One year ago, we dared hope for an invincible treble but it seemed impossible, even the greats never achieved it. The Lions lost home and away to Dundee United in season 1966-67, while we achieved the treble on only two other occasions. When Tom Rogic dinked a 90th minute winner in the Scottish Cup final you and I knew the level of achievement.
At that point, 2017 went down in our history as a year bettered only by 1967. 2003 came close, but season 2002-03 is remembered fondly for its endearing frailties. Celtic were simply peerless as they secured the club’s fourth treble.
With half of season 2017-18 complete, the first leg of what would be an unprecedented second successive treble is complete, but signs are clear that this team peaked some months ago, despite qualification for the Europa League knockout rounds.
Aware of the exceptional (from a Scottish perspective) demands on his players of completing in every round of cup competitions, a dozen European games and international football, Brendan Rodgers has rotated his squad this season more than any previous Celtic manager. While this was doubtlessly the correct action, performances inevitably took a hit when our two exceptional and experience strikers were watching from the side-lines. In football, you often need to take a backwards step to make long-term gains.
This didn’t really bothered me. I liked watching Odsonne Edouard, Anthony Ralston and Calvin Miller. Being able to win the league while developing talent in this manner is one of the few benefits of being stuck in a small league.
Ultimately, even our top performers struggled to raise their game. Defeat eventually arrived, a timely signpost for the club as they plan ahead.
You and I have studied the structure of the club for many years. We have never known it to be as stable. Income last season topped £90m, the first time it reached this level, and with a fair wind, it could reach nine figures this season.
These riches come with fresh risks. Wage levels have rocketed in line with performances. We can afford our current operating levels – and can even afford an occasional reversal in the Champions League qualifiers, but there is a misalignment at the heart of what we are doing.
In his opening transfer window, Brendan added Moussa Dembele (who was already on the Ronny Deila target list) and Scott Sinclair. Both made a phenomenal contribution to the success which followed. This season, with Scott struggling to recapture his earlier form and Moussa hampered by injury, the big contributions have come from players who were at the club under the Ronny regime. Indeed, of the Celtic team which ended the year, only Olivier Ntcham was a Brendan Rodgers signing.
What we have added since the summer of 2016 is management expertise. Brendan took Ronny’s squad to levels none of us thought possible, but only two of his signings are automatic first-choice.
This is not necessarily against plan. When you sign French youth internationals like Ntcham and Edouard you do not expect them to immediately displace more experienced players. Players do not mature at the same rate – Kieran Tierney got their earlier than Kenny Dalglish, so if the plan is to recruit the best French and Scottish youth talent, patience will be required.
Notwithstanding this, Brendan will want to have more of his own signings grabbing starting slots in the big games. The players who were there under Ronny have made Herculean progress, but that invincible treble was their high point.
On that front, Lee Congerton joined in March as chief scout, a few months after the phenomenally successful John Park era ended. Scouting is as much about relationships as judgement and the environment is not conducive to friendship-making. Park’s job became increasingly difficult, despite his encyclopaedic knowledge of players sound judgement. Over his tenure, the Celtic proposition became comparatively less attractive.
The mere fact that Brendan Rodgers is manager changed this. Moussa didn’t sign for Ronny in January 2016 but put pen to paper for Brendan six months later. It is the job of Lee Congerton to make the most of the Celtic proposition, Brendan Rodgers and Champions League football to deliver players that can push us further in the Champions League.
Nothing of significance has changed in our chances of escaping our playing environment. We will remain in Scotland until at least the bubble inflating football incomes elsewhere bursts, most significantly of all in England. Within months the next England and Wales Premier League TV rights auction will conclude.
Premier League audiences have dwindled since the last rights were issued but Sky TV’s entire existence is predicated on winning a significant portion of these rights. The Premier League is trying to attract bids from Amazon and Facebook, so it is possible rights values could increase despite falling audience figures. But we can hope.
Until then, our role in the world is to dominate the life out of our domestic rivals, qualify for the Champions League and continue to add to the unique story of Celtic.
I loved every minute of being a Celtic supporter in 2017. It was thrilling, captivating and inspiring. Whatever it brings, your club will be an exciting place over the next 12 months. Enjoy it.
