Police Scotland have already voiced their concerns about the potential for trouble on Saturday in Glasgow city centre as Celtic fans plan to take to the streets once again for a title party.
There has yet to be any official comment from the Parkhead club but Glasgow City Council have, finally, released a statement, urging supporters not to congregate in the Merchant City/Trongate areas.
Of course, supporters groups have already decided that’s exactly what they are doing, so it looks like the police will have to deal with any fallout yet again.
The heads-in-the-sand approach is indicative of the way Scottish football and the authorities tend to deal with difficult situations – it’s mostly reactive, rarely preventative measures.
A Council statement on Thursday morning read: ‘We want supporters of every team in Glasgow to be able to celebrate their successes but ask fans – including those visiting the city – to please avoid disruptive mass gatherings at Merchant City/Trongate and other public places.
‘These events and others like them have consistently led to disorder – causing significant disruption for the local community and businesses.
‘Damage to buildings and infrastructure robs the public purse of hundreds of thousands of pounds that would otherwise be spent on the essential services we all rely on.
‘Enjoy trophy day, but respect the city and your neighbours. Do not attend unsafe and disruptive gatherings in public places like Merchant City/Trongate.’
Wise words, certainly. Will any pay heed? We’ll see…
Celtic fans are planning to, once again, congregate at the Trongate in Glasgow on Saturday
How Siegrist went from Parkhead shadows to playing key role in Serie A title race
The sight of Benjamin Siegrist making his Serie A debut for Genoa at the weekend — and threatening to destroy the title dream of Scott McTominay and an army of Neopolitans in the process — made Celtic Confidential ponder the life of a former Parkhead reserve goalkeeper.
Siegrist, of course, made just two League Cup appearances for Celtic in his two years at the club after arriving from Dundee United.
He departed for an ill-fated spell at Neil Lennon’s Rapid Bucharest before pitching up in Serie A on loan and waiting patiently for his chance, which duly arrived last Sunday as the world tuned in expecting to see Napoli move closer to an emotional Scudetto success.
The Swiss goalkeeper was a stand-out as Antonio Conte’s men were left frustrated in a 2-2 draw which left them only a solitary point clear of second-placed Inter Milan. Siegrist pulled off big saves from Romelu Lukaku, McTominay and Matteo Politano as he backed up the faith of his manager Patrick Vieira in pitching him in for such a high-profile debut.
Siegrist’s time at Parkhead was spent entirely in the shadow of Joe Hart, and his story is a familiar one for all manner of goalkeepers down the years.
Indeed, were it not for the recent injury sustained by Kasper Schmeichel — which he has recovered from in time for the Premiership run-in and Scottish Cup final — then many of us may still have been wondering what Viljami Sinisalo actually looks like.
Benjamin Siegrist safely collects the ball during Genoa’s 2-2 draw with Napoli on Sunday
Former Celtic reserve keeper Siegrist makes his presence felt by clearing a Napoli attack
Unlike Siegrist, Viljami Sinisalo is getting valuable game time at Celtic while filling in for the injured Kasper Schmeichel
Schmeichel looks set to dominate the gloves for Celtic in the same way Hart did for three seasons before him. With the exception of the cursed 2020-21 season, when goalkeeping duties were split between Scott Bain, Vasilios Barkas — the less said about him the better — and Conor Hazard, Celtic have often benefitted from continuity between the sticks.
Indeed, across a 15-year spell, three men ruled supreme — Fraser Forster, Craig Gordon and Artur Boruc. And in their wake lay a string of challengers who tried and failed to break into the picture, from Mark Brown and Lukasz Zaluska to Logan Bailly and Dorus de Vries.
One of the more interesting tales of keepers with broken dreams is that of Dominic Cervi, a highly-rated American youth international who arrived at Parkhead in 2008 when Boruc was in his pomp.
Standing at 6ft 6ins, Cervi looked set for a big career in the game. As it happened, after no appearances for Celtic and two unsuccessful loan spells at Dundee and Morton, he quit the game and went back to college in Denver to study finance and accounting. He certainly didn’t look back with any regret, as he is now vice-president of US investment banking giants Capstone at the age of 38.
