Grounds for complaints?
With the amount of news surrounding our non-existent former rivals and Sevco, it was always going to be difficult to spend a summer talking about Celtic. More so when there really wasn’t a great deal happening at Celtic Park. There were plenty of fringe players who left, one signing came in and that was about it really.
I’m a great believer in regularly refreshing the squad so I’m a bit disappointed that we’ve not got another goal threat to battle for a starting slot with Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes. In defence, I think we could do with some cover, especially now that Glenn Loovens and big Dan have moved on to pastures new. That said, Neil Lennon has been quoted as saying that new signings will be brought in depending on how well we do in the European qualifiers.
That alone tells me that either Neil himself or the people above him at the club feel that there’s enough quality within the squad to retain the championship.
Given that Helsinki was the first competitive game of the season and such a high stakes match, I was happy enough with a 2-1 win.
I think their goal was slackly conceded and perhaps illustrates what Neil Lennon has been saying. That we could do with more defensive cover.
Overall, I think we deserved our win and given the amount of possession that we had and the lack of possession that Helsinki had, I am surprised that there were some fans getting on the teams back.
Are these people just naturally worried folk? Without having a go at fellow supporters, I think it’s about time that more of us got behind the team and stopped being so negative.
Before I make the next point, I would like to ask what good shouting abuse at a player for a misplaced pass is going to do? By all means, if there’s a good reason for doing it then I am all for it but so far, I’ve never found that this is a worthwhile exercise. The normal argument is that everyone pays their cash so folk have as much right to complain as I have to encourage the team.
I heard a fellow supporter on the phone shortly after Helsinki scored to tell someone how bad it was and that we were a goal down. There was no phone calls made when Celtic equalised or went ahead. That’s the negative mindset that I cannot understand.
As always, I thought the Green Brigade were excellent and have to say that I enjoy being part of and hearing the “Come on you bhoys in green” chant.
While I’m on the point of the Green Brigade, I think it’s time that the SPL took on board what clubs have done and learn that fans actually do matter. After the game against Helsinki on Wednesday, we travel to play in the USA. Of course that’s something that the club have decided on, I have discussed the merits of travelling so far for a friendly match in the past. I am not really for it but some non UK / Irish based fans see it as a rare chance to see the team play.
The following two matches that Celtic play are away to Ross County, approx 360 miles from Celtic park. The following week, it’s back up north to play Inverness, that’s another 340 mile round trip from Celtic Park. For me, that’s asking too much of the fans. Whoever comes up with these fixtures shouldn’t be in a job as they are either incapable or unwilling to take fans into consideration.
In the past, we’ve been told that it’s a computer that generates the fixtures. This is the same computer that can be changed as and when Sky tell them to change dates and or times. It’s also a computer that was programmed by a human (otherwise, it wouldn’t be a computer) so I certainly don’t buy into the argument that no one is to blame and it’s that’s just an unfortunate and random series of coding that makes the stupidity of these fixtures a reality.
If some media outlets along with the top man in the SFA, Stewart Regan are to be believed, Scottish football will be dead and buried within the next few months. Thankfully, some clubs are disagreeing with that and saying that more fans than ever are needed at the grounds. Surely the people running the top league in the country could take note and arrange the fixtures in such a way that fans are not having to travel such a long distance two weekends in a row?
I know as much as possible, I will be going to as many games as I can. With the season ticket prices and a recession happening, I’m not sure how many away matches I will manage this season. I’m sure a lot of fans are in a similar boat and will be picking and choosing what away games we do attend. The prospect of an 8-10 hour round trip doesn’t really appeal.
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