Celtic's Inevitable Slide?
With Celtic losing their opening day match in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since 1997, questions continue as to how they can recover from last seasons disappointment of finishing behind Rangers as they missed out on a 10th successive league title.
With the appointment of the unknown Ange Postecoglou whose previous experience include spells in Australia and Japan, Celtic fans surely weren’t the only ones thinking that he wasn’t really the man to follow in Neil Lennon’s footsteps.
Postecoglu is yet to win a competitive game after their disappointing loss over two legs to FC Midtjylland of Norway in the Champions League Qualifying. Celtic again showing their inconsistent qualifying form after losing to the likes of Bratislava, FC Utrecht, Braga and Legia Warsaw over the past decade in qualifying. They will have an opportunity at the Europa League with a qualifying match against Jablonec of the Czech Republic this week.
Can Celtic’s poor form finally be a result of the lack of competition that they find themselves immersed in? They have finished in the top two of the Scottish Premiership since the 1995/1996 season and since 1965 they have only ever finished outside the top three on 4 occasions. Celtic have won the league an incredible 51 times, only Rangers have won it more (55) and the next closest league winner is Aberdeen, Hibernian and Hearts with 4 title wins.
A number of questions need to asked towards Ange Postecoglu to see if he is the right man for the job, with such a huge gap in the teams he has previously managed and Celtic. He coached Australia in the 2014 World Cup and he also coached the socceroos to qualify for the 2018 World Cup too, before leaving to coach in Japan. Postecoglu’s appointment is like appointing a League Two manager as the next manager of Manchester United, it’s a ridiculous jump in competition and ability. Will he given the chance if Celtic continue the disappointing run of form that they are so unfamiliar with. Fan expectation will play a huge part too. How much patience will they have after having so much success in previous years?
Going from a guaranteed a title every year, Celtic will now have to apply patience to their strategy and since Rangers reemergence to the top divison since their decline, will Celtic have to wait another year for glory?