Take care and thank you for all your support. I hope you each have a Happy New Year and healthy 2018.
NEW CQN PODCAST OUT NOW! CHRISTMAS JUMPERS FOR GOALPOSTS
Paul John Dykes and Kevin Graham are joined by Celtic authors, Stephen Sullivan and Stevie Murray for a special festive episode – Christmas Jumpers for Goal-Posts.
Stephen Sullivan is a former Celtic View reporter who wrote the much-lauded Sean Fallon biography, ‘Iron Man’. He is now the editor of FIFA.com.
Stevie Murray has now written two books on Celtic – ‘Ten Men Won The League’ and ‘Kenny of the Celtic’ – and he is a respected and authoritative voice on the club.
Treat yourself to a signed copy of Jim Craig – Right Back to 67 and you will receive a copy of That Season on Paradise signed by Bertie Auld, just order the Jim Craig book at CQNbookstore.co.uk and we’ll do the rest…
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WHITEDOGHUNCH
Walk 12 ft across hot coals? Ffs,I watched the 6-2 gemme in the oarnj club in Kilwinning.
KenthisfaitherCSC
Hope yer smashin’ bud.
Saltire en Sevilla @ 2ND JANUARY 2018 1:41 PM.
Spoilsport, that’s that debate wiped out. You seem to have covered everything.
So my answer to the initial question must be a yes with reservations . A yes minus.
HH to all.
Funny old site this.
Players and coaches underperform and a crap opponent takes a point off us but it’s the fans fault.
The same fans(spoiled brats) who financially support the team and plc to the maximum.
By all means apportion blame but where it is deserved.
Some players seem above criticism.
I thought Lustig ,Tierney,Sinclair,Forrest and McGregor were our worst performers.
Armstrong had a decent first and poor second.
Ajer and Boyata were about the same yet Boyata gets slaughtered.
Gordon gets praised for saves then criticized for kick outs conceding possession despite the fact the most of our outfield players hid.
Brown was heroic.
Both Sinclair and Dembele were anonymous but hardly surprising with zero service.
Our coaches made selection and tactical errors compounded by a far to late reaction to a dismal second half performance but escape criticism.
Yet to many the fault lies with fans who paid an exorbitant price to attend.
My vote: Yes
Facilities; disaster especially if you have kids lets be honest the surrounding pubs are the only option. Can’t even use a toilet without entering stadium, that’s mad. We leave here at 4am, long bus ride to post on the ferry and then the ‘long and winding road’ to Glasgow. Get to stadium at 12ish then what? Wander the streets? Go to a pub? What to eat? Chips, chips and what chips?! Rubbish. Return journey all over again, would love to live 2 miles from stadium (well only on match days tbh!) Surely we can do better, I know that the cafe/hotel etc. is in the pipeline but what about until then?
* post should be port
Bmcuw :-(
Greenpinata – Yes minus… hehehe…. is that allowed? ;-)
BCW
It’s a yes from me.
To save KevJ logging in can you put him down foe a yes too :)))
Aff OOT
i know this will be hard but why dont we give the opposition some credit.
BMCUW
it is a hoot, though a wee bit awkward for me when I did it a while back well supported by donations from many good folk on here,
Lot of odd fellows in thae oranj klubs
There is a truism in football that you are only as good as your last game. So very, very true.
Had the first and second half performances been reversed on Saturday would the criticism that overlooks some of the good play be as loud?
Had Sinky in an imaginary 2nd half converted the cut back from Armstrong as a result of his surge to the by line, would Armstrong be criticised as much as he is or is the criticism simply to reinforce a held core belief that to be a Celtic player you have to have green blood in your veins?
I’ve seen charges Armstrong lacks commitment because he has the cheek to appreciate the truism.
Logically if a player wants to increase his value the way to do that is to play consistently with conviction, so a bit of cognitive dissonance behind criticism of Armstrong who is an excellent footballer on form, which can come and go.
If I were him I’d have no problem moving to a place where my ambition did not make me a traitor in the eyes of some.
Some balance and perspective needed folks.
AULDHEID
Well said.
