tough decisions ahead for all concerned as 12 game league starts now

 

When Gordon Strachan’s chapter in Celtic’s history comes to be written - and it will be a highly distinguished one, regardless of what happens this season - the name Motherwell will feature prominently. Apart from his first league match in charge which ended in a 4:4 draw and had already made up more than a few minds about his capabilities as Celtic manager, they came to Celtic Park in the spring of last year to claim three points and spark scenes reminiscent of the days of the Kellys and Whites inside the stadium.

Last Sunday’s 1:1 draw at Fir Park has left us with more than a hint of deja vu. The temperature on the hot seat has risen a few more degree and the disgruntled among the fans now outnumber the gruntled. Unless there is a rapid and dramatic turnaround in Celtic’s form, there’s going to be a hell of a lot more gruntling before this season’s over.

Following the Motherwell game last season the team went on a remarkable run of successive victories. It’s now a 12 game league and we need to do the same again. Being course and distance winners you might expect that the players and the manager are capable of a repeat. But the circumstances this year are very different.

While the manager has always divided opinion among the fans, the one thing that his supporters could always point to was that although it might not be entertaining to watch, his team got results. As we stand now, the standard of football is just as poor, but the results have evaporated as well. A case for the defence is becoming increasingly difficult to muster - and I’m not talking about the merits of Mick or Heid.

The debate about the future tenure of WGS has already started, of course. A continuation of our present form and it will all be as academic as Bamber Gascoigne at a nerds convention. The kind of results his team has been posting over the last ten games get any manager the sack, plain and simple.

New players were added to the first team in January 2008. They turned out to be crucial in turning round our stuttering fortunes, albeit the inclusion of Barry Robson was a change forced on WGS.

We don’t have the new players this January (Willo Flood excepted), but a similar redirection and change of plan is absolutely necessary in the coming weeks if we are not to throw this league championship away. Even then, unless the board start sending out positive messages about the direction the club is heading in, so many have become so disillusioned with the standard of football served up recently that there is bound to be an adverse affect on sales of season tickets for 2009-10. The suits are going have some difficult decisions to make in the coming months.

In the meantime we have a league to win. Gordon Strachan must do away with the tinkering and flim flam; pick the best players available, play them in their proper positions and attack every opponent until we win. Do this and he will have the full backing of the support.

Keep repeating the same ineffective tactics and team selections and we could be forced to think the unthinkable.