Bank of Scotland SPL
Wednesday 21st April 2004
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Kick Off 7.45
Celtic's first game after being official crowned Champions is tomorrow night, at Celtic Park. Aberdeen are the visitors.
I'm having a hard time trying to predict the squad for the game. As Champions, we now have the luxury of resting big name players; Larsson, Lennon, Petrov, Balde and Agathe deserve a rest. However, Martin O'Neill may look to playing these guys to keep the unbeaten record intact.
From watching recent interviews, it looks as though O'Neill will field a second string side for tomorrow night and most other games this season. Expect to see Stephen McManus, Ross Wallace, Jamie Smith, Momo Sylla and Liam Miller as the remaining league matches fizzle out.
Tomorrow's game was rescheduled from last Sunday, when Celtic were on Scottish Cup duty. It is the final game before the pathetic SPL split. The league is already won, and Aberdeen are in 11th place - they can count themselves lucky that Partick Thistle have put up such a non-existent challenge this season, or Football First would be a regular on the television screens of the Granite City next season.
A standing ovation is sure to happen as Celtic run onto the park. The players are heroes and deserve every single bit of applause they receive.
Cup Final day is just over a month away, and I believe players will be rested in between times. However, there is still a match against Rangers to contend with, and we don't want players to get 'rusty' for the Cup Final - a syndrome which effected many on our last appearance in the Scottish Cup Final, where we were beaten 3-2 by the Forces of Darkness.
No risks should be taken with players between now and the end of the season. Every game - home and away - should be treated as a party.
I reckon Aberdeen will put up a good fight, they can surely take a bit of a boost looking back at some of Celtic's previous games. A 1-1 draw with Motherwell and a 2-2 draw with Hearts showed our lack of quality as a squad, this was spotted and we were exposed.
Many guys are playing for places. Jamie Smith, for example, is out of contract in the summer, and unless we see some steady performances from him, he's going to be out of a club for next season. Despite the title having already been wrapped up, a job has to be done tomorrow, and the eleven players on the park will not let us down.
Hail Hail!
Celtic-Mad Prediction: Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen