It’s not the pesky Celtic fanzines Martin

Martin O’Neill has hit back at fanzine criticism of Celtic following the 4-1 defeat to Benfica in the Europa League.

While a few publications still appear in print it is a long time since supporter concerns were articulated in old school fanzines.

In the late eighties and early nineties Not The View, Once A Tim and a couple of others articulated the feelings of supporters.

Without them the history of the club may have been very different. Not The View provided a voice for the ‘malcontents’ that finally held the old board to account, paving the way for Fergus McCann to take over in 1994.

On the back of the Benfica defeat there was ferocious criticism of the Celtic performance.

One down after five minutes, three down at half time and making two substitutions at the interval suggests a very bad day. Not many Celtic fans were surprised.

Most were expecting to lose by a few goals, more than three would have made it an especially painful night.

TWO SUBSTITUTIONS TRANSFORMED CELTIC

O’Neill made two changes and suddenly Celtic had shape and purpose.

Their best striker was playing as a striker. Sebastian Tounekti wasn’t on the park with two wide players capable of carrying the ball forward deployed.

The contrast from the first half was stark, helped greatly by Benfica switching off with the points secure.

Responding to the criticism/observations, behind the Celtic Player paywall O’Neill said:

I wasn’t widely bothered about what media or fanzines were saying at the end of it all, as long as the players believed it was the most important thing. And they certainly did.

Earlier he had said:

Well, the interesting thing you talk about the media, in all honesty, is that I know whatever you say, it’ll go whatever way they want it to go. But I was really positive about the second half.

Almost all manager claim that they don’t read or bother with the media. They do, they know what the issues are.

After a defeat they will never reference media critics or criticism from supporters.

On the back of a win you can set your watch on an aside, a put down.

O’Neill has a unique relationship with the Celtic support.

Spell one is remembered fondly for Seville, Sutton, Larsson and the Demolition Derby.

Spell two concluded with the dramatic title win, knocking Hearts off of top spot.

Now O’Neill finds himself as a buffer between the board and a large, concerned and frustrated section of the Celtic support.

In the early 2000s domestic success was a welcome novelty after the dark days on the 90s.

A quarter of a century on Celtic fans watch Dutch and Portuguese clubs perform well in the Champions League.

With half the stadium capacity Club Brugge are regulars in the knock out stages of the Champions League.

Watching Sabah, Bodo Glimt and Viking performing well and taking points in the Champions League highlights how favourable the European landscape now is.

Which is why websites, podcasts and dear old fanzines don’t get overly enthusiastic for a decent second half in a 4-1 defeat in UEFA’s secondary competition.