It’s been Hapoel ever after since our Israel fright
Celts No.2 Davies hails headache-free run
CHRIS DAVIES reckoned before a ball was kicked this season was going to be very special for Celtic.
Barring one savage headache in sweaty Israel he’s been right. Brendan Rodgers’s right-hand man turned up at the manager’s unveiling, saw 15,000 fans dancing and wondered what could possibly go wrong.
Very little has. Rodgers, Davies and the backroom team have guided the troops to a stunning unbeaten domestic record and put them in line for a treble.
Yet even before it all began Davies could sense something wonderful in the air.
He said: “It seems a long time ago on the one hand, on the other hand it seems like only yesterday.
“I was amazed. Obviously we had been at Liverpool, one of the biggest clubs in England. I always knew Celtic was a huge club.
“But that day Brendan gets unveiled and I saw the whole side of the stadium filling up.
“There were something like 15,000 and the noise was amazing. I’ve never seen fans turn up for the unveiling of a manager with that passion.
“The sun was shining, Brendan walks out, I just thought, ‘Yeah, this looks like a good match. Brendan with his love for the club, his status as a manager, these fans, this club, this all fits perfectly’. I was watching it unfolding and couldn’t wait.”
It’s gone like clockwork for Celtic since that moment almost a year ago. Domestic dominance is something the fans expected but the return to the Champions League group stages was the real bonus.
Rodgers plotted the team’s way through six qualifying ties, although the second leg of the play-off against Hapoel Beer Sheva was the one time where it appeared to be going wrong.
At 2-0 down and a single strike from being put out with 30 minutes to go Davies felt the strain.
He said: “The Beer Sheva game was the worst headache I’ve had in my life at the side of the pitch.
“We pacified the threat and Erik Sviatchenko coming on was a key moment. They were chasing and fighting and getting desperate. We couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there. We had to deal with it.
“It was an intense game but when we actually watched it again it wasn’t that bad!
“Ideally I wouldn’t want another night like that but it’s about accepting there are going to be away games where you need to defend and be resolute.”
Back in the Champions League, Celtic thumped Aberdeen 4-1 and Rangers 5-1 soon after and it’s been a procession on the home front ever since. Davies said: “There are so many great stories. The main story recently has been Scott Sinclair. I’ve known him for so long and I’ve been so happy for him.
“I’ve loved the development of players. Stuart Armstrong, Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney and younger players as they evolved.
“And I have loved the influence of the senior players. Scott Brown, Mikael Lustig, Craig Gordon have been excellent for us and they are leaders within the dressing room.
“The best stories are always the ones where someone has to show resilience. That is the example of Craig. He fought his way to get back into the team and has stayed there and that is what Stu has done as well.”
Three more games could clinch the Treble and complete an unbeaten domestic campaign but eyes have also turned to next term’s Champions League assault.
Davies said: “We will be in a better place for the qualifiers this year. That’s not to say they’ll be easy. You have to accept you must deliver big performances in qualification games but we’ll be more ready.”