I have tried to avoid giving an update on how Glasgow Celtic have been doing in the SPL this season in the hope that things would improve, but they haven't. In fact, things have gone from bad to worse! This year was always going to be a tough one for Celtic with a new manager and backroom staff coming in. However, Celtic's biggest rivals Rangers have not been at their strongest and are going through some real financial struggles that have forced them to sell players with no back filling. The season and the championship were clearly there for the taking but Celtic have failed miserably to rise to the challenge and with only 13 games left they sit precariously in second position a full ten points behind a weakened and bankrupt Rangers team. When Tony Mowbray took over at Celtic I must admit I was a bit nervous, because his experience as a manager had been limited. He coached a Hibs side to become a reasonably competitive SPL side and then took WBA up to the EPL playing an attractive style of football. But in the EPL they were found out and came straight back down again. When Mowbray then joined Celtic, he said he wanted to build an attacking Celtic side that fans would love to watch. Well, there have been moments that have hinted at that vision but the season has been pockmarked by some awful results; early elimination from the Champions league, a poor performance in the Europa League, a shock knockout from the League cup and 21 points dropped out of a potential 75 in the league. Hope was raised again in the January transfer window when Celtic brought in players of the quality of Robbie Keane from Spurs, Braafheid from Bayern, Kamara from Fulham and several others. Celtic certainly started to score more goals but their defence has been leaking goals like the proverbial sieve. The last straw for me was the recent away game against Aberdeen when Celtic managed to get 4-2 up with only 15 minutes left in the game......and yes....they lost two goals to draw 4-4 and effectively handed the league to Rangers. I do like to believe in miracles but for Celtic to win the league now they would have to put Lazarus into the "whatever" category.
All I hope is that the new players in the team start to gel and at least they make the final section of the league season as competitive as it can be. Beating Rangers twice before the end of the season would at least be some sort of consolation for such an awful campaign.
As for the other Celts, well they are in action again tomorrow night against Club Napoli, 7pm.
See you there
A Madison team shorn of its main strike force were put to the sword by a very effective Guilford Hawks team who scored at will in the first half. No Jorge or Carlos meant Madison had a very defensive set up at the beginning of the game. However, the hesitation to attack Guilford or compete for the ball proved to be a fatal error as the Hawks slammed in 6 goals in the first half with only one in reply from the Celts. Almost every attack and shot on goal by the Hawks seemed to find its way to the back of the net. Unerring accuracy or hapless defending? Who knows, but the end result was the same with abject humiliation on the line as Madison took to the field for the second half. That fear drove Madison to play so much better in the next 30 minutes with 3 great goals closing Guilfords lead to 6-4. Tom A was breaking up most of their attacks and also was having some great shots on goal. Alas, the Celts could not close the gap any further and Guilford wrapped up the game with another goal to finish deserved 7-4 winners.
