DARK CLOUDS ON A SUNSHINE STAY
With fans already angry and a pandemic in full flow, a jaunt to Dubai was never a good look...
THE optics of Celtic’s trip to Dubai, like their season in general, make for grim viewing. Leaving the country for a week of warm-weather training in the Middle East may not break any laws. But, not for the first time this season, it represents a failure by the Parkhead hierarchy to read the room.
Covid rates are soaring. Nicola Sturgeon has stipulated that schools should remain closed until February. And Scotland’s First Minister has issued a legal edict that no one should travel within or out of the country for anything other than essential purposes.
Last night Celtic argued that their trip was given the green light by the Scottish Government and the SFA Joint Response Group on November 12.
Privately, senior figures within t he SFA and Parkhead are bemused by a veiled Holyrood threat to shut football down if privileges are ‘abused.’
Yet, even before yesterday’s announcement of a second national lockdown, Celtic’s decision to fly to the UAE looked like an expensive and risky gamble.
Victory at Ibrox last Saturday might have softened the narrative a little..
Beating their rivals would have narrowed the gap to 13 pointss with three games in hand.
It would have applied a modicum of pressure on Steven Gerrard’s side and perhaps started to ask some questions of them.
Dubai could have represented a chance to recharge the batteries and prepare for one last push over the trenches in the quest for ten in a row.
Despite dominating the first hour, however, Celtic contrived to lose to a Rangers side now coasting to the title.
And the minute the ball came off Callum McGregor’s shoulder and spun past Vasilis Barkas, the mood music changed in an instant.
Perception is everything. And angry fans now see players who have failed in Europe and the Betfred Cup being rewarded for falling 19 points behind Rangers in the Premiership with a sunshine trip in January.
After all, it was the supporters who subsidised the whole shebang by splashing out £600 to buy season tickets for seats they will never fill.
On and off the pitch, Cel tic’ s season has been beset by critical misjudgments at key moments. Dubai is another to add to the list.
Boss Neil Lennon (right) and midfielder David Turnbull have already defended the motives behind the training camp by insisting it’s no holiday.
‘It’s not a break,’ said Lennon. ‘It’s a training camp. It’s just a change of scenery. We just hope to come back refreshed and ready to go.
‘You’ve got to keep going. You can’t just say it (the title race) is over because there is still a lot of football to be played. We have to be a lot more consistent in the second half of the season than we have been in the first half.’
The club’s official Twitter feed rammed Lennon’s point home yesterday with images of players sweating on a training pitch.
It was like trying to squeeze a genie back into the bottle.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney says Celtic’s decision to fly to Dubai was ‘ not a very good idea’. It’s a common view Even when you strip away the concerns over social distancing and group gatherings and stick to the football, the logic of the trip fails to stack up. A free week with no scheduled fixtures provided an opportunity to claw back some of the ground on Rangers by play in playing two of their outstanding games before Gerrard’s side kick another ball against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Instead, Celtic’s three games in hand remain unplayed in the midst of a season already hanging by a thread.
While the exemption granted to elite athletes means football will continue as normal, senior figures within the SFA and SPFL acknowledge the tenuous nature of the situation.
A severe cold snap, maybe even another visit by the Beast from the East, could create chaos in an already congested fixture calendar. Celtic clearly gambled on saving the games up in the hope of winning at I brox, t hen adding new players to a squad refreshed and united by a week in Dubai. After Saturday’s defeat, all they have created are two wasted opportunities to play outstanding games and eat into the 19-point Rangers lead. If Celtic f ans are angry, they’re far from alone. Sturgeon administered a yellow card to Scottish football after the Boli Bolingoli and Aberdeen Eight episodes.
And many feel that the Parkhead club’s decision to fly players across the globe — exposing them to social situations with alcohol in the vicinity and Covid in the air conditioning—is asking for trouble.
Supporters of Kilmarnock and St Mirren are especially irate. Both clubs were hammered by an SPFL independent tribunal for admitting breach es of social-distancing protocols before players tested positive for corona virus, forcing the postponement of games.
The two situations are not quite the same. No Celtic member of staff has tested positive as a consequence of the Dubai trip.
None of the social activities deemed acceptable under coronavirus rules in the UAE have forced the postponement of fixtures.
Yet if it comes to that eventually, it would almost feel like the natural conclusion.
A season where history was up for grabs feels like it’ s unravelling fast.
Anything that can go wrong for Lennon’s team has gone wrong.
Data and figures might show that Dubai offers a far safer environment to escape the ravages of Covi d - 1 9 than the United Kingdom right now.
But while overseas travel to nations with travel corridors is still permitted, it’s neither advised nor recommended.
And if this week’s punt on a trip to the Emirates ends in positive tests for Celtic players or management, sympathy and understanding will be pretty thin on the ground.