Empires rise and fall but it is usually not until well after the event that the signs of decline or rise are appreciated. In April 1970 Celtic players took a lap of honour after winning both legs of the European Cup semi-final against English champions, Leeds United, before a record European crowd. They were in their second European Cup final in four and hot favourites to take the trophy again. If ever Celtic looked imperious, this was the moment.
Few watching that lap of honour could have imagined 33 years would pass before Celtic next beat a side from one of Europe’s biggest five leagues. Decline came slowly, a European Cup final loss in extra time, two more semi-final appearances and four more league titles, then decades as an irrelevance in Europe.
Today Celtic are nothing like that force in Europe, but 2018 saw the club secure the domestic treble for the second successive season, the first time this has been achieved in Scottish football. They also retained the League Cup this month and are hot favourites for both league and Scottish Cup. No team has ever been this imperious in Scottish football, not even the Lisbon Lions.
Celtic have lost four league games this season, four more than they lost in the whole of Brendan Rodgers’ first season. They failed to reach the Champions League group stage, losing to what proved to be a poor AEK Athens. This year has seen significant players lost: Dembele, Armstrong and Roberts. Although the latter two were mostly squad players when by the time they left, they still made important contributions.
The club broke its transfer fee record for the first time in 17 years to secure the permanent signing of Odsonne Edouard, but the deadline day shenanigans of Dembele and absences of Leigh Griffiths placed a heavy burden on the 20-year-old. Filip Benkovic was secured on loan from Leicester City but further attempts to reinforce central defence and the right back position have been ineffective, while the predicted signing of John McGinn from Hibs proved to be nothing more than a PR disaster.
Form during the early part of the season was well below standards of the previous two years. It was not until two first half injuries in the League Cup semi-final at Murrayfield to Ebouie Kouassi and Olivier Ntcham allowed Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie to take up central midfield roles, that Celtic started to play with fluency.
Three wins were secured in a very difficult Europa League group, meaning we travel to Valencia in February with a fighting chance of progressing, but you could sense the air escaping from Celtic during December, as eight points were dropped on top of a home defeat to Salzburg.
The question is, was Saturday’s arresting defeat at Ibrox a sign of Decline of Empire, or another sign of retrenchment? To answer that we need to look at the fundamentals.
Celtic are financially stronger than anyone else in Scottish football. We spend significantly more, not just on transfers and wages, but on scouting, sports science, analysis and any other metric you care to mention. We may only be top of the table on goal difference, with a game in hand, but the first leg of the treble is complete and we are the only Scottish team still in Europe.
This season, the rest of the league are getting closer, but if points earned is their measurement, they are not getting any better. Celtic’s lead is small, not because we face better opposition, or because we have fewer resources, but because some in the squad have aged and declined, while attempts to strengthen have not been good enough.
If you are searching for signs of Decline of Empire, keep looking. This is Celtic at the bottom of the curve – with back-to-back trebles, the League Cup secured and resources available to kick on. We cannot win every game, or play well every month. We can’t even win every trophy, but the fundamentals of Scottish football have not changed. Use this week to get in touch with how it feels to be second best in a domestic game. It could be a while before it happens again.
Have a great New Year.
968 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- ...
- 26
- »
glendalystonsils on 1st January 2019 9:32 pm
I’ve been banging drum for a while.
Lack of succession planning for Lustig, Brown and Gordon
The Boyata fiasco
The McGinn fiasco
The striker shortage (again!)
the collection of seemingly unwanted squad players (all clubs have this to be fair).
I didn’t consider it a controversial perspective.
MacJay
The Dunphy with Robbie Keane and Mick McArthy ones are good as well
THE EXILED TIM on 1ST JANUARY 2019 10:02 PM
Hat doffed to Souness.
His comments about the nonsense of religious bigotry .
So refreshing.
MacJay
Cannae go that Souness creature. His wife and children are Catholic. He is masonic ebter. Despise his Embra accent guff tae. ???
BIG PACKY,
Dont ever let the scum get to you.The only time I get worked up by them is when they beat us at football.The rest,just heathen God worshippers.Therebis more Mormons than Presbyterians.A minority religion.
DD,
Bitter Hun.
CELTIC BY NUMBERS on 1ST JANUARY 2019 9:56 PM
Your blog has become an informative and educational ‘must read’ for me and for a great many others.
There’s nothing controversial at all in this particular piece and your description of squad management as ‘appalling’ is right on the money.
Sourness is a scumbag
He was in a video saying “fill yer boots, go on join in ” to someone in the Bigotdome dressing room when in charge, when the players were singing up to their knees in Fenian blood.
He is a fake Rat.
If he feels that strongly he should condemn every song they sing at his former club and call them out…. But don’t hold yer breathe for that.
D. :)
Souey ( *blaaaaaaargh*) is as sleekit as the Daily Dirge one trick phony……….
DELANEYS DUNKY on 1ST JANUARY 2019 10:12 PM
DAVID66 on 1ST JANUARY 2019 10:20 PM
Lads
I was overseas during the Mo Johnston saga and the years Souness was in charge of the hun , so I`m in no position to make an in depth assessment, however his comments about religious discrimination were commendable , whether he is a hypocrite or not. He worked at RTE.
His comments would not go down well with the followers of the hun and that pleases me.
