Lords Of Europe Give Fairytale Lesson to Celtic…
Long, long ago, a little-known club with a fairytale name shocked European aspirants, Celtic, in the third-tier European Conference League.
The Celtic support was incandescent with rage, whilst embarrassment was the overriding emotion as a dark cloud loomed over the east-end of Glasgow.
Celtic Park felt like Mount Doom rather than Paradise as the pale riders from Norway galloped away with our European ambitions, preventing Ange Postecoglou’s Bhoys from enjoying the joyful anticipation of the last 16.
Some redtop ‘wag’, (yes, I did say wag), joked that FK Bodø/Glimt sounded more like a Lord of the Rings character, rather than a European giantkiller. Fast forward four years, and Gandalf’s finest are riding high on the crest of their footballing Hobbiton after delighting us with a series of shock wins against Europe’s finest.
Super-wealthy, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, and now Champions league finalists, Inter Milan have had their prideful ambitions decapitated by Kjetil Knutsen’s masterful sword in recent weeks.
(Footnote; they got Knutsen, we got Nancy…)
That is phenomenal, but it’s a solid lesson and wakeup call to Celtic, yet another club with cash in hand, but falling woefully short of expectations by denying success to their vital source of income, i.e. you and me, due to chronic misuse!
Knutsen has his squad playing with skill and confidence, allied with a cool, calm style of play, culminating in ripping Inter apart both in the Aspmyra Stadion, and in the Milanese fortress, the San Siro. What would Celtic (fans!) give to achieve that?
To achieve, you need to commit; commit to excellence in every area of your privileged task – remember that empty boast?
Commit to luring a manager of quality who can provide vision and gel a group of globetrotting strangers into a consistent, unified, happy footballing force.
Commit to buying, (not trawling pawn shops), for footballers with ambition, class, and longevity.
Commit to fully and regularly addressing your vital, paying support group, treating them as critical thinking adults, not delinquent children under your iron-fisted rule. That is a bare minimum if you desire a healthy club with a structured, winning attitude.
THAT will bring success!
FK Bodø/Glimt were once promoted by sensationalist hacks as a mirthful fairytale club and are now living the dream. How I wish our Bhoys could slay the European giants once again as we did long, long ago, and live out our own footballing fantasy.
There’s your challenge, right there, before you ride off into the sunset, Mr. Desmond. There’s still time to leave behind a legacy of pride and respect from a fanbase who crave nothing more than they have given over many, many faithful years. What say you?
Here’s Ross Desmond delivering the ‘we can’t compete in Europe’ lecture on behalf of his dad at the Celtic AGM earlier in the season…
Here are the highlights from last night…
Hail Hail!
Eddie Murray
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