There’s no doubt being a goalkeeper on Celtic’s books can often be a frustrating and unfulfilling experience, but it is also a prestigious position for many and undoubtedly a lucrative way to earn a living for very little activity.
Take Bain, for example. The current third-choice keeper, contracted at Parkhead until next summer, earns a reported £7,600 per week — that’s a little under £400,000 a year — for turning up at training every day and fielding shots from the likes of Adam Idah. Nice work if you can get it — we’re sure even Cervi would approve.
Celtic Huddle has remained a symbol of strength and unity for 30 years now
Nearly 30 years have passed since Celtic introduced the pre-match huddle, a ritual that has come to symbolise the club’s spirit and togetherness.
Managers and players have come and gone, but for three decades the huddle has remained, galvanising the team and their supporters ahead of every match.
It was defender Tony Mowbray who came up with the idea on a pre-season trip to Germany in 1995. Followed that day by a 2-0 win against Kickers Emden, it has been done ever since.
The Huddle has become a ritual for Celtic’s players since way back in the mid 1990s
Former Celtic defender and manager Tony Mowbray was the man who started it all
The badge which has been produced by the Celtic FC Foundation to commemorate the Huddle
This week isn’t quite the anniversary of the huddle’s birth, but its part in the club’s modern history will be marked on Saturday when the Celtic FC Foundation has its annual Badge Day.
The club’s registered charity has produced a unique badge, featuring the huddle and the foundation’s clover, to be sold ahead of the lunchtime kickoff against St Mirren.
It is the final home game of the season, when Celtic will be presented with the Premiership trophy and supporters will celebrate another title under Brendan Rodgers.
While the huddle has become a big part of Celtic’s long era of domestic dominance, the irony is that it was born of less successful times, as Mowbray once explained.
‘It came out of adversity,’ said the centre-half who later managed the club. ‘The Celtic players needed to show real unity and togetherness. We needed to show the supporters we cared.’
Idah desperate for a replay of the famous goal he watched on repeat
Adam Idah has revealed he spent a fortnight watching his winning goal from last season’s Scottish Cup final on repeat – and is desperate to relive that magical moment against Aberdeen at Hampden on May 24.
The Celtic striker stepped off the bench to score a last-gasp winner against Rangers last year to complete a domestic double for Brendan Rodgers’ side and admits he couldn’t help reflecting on his heroics during the early part of his summer break.
However, the 24-year-old Irishman wants to finish the campaign in perfect style at the national stadium again and is desperate to be given a chance against Jimmy Thelin’s Pittodrie outfit with a treble on the line.
Asked if he thinks a lot about beating Rangers, Idah replied: ‘I did for the first two weeks. I watched the goal every day.
It’s the magical moment for Adam Idah as he slots home late winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final
Striker Idah sprints away to celebrate after the greatest day in his Celtic career so far
Irishman Idah holds the cup aloft and is desperate to do the same again when Celtic meet Aberdeen in this year’s final
‘It was an amazing day. It was obviously a great feeling for me and one of the best moments of my career.
‘It is exciting to have another opportunity to go and try and win it. It would be fantastic. You come to Celtic to win these trophies, so, when the opportunities arise, you’ve got to take them.’
Idah is also desperate for another crack at the Champions League next term and already has one eye on next term’s qualifying play-off – with a view to trying to go further in the group stage.
Celtic suffered a 7-1 thrashing at Borussia Dortmund early in their European campaign, but rallied superbly and secured a place in the top 24 of the league phase – setting themselves up for a play-off against German giants Bayern Munich for a spot in the last 16.
Going down 2-1 at home to the Bundesliga champions, Celtic were leading 1-0 in the Allianz Arena and heading for extra-time until a heartbreaking – not to mention fluky – deflection off Alphonso Davies killed their dreams.
Idah believes the Parkhead outfit ought to have knocked Bayern out of the competition and can’t wait to get his teeth into top-class opposition at that level again.
‘A lot of people didn’t expect us to do as well as we did,’ he said. ‘I know that Dortmund game wasn’t great, but, from that game, we pushed on so well.
