Sunday was one of the worst performances we have witnessed all season, potentially only beaten by the terrible one sided affair we had the displeasure of viewing at Ibrox back in January…
I’ve already written a few articles (links below) regarding my feelings on it and how we should look at the bigger picture regarding the season as a whole instead of a couple of bad performances, even if it does hurt to get beaten twice by a team that we know we are much better than.
The players and the manager have to take responsibility
As I have already stated the players and the manager have to take responsibility for Sunday but we also have to take a step backwards here as fans and stop judging our players in anger after one admittedly terrible performance. I can imagine the players and management team will be hurting this week as much as we are and will be looking forward to the next meeting against Sunday’s victors post split.
What we shouldn’t be doing however is copying the Jekyll and Hyde personality encompassed by our rivals from across the city. I have always laughed at their fanbase in regards to their opinions on their players. Honestly it’s truly mental stuff that seems to change drastically from week to week.
ALSO BY CONALL McGINTY…Huge overreaction from both sides of Glasgow’s divide
One minute Tavernier is a Hall of Fame club legend, the next minute he’s to blame for absolutely everything that’s wrong with their team. Igamane has went from an absolute donkey to a world beater back to being not good enough again to suddenly being a £30m player all within a couple of months. They were furious that Butland wasn’t being included in the England squad as he was one of the world’s best keepers to suddenly proclaiming Liam Kelly was a better keeper but after the Fenerbahçe shootout and a few good saves against Celtic he’s back to being world class again.
ALSO BY CONALL McGINTY…An atrocious start, Hoops were so passive and sloppy
Most Celtic fans judge a player over a season
I could go on and on but you all already know the score. Thankfully, we have never been as wild with our judgements on players. Most Celtic fans judge a player over a season instead of making rash calls but I have to say I have seen some mad reactions to certain players after Sunday’s game. Honestly some of the stuff has made me cringe as it’s reminiscent of the garbage that comes out of the mouths of theRangers fans. Yes Sunday was a bad performance but some of the stick aimed at certain players who have been excellent all season is embarrassing.
Let’s start with Alistair Johnston
Let’s start with Alistair Johnston who we can all admit had his worst game in a Celtic top since arriving at the club a couple of years ago. Yes he had a stinker but the Canadian has been one of the stand-outs so far this season. I was actually going to do an article last week about who should be our player of the year this season and there is no doubt that the right back has definitely been up there with Daizen Maeda as one of our best, most consistent performers during this campaign.
I read a comment where someone actually said ‘he thinks he’s better than he actually is’. Johnston is one of the most humble players in our squad who goes out and gives 110% every week. To be honest if he did have an ego I would say he deserves to have one as some of his performances, especially in Europe this season, have been absolutely tremendous. He shouldn’t be judged on one bad game.
Another who has felt the wrath of certain fans is Nicolas Kuhn
Another who has felt the wrath of certain fans is Nicolas Kuhn, yet another player who could be regarded as being in the running for player of the year. The German’s numbers this season have been incredible and again, much like Alistair Johnston, he had been one of our most consistent performers, including some huge performances in Europe.
Yes we can all agree that he looks like he has been going through a bit of a dip in form these last few weeks, but almost all wingers go through these in a season. Think back through the years to all of our best wingers and you will always be able to pinpoint a period during the season where they go off the boil for a while.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is another who has come in for criticism
Cameron Carter-Vickers is another who has come in for criticism and again he has been an absolute rock for Celtic for years now and doesn’t deserve to be written off after one bad game. CCV for the most of his Celtic career has looked like the best centre back I can remember since Virgil Van Dijk so surely we can forgive a few under-par performances now and again? Especially as it’s pretty well documented that he’s playing through the pain barrier this season with a toe injury.
I could go on and include others like Schmeichel and Engels
I could go on and include others like Kasper Schmeichel and Arne Engels but you get the jist by now. These players have slogged their guts out this season at home and in Europe and are currently on course to lead us to a domestic treble after already taking us into the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.
They deserve our support during a bad period.
Let’s leave the Jekyll and Hyde stuff to theRangers fans, eh?
Conall McGinty
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