John Collins has backed the claims by Peter Lawwell and Callum McGregor that the Celtic team are missing their supporters more than any other club this season. Lawwell came out last month saying that the Scottish Champions were missing the supporters and it was affecting their performances this season. However, this has been criticised vocally amongst other teams and supporters but Collins has agreed.
Speaking to BBC Sportsound, Collins said that there was no question about the fact that Celtic were the noisiest and they missed the fans the most.
“No matter what anybody says, the Celtic fans are the noisiest, they push their team.
“I’ve been a player, playing in front of that support and I’ve been a coach who coached in front of that support.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, and before Celtic step on the pitch, whether they play Ross County, Motherwell, St Johnstone, they’ve got three stands pushing them, singing them and the same at Celtic Park where they have 60,000.”
“Rangers are a good support, but they’re not the same vocally, backing and they’re more patient than Celtic fans.
“The external motivation which gives Celtic a huge advantage is that massive support. Some will disagree with me but I’ve experienced that when you’re 1-0 down.
“Edouard’s not sprinting but if the fans were there, they would be shouting at him, pushing them.”
Celtic have lost three and drawn seven matches, with the vast majority of them being games that you would normally expect the team to push on and really nail their opponents. However, there has been a nervousness, a shakiness in defence and a lethargic nature in attack. The fans are missing the team and that seems to be reciprocated, many have said this season would have been very different had the fans been there but maybe cracks have been papered over in certain aspects.
