Celtic Diary Monday June 2, 2025: That Was The Season That Was

Here’s an idea.

An irreverent daily look at the news and views around the world of Celtic Football club.

“It’s already been done ” I hearyou cry.

Well, let’s see if we can do it again, without interruptions from the world of Raplh Malph.

As you’re well aware, Celtic finished the season one trophy short of a treble. Rather than be seen as a failure, maybe we should see this as indicative of how difficult it it to actually secure a treble, given that all it takes is one poor performance, one bad decision or one Danish goalkeeper flinging one into the net to scupper our dreams.

Celtic weren’t that bad in the Scottish cup final, though it might have helped if the manager had made his charges more aware of the fact that they had ruined what was a promising season for Aberdeen when they trounced them in the League Cup, after the dons had put up a fine show against them in the league, matching them point for point until that, er,  point.

The cynical tackle on Reo Hatate which put him out of the final was also another sign that Aberdeen were up for the cup, and although it went to penalties, which their eight at the back tactic suggested they were playing for, Celtic again spent too much time in a low gear to actually win the game.

We really need to start moving the ball forward quicker, In fact, moving it forward every now and again would be a considerable improvement.

The League Cup final also went to penalties, after a 3-3 draw with cash strapped plucky newcomers “rangers “, who still don;t deserve a capital letter. Celtic won on that occasion, but again it showed how easy it can be not to win a Cup.

All of which kind of shoots down the theory of tedious trebles, and also points the finger at those in the support who may have adopted a feeling that borders on entitlement.

Fair enough, we want to win everything we enter, if you don;t count the Champions League, but sometimes you don’t. Which , in the long term should suggest that we enjoy the ones we win, and not harp on about the ones we lose.

Speaking of the Champions League campaign, which was deemed a success as the hoops qualified from the group stage into the knockout rounds, it’s maybe time to cast a more forensic eye on the performances.

With only eight teams being eliminated after a plethora of games, and each game more of a cup tie than a league match, it probably would have been harder not to make the play offs, and some might argue a little bit more of a cup tie attitude in some of the games, Bruges, Croatia Zagreb, Aston Villa, would have seen Celtic finish higher.

There seemed to be a plan to just make the play offs, the sale of Kyogo Fuhruhashi adds to that argument, and then to sort of see how it goes.

The defeat to Bayern Munich in Glasgow was preceded by an aura of let’s hope we don’t get gubbed so that we’re still in with a chance in Munich, which was a bizarre sort of logic when combined with the completely different mindset of the return leg, which saw the high of taking the lead through Kuhn, to the devastating low of the defence forgetting who was supposed to do what for the equaliser that sent Celtic out of the tournament, head held high, but not as high as some eyebrows.

We could have done better, but seemed more afraid of losing than trying to win.

Looking back at the Ange Postecoglou years, he was criticised for being too adventurous, but with a piss poor Tottenham side he got his hands on a European trophy.

I knew he would, I’d just kind of hoped it would have been with us.

Next season, especially in Europe, we need to be a little bit more cavalier, a little more incisive and rause the game to a tempo others find it difficult to live with…see the Leipzig game for what can happen. Alright, everyone else might have beaten the Germans as well, but the point still stands.

Probably.

Can we do that with this squad ? Do we need to freshen up a bit ?

Maybe so. Kasper Schmeichel, despite occasional moments of brilliance, always had a Gordon Marshall moment in him. It’s just a pity it had to be late on in a cup final. Maybe it’s time to give Scott Bain a run in the team.

Don’t worry, he’s been told he can find another club. He’ll probably drop it when he does find it, but we wish him well.

Viljami Sinisalo is due a run in the team, say for about ten years or so. Schmeichel can be back up, and with Ross Doohan returning to the club we should be alright for goalies.

Someone else returning to the club after his five year loan at Arsenal is Keiran Tierney. hopefully, their medical centre is better than ours and we get the added bonus of them doing a bit of work on his dodgy hip so he can manage at least one game a week. Whether or not Greg Taylor is going to sign a new deal and compete for a spot in the team is still undecided, as, indeed, is whether or not Jeffrey Schlupp will agree a Pay-as-long -as -you-don’t-make -an-arse-of-it deal.

