Fans will look back on this as the day ten in a row died
INa season which continues to plumb new depths week after week, yesterday felt like a new low for Celtic. In all honesty, it actually felt like the end of an era. Yes, as a one- off result, a 1-1 draw against St Johnstone isn’t anywhere near as bad as losing 2-0 at home to Ross County. Or 4-1 against Sparta Prague’s reserves.
But those results came in cup competitions. This latest disaster came on league duty. Points dropped when Celtic had zero margin for error.
In the fullness of time, fans might well look back on this as the day when the dream of ten in a row died. You have to be honest — the league title now looks to be over.
There will still be some defiant Celtic supporters who will argue otherwise. But let’s not kid ourselves. You’d be as well howling at the moon.
The title race has turned into a procession for Rangers. We’re not even at Christmas but already Celtic have gift-wrapped the league trophy and presented it on a plate.
That’s the most damning thing in all of this. The thing which supporters will find so galling. In this season of all seasons, Rangers aren’t even having to work particularly hard for it.
Steven Gerrard’s side are in cruise control at the top of the table. They’re on track to be over the hill and out of sight by the time the teams meet on January 2.
There will be Rangers fans out there who probably can’t believe how easy this has been so far this season. After years of watching Celtic dominate, they are revelling in it.
Celtic are going down with little more than a whimper. I still don’t believe Neil Lennon will quit, but this will be tearing him up inside.
The reality is clear. To win the league from here, Celtic now need the sort of miracle very few people are prepared to believe in.
They would pretty much have to win every game from now until the end of the season, along with Rangers dropping their fair share of points.
On current form, both scenarios are as unlikely as each other.
Fans are entitled to ask — how did it come to this? How can things have soured so badly to the extent that a club legend like Lennon is being hounded out the door?
The board have to shoulder a large share of responsibility. They are as culpable at anyone. They’ve been asleep at the wheel in recent seasons and are now paying the price for their complacency.
The recruitment has been absolutely abysmal. It’s not that Celtic haven’t spent money. They have spent plenty. It’s how they’ve spent it that’s been the problem.
This season has seen them fork out a £2million loan fee for Shane Duffy, with a hefty pay packet to boot. A combined £10m was spent on Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti.
None of them looks up to scratch. Who sourced these players? There has to be some accountability in the recruitment department.
That’s been the problem at Celtic for far too long. Too many players signed for decent money who just patently aren’t good enough.
Boli Bolingoli. Patryk Klimala. Ismaila Soro. Vakoun Bayo. Going back to my own time at the club, you had the likes of Derk Boerrigter being signed for £3m.
Sure, they’ve occasionally hit the jackpot with the likes of a Virgil van
Dijk, a Moussa Dembele or even a Victor Wanyama.
But the club have also signed a fair amount of dross in the same period. The recruitment side of the club has been in a state of decay and disrepair for years.
And in modern football, recruitment is everything. The model for clubs like Celtic is obvious — buy low, sell high.
That’s how to market yourself to new, exciting young players. If they join the club and give two or three years of good service, they’ll get a big move like Van Dijk, Wanyama or Dembele.
Celtic’s recent transfer market record shows scandalous neglect on an industrial scale. Ultimately, the board have to carry the can for that.
They’ve had no clear plan or structure in place. They have thrown money down a drain while, across the city, Rangers have steadily built a very good squad with a clear playing style and identity since Gerrard arrived.
They are romping their way to the league title. For Celtic, the most damning aspect of it all is the fact they aren’t even putting up a fight.
They are out of Europe, out of the Betfred Cup and now out of the title race before Christmas.
What was supposed to be a historic season is turning into a horror show.