Opportunity knocks.
The clock is often the most cunning and relentless of all final bosses. In general Celtic are on thin ice, wearing hot skates and time is running out.
We are now about to enter the split, the big dial marked jeopardy is set to get cranked to 100. Five games left to play with zero room for error.
There needs to be a shift. Something amongst the group; belief or additional motivation needs to be conjured from within. Something has to change on the park also. Whether it’s stumbled upon, a la Robson & Hartley, or whether a tactical shift produces more cohesion organically is irrelevant at this point.
They haven’t been completely invertebrate, but the current posture of this team needs straightened. Last minute goals, comebacks and the odd strong performance indicate some inherent fight still exists, in this uber maligned group. Now is the time for it to be purified. The final chapter is about to be written, 8 months of pre narrative is about to be calcified in fact, figures and silverware.
Time is running out, but timing is everything. You only need to be top once to win it.
Past glories perhaps shouldn’t influence the present, but they do; precedent often begets belief. There remains a straightforward route for this to be a success. Beat Hearts and Rangers at home and – all other things being equal - we’re there or thereabouts.
Whether we have that in us, is another question.
This weekend, despite it being knock out football, strangely offers a reprieve from the hand to mouth, do or die, knife edge of the league pursuit. Cups are good but often in recent years, they have become the small plates, that accompany the main, succulent dish of a title.
The purgatorial limbo of the season lingers on week to week. Are we too enervated to resist our fate?
Saturday brought three points but again left many questions unanswered. It was an afternoon, perfectly apposite of its surrounding context.
In previous seasons, a perfunctory win would be just that; a box ticked on the way to the eventual formality of trophy day. We would be able to make peace with a less than sparkling performance and chalk it up to being One of those days, taking comfort from the fact that the next week will bring more goals, better football and bigger smiles.
Multiple goals and good performances though, have become an exception this campaign, where every week brings more drama. I’ve used the title of a potential Oscar winner often this season, but it really has been, one battle after another.
The excitement of a fuller house, with bigger decibel levels brought with it a latent optimism. This was reified by the bannered sentiment of “All together now” but there was an empty, gnawing anxiety present in the aftermath of the game. There is, however, little time to cogitate whilst still in the throes. Football is as always, the main attraction, the title race, the ultimate distraction from the overarching problems.
Next up…
The role of misfortune, in the decline of this side should not be lost completely, however easily it is misplaced, amongst the rubble of mismanagement. It’s not a wild take to suggest we might have got away with it, had just one of our long-term injuries been fit for the season.
This Sunday, it’s St.Mirren again. It’s not an opportunity to rotate the team but it should certainly be managed. If all goes to plan, next weekend’s pivotal home game against Falkirk, may see a fitter, stronger and recalibrated version of the first 11.
Some semi-important players seem to be on the cusp of fitness. Alastair Johnston is back on the grass, Arne Engels returned to the matchday squad and the lesser spotted but nonetheless exciting prospect Callum Osmond, is also back in training. It’s a leap to put much responsibility on Osmond but it would be good to see a glimpse of the future as we simultaneously say goodbye to the past. That fevered enthusiasm he displayed in bitesize form, is – along with tangible quality – what has been missing all season.
Kelechi Ihneacho is another week closer to either sharpness or the injury we expect is just around the corner. The Nigerian could prove to be a handy tool. It doesn’t take the most discerning customer to see the nuance, technique and general ability chasm that exists between him and the surfeit of nonsense we have assembled. A hapless bunch of forwards, with Tomas Cvancara as its ignominious poster boy. The others are probably worse, but it’s hard to judge what we’ve not seen.
We miss McGregor. Not the irritation we are currently watching but the McGregor McGregor probably misses as well. The ubiquitous, engine of the empire looks like he needs an oil change. Managing injury takes its toll and he’s been a silhouette of the driving character we’ve become accustomed to. His short-term rejuvenation should be high on the agenda this weekend. A wee seat wouldn’t be the worst thing for him.
Same goes for Kieran Tierney, who despite a rejuvenation similar to that of Kaiser Soze, has started to look somewhat jaded in recent weeks. This is understandable considering his fitness history. There is an able and willing deputy there in Marcelo Saracchi and this swap seems logical for the time being.
Tierney, Scales and McGregor, looked jarringly awkward on Saturday. A trifecta of immobility. Sluggish on the ball, sedentary in general.
Win this weekend, and it’s three games on the bounce. Is that momentum? Well, no but it’s a pre cursor to it. Win at home to Falkirk, then at Easter Rd and you would imagine, the Rangers game at home brings a massive opportunity to sneak in front. An almost winner takes all, game for the ages. It seems like a long shot and a cerebral possibility, all at the same time.
This brow-beaten beleaguered bunch of players have an opportunity to be celebrated, in a strange, present but posthumous, almost tongue in cheek fashion. Arguably the worst side in a couple of decades could pull of the most celebrated victory in years. A regression to the mean will somehow make their achievement more gilded.
It’s all to play for.