Letters from Zaire

31/05/2025.

“A season full of moments, a double secured, memories made.” Was the club’s official summary of the 24/25 campaign and well, fair enough.

It’s been a fantastic season all in but the ease with which the league was won did us no favours in the end.

A double-digit lead from November onwards, the League Cup conquered by Xmas, an enthralling and ultimately successful Champions League campaign; over by the end of February, Celtic’s season had been wrapped up, concluded, apart from one little formality.

With Rangers knocked out and Hibs brushed aside in the quarter-final, not a lot stood in our way of completing a domestic clean sweep. In between Alphonso Davies’ last-second goal in Munich (18th Feb) and Saturday (24th May) – there was nothing to play for bar the Scottish Cup games. A comfortable 5-1 skelping of St.Johnstone in last month’s semi meant the stage was set for a perfect finale to the 24/25 campaign. 

For us, the Cup final has so often brought a perfect sign-off to a successful season, an end of year ball before we break; more often than not in recent years, it’s simply been the day we clinch the treble. Aberdeen hadn’t read the script though - neither had Kasper Schemichel - and clinched a historic victory on penalties. Their first in 35 years.

Whilst we are unaccustomed to this sort of failure, it’s important to recognise that as a symptom of unrelenting dominance in the last decade. We may not be spoiled, but if anyone is, it’s probably us.

Saturday was Callum McGregor’s – 32 years old in a few weeks – first defeat in 16 finals as a Celtic player and Brendan Rodgers’ only loss in 22 Scottish cup games. Said out loud, these numbers are remarkable; as close to perfect as reasonably possible in top-flight football and even more exceptional when we consider the unpredictable nature of knockout cup competition.

That being said, this was a game we somehow contrived to lose when we should have won. It was also a season that seemed to peter out. The attacking intent, urgency and enthusiasm we saw before the new year eventually gave way to a more weathered, conservative style over the season. It is important to qualify this by recognising that Celtic scored 5 or more on 13 occasions and at their best were a frightening proposition going forward when in 1st gear.

Collectively, we need more; Saturday proved the squad has a weak underbelly. The spine of the team not only lacks quality but also quantity and competition. It’s often understated but Celtic’s workload is far greater than average; Saturday was our 57th game of the season. An incredible schedule, which only exacerbates the consequences of carrying a small squad.

Enough of that for just now. There’s plenty of time over the summer.

There was another important game last weekend. Rijek clinched the Croatian league on Sunday meaning, Celtic will now be seeded for the Champions League play-off round. Whilst not a foregone conclusion by any means, it’s a far more manageable task than being on the opposite side of the draw. Happy days.

The long summer ahead.

Football never ends does it? Not really. The final whistle on Saturday, in many ways, signals the beginning of the next. The slight relief of it being over lasts for a week and eventually turns to a longing for its return, a softly launched realisation that something is missing in the day-to-day rhythm of life. The habit of checking your phone for news is akin to checking behind the door, only to remember it’s an empty room.

In the next week or so the soap opera style gossip will begin and if you missed today’s episode, don’t worry. It’s on everyday for the next three months.

This is generally a fraught and existential time for a Celtic fan. 3 months of wondering which English non-entity with about a 1/5 of our average attendance, will buy our best player for a lot of money, that we’ll never see spent.

We live in hope of new heroes but we do have a couple of tricks up our sleeve. Jota at one point will properly return and light up the team, with his collar-up creativity.

The home coming of Kieran Tierney will be something else.

But again, more on that later.

Thanks.

Cheers to everyone who has been reading this over the last few months and the 24 people that have subscribed, please know you’re deeply cherished.

I’m not too sure what it is or why I’m doing it but I’m enjoying the journey.

Like most of you I spend the majority of any spare time - and too much of my 9-5 time - talking, reading, listening and thinking about Celtic. With all of that, unable to quench my unquenchable thirst, I have decided to start writing about them as well.

Your time is much appreciated.

If you’re reading this and fancy subscribing, feel free, it’s free to do so

Sincerely, from Zaire

Mark.