As has often been stated here, Celtic’s status as the preeminent club in Scotland after 2012 doesn’t guarantee success.
Just that they will usually be successful.
A quadruple treble was secured even with an Ibrox team in the league.
Yesterday, the team in Norwegian Blue fully deserved the three points.
Here is how a manager steps up after a defeat.
On the day that those inside Ibrox remembered the catastrophic failure of health and safety standards in 1971, some of those present proved that it was, in some ways, still a dangerous stadium to visit.
That is a level of irony too contrived for a novel.
At three nil up, with the points secured, Celtic had a corner kick with only minutes to go of regulation time.
Hitting young Arne Engels with an object seemed perfectly reasonable to one of Sevco’s valued customers.
Just what the young Belgian makes of this barbarism is for another day.
The Celtic dugout was also targeted.
Now, the agreed narrative among the Stenography Corps is that these are isolated incidents by a few unrepresentative individuals.
That cannot be said for the first song heard shortly after the match started.
Thousands of those present lauded the memory of a razor gang led by their eponymous founder, Billy Fullerton.
Was there another stadium in Britain yesterday that sang of a self-identifying fascist and member of the KKK?
Being culturally authorised to sing about wading in blood is not without consequences at street level.
Moreover, are the brethren in the Blue Room comfortable with this repertoire?
Asking for a Fenian.
Towards the end of 2024, it was possible to discern that Celtic were looking down from their pinnacle in the league race on Kübler-Ross FC.
That calendar year produced zero silverware for the Ibrox klanbase to celebrate.
Denial about their place in Planet Fitba’s firmament seemed to be receding into the past.
Of course, anger remains a constant for any nativist subculture.
They want a tidy world where difference is seen as a problem to be fixed.
Were some of the Ibrox klanbase starting to bargain?
The thing with the DABDA model is that without help, people can slip backwards.
A sense of hopelessness had seeped into the dignified ones in the press box after the League Cup final.
Indeed, it appeared as if the Laptop Loyal had become the Laptop Dismal
Undoubtedly, yesterday’s unexpected result provides plenty of material for the hope dealers in the mainstream media.
The gap is now only eleven points.
Consequently, there is a glimmer of that deadly substance in the title race.
However, those emotionally blinded fools, bookmakers still have Celtic as favourites to win major trophy number 120 in season 2024-25.
Even from my vantage point in Dún na nGall, I can learn from well-placed sources that Sevco continues to produce a rich vein of public interest stories.
Sadly, this member of the NUJ knows that the chaps on the sports desks will actively look the other way until the next imaginary billionaire appears at Edmiston Drive.
And finally, dear readers, for the week that’s in it:
Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit!
ADDENDUM
So, “the magic of Ibroxonia” is what the mainstream media has conjured up after a day of racist performance art at the stadium John Brown played for.
As I have stated here many times apropos the Fitba Fourth Estate, they consistently authorise my harshest assessments of them.
I like Brendan but I remember the way he treated Paddy Roberts at the end of his spell. Wtf has Trusty done wrong
If that was a champions league game then next game or 2 is played behind closed doors with a huge fine
Brilliant article Phil. Here we are in 2025 and no one in the so called mainstream media or Sky Sports or SFA have the balls to call these imbeciles out. Scum of the earth the lot of them.
In my opinion Celtic’ problem v them the last two games have been in the midfield area. An experienced hard tackling ball winning midfielder who can play a bit should be top of Brendan’s January wish list.
Hatate been off it for some time now & CalMac not asserting his normal authority in the big games recently v them. Bernardo is unfortunately no O Riley and Engels is a young talented player that I hope will come good in time. McCowan hasn’t been given a decent run of games and he perhaps deserves a chance?
It’s totally wrong that it’s not acknowledged at all by the press but we shouldn’t be surprised at this at all….nothing will change
However,on footballing terms the issue is we haven’t replaced o’reilly properly….Engels will come good but likely it’ll be next year now.
No idea why he persists with Hatate, he hasn’t been consistent since Ange left…we also played better when Calmac was on the bench,he slows everything down
An unacceptable performance for me,dont believe this nonsemse that we let them win to keep the title interest alive either,that’s just crazy talk
Nor was it a dead rubber game, I for one am pissed at listening to this nonsense.
Think since Leipsig we have nt really fired I thought that was the game that was gonny fire a Celtic team that I think has one of the best squads I ve seen since after Henrik and all to levels again since Henke we haven’t seen guess I’m saying something just not clicking. Seems ridiculous saying that after last year Mon the hoops
Being ‘up to their knees in Fenian blood’ is appalling enough but wanting to ‘kill a Fenian’ before they die is quite another.
What a bucket list they have!
I want to swim with dolphins or meet the Pope on my bucket list but what kind of person wants to kill someone of a different religion and nationality before they shuffle off this mortal coil.
An act which would make their life complete, apparently!
Nothing is said at all in the press about this awful ‘song’. To me it is up there with the Famine song.
The song is called ‘Build My Gallows High’ and apparently is about ‘a loyal Ulsterman’ about to be hanged because he ‘fought the IRA’.
I have mentioned before that this mob don’t understand irony.
But when has any ‘loyal Ulsterman’ ever face capital punishment for fighting the IRA?
The mind boggles!
Build My Gallows High is historical illiteracy set to music.
