A FIGHT AT END OF THE TUNNEL
Kettlewell: Game without fans may help rivals empty out the Old Firm
We should all be bad losers and players will perform to their absolute max with or without a crowd
As the sun shone brightly over the east end of Glasgow, the goals rained in and Celtic fans urged their team to go for the jugular in a slaughtering of sorry St Johnstone.
It was the perfect flag day for the Hoops as Neil Lennon’s men fired out an ominous warning to their Premiership rivals on day one of last season.
But in just eight weeks’ time the champions face the surreal prospect of unfurling their historic ninth consecutive flag in front of an empty Parkhead.
Just 12 months on, the occasion will be very different when the 2020/21 season gets underway behind closed doors in front of the Sky TV cameras.
Celtic were 3-0 up and cruising with 25 minutes left against Saints but the supporters ensured there would be no let-up – and the Hoops rattled in four more goals to pulverise the Perth men.
But just how will the backdrop of empty stands impact on what happens on the park if the green light is given for the season to kick of on August 1, following talks between Scottish football chiefs and the Scottish government?
It is likely the new Premiership season will kick off then if Scotland is in ‘phase two’ of its route map out of the coronavirus pandemic – but without spectators.
If Germany, the only major European league to return to action so far, is anything to go by then teams visiting the Old Firm should fare better.
In the first two rounds of Bundesliga fixtures there were just three home wins as the advantage of a partisan crowd was taken out of the equation.
Stuart Kettlewell knows how Tommy Wright felt on that opening day last season, having later stood in the away dugout at Parkhead as Ross County were hit for six.
You would assume, then, that if the Staggies provide the opposition for the champions on flag day this time around he’d see the lack of fans as an advantage.
However, as a player for the Highlanders on opening day in 2013 he watched as nerves crept in after they took a surprise lead and only went down to a late Anthony Stokes goal. So he knows an expectant crowd can work both ways when it comes to the Old Firm.
But he admits it is something he and every other manager will have to prepare for seriously with the possibility of football without fans for the remainder of the year.
The County co-manager told MailSport:
“If you go to Parkhead and Ibrox and they catch fire, and 50,000 or 60,0000 fans are getting into it, then you can suffer.
“We had a heavy defeat against Celtic last season.
“When their tails are up the crowd can give them an extra five or 10 per cent.
“That’s why we always ask our players to manage their emotions when playing in front of a full house in Glasgow.
“When we lost 6-0 last season Celtic scored at key times – before and after halftime – and the crowd get attached to that.
“But we often believe that should eke out a further 10 or 20 per cent from our players – so you could look at the closed-doors scenario from both angles. “There are grounds where the gameplan for opposing managers will be: ‘Let’s see if we can turn the crowd against the home team.’ We know the pressure can be tough on home players if they’re in bad form and the crowd start to jeer.
“I’m sure Celtic would say the same going to Ibrox and vice versa.
“I played for Ross County on the day Celtic unfurled the flag seven years ago and we were leading early on before they equalised and they went on to score a winner three minutes from the end.
“So that is the flip side to St Johnstone’s experience against Celtic on the opening day of last season.
“I don’t think you can say definitively if playing behind closed doors will be easier or harder at Ibrox and Parkhead.
“It’s not an exact science and we’ll see a lot of different things as we go along. But what we need to do is get our heads round it because those who deal with it best in their head could reap the benefits.
“I’ve heard the term ‘training games’ used to described the matches and that when you take the crowd out the equation then the better team will simply win.
“But I’ve been involved in training games – playing and coaching. You assume the result will go a certain way but the result can be the opposite, sometimes by a big margin.
“We’re talking about professional footballers and I like to believe every pro player has that winning mentality when they’re taking part in everything.
“You hear players saying all the time that they’re terrible losers. As far as I’m concerned we should all be terrible losers and players will perform to their absolute maximum with or without a crowd.”
County use sports psychologist Donald MacNaughton, who includes the SFA among his list of clients, and he could play an even more important role in the coming weeks as football returns.
But for top-flight gaffers such as Kettlewell it will be about finding a way to deal with the situation.
He said: “How do you create your own atmosphere? I was always taught it was up to the players to get the fans going rather than the other way about because they’d paid the money to watch the team.
“We can’t tell our players they’re going to be geed on by several thousands fans so we’ll all have to adjust to a slightly different way of thinking and approaching the game.
“Everyone keeps saying it’s a new normal and as managers and coaches we need to think about what is going to be the best way to prepare our players to play in front of an empty stadium.
“How can we get their energy levels, quality and concentration the same as when they’re playing in front of 50,000?
“None of us has answers but we’re all looking at devising a plan to incorporate it.
“We work with Donald who most people in the country will know from working with the SFA. He is based in the Highlands and comes to us a couple of times a week, including some individual sessions, so we can tap into that.
“And on a lighter note every individual shout will be heard instead of being drowned out by the crowd so there might be one or two humiliating moments as we’ve all lost the head!”