It would be fair to say that when the season got underway, with unfancied new boss Ante Postecoglou in situ, Celtic fans weren’t all that impressed with the initial displays put in by the Australian’s new-look side.
Incredibly the Parkhead side lost three of their first Scottish Premiership games, astonishing when you consider the previous campaign, Celtic lost just five out of 38 and still finished second to Rangers, and the knives were already out.
At that point, many were confident that Rangers would pick up back to back domestic titles, almost as confident as you’d be if you opted to check out UK online casino reviews before picking a relevant provider, but it turns out that Celtic were merely giving their Glasgow rivals a false sense of security.
Celtic got their act together and managed, quite spectacularly, to go the remaining 32 games of the season without defeat. Key among those results were two defeats and a draw from their encounters with Rangers, and in the end, they marched to a title success by four points.
What Can Postecoglou Achieve?
When you have something of a closed league, such as the Scottish top-tier, where the winners have been either Celtic or Rangers for every season for 37 years, discussions about what this side can achieve become a little problematic.
Postecoglou will hope that the carrot of Champions League group stage action can help when it comes to recruitment and will want his Celtic side to mount a good account of themselves but once again only really measured against who comes out on top in Glasgow.
New additions brought in last summer certainly paid off. In particular, Kyogo Furuhashi, who finished as the top scorer with 20 goals in all competitions, has impressed, and Joe Hart proved very effective between the sticks, with 26 clean sheets from his 54 appearances.
The former Man City man had a lot to prove after a few seasons in the wilderness, and he duly delivered the goods.
Celtic will hope to keep hold of on-loan defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, who was most impressive last season, and one imagines Tottenham may well accept offers for the United States international.
Jota is another who was very effective last season, and Postecoglou will want to persuade Benfica to make his loan move a permanent one, and again the offer of Champions League football may prove key in such matters.
Rangers Are Sure to Rebuild
As impressive as Celtic were last season, they were helped out by the fact that Rangers saw Steven Gerrard tempted by a move to manage Aston Villa, resulting in the replacement of the manager, and Gio Van Bronkhorst will no doubt be offered funds to rebuild his Ibrox side, and that’s something Celtic will have to factor in.
In other words, Celtic cannot rest on their laurels and will once again have to be at their very best to secure a 12th top tier in 13 seasons in 2022/23.
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