Could not have put it better myself, Phil.
Spot on.
The song is about loyalist being hung for fighting against the IRA. Has any member of the uda, uvf, etc actually been hung?
Good article. Personally I think that Sevco should receive the minimum of a closed stand. UEFA should be notified. As to the game? I stated before that Hatate is way off form,he must be dropped immediately. Scales is not at the level needed. Kyogo needs a passing midfielder, his game depends on that. As to Brendan? He is a TOP manager so something was off yesterday. In my humble opinion change was needed ten minutes into the game. He HAD to go 4-4-2, Engels and Magowan added to midfield, Kyogo and Hatate off with Maeda and Khun up front. The fact he did nothing? I don’t believe in conspiracy theories but on this occasion even I am starting to wonder.
As a team, Celtic just didn’t show up yesterday and we have to accept that, analyse and learn from it, and try to find a way of not slipping down to that level of performance if we want to avoid dropping points going forward.
The players are more than capable of taking their medicine and rectifying things going forward. Can the same be said of our nearest challengers. It is one thing being able to lift your game for a Glasgow Derby but can you honestly see the rangers going on the sort of sustained run of form required to close the gap to a level that can be considered a title challenge. Nah me neither.
They had a comfortable deserved win yesterday against a poor Celtic side and the delusion is back in full swing. The problems they had before the match have not gone away by beating Celtic yesterday. They and their friends in the media will get carried away with the result, history has taught us that but the league title is on its way to the east end of Glasgow once again whether they like it or not HH
“That cannot be said for the first song heard shortly after the match started.”
I wonder how many seconds there were between the dignified, respectful, solemn remembrance to being “up to their knees in Fenian blood?”
I note the SPFL statement’s absence of opening of disciplinary action and the omerta from the SFA.
Compare and contrast with current crackdown on pyro. If it’s a safety issue warranting action then clearly the missile throwing Ibrox imbeciles have transgressed that significantly.
Ok, a very poor 90 minutes by Celtic opened the door for the Ibrox club to walk through and grab the 3 points.
I doubt if we will hit those depths again this season and even a couple of defeats in the second half of the league will not change the pecking order in the league table come the season end.
A happy (or not) New Year to all my. Celtic brethren.
I’m not soo sure that yesterday’s drop in form was a one off. We don’t show for the first half of the League Cup final, called to see out the game when we were up twice and recent league match have seen a poor and sluggish first half, saved by better second half performances.
Yesterday was a fierce and hateful an atmosphere at ipox that I can remember for a while, and that was only from watching on TV. I think some got spooked, some didn’t show and some were simply outplayed and out fought.
A Broonny was needed yesterday!
But that was their season in one game, let’s not forget that.
We will win the league I have no doubt, we will regroup and refocus and we have seen that there are some structural and tactical issues to be addressed in the current squad.
We will learn and come back stronger.
Hail Hail!
As the only recently hailed best Manager in Club Football has proven at Manchester Citeh ,eventually your dominance will be tested to the full and as City and Guardiola have proven over the past 8 weeks or so is this:
No matter how much money you spend or how you choose to set a side up eventually teams will start to work you out.
If you continue to stick to the same proven system and approach then sooner or later you will come up against a system or approach that will negate it.
Jock Stein for example won 5 Trophies in one glorious Season ,dominated Europe and even humbled Madrid in the Bernabeu at the Testimonial for Di Stefano.
However Dundee United who finished 6th in the Scottish top flight managed a convincing 3-2 double over the mighty Lions both home and away.
Now could you imagine Social Meeja had existed in 1967?
There would have been Celtic fans declaring “Stein has lost the plot he must go “ or similar diatribe from the keyboards of the Part time Clough’s and Shankly’s.
You sit still in football you are effectively going backwards and sides along with Managers have to adapt to an ever changing game.
City in the past 8 weeks have made Celtic look like World Club Champions by comparison but the fact remains it seems the much maligned and ridiculed Clement has tactically found a way to nullify the threat we pose most teams in Scotland.
They will and should get a lift from the last two meetings and Celtic must now respond to once again widen the chasm that has existed over the past few Seasons.
I’m fairly confident that Brendan will adjust accordingly because as has been proven by Ronny Deila ,Brendan in his first stint and Ange Postecoglou the once trick pony approach will only get you so far up the track of improvement.
I personally would like to see 2 maybe 3 different systems being adopted so we can alter things enough to change not only our own display on the day but also counter the opponents.
Yesterday simply wasn’t good enough by any standards set previously.
A successful dip into the market might also help achieve this.
No-one is immune to suffering a bad day in the office. How you react is the important thing, and I can imagine the reactions at Lennoxtown and Auchenhowie being quite different. One will double down on focusing on the next match while the other sees yesterday as the validation of all they have done for the last 14 months and allow themselves to wallow in the feelgood factor of yesterday when a P45 seemed more likely – then continue dropping points away from home….
On the subject of Engels being struck with a missile, it’s difficult to take the moral high ground on this when it undeniably occurs at Celtic Park. People shouldn’t throw stones whether they live in glass houses or not. This requires stamped out immediately – with the emphasis very firmly on the stamping part. With the wonders of CCTV, a fair but public trial and being made an example of by way of a custodial disposal this should not be beyond the capabilities of the clubs and authorities.