CELTIC kicked off 2025 with a defeat and brought down the curtain on the season by relinquishing their two-year hold on the Scottish Cup.
The bit in between wasn’t too clever, either.
There was elimination from the Champions League, albeit in heroic circumstances against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.
The exit was set in motion with the shortfall in the first leg in Glasgow when the defence showed alarming deficiences in allowing Harry Kane a free header inside the box and, ultimately, that proved to be the banana skin over the two games.
Earlier in the League format, there had been a 4-2 feeble capitulation to Aston Villa in the Midlands when too many players failed to turn up.
HAMPDEN INQUEST…Brendan Rodgers and backroom boys John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan discuss the Scottish Cup Final failure against Aberdeen on May 24.
There were four Premiership losses – two against Rangers, one in controversial circumstances at Hibs and another against St Johnstone who were automatically relegated – while a stoppage-time penalty-kick by Arne Engels prevented an embarrassing reverse against struggling Dundee at Dens Park.
It’s all a bit mystifying, especially when you compare it to the previous year when Brendan Rodgers’ men suffered a solitary domestic defeat in a highly contentious encounter against Hearts at Tynecastle in March when Yang Hyun-jun was dismissed early in proceedings and the hosts were awarded a ‘phantom’ penalty-kick for the opening goal in a 2-0 win.
A late, late goal from evergreen James Forrest threw the champions a lifeline in the Trophy Day stalemate against St Mirren at Parkhead in the last league outing of this campaign.
Of course, there was another 1-1 deadlock in the derby confrontation at Ibrox last month where Rodgers contrived to fail to overcome rookie opposite number Barry Ferguson for a second time, shedding five points in the process.
The incoming American investors were so impressed by Wee Barry they handed him a P45 and told him to remove himself from the premises and take his pals with him.
You can throw into the mix the 3-0 nosedive in Govan on January 2 and that leaves the champions with just one point from a possible nine against fairly dire opposition who also blew for time-up on po-faced Philippe Clement’s time in the dug-out in February following back-to-back Ibrox defeats.
A Scottish Cup exit against Queen’s Park, toiling in Scotland’s second tier, and a first home defeat from St Mirren since 1991 saw the trapdoor buckle under the weight of failure to send the Belgian into oblivion.
Failure enthusiastically embraced Govan throughout the term, which was just as well for Celtic.
CELTIC TO THE FOUR…Brendan Rodgers with the Premiership silverware.
Rodgers’ men won their fourth successive title by a monumental 17 points – nine more than the previous crusade – and that’s fairly mindboggling when you consider they dropped 18 points in 15 fixtures this year.
You don’t need to possess the IQ of a budding Einstein to comprehend that is far removed from the form normally associated with champions.
The Hoops lost seven – if you include negligence in a penalty-kick decider in the soccer showpiece at Hampden – of their 21 outings in 2025.
That’s not good enough. Not even close to tolerable.
Look, I realise it can’t be all doom and gloom when the team have completed the season with the Premiership and League Cup silverware back in place in the Celtic Park trophy room.
Please don’t label me a cynical killjoy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t believe Celtic are entitled to a place in the honours’ list every year. Everything has to be earned. Plain and simple.
Nor, though, am I a cheerleader blindly marching the team towards the edge of a cliff.
Standards dropped alarmingly following the turn of the year. You can’t argue with facts.
Performances in many of the games were not up to scratch. We accept that players will suffer a lapse in form, no one is immune from these annoying occurrences.
DOWN AND OUT…Alistair Johnston can’t disguise his disappointment after the Scottish Cup Final penalty-kick loss to Aberdeen.
It is perplexing, however, when a dip in stature can stretch on for months as in the case of Nicolas Kuhn. On fire at the start of the campaign, virtually anonymous in the second.
The German was not alone in failing to contribute on a consistent basis. There is little to be gained in a witchhunt at a stage where we should all be pulling together for the greater good of the team.
We don’t need to be overly concerned about what is happening elsewhere in the city when once again foundations for stratospheric success among the support are being built on sand.
I get the impression the new guys on the block will not be reaching for the stars while there is still heavy turbulence to be negotiated. They may well want to make certain the bricks are in place before planning take-off.
It would be sheer folly, bordering on arrogance, for the Celtic hierarchy not to take an interest in what Uncle Sam is getting up to across the River Clyde.
With the astute Peter Lawwell guiding the rest of the board from his position as chairman and Dermot Desmond, the club’s majority shareholder, with his hands firmly on the tiller, we can all feel a degree of confidence and positivity.
But, naturally, it’s what occurs out on that pitch on matchday that really counts.
I think we can all accept there will be changes to the playing personnel in the coming weeks and months. It’s not quite a state of emergency, but results after the Hogmanay celebrations surely underline this squad needs to be reinvigorated.
We’ve been told Rodgers raged long and loud after the dismal collapse in Perth in April. Quite right, too. That offering was far from acceptable from any set of players who wish to set an example and to continue to enhance their – and the club’s – reputation.
Before the Celtic manager prepares for a busy summer in readiness for the many challenges that inevitably lie ahead in the 2025/26 crusade, he may wish to look back in anger and realise there was more than just the humiliation against rock-bottom St Johnstone to force him into a vociferous reaction.
There were too many other occasions – including the Scottish Cup Final – when the team lacked that certain ingredient to maintain their poise and progress.
Fatigue? Complacency? Staleness? Take your pick.
One thing is certain. Celtic NEED to improve or face the unavoidable consequences.
ALEX GORDON
