John Collins played for Celtic throughout the barren years of the early nineties and he knows more than most just how frustrating it can be when the results of matches don't always accurately reflect the balance of play. Tommy Burns sent out his teams to play the attractive, attacking, entertaining brand of football that the fans revelled in but at the end of his three years in charge he only had one Scottish Cup win to show for all of his efforts. Ultimately a Celtic manager will always be judged by the amount of trophies he accumulates and Collins insists that if ex-team mate Tony Mowbray is given time then he'll deliver on both fronts - winning trophies while playing football 'the Glasgow Celtic way'.
after the 1995 Scottish Cup Final
"I know Tony well and he has his philosophies about the way he wants his teams to play." said Collins. "He will prove to be a success at Celtic. But he has to be judged over the longer-term rather than 10 or 15 games. The Celtic job is a massive job with high expectations, but I believe Tony will get the team playing and winning trophies by entertaining the fans. They have to give him time, though. Tommy Burns had a similar philosophy, but needed time before improvement came. It could be similar for Tony."
"The difference with Mogga is Rangers no longer have the kind of unbelievable funding that Tommy was up against." he said. "We were up against Rangers side that had several England internationals and players such as Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup. It was ten times harder for Tommy in those days. There's no doubt, given time, Tony will get it right - but the fans must be patient and get behind the team during this difficult period. It's easy to sing and cheer when you're winning - but this is when their backing is really needed. They need to realise what Tony's trying to achieve, which is to play attractive football. That's traditionally the Celtic way, but fans want immediate success as well. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will develop."
"It was disappointing for every Celtic fan, the board and the players that only 18,000 turned out for last week's Co-op Cup quarter-final against Hearts." added Collins. "But these are troubled economic times and the match was also live on TV. The manager and players just need to keep their heads down and believe what they are doing is right. Tony has a strong character and possesses lots of self belief. He's intelligent and he knows things will turn eventually and results will come."
The ex-Celtic midfielder has no doubts at all that the team could and should have beaten Hearts last week in the Co-operative Insurance cup tie and, in fact, he thinks they should have won every single match they've played in the SPL under Mowbray. "Celtic have dominated every game they have played this season in Scottish football." he said. "They have controlled all the matches I've seen and been the better team. They have created and missed the most chances. You have got to analyse the statistics. Certain statistics don't lie - like how much possession you have of the ball and how many chances you have created. That tells you things, but football can be a cruel game, and a lot of people just look at the end result. If you don't score and win matches people who don't know the game say that's a failure. But you can lose games and it can still be a success from a manager's point of view."
The financial collapse of city rivals Rangers has been much in the news recently and JC is happy that Celtic chose to go down the route of fiscal prudence rather than replicate the irresponsible 'for every fiver you spend' mentality that has led to the downfall of our Glasgow neighbours. "You don't want to go into heavy debt and put the club in jeopardy - you have to live within your means." stated Collins. "Fans want to see class players on the pitch, but the way football has developed in the last ten years the TV revenue in England and abroad just isn't available to Scottish clubs. Celtic and Rangers have the best fans in the world and can fill stadiums, but without that TV money, the clubs need to cut their cloth accordingly and improve the development of their own players."