SENTINELCELTS

Will we be pissed off or piss poor again, that is the question waiting to be answered come Sunday afternoon. A good side responds and responds emphatically after a stinging defeat, and Thursday certainly stung. How much of that response is down to the manager demanding better is hard to tell, but after a stinging defeat the man in charge really has one big question, give them a chance to put it behind them or ring the changes as a statement of intent. Both have merit, but the decision needs made.

I would fully understand the same starting 11, they aren’t as bad as that showing, a group shot at redemption. I would understand dropping a few after that shambolic performance, but I just don’t believe Brendan would (or can afford to be seen to) punish players who are oncourse to deliver on all targets set pre-season. For that reason alone I believe we shall see the same or almost the same line-up tomorrow. It’s the Commander In Chief’s duty to win the war, one defeat in battle should not be allowed to transform the outcome but rather focus minds, and on that front Saint Mirren are just about the best ‘victim’ possible right now.

Good but not great all over the park, porous enough to take advantage off, attacking enough to tear apart on the counter, not only are Saint Mirren facing a wounded animal, but just days ago they bested those who bested ourselves. Sounds like a decent fixture, a decent opportunity to respond from Celtic, a decent scalp to hold aloft and show ‘that’ was a blip. We’ve done exactly the same in Europe since the German mauling, now it’s clearly time to repeat the feat domestically.

Timing wise I don’t see any issues, infact I believe the opposite. We’ve all heard the morale boosting return of a certain left back is imminent, everyone will have heard or read stinging criticism questioning their right to represent our global giant, the mystery virus will be on the way out I assume, plus we play at home infront of supporters who are in the main happy with our standing if not actual form.
3 O’ Clock Sunday offers the chance to say sorry, it offers the chance to tell all the doubters they are very wrong. January 2025 did not start well, but it doesn’t have to end that way.

Come Sunday I want to see a snarling Celtic storm out of the blocks, I want MOTM to be a very tough pick, I want Brendan to use every bit of his magic-touch to fire up the players to fire up the crowd and essentially issue a rebel yell that whilst a good punch was landed we are winning this fight and more importantly up for any title challenge, bring it on.
That must be the mentality at any global name club, for proper professionals, to show defeat was a one-off and merely a blip, not the beginning of a slump.

On that front, the blog wasn’t exactly the greatest read back ‘on the day’. I’m going to chalk it down as a bad day at the office, and remind everyone to play the ball not the man, be respectful but be yourself, and consider the many far flung readers (including myself) who come to our site for connection with our history rather than rancor. Following Celtic isn’t always easy, as this week has shown, but rather than say it’s always worthwhile, I prefer to point out there’s no other team in world football I’d rather follow, and I know you feel the same. As football is nothing without the fans (the one benefit of Covid was reinforcing that fact), a blog is nothing without posters. They say you can judge a man by his friends, well I count you all as friends at this stage and believe me I’m thankful for that, but the basis of any friendship is listening and communicating with each other. I’m no wiser, bigger, more important than any of you just because I have a set of keys to the site, but I do know we have put a hell of a lot of work into helping this site develop into what it’s become. Please help ensure Sentinel Celts is the type of blog someone would want to visit, enjoy visiting infact, and not avoid.

I look forward to this game, the possible maybe probable reaction, and all the first month of the year has to offer.
Up The Hoops!

By Mahe