Letters from Zaire #7
Fever Pitch.
In Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, he described football fandom as more of an emotional burden than a hobby. Something along the lines of; obsessions aren’t funny, and obsessives aren’t well. I was reminded of this on Wednesday, upon hearing that the game had been called off. In all honesty, my reaction to the news was pathetic. Somewhere on the scale between alarming and funny. I wilted on the couch, in what can only be described as a massive huff.
Given the fact you subscribe to this untrained journalist, who writes about Celtic on his work commute, I can only imagine this is a safe space for my confession. No judgement.
Games get called off on occasion – we live in Scotland – but my god, what an injustice.
I will try to do better.
Things can get better.
Writing about Celtic just now is laborious. A daily grind; trying to conjure up new ways to call the board daft. More comedian and war correspondent than football blogger.
A boycott has been called for Saturday’s cup game against Dundee.
The support is thirsty and fulminating, the board are stubborn. As hurried as a watched kettle. The window has slammed shut, but you can still see through it and the house, needs a tidy.
There will be a lot to unpack come the end of this season but for now we are living out of the case. It’s all a bit of a carry-on.
An option on Football Manager called “Quick Result” allows you to bypass the game and instantly find out the score. It sounds appealing. Skip the unbearable stress of it all and get straight to the success/failure.
It’s not necessarily the football that’s a problem. The opposite: going to and watching games feels like a haven. A nuclear bunker where we can ignore the noise and the fall-out for a couple of hours. O’Neill being in charge has been wonderfully indulgent and nostalgic.
The problem is everything else, everywhere, everyone all at once. Or maybe just one person in fact.
Through the Window.
Something I love about pre-season friendlies, early cup ties, is the novelty line ups.
B team, never starters, and never-seen-befores. A pop-up ensemble that performs together for the first and last time. Continuity and consistency are king but sometimes, it’s fun not knowing what you’re going to get.
It’s not quite that but the team is about to change significantly. It will be for the better. A second wind, a fresh impetus, reinforcements; the hope is that the cavalry have arrived.
Five new players have been added with the hope it can breathe life into a squad. It adds another layer to the group, that along with the return from injuries of Saracchi and Ihneacho, starts to make things look more manageable. The cupboards look a bit more stocked. You can read the scouting reports, pizza charts and decide on their quality but the quantity is a bit better.
They might turn out to be good. Julian Araujo has had an excellent influence on the side. Not swashbuckling on the ball but he’s starting to open up a bit. A pronounced upgrade in a real problem position.
Tomas Cvancara has also had a strong start. The execution of his finish on Sunday, was perfect and added to the pace and power displayed for Yang’s goal at Tynecastle, you can see what we’ve tried to sign. A striker. This is a marriage of convenience. A short-term relationship with mutual benefits, were Celtic need him to work, and he needs Celtic to work.
Another forward, in Chukwubuike Aduma has signed on loan from Bundesliga side Freiburg, with an option to buy. Like Cvancara, he needs revitalised somewhat although, he has played semi regularly in their starting line-up. He hasn’t scored regularly in Germany, but his physicality and channel running may be well suited to the more direct irritation of this Celtic team.
Joel Mvuka – also on loan – plays right wing, where we could really do with some help. Getting him up to speed soon, to compete with Yang could make an impact and balance.
Cover has also been added in the centre half position in the form of Benjamin Archer. He has less than 90 minutes of professional football under his belt, which isn’t much to write about and not much of a write up.
In the last couple of hours, it’s been confirmed that Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain has joined on a short-term contract. Our 6th addition. In keeping with the general parsimony, AOC is a free transfer having been out of contract. His pedigree is not up for debate, but this is very much a wild-card signing given his fitness in recent years. At 32, his career is in its final stages, and the hope is that – if fit – he can find a place to call home for the next while.
He like all these signings need a bit of love, luck and consequentially form. O’Neill’s arm round the shoulder can often be the pre-curser to a head lock but his approach here will be softly softly. Thankfully he’s a master at building confidence.
What lies ahead.
If you came here looking for reassurance, you’re in the wrong place. It’s going to be nerve-shredding. Hearts failure on Tuesday night, was a glimpse at what is hopefully, the first chink in the armour.
I’m looking far into the future here but having both Hearts and Rangers at home in the split, provides us with an opportunity to take the reins, at just the right time. It’s something to hang onto.
What we don’t know is how good Rangers and Hearts will handle the run in? Neither Danny Rohl, or McInness – or their players – will have found themselves in such a scrutinised, high-pressure environment before. Rohl’s plaudits have been of the “most improved” player variety, in the sense that, it was not hard to make Rangers competent or simply better. Clement done this but when push turned to shove, he fell at the final few hurdles.
McInnes foaming at the mouth and running to confront our bench, speaks to the emotional wreck, we are already familiar with. Trying to build a siege mentality may help some, but it’s got a bit of the Kevin Keegan’s about it.
Much like Kevin, I would love it we beat them.
The game at Pittodrie has now been rescheduled for Wednesday 4th March. An arbitrary date in isolation but it has made a tough period, look like a monumental week. It is sandwiched between a trip to Ibrox on Sunday 1st and a home tie against Motherwell on Saturday 7th. A pivotal 3 games in 6 days, which may well be make or break our league chances.
It seems like a bad turn of luck but the original tie being cancelled may well have it’s benefits. Hear me out.
This was our first midweek off in 3 weeks. Bologna(A), Hearts(A), Utrecht(H) and Falkirk(H) have been navigated successfully. Ideally, we would have played Aberdeen and won but a poor pitch with tired legs can be a leveller. This kicks it down the road and offers us a chance to catch a breath, recalibrate and go again. Dundee in the cup and Wednesday night’s league game against Livingston(H), are games that allow us a bit of comfort to manage the squad, whilst integrating the new players.
After that it’s pedal to the metal. All aboard the Honda Civic.
You’ll find us there.
Letters from Zaire, is a kind of light-hearted catch all newsletter. I try to capture, the feeling and the main, general narrative of what’s happening at Celtic.
It took me a year to reach 100 subscribers but in the last 5 weeks alone, 65 new recruits have joined us. Jesus, Mary and Jota, the pressure is on.
It’s hard to keep up with the club currently. It would be a lie to say it’s not exciting though. A permanent state of extreme excitement is the definition of the term Fever Pitch. Which seems like a good place to end.
From Zaire
Mark