Which is unlikely, as he’d end up owing the club money

Which brings us to Cameron Carter Vickers, and the endless search for a partner alongside him in the centre of defence. Increasingly, it’s looking like occasionally sticking his leg in front of a forward’s attempt at goal is not enough to balance out the shocking lack of concentration he shows at times, which was shown by his own goal for Bruges in the Champions League.

Instead of trying to find someone to make him look good, which has happened now and then, let’s get in two defenders and see if we can get a partnership that works.

Liam Scales, still young and learning would benefit, as he shows considerable promise, and maybe even there is a ready made replacement in Maik Nawrocki…i had to google his first name, which shows how much game time he’s been given….who has done everything asked of him except to be Carter Vickers.

Carter Vickers, along with Kuhn and Taylor is among those we’ve heard are considering their options this summer.

I kind of hope so.

After finding out what it feels like to lose a cup final at last, Calum MacGregor might want to have a look at his role in the team. This is not a criticism, more a suggestion that he plays his own game, as familiarity domestically has lead to contempt..opponents simply mark him out of the game.

Arne Engels is still learning, and should not be written off yet, and whilst Paulo Bernardo hasn’t hit the heights we;d hoped for, there is time yet.

Which leaves us with Reo Hatate. Often crowded out domestically, he needs may well be turning his head to meet the glance northwards of Ange Postecoglou, with sufficient time having elapsed to make it less disatasteful for him to move for either the midfielder, or perhaps more likely, the talismanic Dazen Naeda, who musy sirely be annoyed at being asked to play on the wing to accommodate Adam Idah, who, granted, ran up an impressive goal tally, mostly from the bench, after the pacy forward line had tired out opposition defences .

Which is fair enough, and perhaps that was the plan until Jota got injured, but for £9m you’d have to expect more.

There are a few water carriers, squad players that have played their part and are happy to do so, such as Tony Ralston, James Forrest and Yang, but there is a need for a little more if we are to make a name for ourselves in Europe.

This summer we will have a qualifying game to play, quite possibly against Maccabi Tel Aviv, in which case the club should do the honourable thing and withdraw in protest.

If we avoid the Israelis, Celtic are seeded, which makes no difference anyway, and the sides we could face will be difficult opponents no matter who they are.

And, as usual, most of the transfer business, the real stuff, will be done as soon as we know whether or not we’re playing UCL football.

Though to be honest, given the standard of the Europa League last season, I wouldn’t be overly concerned at a shot at a trophy even Tottenham won.

We’ll wait and see, probably from behind the couch, how it all turns out.

then, fo course, there is the challenge domestically. Aberdeen in the first half of the season looked particularly dangerous, and Hibernian in the second could well point to a challenge from the east, and if “rangers ” can avoid any problems with their ground this time round they might settle in a bit earlier, especially now they’ve been taken over by new owners.

An American consortium, who presumably, with their dads,  got a boat over the Atlantic every couple of weeks to watch their heroes grace ( they hate that word ) the hallowed ( and that one ) turf of Ibrox have realsied their dream and bought 51% of shares in “rangers “, for an amount which is rumoured to be the tens of pounds.

There was then rumours of a share issue, even though they quickly changed from a PLC to an LTD company, which would see £20m ploughed into the club, presumably to make sure the stadium can be used and pay some of the bills incurred in £17m of losses last year.

The rest will go on players, such as Lyall Cameron from Dundee, who joins on a free.

Several of the current team have left, or have returned to their parent clubs, and the enigmatic Barry Ferguson has been relieved of his duties as interim manager, along with his coaching staff, who will probably return to their jobs on tv telling managers how to do a job they convincingly failed at themselves.

But somehow, the hordes think that their day has come, even adopting a republican slogan, to Make Rangers Great Again.

They never learn, do they ?

This one has all the sings of ending badly, as there is no clear vision and no forensic investigation as to why from the media.

Still, if it does end badly, let’s hope this time it really is the end, and no more of this same club nonsense.

Even Jesus only came back once.

And so, in the finest traditions of the Diary, here’s a picture to ponder…