Celtic got that dreaded monkey off the back against Feyenoord on Wednesday evening and clamped the whole of the country in the process. It was a hard-fought victory and was justly deserved after coming so very, very close in some UEFA Champions League group stage matches this season. It was a case of ‘what might have been’ again this year and now attention turns back to the Scottish Premiership.
It has given the team, manager, supporters and club more generally speaking, a massive shot in the arm. Our domestic form has been topsy-turvy to date and we haven’t managed to find that consistency which was one of the hallmarks of last year under Ange Postecoglou and also throughout Brendan Rodgers’ fist stint as manager of the football club.
Injuries have of course played their part in this decline, but there’s no denying better recruitment in the summer transfer window could have eased this malaise that we have found ourselves in. With news that a quartet of injured stars are slowly but surely making their way back to fitness and in contention to start for the Hoops, it will be such a relief as we head into a really important and crucial few games before the winter break.
Today we have the pleasure of hosting Heart of Midlothian who always like to put in a shift against the Champions ( I can’t imagine why..?), and also count ex-Rangers forward, Steven Naismith as their head coach. After throwing his team under the bus on several occasions this year after poor defeats, he will be dreaming of a shock result that can see his favoured team cut the gap some more on the Bhoys.
We must not allow that to happen and keep that steely determination we had in abundance against the Dutch Eredivisie champions in midweek. It was a welcome change to see a Celtic team dig really deep and fight and scrap to the final whistle for what is theirs. There was a sense of pride the other night in European football once again and that can be the catalyst for us to put this recent blip behind us and it begins with Hearts on this afternoon.
Meanwhile, watch the Bhoys train up at Lennowtown ahead of that Hearts clash…
Paul Gillespie
