it's not over until it's over

The perceived wisdom of the proverbial Old Wives has it that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb; the same could almost be said of Celtic's mad month as the elation of progress to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup at the expense of Liverpool was swiftly followed by the depression of a Scottish Cup exit against the hairy-arsed Highlanders of Inverness Caley Thistle, a team coming off the back of a 4:1 humping by the mighty Clyde no less.

Yet for all that the game against Caley might have exercised the headline writers for a few days, there is no comparison between this season's defeat and that of three years ago. Back then it was the nadir of a dismal period in the club's history and it was almost a relief as it became clear that the Barnes/ Dalglish/ McDonald Nightmare Team had nowhere left to go. This year's defeat merely exposed the unfortunate truth that we have a squad which has been stretched to the limit because of a punishing schedule of gruelling European ties. Sadly, the fringe players, when used in the numbers they were that grim Saturday evening in Inverness, are not good enough.

It's nothing we didn't already know. Celtic's first team have proved themselves against players in the top European leagues. The reserves... well, that's a different story altogether.

The writing was on the wall earlier in the season. A similar looking Celtic team played Partick Thistle in the League Cup and nearly came a cropper at Parkhead. The moral of the story was clearly not heeded.

The bell, book and candle can stay safely locked away this time, though. The Caley game was an aberration in what has otherwise been a memorable season. Martin O'Neill himself has been pondering whether he would put European success before winning domestic trophies. He has hinted that he would accept the UEFA Cup if it meant losing out on the home front. The way things are going he might have to.

Worse still, while our opponents in the UEFA Cup semi-final might not, on paper, appear to be any better than Vigo, Stuttgart or Liverpool, to underestimate them in any way is to tempt the fates to deliver the ultimate kick to the nethers. Apart from anything else, a good result against the Portuguese might be just the tonic we need to galvanise a tired-looking squad for the last big push to the finish line.

In the SPL, although the result at Dens Park was undoubtedly a morale-shaker, the ultimate destiny of the title is still in Celtic's hands. We're no worse off than we were before the game in Dundee - assuming Celtic can win all their remaining games (not beyond the realms of possibility) a win at Ibrox would keep the championship at Parkhead. It would be particularly satisfying to win it given that the chip wrappers have actually presented the league to the Huns already.

Yet, at least in the short term, failure to win the league this season would not be a complete disaster. Thanks mainly to Celtic's performances in Europe over the last couple of years, the SPL has two teams in the Champions League qualifying round next season. With the top two sitting 25 points ahead of Hearts you don't have to be Bob Crampsey to work out who the two prospective candidates are going to be.

The important matter, then, is for the board to address the depth of squad issue and give the manager enough money to strengthen the team - and not just with fringe players cherry-picked from the also-rans of the SPL. That done, it is essential to win the league next season thereby ensuring automatic qualification for the group stages in 2004-05.

However, that's all in the future. It could still be a season to remember but it's going to take all of OFM's formidable guile to steer the team to eight victories in the league - which must include a long-overdue one right in the heartland of Mordor.