During a peruse through social media earlier this afternoon, a few tweets caught my eye and it encouraged me to write an article asking the question: Are millennial Celtic fans spoiled or entitled to demand more from the Club? A very valid question that has no simplistic answer to be candid.
On the one hand, Celtic have dominated since the turn of the century, having won 15 out of a possible 22 Championships since the millennium. No mean feat at all. However, it has to be countered by the fact that over the past decade there has been a stark downturn in success against European opposition. The no knockout phase win since 2004 a case in point. Once a gaint killer of epic proportions, now a bottom-feeder in the lowly depths of European tournament.
Tough one to take.
There is no denying there has been a correlation between the wealth of the Top Five Leagues and our decline on the big stage of Europe. With more and more dished out and carved up amongst the elite, so is there equally less and less scraps for the bigger clubs from small TV market pool countries. The Super League idea that came to the fore and sparked outrage within the game was an indication and an arbiter for the inherent greed within the sport of Football. We ultimately suffer as a club when plans like these are discussed and then executed. Something of this nature definitely awaits in the pipeline, making a hard task nigh on impossible.
Older generations tend to argue about the dark days of the early 90’s when we were on the brink of collapse. That is a true point all in all, but I’m not sure it’s entirely relevant to the argument about progression in European football in 2022. Fair enough, the younger generations didn’t have to endure that episode in our history, but it doesn’t mean they should just be thankful they have a team to go and watch, should it? Are we to just remain in ignominy as far as European competition goes? It’s not a solid argument in my opinion.
There is also the salient point about the fanbase as whole though when it comes to looking at this question. Overall, a lot of Celtic fans are happy to just be ahead of the Ibrox club – past and present – which in itself creates difficulty in trying to demand more from our custodians. It leads to a deeper and more profound, but ultimately dangerous question: Do Celtic need any form of an Ibrox footballing operation to remain purposeful? I am unequivocally in the no camp on this one, just to be absolutely clear.
Celtic will always be relevant because it exemplifies the enduring human spirit. What others do should be of no consequence to where we wish to be as a football club and a community. I stand by that statement. It was as relevant in 2012 as it is now. Shamefully our Directors don’t feel the same, as referenced by the Five-Way Agreement.
Due to this then, there is an argument to be had that our parochial mindset at boardroom level and beyond at times needs to be eradicated. Younger fans should be entitled to ask why we are continually using our neighbours as the yard stick instead of measuring up against teams like Ajax, RB Salzburg, FC Porto and others of a similar background. No one is asking to win the Champions League, but perhaps equipping the manager and the footballing department with the necessary tools to establish ourselves as a decent European team once again is not an unreasonable demand.
Absolutely, it will take time and patience, but to not have a blueprint or structure of where we want to be is the most discouraging thing to young supporters I would argue. They aren’t willing to put up with the stock reply of ‘just leave the big boy business to us lads’. It won’t wash I’m afraid to say. So there will be heated debate and consternation throughout the fanbase until a clear pathway is revealed to which we are to aspire to. They want incremental progress to establish Celtic Football Club once again on the world stage.
Ange has made progress, of that there is no denying. But if the big fella were to leave tomorrow we would be back at square one. This is not an opinion. It’s fact. We still don’t have a long-term structure that will safeguard the future and ensure progression and success. This is of a concern to young supporters of the football club. Nothing the Board has done since the summer has really changed that. They’ve backed Ange obviously. How could they not have, to be frank. They backed Rodgers when he first came in because they knew they had to. Are we to believe with only Peter Lawwell gone from that room that everyone has suddenly changed? Fanciful idea at best.
As always, the results will be seen as evidence of progress. In a few years from now if we become a Champions League regular and slowly but surely get better season-by-season, we will know that things have changed. But if we are still struggling to cut it at Europa League level knockouts then it will show that maybe the younger section of the fanbase aren’t so spoiled after all. No knockout wins in Europe for 18 years is a stain on our good name and an indictment of the management of the club from the top down. This simply has to change.
It is not an easy question to answer this one. I feel like there has been a major lowering of the bar from those inside the boardroom at Celtic Park. But at the same time we are up against it at times when they keep moving the goalposts to suit the sides from the bigger leagues. I suspect that the answer lies somewhere in the middle is the honest one to give. Far more can be done to make us better in Europe, but ultimately we will never have enough to get to another European final, let alone win one if the greed at the top of the game continues.
What’s your thoughts? Think Celtic’s younger generations have been spoiled for too long? Or are they right to demand more from the Club?
I’ve already mentioned this on another thread, but too many have forgotten the early and mid 90’s. Not even the most optimistic of us would have thought we would be top of the table in February. I’m sure a big reaction will come in the next few league matches. HH.
— James Livingstone (@jamesbjj1) February 18, 2022
I’d wager almost half the support going now weren’t even born in the 90s. All they’ve seen is success and it’s grown a self-entitled streak among loads.
