Our man has his say on another title win at Parkhead as he piles praise on Martin O'Neill
Celtic rose above controversy that was none of their own making and epic story leads us to one conclusion – Hugh KeevinsThey had the opportunity on Saturday to win the league title by virtue of a draw with, or the defeat of, the home team.
Analytics ought to have trumped atmospherics because big players delivering on the big occasion should mean more than big crowds trying to create oppressive surroundings. You would have thought that Celtic had awarded themselves a penalty kick at Motherwell on Wednesday night, such was the furore which accompanied John Beaton’s VAR guided decision.
Ill-mannered reaction was followed by ill-advised comments and, shamefully, the referee’s home coming under police protection, but O’Neill’s side maintained their composure at Celtic Park and rose above the controversy that was none of their making by deeds rather than words. They suffered the trauma of going behind to a Lawrence Shankland goal, equalised with an Arne Engels penalty kick and then produced the dramatic finish from Daizen Maeda which has been their trademark.
All of which leads us to one conclusion. The wonderful thing about league tables is that, as we’re always being told, they don’t lie. No insinuations, accusations or protestations, other than those from former pros on the telly that are best left ignored. Those of an emotional nature bordering on spirituality will say Celtic’s title win was meant to happen, a pre-ordained phenomenon.
The cynical will counter that argument by suggesting what happened against Hearts reflects badly on the quality of the Premiership, a non-vintage league populated by non-vintage teams. The statisticians will point to Celtic becoming the first side for 91 years to win the title after losing eight league games over the course of the season and rest their case when it comes to implying inadequacy.
But any, or all, of those who would attempt to belittle Celtic’s achievement will be drowned out by the roar of appreciation from the Hoops fans for the force of nature who created an astonishing moment in their club’s history. A barely-credible managerial appointment, Wilfried Nancy, and a succession of awful signings so bad that they beggared belief.
There will soon be time enough to examine everything that is wrong at Celtic Park –and the list is extensive – but now is not that moment. Celtic will first of all bask in the afterglow of what could legitimately be described as the triumph of determination over despair, a condition fashioned by a man whose personal story reads like fiction but translates into fact.
Latterly, O’Neill turned a team and a fan base into a movement, not of the political sort – but an emotional alliance of hearts and minds dedicated to one outcome in a team’s favour. The television close-up of a woman of mature years in the crowd who was crying when Daizen Maeda scored with an overhead kick against Rangers last Sunday offered proof of that being the case.
When Rangers had won at Celtic Park last January, people took to the streets outside the ground to protest over the way their club was being run. Nancy was jettisoned and O’Neill came in to unite and mobilise the previously mutinous, on and off the park. It has been an extraordinary example of one man’s standing in the eyes of those beguiled by him and O’Neill’s place in Celtic’s history can now be put into proper context.
, immortalised winner of the European Cup and the first Nine-in-a-Row on a domestic level. And then there is O’Neill. Brendan Rodgers won numerous trophies but O’Neill won hearts and minds at the same time as leagues and cups. There were those who feared Martin might be in danger of tarnishing his own legacy by returning to management at the age of 73 years, as he was then, six years after he had last been in charge of any club.
If Celtic lose it will be their third, successive cup final defeat, under three different managers, inside a year. That is the kind of historical curiosity O’Neill will not want to have anywhere near his name, no matter who he has to defeat to avoid it. , driven to distraction by the embarrassment of having to negotiate the Nancy fiasco with the look of a man driven to despair etched on his face.
O’Neill has brought McGregor, and others, back from the depths of torment to the peak of their powers. What happens next relative to the captain, the interim manager and a squad in need of substantial overhaul, will take up the summer months. Common sense would suggest O’Neill, who has become the father of the club, might be asked to get involved in the regeneration process, not as manager but in a role which befits his status at the club.
He was, after all, brought back to Celtic Park to tidy up a mess created by those in positions of authority, and who remain there while being inordinately grateful for his intervention on their behalf.
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