As the winter break gets underway, the pause in action has afforded time for reflection. Fans can take stock of where Celtic are at this half way point in the season, and analyze the shape in which we find ourselves to move forward from this juncture.
Any analysis of the campaign so far must be measured against the context of the mess that the club was in during pre-season. A months long pursuit of Eddie Howe fell apart when the Bournemouth legend rejected the chance to sit in the managerial hotseat at Parkhead. Long standing CEO Peter Lawwell stood down from his position. Iconic club captain Scott Brown headed for pastures new. And stalwarts of the club’s Quadruple Treble success, Kris Ajer, Ryan Christie, Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths and Moi Elyounoussi also departed.
Against that damning backdrop, Ange Postecoglou was announced as the new manager in June. Working alongside modern thinking CEO Dom McKay, he entered the transfer market with immediate effect. The phenomenal Kyogo Furuhashi was plucked from Japan for just under £5m – already he has earned comparisons with Henrik Larsson. Liel Abada, Joe Hart, Josip Juranovic, Jota, and Cameron Carter-Vickers have all joined the Japanese sensation as tremendous acquisitions. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on the likes of Carl Starfelt, Liam Scales, Georgios Giakoumakis, James McCarthy, Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide.
Opponents like to bang the “Ange has spent £20m” drum, but it cannot be forgotten that he recouped over £30m in sales and oversaw an unprecedented turnover of playing staff. The window was an undoubted success.
Signing players is one thing, getting them to gel and produce results on the pitch is another. There’s no doubting that the Bhoys made a shaky start to the campaign. Elimination from the Champions League qualifiers at the hands of FC Midtjylland was followed by defeat on the SPFL’s opening day at Tynecastle. Some fans were already fearing that their predictions of another trophyless season were beginning to unfold before their eyes.
Expectations were certainly low but Ange was about to demonstrate that he had instilled a fighting spirit in his team. The Hoops registered a victory in Jablonec and then went on a run of six consecutive wins. That impressive run was topped when AZ Alkmaar were knocked out of Europa League qualification by a resurgent Celtic, who resisted a fight back from the Dutchmen in the away leg.
Evidence that this squad was becoming capable of dealing with adversity began to mount. That characteristic has manifest itself multiple times this term. It was what ensured the Hoops took maximum points in the 97th minute at Dingwall recently, it has enabled Celtic to take 35 points from an available 39 since being thrashed 4-0 by Leverkusen, and it has seen Postecoglou’s men respond to a dismal two victories from six games in September by amassing 16 wins from the last 19 fixtures in all competitions… coming from behind to triumph in a cup final to boot!
There’s a resilience about this side, demonstrated by the fact that the squad has been ravaged by injuries throughout the above mentioned turnaround. If any match were to confirm this, then the comfortable three points earned at St Johnstone on Boxing Day is it. 12 players were unavailable due to a combination of injury and Covid-19 cases. A third choice goalkeeper started, Kyogo was withdrawn after 15 minutes, and youngsters from the B team made their debuts. Even the ever audible away support couldn’t be relied on as fans were shut out.
A change in mentality is not the only transformation we’ve seen among some players. Indeed, many felt Anthony Ralston’s Celtic career was over. In reality, he only found himself in the team at the beginning of this season due to the absence of any right back at the club. However, he has since staked a claim for Player of the Season if his form continues, and has deservedly earned a new contract. The turn around has been astronomical.
This upturn in form has also been seen in Tom Rogic too. It’s quite remarkable to think that he was almost sold to the footballing hinterlands of Qatar, yet now the Australian is behind everything that Celtic do. Ange refused to believe that the attacking midfielder was finished and performances on the park have repaid the manager’s belief.
In the broader picture, Ange’s style of play has been entertaining. It is rare to see Celtic play a domestic fixture without firing circa 30 shots on goal. If finishing had been better then the goal difference column would make for very different reading. Anyone who is interested in modern analysis and xG (expected goals) will testify as much.
To balance the positivity slightly, there have been mistakes at intervals – poor defending at times and selection errors. The visit to Ibrox in August was possibly a glaring example of this, when Ange opted to play Kyogo out wide and dropped Rogic. Kyogo watching from the sidelines as Celtic edged towards a frustrating draw with Livingston was another sore point. That said, golden opportunities were squandered in both matches and if taken the outcome would have been different.
Outwith those occasional errors in domestic football, Ange has restored our pride in Europe. His flamboyant team scored 13 goals in a tough Europa League group and earned nine points. It is a mark of the team’s progress that fans were disappointed not to have taken anything from away contests against Real Betis and Bayer Leverkusen; whilst a side with multiple changes were able to beat the former at Paradise.
There is now a sense that a decent run could be had in the Conference League, though the main things to take from the first half of this season are that Celtic have remained competitive in the title race and the first available trophy is in the bag. To undertake such a monumental rebuild, suffer so many injury setbacks and still be within touching distance of the league leaders, who won the title by 25 points last term, is credit to the Bhoys. Lifting the Cup was an important step in building a winning mentality and could serve as a springboard to greater things in Scottish football. All the while, a brilliant connection has been restored between the fans, the players and the manager.
With so many players to come back after the break and a crucial transfer window to be opened – the future looks good for Celtic. Ange has his eyes on a highly rated Japanese trio – Hatate, Maeda, Ideguchi – and squad depth will be essential as the season continues.
The key fixture will be the Glasgow Derby. Defeat is not an option, but I suspect victory will be required to give us a good chance of winning the league.
Celtic look well placed to take things to the wire, and that’s more than most of us could have expected six months ago. The first half of the season has been excellent.
