Win, Lose or Draw - Gordon Strachan Must Stay

From a domestic point of view the forthcoming match against Motherwell is arguably Celtic’s biggest game of the season following the disappointing midweek draw against Dundee Utd.

There’s no doubt the failure to put the ball in the back of the visiting Taysiders net has forced Celtic into a corner and while anything less than three points at Fir Park would not officially hand the title to our old foes, there’s no denying it would put our title hopes in the folder marked ‘Highly Unlikely’ as it would require us in all probability to win the remaining three Old Firm matches.

While this in itself is not impossible, it would be improbable as there’s no doubt we’ve handed momentum across the city and winning three straight victories in such a short space of time against our oldest rivals would be a major ask, especially if the heads dip should we not win all three points tomorrow.

There’s been a lot of talk by a number of people this season about some of Celtic’s ails. There’s an obvious camp of sad individuals who’ve never liked Gordon Strachan since the moment he was appointed and like any self-appointed voice of unreason stand there waiting at the sidelines looking for the first excuse to put the boot in and say ‘told you so – However, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of Celtic supporters give people an opportunity to prove themselves and while addressing an individuals record weigh everything up before coming to a balanced conclusion about their worth to the club. In Gordon Strachan’s case there’s absolutely no doubt he’s been a tremendous success following the complete shambles he inherited following the departure of Martin O’Neill in May 2005.

If anyone had asked the question following Martin’s departure would you accept at least two out of the next three titles, at least two out of the next six domestic trophies, two qualifications for the Champions League, victories over Manchester United, European Champions Milan and qualification into the holy grail of the last 16 of the Champions League for two successive seasons just about 100% of Celtic supporters would have snapped the questioners hand off.

Which is why this continual assessment and at times characters assassination of Gordon by a small section of the support, and I use the term ‘support’ loosely, is both baffling and ultimately a rather sad reflection on those people concerned.

No manager in the history of Celtic football club has ever won every single match played, has never won every single match played, playing football the ‘Celtic Way’ and no manager other than the one season wonder Wim Jansen has a 100% success record when it comes to winning League championships and yet here we have the current Celtic manager facing the type of demands by a small but nevertheless gobshite section that are not only unreasonable but smack of an agenda to remove a manager who has never ticked at least two out of three required boxes that SOME (note for some of those already bumping their gums) of that group so desire.

Och, don’t hide away now as you all know fine well what we are talking about here.

* An ex-Celtic player.
* A Scottish or Irish Celtic supporter
* Cannot under any condition be a Scottish Protestant with no previous affiliation to the club.

Of course toys will be thrown out of the pram at this point, primarily by those who haven’t read the above properly (wee tip – go back and read what I’ve written again) as they shout in their rather feminine voices with handbags raised to chest height, ‘how dare you’ at my above accusations.

It’s scandalous and rather pathetic the comments aimed his way and while we as a support have laughed for years at the goings-on and ironically enough undignified way Rangers fans turn on their team and players for the slightest thing, here we now sit with a group of alleged Celtic supporters who are now no more than a Green and White version of the group across the city, a group we derided for years.

Or to put it another way, Greenhuns.

Thankfully, the majority of Celtic supporters in my experience are balanced individuals and appreciate that while it’s easy to support the club in times of success (sadly some of the Greenhuns struggled to raise a smile the last two seasons) they know that now is the time Celtic needs all their support and encouragement if we are to do our part in trying to help the club win silverware for the fifth consecutive season.

Win, lose or draw tomorrow Gordon Strachan (should he so wish) has done more than enough to merit another season in charge of Celtic as he aims for his third successive qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League.

It’s time for everyone to get behind the manager and his team and give our full support, especially at Celtic Park where the likes of Sno and Caldwell are subjected to ridiculous verbal abuse by a group of so-called Celtic supporters better suited watching their football at Ibrox.

Let’s start challenging those who at every opportunity have it in for our players and manager and reclaim our great club back from a small community so lost up its own backside they’ve probably forgotten that supporting Celtic is unconditional and not solely based on winning every football match played.

We all have our roles as supporters to play.

Let’s reclaim the stands, get behind our Bhoys and excellent manager and offer the type of support that Celtic has historically been renowned for.