Author: wayofthecass

This time last week I was very drunk. Like very, very drunk.

Like so drunk when everyone else had long since departed for the hills I decided it was a good idea to try and relive my youth and jump into Nice N’Sleazy’s on Sauchiehall street to see what was happening and then left after 20 minutes and one drink when it finally dawned on me that the game was a bogey and I probably just looked like some sad old man propping up the bar by himself surrounded by folk around 10-15 years younger than me.

Of course what else are you going to do though after securing a Treble of Trebles? It’s not likely to ever happen again so ‘make hay when the sun shines’ and all that.

The strange thing was though that the excessive drinking wasn’t just to celebrate a momentous occasion. Part of it was drowning my sorrows which seems slightly absurd but it’s the God’s honest truth.

To the game itself and the performance was more or less a carbon copy of what Celtic have produced since Neil Lennon once more stepped into the breach back in late February.

We had most of the ball but for the best part lacked creativity, inspiration and a cutting edge.

In fairness, Craig Levein got his tactics spot on and Hearts were successful at both frustrating us whilst offering something of a threat on the counter-attack and at set pieces.

Though players like James Forrest, Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic who were on fire earlier in the season continue to look uncharacteristically off the boil.

Anyway, as the rain pissed down relentlessly over Glasgow – by the way, is it just me or weren’t all the cup final days back in the ’80s sun-kissed affairs? – Hearts produced a shock lead via Ryan Edward not long after the restart following a pretty forgettable first 45 minutes.  As he reeled away to celebrate you couldn’t help but think the worst.

However, this Celtic team has consistently found a way to win over the past three years on all domestic fronts and last Saturday proved no different as Odsonne Edouard converted after a pretty soft penalty was awarded and then duly slotted home when through on goal after Christophe Berra fell asleep at the back for the men in maroon.

The cup was lifted and nine straight trophies were confirmed. We’d done it. Something which seemed completely unthinkable three years ago in April when Mark Warburton’s Rangers team had inflicted an embarrassing Cup semi-final exit upon us at the very same venue.

The celebrations had begun in earnest though, to be honest, they had pretty much started at quarter to three but I digress.

Just as I was toasting the success the news came through that Neil Lennon had been offered the job and I was, to say the least pretty stunned.

Over the previous fortnight, rumours had intensified and it had been made pretty clear, especially in the wake of Celtic being thoroughly outplayed at Ibrox during a 2-0 defeat by Rangers, that Lennon was now well and truly out of the running. Subsequently, he had cut a frustrated even forlorn and angry figure at press conferences and all roads appeared to be leading to Davie Moyes with some still hoping for the fabled arrival of Rafa Benitez.

Whoever it was an announcement was expected on Monday and finally, the rumours would be put to bed.

For it to come out literally minutes after the final whistle had blown seemed bizarre. Surreal even.  Indeed for about half an hour I actually refused to believe it was true.

It turns out we’d all been had or that was the company line at least.

I mean it just didn’t make any sense.

Peter Lawwell claimed that Lennon was always going to get the job no matter what and even went as far as to claim that no other candidate had even been considered.

If that was the case then why wasn’t Lennon’s appointment confirmed before the match and why did Neil himself claim that he was taken aback by it when offered it in the shower area of all places?

Indeed why did all the players only find out about it on twitter?

Now I’ve generally defended the board over their management of the club through the years.

Though we all want more ambition the fact is that as custodians they have refused to ever put the club in any financial danger and have never been reactionary save the moment they brought in Robbie Keane to save Tony Mowbray back in January 2010. It was exciting at the time but cost a fortune and yielded literally nothing.

I’ve always poured scorn over the nonsensical claims that Lawwell and other boards members are skimming money off of the top and lining their own pockets rather than invest in the team. There’s an AGM every year and every penny is accounted for and believe me if it wasn’t we’d know.

But in this instance, there’s no doubt about it that Peter is lying out of his back teeth.

Other candidates definitely were spoken to, Lennon was not universally the first choice of the whole board and if Celtic had lost the cup final I doubt that Neil would have gotten it. At the very least he sure as hell wouldn’t have been announced in the wake of the final whistle or even the following Monday. It would have probably happened around now when the dust had settled and had a caveat added to it that after considering various candidates the board had decided that Neil Lennon was the best one which would have itself meant the only one to accept.

Anyway, whether you like it or not Neil is now the manager and I’m sure he’ll get all of our backing.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a backward step but more of sidestep and we’ve gone for the easy option as opposed to showing any real ambition and a willingness to invest.

Anyone who thinks Neil will be given big bucks to go out and mould the team he wants to chance down ten in a row is living in fantasy land.

If you won’t give a manager on £2.5 million a year, plus £2 million bonuses for Champions League qualification,  the £3 million required to secure John McGinn then you’re not going to suddenly up the ante and open a war chest for a man on half the amount of money and who had literally nowhere else to go. It just doesn’t work like that.

