CELTIC, RANGERS AND THE END OF SEASON, THE IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL HEALTH…An insightful contribution to The Celtic Star from Johnno..
When the full-time whistle went at the end of extra time on Saturday, a terrible sinking feeling came over me. Here we were, having to go into penalties with Joe Hart who doesn’t save penalties in goals, and as a team with an atrocious record of actually taking them. So our dream of a Double was about to come to an end I thought.
Of course that was a projection upon the obsessive mindset that can be so fear driven. So when Joe made the save to get ourselves into the final, it was one of relief more than jubilation in my case anyway.
So the inquest begins as who is to be blamed for suffering such torture? Step forward Liam Scales. We will make you the scapegoat for our feelings, and conveniently forget all about the wonderful displays you produced for ourselves, earlier on during this campaign.
Of course Liam Scales wasn’t the only player we could be critical of, on the day. It just so happens, he becomes the main focus of our frustrations but it could have been Greg Taylor, or Alistair Johnston or even Cameron Carter-Vickers.
So the real question is that is it really fair to be subjecting our frustrations, upon one of our own players, who has provided so much during this campaign to date? Do we as supporters sometimes actually forget our own role as supporters?
These are times when we can tend to let our emotions get the better of ourselves, then look to put the blame upon someone else, for doing such a thing to ourselves. I have been guilty on many occasions for letting such emotions get the better of me and allowing them to impact upon others within my own personal life. All because of my Celtic obsessed mindset and actually forgetting that I’m no more than just an ordinary Celtic supporter.
So being a Celtic supporter also requires accepting decisions that are made, especially when not to my own liking. Easier said than done, all the same, especially within such an emotionally charged environment that this end to the season is going to be for most of us on both sides of the divide. One thing is certain, there’s going to be one group of supporters.
I’ve never bought into that rubbish that the people outside of our Celtic family, claiming that football is only a game For many like myself, it is so much more than that. Celtic is family and the successes are wildly celebrated and the set-back cause deep despair. And it’s the same for theRangers supporters.
This season has already bought so many frustrations. Accordingly it has been a very challenging season already, for myself. Way too many to mention, and possibly we will have more to endure, over the next few weeks. Hopefully not.
So how do we protect ourselves in such demanding circumstances? There will be twists and turns to come but ultimately joy and despair dished out as the league title is settled then we’ll do it all again at Hampden to see who suffers and who celebrates in the Scottish Cup Final.
I can only speak for myself, but would value thoughts and ideas on how to handle this situation over the next few weeks from a mental health perspective. Especially if it may potentially help others who struggle with such situations like myself, when the outcome of Celtic games mean so much to us all.
For the time being, I will possibly have to stay in our mantra of “We are Celtic supporters, faithful through and through”. Take matters back to base roots and understanding who and what I am.
That’s placing my trust in the decision making of our manager, and our players following suit by showing why the club signed them in the first place. I really do believe that all involved within our playing side of our club, will give their all to our cause, even if I remain suspicious of our board after they let us down in the last two transfer windows, thus causing the current tensions.
But that’s not the time to address that issue, especially when it’s the here and now that only counts for many of us as far as Celtic is concerned. It’s all about beating Dundee. Then winning against Hearts and then getting another victory over theRangers and so on. One game at a time.
We will need our support to deliver in the right manner and realise who we really are, to become the 12th man until the end of the season, regardless of the issues that might not be to our liking, before, during and after our next six games.
It will be a challenge all the same, for myself anyway. But as Celtic supporters, we never hide away from the challenges we face, and already had to overcome in our lives and those of our parents and grandparents and theirs too. And this will potentially be another challenge to endure, but we all will remain confident that it will all be worthwhile in the end when we finally achieve our aims of winning the Scottish Premiership again (12 wins from 13 seasons would be quite incredible really) then retaining the Scottish Cup. The dream Celtic double.
Our Celtic family may well be tested, until the end of the season, but with our unity within our support, we can never let it be defeated, by realising who we truly are. We are Celtic supporters. Faithful through and through and as Tommy Burns once said “god bless every one of them”.
Hail Hail
Johnno
OVER ON CELTIC SHORTS…Three Games from the Verge of Glory for Elena Sadiku’s Celtic side
My way of.coping is to remember defeats from 30 or 40 years ago, they are just distant memories now, try to remember there will be more wins to come. OR go for a run after game. Will help your physical and mental health