TIMHORTON
Saturday demonstrated that on the day we were not as good as we think and they were not as bad as we thought.
I’ve just read the article about Celtics first choice fullbacks.
Incredible stats.
I reckon Jozo is the best CH that Celtic have currently, I think he wants to move and get more cashbooooolah each week.
Kris is gonnae be Huge for Celtic and crucially, he is likely to stay long term. Cracking player.
A big yes for me.
Business is in great shape.
A wonderful manager and when on song a wonderful team.
Thanks to all.
Viz tip tip. If you don’t like the facilities move your seat. The hotel and surrounds is more important.
BCW,
Celtic are in incredible shape.
Under the hood is where it is really @.
Can Celtic get these exceptional talents to CL (sham) levels, I sincerely hope so.
Anthony and Kieran are what I want in a Celt.
My above post should say Griffiths and Dembele.
Typing to fast for my limited ability.
Also Ntcham was excellent and refused to be drawn down to their level.
PS.
Morton v saints on alba
On improving facilities around the ground – if BRTH has the time or inclination he could perhaps provide some information to help folk appreciate exactly what Celtic are up against.
Look at the hoops Celtic had to jump through to get the Standing Area.
Turkeybhoy@10.52.
The least endearing features of the Celtic support is the lack of gratitude and is the one that saddens me most.
It’s not just the football though. For a more joy filled life, cultivating an attitude of gratitude is in my opinion an opportunity life offers us.
Ingratitude comes from the judgements we make and if we could accept that no matter how much we know or think we know, we simply do not know enough to make a fully informed judgement.
Our judgements are based on past experience, they have to be because as prisoners of time we can only use the past to base them on and do not know what will unfold over time.
We have to remember the past to learn from the worst consequences of past errors of judgement but we do not have to be slaves to it. The Nothing Will Change Brigade.
There is a story in a book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom that uses real life events to illustrate all we should be grateful for.
I’ve posted it before and I’ll see if I can find it to repost.
The olde Kojo really banged on about the Young Ones.
He wisnae wrong.
Nothing ever happens quickly.
Something is Burning tho.
TIME.CSC
Wee bit of History. Pre Brother Walfrid…
In Glasgow in the 1790s, one historian has claimed that there were only 39 practising Catholics in the city – and 43 anti-Catholic societies.
https://the-shamrock.net/2016/09/18/glengarry/amp/
fan-a-tic,
Oli was Fantastic when he came on. Class midfield operator.
The SPFL is gonnae feel a Mighty push by the Hoops in 2018.
SFA get to you utter parasites.
Uni – TD.CSC
AULDHEID on 2ND JANUARY 2018 2:14 PM
To our shame, Celtic fans boo many of those who have given the club so much.
Kenny’s first game back at Celtic Park in the Liverpool team.
Booed relentlessly by many of the same Celtic fans who once idolized him in the hoops.
Fergus’s unfurling of the flag after stopping 10-in-a-row.
Booed by Celtic fans sitting in the very stands that his monumental efforts made possible.
Booing the treble winnning invincibles in 2017 for a home draw ranks with both of those.
Faithfull through & through is more than a nice line in a crowd tune.
I agree with many others. If any player wearing the hoops is not playing well I CANNOT bring myself to boo him. I will sigh, look down & become conflicted because I have such expectations for him & my team. I might chat to my sons/others who are with me & exchange views to either confirm my thoughts or hopefully get a bettter perspective. I will always hold out hope that the next ball played to any player having a bad game, will be the one where he turns his & our fortunes round with a piece of brilliant control/play.
I want him to do well & I know that the howls of criticism from the stands will NEVER make him or any other Celtic player actually play better.
A bit like berating your child for some infraction and expecting them to magically get things right because you seriously believe that shouting at them actually works.
The shouting is for the parents’ benefit – not the child’s.
“You know, I was having a mare of a game – couldn’t control or pass the ball & I kept running into all the wrong areas when the ball was played in my direction. I was lost & the team were struggling, but then I heard the chant from the stands. My heart soared. My brain was electriified and I found strength & skill that had evaded me till that moment. I owe it all to the many fans who chanted relentlessly “You lazy feckin dud, get off the pitch & go and do some twitter, cos ye cannae kick a ba.”