— Paul Larkin🍀 (@paullarkin74) February 18, 2022
Entitled =/= wanting a watchable performance against a team with a wage budget roughly 1/10th of ours
Also leave the 90s out of it man, the worst era for the club isn’t an excuse for not demanding more.
— KyogoSZN (@KyogoSZN) February 18, 2022
The Board and the fanbase deserve each other. That’s the gods honest truth. And exactly why I refuse to invest any meaningful emotional capital in any of this.
The vision isn’t big enough. The ambition for quality isn’t high enough.
— RPM (@RPMComo) February 18, 2022
No doubt about it that there is a general intolerance of a poor performance. The important thing is that we don’t turn on Ange Postacoglou. I fear that another bad result or two may see just this happening. Last night’s performance was bad – no getting away from it – and we are all devastated. No point in saying “the League is the important thing” – of course it is, but we need a team to do well in Europe as well.
The trouble is that we don’t EXPECT to win in Europe nowadays. And what a tragedy it is that such a ground, such an atmosphere and such fans seem condemned to perpetual European mediocrity. We really should be better than Bodo Glimt. Turn it round Ange! Let’s be proud of Celtic again!
Forgive me for mentioning it, but another Glasgow team last night showed what could be done – and the events of February 2 showed that we are better than they are! Let’s make next Thursday a night to remember! Believe!
You say the bar has been lowered but you explain earlier why it’s been lowered. ? Unfortunately if we don’t beat our neighbours we won’t be near the Champions League anyway. The fact that Ange is still here tells me things have changed with regard to backing. However he is not a happy man this week and his post match interview last night wasn’t good. If he feels his style isn’t working here he’ll move on anyway. They’ll just have to suck it up the same way they partied while we were beating rubbish every week . There wasn’t much complaining then.
Absolute garbage some of the things that’s being written on these blogs & forums. Even David Potter’s comment “make us proud again”. WTF???
Being on this earth 50 years, there’s never been a day when I’ve not been proud to be a Celtic supporter. Bit for some so called supporters, 1 loss in 22 games is enough for them to throw the players and manager under the bus.
So in answer to your question, “Are millennial fans (not supporters) spoiled”. ABSOLUTELY.
As good as we think we are, we’re not entitled nor will we win every game, but that doesn’t make it a disaster (James Forrest from the Celtic Blog). No team has a 100% record, but it’s no excuse to get the scatter gun out.
All this does is make for sad reading.
What happened to “faithful through & through”. Maybe if more Celtic songs instead of IRA songs were sung and the younger generation listened and believed the words they were singing, we wouldn’t get so much of this self righteous hun “we are the peepel” pish.
HAIL HAIL
KEEP THE FAITH🍀🍀
I’ve been watching Celtic since 1965 and I’ve seen the good and bad times. I saw the Lisbon Lions play but I’ve also see the dross that Lou Macari brought in too. The club will always go through phases but in truth apart from the run to Seville Celtic have did nothing of note in Europe since 1980 when we were robbed against Real Madrid in the quarter final of the European Cup with a hotly contested offside goal in the first leg and we should’ve had a penalty for a handball in the second leg. However for a club of our status forty two years of doing nothing in Europe is a disgrace. I know this board get a lot of shit and rightly so but they’re at least trying to back Ange but they’re not the only board who failed on a European stage. The problem for me is that the way European football is structured now the days of the underdog knocking out the big side are gone. It used to be that it was strictly knockout whoever won over two legs progressed but now if a big team has an off day there’s a league system there now to fall back on. The Champions League what a misnomer that is, how can a team that finished second, third or fourth in their country’s league compete in it, if you win your league you should be in automatically, end of story. The day’s of an upset are gone for good whether we like it or not, that went when seeding was introduced and then they added in teams from the same league can’t be drawn in the same group. If you watch these European draws you need to be a member of Mensa to work out who goes where. To get back to the football side though money has killed the game it’s gone from a working man’s sport to elitism plain and simple, how can a club justify paying a player half a million pounds per week, it’s an obscene amount of money and Messi was on £515,000 per week at Barcelona and look where they are now. Some big clubs are going to go to the wall. It stands to reason that clubs from small nations like Celtic are can’t compete, should it stop us from trying? No absolutely not, but I’m afraid that domestic success is all we can really expect to achieve unless we do what Rangers done and live beyond our means. If we get to the knockout stages of a competition it’s a success now, sadly that’s going to be our level and some might not like that but it’s true that’s our glass ceiling. I want Celtic to do better in Europe of course I do but domestic success has to come first. So asking if some fans are entitled I think the answer is no. We all want to see our club succeed but the reality is that the system isn’t fit for purpose. The saying that money is the root of all evil is the best way to describe football. The corruption at Fifa and Uefa is off the scale so is it any wonder that the governance of our game domestically is as corrupt? I know I’m painting a bleak picture but it’s just my opinion and the state of the game horrifies me.