GREED IS GOOD FOR COMMONS
Plaudits are all very well for Kris but he wishes this season could have ended with Treble yell for Bhoys
KRIS COMMONS has a third league winner’s medal in his grasp, a personal best goals tally for the season and a one-in-four chance of being crowned the PFA Scotland Player of the Year a week on Sunday.
And yet, by his own admission, the Celtic attacker ends the season with a mildly unfulfilled feeling.
‘When you play for a club like Celtic, and especially when you have such a good team as this one, you want to win the Treble,’ he said.
‘That puts you among the elite. It’s only been done by two teams in the club’s long history.
‘It’s also bordering on the nearimpossible because you’re having to balance a tricky third-round cup tie away from home when you might have a Champions League match the following midweek.
‘You need to mix players and keep people interested in those games while still being expected to win every single time you play.
‘It takes a special team and a special manager to do that.
‘Our main aims last summer were to win the title and to qualify for the Champions League. We did both and that’s great — but you also want cup victories.
‘You want more medals in the cabinet and that’s probably the only negative for us this season.’
Speaking as the shortlists for Player and Young Player of the
“You would like more medals in the cabinet”
Year were unveiled in Glasgow, Commons goes up against teammates Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster plus Kilmarnock’s Kris Boyd for the award.
The young player category will be contested by Dundee United trio Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Gauld and Andy Robertson along with St Johnstone top scorer Stevie May.
With 27 goals and an outstanding season behind him, Commons is neck and neck with van Dijk, Celtic’s £ 2. 6million s ummer signing, for the senior title.
The votes have already been cast, with the result kept secret until the night of the awards. A personal honour for Commons would make some amends for a season less decorated than it might have been.
‘I suppose this has been my best- ever season, certainly in a goals- to- game ratio,’ said the 31- year- old. ‘ On the flip side, though, I’d have loved to have been involved in both cups.
‘With the finals being played at Celtic Park, it would have been great to have been involved in that and finish the season on a high. So I’ll probably come away from this campaign with mixed emotions.’
Celtic’s r ecord in t he cup competitions remains an enduring conundrum. In the absence of a credible rival for the title, it was expected that Neil Lennon would build the third Treble-winning team in the club’s history — after the Lisbon Lions and the Martin O’Neill side he played in.
Explaining why it hasn’t happened, however, Commons claimed: ‘Other teams have improved and become stronger — Aberdeen definitely have — and given us good games home and away.
‘I think it’s been a competitive league, although our points total makes everyone else look as if they’re a million miles away.
‘But that’s not the full story. The remarkable run we went on earlier in the season — when we kept all those clean sheets — put a lot of distance between us and the rest.’
Lennon cites the Treble as the next unexplored frontier. The landmark he hopes to reach before contemplating fresh pastures.
Expectations of an approach from Norwich City have failed to materialise — so far.
But, with a year remaining on his own deal, Commons has a vested interest in the situation.
‘ I haven’t l ooked at Neil’s contract si t uation, I’m j ust working on a day-to-day basis,’ he insisted. ‘I have a great deal of respect for the way Neil goes about things.
‘Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve loved every single day of working with him. I’ve previously been with managers who didn’t like me and who I didn’t like.
‘Everything can change quickly and that’s the beauty of football. Neil has his own agenda. He’s a young manager getting through the game and his job is to prepare me for the remaining fixtures and to get me ready for next season.
‘ I don’t think it’s in my job description to ask him if he’s staying before I decide to sign — I’d probably get a slap in the face if I did ask him.’
Lennon has expressed the view that Commons — an intelligent, articulate footballer — is a coach in waiting. Possibly even at Celtic.
At an age when players begin to contemplate their future horizons, however, the former Scotland international says he is enjoying playing too much to give it much thought.
‘If someone asked me tomorrow, then I’d say: “No”. I’m only 31 and I want to keep playing for a while yet. But once you get to a certain age — 34, 35 — then that’s the obvious way to stay in the game. My mind changes from day to day.’
The media is another possibility. Punditry or broadcast analysis. He continued: ‘I’ve always liked speaking with the media and always liked being in front of the camera. It’s something a lot of players would love to get into.
‘ Doing bi t s and bobs f or television appeals. Neil Mellor has started doing stuff for Sky but I can’t see myself as an interviewer, f or example, asking all t he questions.
‘It’s a little more advanced in England, where ex-players are paid a l ot of money to work their gadgets and give their expert opinions but, in Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, you’re talking about two world-class defenders.
‘They’ve won everything between them, so I don’t think they’ll be looking for me at the moment.’
Commons has already achieved more than he thought possible, however, and exceeded his own expectations.
‘Starting out at 18 with Stoke, I never dreamed of playing in the Champions League or playing for big clubs so, for me, everything is a bonus,’ he admitted.
‘It doesn’t matter what it is. Winning cups, winning titles, playing in Europe — it’s all a bonus for me.’