So that’s that then.
Season 2024-25 is a wrap!
With the final kick of the ball at Hampden, Celtic failed to do yet another treble.
It is a mark of the Parkhead club’s dominance that this is a shock.
When you consider that from 1969 -2001, a domestic clean sweep eluded some excellent Celtic sides, the recent era is unprecedented.
The very fact that this image is a statement of fact is utterly remarkable.
On the day itself, to my untrained eye, it seemed as if the cup holders stumbled in a somnambulatory fashion into the coin-flip territory of a penalty shoot-out.
The absence of Jota and Reo Hatate exposed the dearth of a creative spark in the final third.
I will not attempt any tactical autopsy here on the final itself.
I’ll leave that to people who know their stuff.
I’ve just been told that the folks on the Huddle Breakdown will be putting out a free podcast on the match this coming Wednesday.
In the modern era, the downtime for a professional footballer is mercilessly short.
It also coincides with the busiest time of the calendar year for the recruitment teams at top clubs.
Even the most succulent stenographers know that Celtic have a crucial financial advantage over every club in Scotland.
The people in charge at Parkhead need to deploy those resources effectively.
Much will be expected of Mr Tisdale.
As for Celtic’s nativist neighbours, a continued austerity drive will be enforced by the bureaucrats in Nyon regardless of who owns the basket of assets.
UEFA’s FSR hasn’t gone away, you know.
Crucially, these ordinances do not rely on the say-so of domestic associations.
Consequently, the Sevco High Command cannot rely on dignified assistance from Hampden.
Apparently, a level playing field apropos governance isn’t something they’re too fond of in the Blue Room.
Precisely because of FSR, Paddy Stewart knows that he must reduce the wage budget even further at the stadium John Brown played for.
Quite simply, Sevco’s football income, as categorised by UEFA, means that they must live within their means.
The application of “soft investment” envisaged by Mr David Cunningham King at the time of the Off Licence Putsch is over.
A decade of confetti shares and soft loans produced ONE league title.
FSR, even more than “investor fatigue”, brings that to an end.
Moreover, Sevco’s covid title did not dislodge Celtic from their place as the most financially strong outfit in the SPFL.
Therefore, our old friend margin of error continues to tip the scales in favour of the club formed by immigrants.
Next season, the question will be whether or not Celtic can win another treble.
As the league is theirs to lose, they’re the only club that can complete a domestic clean sweep.
Of course, that’s an evidence-based narrative that the Stenography Corps will obediently avoid.
Enjoy the summer!
Thanks for all your work Phil. Let’s hope Celtic invest in the playing squad wisely over the summer in order to compete better in Europe, regardless of whatever happens with our noisy neighbours.
You too Phil , thanks for the articles all season .
Summed up the cup final perfectly Phil. On the day, the team just didn’t reach the heights required to overcome a dogged Aberdeen. Congratulations to them but I’m sure that only the diehards amongst their support would be falling over themselves to watch that particular brand of football week in and week out.
So the treble wasn’t to be but, there’s always next year. This is probably one of the few places where I can say that all the noise and the hype surrounding the big takeover doesn’t bother me at all. Try saying that on the platform formally known as twitter and be prepared for a horrific onslaught of vile sectarian abuse. Next season can’t come quickly enough for me HH
How many of us could agree with anything McCoist says? not many I would wager. However, when Greece won the European Nations trophy many moons ago, his comment, which I found most people I knew agreed with, was “that’ll kill football” because Greece performed in the manner of defending favoured by the Italians called catenaccio. The more common expression now is low block and a few years back it was called parking the bus.
Yes, of course we were not at our best but we did hit the woodwork twice and had either of those gone in or had Maeda scored late on the prevailing mood would be rather different.
I don’t expect anybody in the media to call the Aberdeen performance in the way McCoist did all those years ago, quite the reverse they’ll be lavished with praise. It’s the country they play in.
Make mine a double. Can’t really grumble with the season, apart from the loses to sevco and this “just turn up” attitude that seems to have crept in to some players.
I’ve been trying to figure out why, could be fatigue, could be complacency, could be Brendan doing that thing where he shows the board on the park that we need to strengthen. Doesn’t matter really its done.
The board have proven to back the boss and let’s hope (against hope) that we get the ins and outs done sooner, get them on the training pitch ASAP and working together as a squad.
It’s been proven that when our deals get done quickly the focus is sharp in contrast to signings on the last days.
As for Sevco, hehe the fans are in for a shock when they realise that this is a Mike Ashley Mk2 venture. A close 2nd to a Celtic win is to watch a hun suffer.