SENTINELCELTS

Morning, all.

The Celtic players and management will have been glad to see the back of Tuesday night’s game, not just because we negotiated a potentially tricky match against Aberdeen with a somewhat flattering 5-1 victory, but also because it is the last in a long line of fixtures which have had us playing virtually midweek-in, midweek-out. 

We have three games to go until the next and final international break, quite an important one for the national team as we attempt to get past Greece in the Nations League play-offs. It’s hard to believe that the first of those came six months ago-after we gubbed TFOD 3-0 at home-and even harder to comprehend that we have played forty matches since then. More games than in an entire league season. And that’s despite losing six weeks of that time to those breaks.

It has been absolutely relentless, and has undoubtedly taken its toll on our wafer-thin squad. Despite losing so few players to injury this season, we have had limited chances to rotate the squad, preferring instead to rotate during the matches themselves. The recent introduction of the five substitutes rule has certainly helped in this regard, but it has also served to show everyone concerned how limited the squad really is as an effective unit. We have our preferred first XI and maybe a few others that we can trust, and that’s it. And as a result, some of them are starting to wilt under the load. I think the proof of that lies in the fact that we lost only one game in the first four months of the run of games, but have lost four in the last two months. Yet despite that relentless schedule, we have been just as relentless in our pursuit of the three domestic trophies. And all this while rebuilding our reputation in Europe.

The next three games, away to St Mirren and then at home to The Foe Malign in the league, are split by a home cup-tie against Hibs. None will not be straightforward. We can take some comfort from the fact that the huns have two ties against Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in that time, but also should remember that they don’t have a Scottish Cup game inbetween. We might strip a bit more refreshed than otherwise for the derby, but they might be buoyed up by another unexpected result. Time will tell,I suppose.

The scarcity of viable options available for the manager this season has been little short of scandalous, and much of the blame for that can be set at the foot of those who sanctioned the signings during the 2023 summer window. To counter that, BR has in return  sanctioned the removal of most of them during the last three windows, almost all of them on loan. In other words, we are still on the hook for most of that wage bill and all of the contracts that were signed. What a waste of resources from what we are constantly told is a well-run club which focuses on coming out of every window stronger than it went in. 

I’ve got a bridge to sell you if you still believe that…

With more time now for coaching the players rather than just keeping their fitness levels ticking over while offering as much rest as possible, I’d hope that BR has a schedule mapped out for doing just that. We know that at the moment there are players in that squad who just aren’t first-team ready. Players who need to focus maybe on improving their concentration. Others who just need encouragement-or a boot up the jacksie. He has always said that his strength as a coach is in improving players, and we have seen that during both his spells with us. Now that he has more time to do just that, I hope he uses it to our advantage. 

I hope too that he finds the time and the opportunity to sit down with the CEO and the chief financial officer to discuss budgets and player requirements, maybe during the international break. That is almost as important at this time of the season, and let’s face it, it’s not as though Nicholson can tell him he’s busy. It would be nice if just for once Celtic went into a window with the intention of keeping all of our top players, and adding to it with the players that the manager has pinpointed as his main targets. It would be nice if just once, in fact, we spent more than we brought in and actually improved the side. 

These are the things which we as Celtic supporters will be considering over most of the remaining midweeks of the season. I hope that those in the positions to actually do more than just consider these things get off their collective arses and actually do their job for a change. It’s time to give the manager what he wants, which is to have a different selection headache from the type he’s had to deal with for too damn long!

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Above article by BMCUWP