Said no player anytime in any team, anywhere in the known world.
Have a happy, healthy & fulfilled 2018
HH
FTSFA
I like Scotland.
I am afforded Freedoms not many have.
This SFA, and I know it is a heartland of Masonic SCUM, they have to go.
Scotland is utter sh!t because Satan has taken Control.
TonyD/KJ.CSC
Jack Ross said Morgan deal should be clearer this week but he will stay at St Mirren till end of the season
Why should any supporters move there seats for better Facilities,they should have been there ,when Fergus took over,but he walked away with 40 odd million,so what he said was if you want the main stand upgraded ,then the fans cash need to do that ,not mine
FFS Englandshire says so much about Strange goings on in Scotland.SFA/RANGERSDEIDCO
BSR has reservations about CS…. The guy is kicking it.
Annie
Morgan gets a sore one early doors.
BMCUW
Gateway sounds good to me.
Will look at the possibility of coming by boat, takes about a day and a half.
Won’t have to stagger to the station but might fall in though :(
Floatin (hopefully)
CELTIC
on the poll question, as others have suggested, it is not an either or type of question (see Saltire’s post @ 1:41), but if I have to pick, I’d have to say ‘no’.
Matthew 16:26
If I can explain … Celtic was first and foremost, from its inception, a force for good … football was not the ends, it was the means ….to raise funds to feed the less fortunate ….
of course, you need money to do that … but the money was the means to the ends, not the end in and of itself…
in the modern context, to me, that means standing up against cheating, corruption and bigotry, and generally doing good … based on the last six years, it seems like the bank balance and trophies have become the primary end, and our Board has been prepared to turn a blind eye to what is going on, in order to protect the bottom line …of course, things like the Charity still do a lot of good, but, like the question posed, I dont think it is as simple as a binary dualism, pick one or the other ….
does this mean that Celitc could have cleaned house all on its own? of course not. But, could we have done more than we seen to have done? Almost certainly. and standing up for our core values is more important to me than trophies or a bulging bank account.
so, it is a no for me.
Off to a meeting, but will check in later
Turkeybhoy
There is a story in a book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom that uses real life events to illustrate all we should be grateful for.
I’ve posted it before and I’ll see if I can find it to repost.
================================
I thought I had a short version but couldn’t find it. However the full excerpt from “The Hiding Pace” by Corrie Ten Boom can be read at
http://www.broadcaster.org.uk/section2/transcript/hidingplace.html
The background is that the Dutch Ten Boom family is arrested and sent to a labour camp by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their oddly shaped house (in Amsterdam from memory).
The above link is where the author Corrie discusses gratitude with her sister Elizabeth.
Whilst looking for the short version I came across this from an article published on Social Media in 2009 which was a very turbulent time for Celtic when Rangers started to win titles using borrowed money with the big tax bills on the table that would eventually kill them.
The article was based on the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance that Celtic as a club were enduring as result of loss of MON and the money that bankrolled his team.
After Acceptance
Some say that there is an additional stage after acceptance and it is that of Gratitude, gratitude for having worked through the grief and recognising what good emerged from it. In my experience that takes a long time to manifest and we as a support are a long way from it, but hard as it is to imagine a day will come when this current turbulent and relatively painful time in Celtic’s history will be looked back on with a gratitude it is impossible to imagine now.
.
Jeez..
The next Sevco game is on St Patrick’s day.
The Sleazedales at St Mirren game, the Constant Gardener sitting in front of them….
mike in toronto,
In 1888 Celtic was undoubtedly Good that came into the World, unfortunately bad was introduced also – Time thing nowt new under the Sun.
Bad is being felt today stronger. Celtic is Good.
Celtic will prevail.
The 1888 influencer will go to be beside, eternally, where she, and subsequentially, all the followers belong. So sorry.
The Father is all about Love.
Morgan scores again for St Mirren
Our new boy wonder scores again.
see all this guff about hard earned money, right to boo etc, just remember that every player you boo and demoralise, lessens the chance of the rest of the paying customers from getting their “moneys worth”.