‘Against Munich, we were amazing. We probably should have gone through. You could see the difference in us from the start of the campaign to how we finished and everyone is so excited to go and try to do it again.’
Scholarly Scales wasn’t quite so clever after Celtic’s title party
Callum McGregor had the crowd in hysterics during a special promotional event at a sports store in Dublin last week when talking about how team-mate Liam Scales celebrated clinching the Premiership title at Tannadice.
The Parkhead outfit smashed Dundee United 5-0 earlier in the month and went back to Celtic Park afterwards for a well-earned party.
That success was referenced when Scales was talking to the audience at the event about his days as a student at University College Dublin, where he studied Irish and geography at degree level and played for the football team.
Liam Scales celebrates with Nicolas Kuhn at Tannadice before kicking off the Celtic party
Callum McGregor raised a few laughs when he revealed that Scales had difficult locating his hotel room after title celebrations
Asked whether the big centre-half is the smartest player in the Parkhead dressing room, McGregor, quick as a flash, quipped: ‘I was just going to say… he’s got a degree in geography. He struggled to get himself back to the hotel room on Saturday.’
Scales, who hails from Wicklow, admits that those days in Dublin as a football-playing student were some of the best of his life.
‘They were brilliant,’ he said. ‘Obviously, the football was brilliant because I was part of a UCD team where we were all between the ages of 18 and 22,’ said Scales.
‘We were living in the same complex in the university, playing games, winning games, going out together afterwards. It was amazing. They were really good times.’
Sadiku insists she’s still right person for the job … but needs club to loosen purse strings
Elena Sadiku has insisted that she is the right person to lead Celtic’s women, despite mounting pressure for her to be sacked.
The team’s head coach is a target for frustrated fans after a 1-0 defeat by Rangers on Sunday, which underlined all their recent weaknesses.
Lacking the edge and urgency of their city rivals, Celtic’s players showed exactly why they will end the season trophyless, a year after winning the league title.
The suggestion is that Celtic are going backwards under Sadiku, but the Swede believes she has undertaken a long-term project that requires backing from the board and more signings like those she has already made.
Elena Sadiku tries to get her message across during Celtic’s 1-0 defeat to Rangers
Sadiku has claimed she needs more financial support if she is to make women’s team a success
The Celtic team have visibly struggled since the club sold Caitlin Hayes in January
Asked on PLZ Soccer if she was the right person to take Celtic forward, Sadiku replied: ‘Hundred per cent yes. Because I know my standards. I know my mindset and unfortunately people are not used to how I want things to be and that needs to change.
‘There is recruitment going on on the side. I can’t recruit until I get answers from the board but I know exactly what needs to change in the team.
‘Many of the new players I have signed are the players who push for standards and demands. That’s a good thing. We have players growing into it and understanding how I want things to be. The mentality and the professionalism is changing.
‘Celtic is a long-term project about being dominant in Scotland and we haven’t been dominating. This season has been about learning but we need to look at next season. We’re going to be dominant even if we don’t have the best budget.’
It is not the first time Sadiku has hinted that she needs more financial support. Earlier in the season, she said that her budget was more comparable to those of the Edinburgh clubs than it was to those of Rangers and Glasgow City.
But Hibs have made much more of their resources this season, reaching the Sky Sports Cup final and leading the title race as it entered its final week.
While the sale in January of Caitlin Hayes has not helped Sadiku’s cause, many suspect that there are deeper problems, some of which were evident at the weekend.
With nothing left to play for, Celtic succumbed to an early goal by Rangers’ Kirsty Howat and never really looked like recovering.
Branding their team too soft and slow for their great rivals, some took to social media and urged the club to consider a change of leadership.
Sadiku guided Celtic to the league title a year ago, but the rap is that she inherited the team from her predecessor, Fran Alonso, and that it has been all downhill since.
Despite leading them through their first Champions League group stage campaign, they were knocked out of both cups and slipped out of the title race much earlier than expected.
Their league campaign finishes with a home game against Motherwell on Sunday. While the outcome will make no difference to Celtic’s season, Sadiku could do with the three points.
