MARTIN O’NEILL may think otherwise, but I believe Celtic face a day of reckoning at Parkhead this afternoon.
Yes, even with my admittedly dodgy arithmetic, I realise there will be another 31 Premiership games to be played and 93 points to be won, but even this early in the campaign, today’s derby has become a must-win encounter.
Failure will not be tolerated following the mystifyingly feeble performance at Ibrox a week ago that saw any hopes of an early piece of silverware obliterated with a confidence-sapping exit from the Premier Sports League Cup.
That miserable display was followed by an equally worrying collapse against Ferencvaros in the Europa League opener under the lights in the east end of Glasgow.
Throw in the inconceivable 5-1 disintegration in Austria to end hopes of Champions League football at the qualifying stage for the second consecutive season and you have a sequence of three monumental losses in 11 outings and pathetic capitulation in two trophies.
If that doesn’t get the alarm bells reverberating around Paradise, then nothing will.
SHOUTING MATCH…Shaun Maloney and Martin O’Neill encourage the Celtic players.
Even some poor soul lumbered with a single digit IQ will be able to work out what happens next if Celtic are toiling and heading for a third reverse in eight days as John Beaton prepares to bring the confrontation to a conclusion with the final shrill of his whistle.
The reaction will be loud and the repercussions seismic. There will be a clamour for heads and the usual suspects will be rolled out to be condemned.
Some of the observations may be valid, some may be vile, but, most certainly, they will be vociferous.
Make no mistake about it, the patience of some supporters, already threadbare and almost exhausted in some cases, will not pass the test of another examination.
The fall-out could register on the Richter Scale. Clearly, our genial manager doesn’t want to heap more pressure on his already fragile squad by saying nothing but a victory will be tolerated this afternoon, but, like it or not, this is the uncomfortable position in which the champions find themselves as the minutes tick down to the midday kick-off.
A triumph in the all-Glasgow encounter will propel Celtic eight points ahead of the Ibrox club and Hearts. The dark clouds over Parkhead will be dispelled. For the time being, anyway.
A draw may just about be bearable, but a loss – yes, even after just seven Premiership games – will be insufferable and there will be many who will let their feelings known in so many different ways. It won’t be pleasant.
Celtic don’t play again until they face Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday October 11. Club football goes into cold storage during the international break and that’s an awful lot of time to endure when there is a lot of noise to fill the void.
The carousel of blame will be utilised once more for an extended spin.
Unhappily for the individuals targeted, there will be no distractions for those who feel the need to vent their feelings.
A victory, emphatic or otherwise, will assist in circumventing such disagreeable and unwelcome intrusions.
Offering a more positive outlook, there will be 60,000 supporters all too willing to play their part today. Surely that raw fervour and blazing passion will inspire some individuals and rouse them from their recent slumbers.
If not, they are probably in the wrong sport. For certain, they are at the wrong football club.
Get it done, Celtic!
ALEX GORDON
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