CELTIC made it tough for themselves as they recovered from the wreckage of Wilfried Nancy’s chaotic 33 days to lift their fifth successive title in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Twelve points were squandered following the French flop’s incomprehensible appointment as manager following the rapid departure of Brendan Rodgers in late October and Martin O’Neill first stint in interim charge.
The champions were written off by many as they trailed Hearts and Rangers after 32 Premiership games in which they had lost eight.
CHAMPIONS – AGAIN…Callum McGregor holds aloft Celtic’s fifth successive title as the team celebrate an amazing triumph.
The situation in the east end of Glasgow was dire with turmoil and unrest on and off the pitch.
The pressure mounted with every passing match and skipper Callum McGregor insisted the constant challenges may have HELPED the Hoops.
Reflecting on a tension-laden campaign, the 32-year-old onfield leader admitted: “Maybe that was good, because it shows everyone that this team have bottle and they can keep going and keep going.
“Come the biggest days, you show up, turn up, fight. Be there. Get results.”
And McGregor and his team-mates delivered big-style as they won seven consecutive outings while the Tynecastle and Ibrox teams stumbled as stress levels went through the roof.
Danny Rohl’s Govan outfit lost four on the trot after the split and missed out on a potential £40million Champions League jackpot by finishing third.
Celtic got the job done with victories over Falkirk (3-1), Hibs (2-1), Rangers (3-1) and Motherwell (3-2) before their epic and dramatic 3-1 triumph over Derek McInnes’ team at Parkhead on Saturday.
EMOTIONAL…Callum McGregor celebrates with the Celtic fans at Parkhead on Saturday.
Reflecting on a season in which he was linked with a reunion with ex-Hoops boss Rodgers in Saudi, McGregor said: “Anyone wants to question what I’m doing for the club, then they’re crazy.
“I’ve been here my whole life, it’s everything to me.
“When the going gets tough, you see people merging into the background, then you see people step forward no matter how hard that may be.
“You’re the leader of the team.
“So, let’s enjoy this title and then see where we get to from here.
“Once the dust settles on this, we need to try and get as much right as we can in the summer, so, hopefully, the club and the team are in the best position for when the Champions League qualifiers come round.
“This place craves Champions League football, it’s a different place when you don’t have it. So, we’ll enjoy the title, we’ll get the Cup Final out the way next week.
“Hopefully, we can finish with two trophies and then the work starts again.
“We don’t just pack up and go home. We keep working.
“When we go again in August, we want to make sure we’re successful, so everyone in the building has to drive to make this place as good as it can be.”
ROARING SUCCESSES…Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney celebrate another victory.
McGregor has now claimed ELEVEN titles among his 25 honours and, asked if this was possibly the best of all, answered: “They’re all big in different ways, aren’t they?
“I’d much rather have won this one earlier by doing things properly at the beginning, because this way we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve been under pressure.
“When you find yourself in the position we were in, it’s the individuals in the dressing room who matter, the people around the club, around the building.
“We had every excuse under the sun if we really wanted it. As players, we could have just said: ‘It’s not really on us.’
“But we wanted to take responsibility. We’re Celtic players.
“This club demands success, so however you when find yourself in that position, you have to win. That’s been instilled in the dressing room for a long, long time, so it was good that we could show up again on Saturday.
“Hopefully, we’ll learn lessons from this experience in terms of trying to be as good a football team as we can be and as good a club as we can be.”
THAT’S MY BHOY…Martin O’Neill and Callum McGregor, a couple of winners.
Looking at the astounding impact of 74-year-old O’Neill, McGregor. speaking to the Scottish Sun, added: “He’s unbelievable.
“A man with such massive experience in football, an unbelievable man-manager. He’s been really, really solid when the club needed him.
“But Martin needs good people around him. He needs good coaches. We need good people in terms of personality. We need good players.
“So, I think I’ll go one step further – I don’t think there’s a group of people who could have done what we’ve done.
“That’s probably the most rewarding thing.
“As for the statue, I was just about to say that, yes, it’s probably time.”
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