Celtic's performances this season have ranged from lacklustre to sensational so often you could be forgiven for wondering if you really are watching a team destined to be Champions. Bereft of any kind of stability for much of the season inconsistency has plagued us on more than one occasion. I do however feel that luck, or lack thereof has played an integral part in the poor results we have endured this season. Home many of these games would have been different if one of the many chances we created or saw bounce back off the post had actually went in?
I can remember a time not so long ago when a home defeat was something that never entered into the equation at Celtic Park. Conversations regarding how emphatically we would dispose of that afternoons SPL fodder was the norm but no longer do we have high scoring excitement regularly on the menu. Defeats at home to Motherwell, Hearts and Aberdeen have seen the old days of Fortress Parkhead all but eliminated as more and more teams come to our home and fancy their chances.
Whilst this is occurring domestically you would be forgiven to assume that a similar malaise would occur in the European stage but Celtic have continued to see off top quality opposition at home in Europe. Barcelona aside how can Celtic manage to continue its great home European record without playing with any level of consistency?
I said at the end of August last year that Celtic looked like a team that were close to peaking, but were not firing on all cylinders. They looked like a team, which once they did click, had the potential to steamroll most opponents. Too often though not all aspects of the team lived up to their individual potentials, with the centre of midfield the area that caused most concern.
And then came Black December, with Celtic having to play a whopping 11 matches in a five week period, many of which were away from home after a European game, which saw them drop points both home and away and hand an advantage to the chasing pack, that they gleefully accepted despite the lack of opposable digits. The defeat at Ibrox and then a home defeat to Motherwell looked to all but kill of Celtic's hope of three-in-a-row.
This however seemed to galvanise the team, and this shows an admirable level of character and guile that many accused them of not having, and they started to claw their way back. There is no doubt that the two Rangers games victories sent out a clear message that we were far from dead and buried and that the league was up for grabs.
The team and the management deserve enormous credit for the turnaround in fortunes that they have managed to restore from the debris our season was becoming and regardless of the outcome of the league come Thursday night we should be proud.
Now let's just go on and win the damn thing!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt