around. Let’s see the real Celtic.

Today Celtic are facing the Ibrox mob yet again.

And today is another chance.

Not simply another chance to win a football match, although God knows I want that. Not simply another chance to give the Ibrox mob a proper beating, although I would enjoy that very much too.

Today is a chance for Celtic to change the entire mood around this club.

Because let’s be honest: the mood has been fucking miserable.

We have had bad performances. We have had tactical problems. We have had frustration, anger and disappointment. We have had supporters questioning what they are watching, questioning the direction of the team and wondering where the next good performance is supposed to come from.

Everything has felt heavy.

But football has this incredible ability to change the emotional temperature in an instant.

One moment can do it. One goal can do it. One proper performance can do it. And there are few games capable of changing the mood around Celtic faster than this one.

That is why I refuse to walk into today already beaten.

Don’t get me wrong, I get jumpy thinking about this game. Of course I do. This is Celtic against the Ibrox mob. This is one of those matches where your stomach twists, your heart pounds and every minute before kick-off seems to last forever.

But I also remember last season.

I remember the doubts. I remember people questioning whether Celtic would actually win that fifth league title in a row. I remember the difficult moments and the feeling that everything was beginning to slip away.

But I believed. I believed because Celtic were Champions.

And eventually, Celtic found a way.

The Bhoys in green and white became Champions for the fifth consecutive time.

That matters today because football seasons are not straight lines. Teams struggle. Confidence disappears. Good players look ordinary. Supporters get angry. Everything can start to feel like it is moving in the wrong direction.

Then one result changes the conversation.

That is the opportunity Celtic have today.

Not to pretend that everything is fixed.

Not to pretend that all the problems suddenly disappear.

But to remind everyone — including themselves — that this team is still capable of something better.

And they have Celtic Park behind them. Our home. Our Paradise.

The place where generations of Celtic supporters have stood shoulder to shoulder. The place where the green and white fills the stands, where the songs roll around the stadium and where the players should be able to feel the power of thousands of people willing them forward. Today the players do not walk onto that pitch alone.

They walk out carrying all the frustration of recent weeks, but they also walk out with the chance to turn that frustration into something else.

Energy. Noise. Belief. Hope.

That is what I want Celtic Park to give them today.

I want Callum McGregor to feel it. I want every player wearing that famous shirt to look around and understand exactly what kind of opportunity is sitting in front of them. They are not simply playing ninety minutes of football.

They are playing for supporters who badly need something to enjoy again. They are playing for people who have spent the last few weeks angry, confused and wondering what has happened to their team. They are playing for the chance to send those people home smiling.

I want Celtic to play like it matters. Because it does.

I want bravery. I want hunger. I want movement. I want players fighting for every ball and helping the man beside them. I want to see a team rather than eleven individuals trying to solve problems on their own.

Most of all, I want to see Celtic play with some life.

Because that is what has been missing.

The recent football has too often felt slow, uncertain and joyless. We have looked like a team thinking about every mistake before it happens rather than a team looking forward to what it can create. Today is the chance to change that.

Football gives you these moments.

You can be awful on Thursday and brilliant on Sunday.

You can spend days being criticised and then give people something completely different to talk about. You can walk into Celtic Park under pressure and leave it with 60,000 people believing again. That is the beauty of this game.

And that is why today matters so much.

I am not asking Celtic to erase every problem in ninety minutes. That would be ridiculous. I am asking them to remind us that there is still something here worth fighting for. I am asking them to give us a performance with some personality.

Something brave. Something aggressive. Something recognisably Celtic.

Because when Celtic Park is alive, when the supporters are behind the team and when those players are playing with confidence rather than fear, this place can still feel enormous. And the opposition should feel that.

The Ibrox mob should walk onto that pitch and know immediately where they are.

They are coming to Paradise. The Lions Den. These are our colours. These are our supporters. And these are our Bhoys.

So go out and show them, Celtic. Show them the hunger. Show them the fight. Show them the quality. Show them the character.

But more than that, show us.

Show the Celtic support that the recent weeks have not broken this team. Show us that the confidence can come back. Show us that the swagger can come back. Show us that football at Celtic can feel exciting again.

Because that is what today can do.

A victory does not fix everything. But it changes the mood.

It changes the conversation. It changes how the players feel. It changes how the supporters feel. And sometimes that is where recovery begins.

I do not know what the scoreboard will say at the end. Nobody does. But I know what I want to see. I want to see Celtic playing with courage until the final whistle.

I want to see them believing until the final whistle. I want to see them leaving everything on that pitch. And today, yes, I want more than a good effort.

I want the victory.

I want Celtic Park bouncing. I want the frustration of the last few weeks turned into noise. I want the players leaving that pitch knowing they have changed the mood around this club. Because Champions do not get to choose whether difficult moments arrive.

They choose how they respond to them.

And today Celtic have the perfect opportunity to respond.

My schoolteacher verdict?

Simple. One good performance cannot rewrite everything that has happened.

But it can change how we approach the next chapter, and with another international break (oh how I hate them) coming up, it can lift us going into it.

So, Celtic, stop telling us what you are capable of. Show us. Give us something to believe in again. And make Paradise roar.

Choose The CelticBlog as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.