Could Celtic complete the season unbeaten?
Britain Football Soccer - Aberdeen v Celtic - Scottish League Cup Final - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland - 27/11/16 Celtic's Moussa Dembele poses as he celebrates winning the final with the trophy Action Images via Reuters / Pool Pic Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
It seems the impossible dream, the holy grail that even eluded Jock Stein’s greatest teams.
In 1966/67 a Christmas time defeat at Tannadice ended the run with Dundee United also winning at Celtic Park to deny the Lisbon Lions an unbeaten league campaign.
I have no doubt that the home campaign can be completed without defeat, there could even be a decent chance of getting through it with a 100% record- on the road is where danger and honest mistakes can lurk.
With 12 matches played Celtic have recorded 11 wins and one draw, they’ve been to Hearts, Aberdeen and St Johnstone and won with something to spare. Dundee Ross County and Kilmarnock have had scary moments but at worst those matches would have been a draw like the match at Inverness.
Since Sunday some Celtic players have been talking of a treble, previously that subject would be taboo.
Unless Albion Rovers or Queen of the South have an incredible shock in store Celtic are three matches from Hampden and the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, in the SPFL they have a double digit advantage on the ‘chasing’ pack.
Dembele knows of Arsenal’s invincible season and sees no reason why his Celtic team-mates can’t repeat that achievement.
At Hampden on Sunday he said: “I want that winning feeling. I’m a winner, my team-mates are winners and we want to win every game.
“So if we keep playing like this and keep showing we are hungry, no one can beat us.
“We just have to keep going, keep working hard in training. It is important to celebrate success and that is what we will do but after this we will keep working because the season is not finished yet. We’ve got one trophy but there are two more to come and we will do everything to win them.”
When the bells bring in 2017 we’ll have a far better idea if this Celtic side can go through the league unbeaten.
The January fixture list is brutal and demanding- if that is negotiated successfully the current squad may celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lisbon by writing some history of their own!
CLICK HERE for Sevco in crisis after King’s share deal is rejected
CLICK HERE for Hartson’s salute to amazing Celtic support
CLICK HERE for the Hampden torch display