Have a look at the vid posted by TET , if you haven`t already done so.
Very interesting to me .
Turkeybhoy
Hope that comment was directed at Souness and not me.
Paranoid Tim ?????
Bankiebhoy
Graeme McSleekit fae Sleekit Avenue is like John Greig the sleekit fae Embra.
Play the huns like fiddles and watch your bank balance grow. Sandy the Jambo learnt that trick to fool the thick huns. They even named a stand after a Jambo who was milking them.
Hahaha
Sandy in Royal Blue Maroon.
God save their rotten souls
YNWA
Belated happy new year to all CQN posters and lurkers, except lurking huns… Yooz can GIRFUY.
MOD2 New stance on Kev’s bad mouthing the Celtic support – Overdue, but welcome, thank you.
Getting pumped by Sevco… big riddy. Hope players are hurting like I am, and chew on that hurt, until they get the chance to make amends, and then get out there and actually make amends.
?⚽️
Graham Souness was one of the finest midfield players ever from Scotland. A great passer of the ball , a thunder bolt of a shot the hardest dirtiest players i ever saw. Souness himself acknowledged that Bobby Murdoch was the greatest Scottish midfield player ever. Hh
Sourness at the huns was perfect synergy. Malevolent arrogant human being. Malevolent arrogant team and support. A match made nowhere near heaven.
?⚽️
Oops
For SFTB………………
I didnae start it.
Honest.
G64
Honourable.
But Souness was still a durty hun bassa.
YNWA
VP Good on you mate. I couldn’t get into the chapel that day but i stood outside and cried. Bobby for me was and always will be the greatest. Hh
Mogwai Young Team Ya Bass
YNWA
Souness personified the ‘loadsamoney’ ibrox revolution. Win at all costs, including…
….especially including, tax evading EBTs.
If he is sufficiently intelligent to see the ludicrous folly of sectarianism, then he’s in many ways even worse than the ibrox regulars….because he pandered to their bigotry while filling his pockets.
HH jg
Anyone ANYONE who calls out religious bigotry in Scotland is not all bad.
He did this recently .
Perhaps he regrets his past actions and comments.
Which one of us doesn`t ?
The quality of mercy is not strained…
JG My big pal. If We had the money at the time GS would likely have been our manager. Hh
Macjay
“Oops
For SFTB………………
I didnae start it.
Honest.”
Oh! That much is obvious this time.
What you said before was that you try very hard not to start it, and I doubted the effectiveness of your efforts.
You never promised, not to jump in and stoke the fires provocatively, so you have broken no promises.
But, as I always said, there is no shame in having a political opinion; you can’t live without them. There can, however, be shame in the way political views are expressed, particularly those that demonise outsiders. As Glasgow Irish, we used to know that in our bones.
MacJay
When Souness converts to the religion of his wife and weans, I will respect him. ?????
Hoopy new year Bhoys n ghirls why did dunphy not ask him about selling his soul to the scum newspaper after hillsborough HH
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 1ST JANUARY 2019 11:28 PM
Macjay
I try to underline the ethos of our club.
Open to all . No discriminatory. Open even to tories.
Sometimes as a devil`s advocate.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
There`s no need to tell me about the Glasgow Irish.
I`m one of them.
DELANEYS DUNKY on 1ST JANUARY 2019 11:30 PM
MacJay
When Souness converts to the religion of his wife and weans, I will respect him. ?????
===================================================================
Tongue in cheek, I hope.
G64
A bad fit me thinks.
But we sooooo didn’t have money, so it never came to pass.
Good night Timdom. Stay safe, stay rebellious, remember our creation was to off-set the worst excesses of the system.
TAL
HH jg
DELANEYS DUNKY on 1ST JANUARY 2019 11:30 PM
Sorry , mate.
I know it was tongue in cheek .
Aff tae the shoaps.
RIP Dean Ford of the Marmalade pop band who passed away last night a good ML5 ghuy HH
DD Happy New Year Mate.
Huns rule
That is the hulltoon Huns
From the hilltown
Dundee
An area
I was incarcerated in
Through the home
Know them all
A fair weather member
When it suited
A clucker
When it suited
Tut tut
But always a friend
No matter what
I’ve travelled far
And wide
And in amongst
The best family
In the world
Celtic
The people
I seem tae meet most
Are dundonians
Salt o the earth too
I always start the crack
Huns rule
And get the reply
Lochee fleet
Fintry shams
Young mid rule
Or others
But for me
Huns rule
I love female groups, this one is up there amongst the best. Sexy as hell but no soft porn. Just pure talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu_pNeqAQ-U
Travellerbhoy, Happy New Year.
FRANNYB67 on 2ND JANUARY 2019 1:10 AM
RIP Dean Ford of the Marmalade pop band who passed away last night a good ML5 ghuy HH
==================================================================
Saw Dean Ford and the Gaylords live at a school dance.
Their ” hit ” at that time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OTd9TFTGok
Macjay
???? HH
Just logged in to post this…
It was the Paradise title that made me do it.
Happy New Year bhoys from the County of Ross.
And, MurdochAuldHay
Absolute heart is with you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DEy6EuZp9IY
Just looked back two posts..good tune MacJay.
Now going skimming back further..
Jim,
Bangles are brilliant.
Just realised it’ll take me all what’s left of the night to click on all of the links.