Why the board have deiced now is the time to batten down the hatches and begin a Deila-esque period of austerity is beyond me though rumours abound that Dermot Desmond wants out and as result, the purse strings are being purged sop as to keep the share value high.

The main source for that is Phil Mac Giolla Bhain and his long-running blog so I’ll take it with a little pinch of salt but the fact is that something definitely doesn’t seem right over at Paradise.

On the player front, we’ve already heard utterings that the squad doesn’t require much investment which is worrying when you consider that we have four loanees departing, that Boyata and Scott Allan are already off and that Emilio Izaguirre has also apparently rejected a new one year contract. Mikel Lustig is by accounts wavering over a new deal and Cristian Gamboa’s contract is also up. That plus players like Compper, Bitton, Eboue and Jack Hendry clearly just aren’t up to it. Added to all that Olivier Ntcham is now being heavily linked with a move away.

It’s going to be a long summer all right and with no club football to talk about until mid-July when we return for Champions League qualification and a quiet transfer window virtually guaranteed we’ll have plenty of time to dissect what might be happening behind the scenes.

Intrigue abounds.

Always wanted to use that title for something. I guess this will be it then.

Celtic will kick off with Hearts in approximately 48hrs time and we’ll be 90 minutes away from a historic Treble Treble.

Of course, we’ll start overwhelming favourites as you’d expect after winning eight back to back domestic trophies and a 26 game unbeaten cup run combined with on paper an absolutely superior squad not to mention that we’ve won all four of our last meetings with the Edinburgh side tallying up an aggregate score of 12-2 in the process.

But the last time we met Hearts at Hampden was way back in the heady days of 2012 when Neil Lennon was in his first tenure as boss and no one gave Hearts much chance then as we walked out for the national cup semi-final.

In the end, we went down 2-1 thanks to a controversial late penalty for the men in maroon that was converted by an ex-Celtic no less in Craig Beattie.

It was quite the kick in the nuts at the time especially as it came only four weeks after a pretty disastrous League Cup final defeat to Kilmarnock. However, Rangers administration and eventual liquidation coupled with us lifting the title for the first time in four years pretty quickly erased any bad taste left in the mouth.

Hearts went onto slaughter Hibs 5-1 in the final that year before encountering their own issues with administration soon after.

Now here we are seven years and fourteen domestic trophies later and a likely one time only chance to capture a treble of trebles something which would have seemed unthinkable back in 2012.

There was, of course, a dress rehearsal of sorts last Sunday as Celtic were given the league trophy and triumphed 2-1 at Celtic Park against the Tynecastle side but truth be told they mostly played their youth and fringe players as did we and it’s safe to say that both teams starting elevens come 3pm on Saturday will look completely different.

Mikey Johnstone looked terrific bouncing back well from what must have been a pretty chastening experience at Ibrox the weekend before and scored a fabulous double. His place in the squad for the final at the very least is all but assured.

And young Karamoko Dembele made his long-awaited first-team bow and very much lived up to the hype. Hopefully next season we get to see much more of him as he continues his progression to possible superstardom.

But on Saturday it’ll be time for the likes of James Forrest, Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic to fully reenter the fray and provide the creativity and expected fireworks.

Our form recently has been pretty consistent. Since Lenny’s return, we’ve been laboured but generally effective and have amassed nine wins and three draws with only one defeat in thirteen games.

It’s not been the most scintillating of football with only 18 goals scored in that time but we’ve proven to be pretty solid at the back with nine clean sheets and only five goals conceded.

We’ve also produced our best performances in the cup with dominant wins away at Hibs (2-0) and in the semis against Aberdeen (3-0) on our last visit to the national stadium.

Meanwhile, Hearts have really struggled of late.

After taking 25 from the first 30 points on offer in the league this season which saw them top the table for the opening few months they have only taken 26 from their last 28 which has resulted in them finishing in a rather disappointing sixth place.

They have lost six out of their last seven league games with no league wins since the 30th of March. Indeed they have only won two out of their last fourteen league games, nine of which have been defeats. They’ve also only kept one clean sheet in their last thirteen which was away to relegation bound Dundee eleven weeks ago come Saturday.

Their salvation for what has otherwise been a rather pitiful season has come in the cups where they’ve lost only once in twelve games scoring 29 goals in the process.

That one defeat was of course to us back in late October last year when thrashed them 3-0 at a packed Murrayfield in the League Cup semi-final.

In the Scottish Cup semi-final, they hammered Inverness Caley Thistle 3-0 to earn their final place though carried a lot of luck that day as Inverness had a goal chopped off and came close on other numerous occasions.

Their season has been blighted by injury with the likes of striker Uche Ikpeazu, captain Christophe Berra, central defender John Souttar and talisman Steven Naismith all spending long periods in the recovery room. Manager Craig Levein had actually completely transformed the squad last summer via twelve departures and nineteen new arrivals but the majority have proven to be dross with the clubs fortunes ultimately not much improving on the previous campaign – league position wise anyway –  and there being an over-reliance on a small band of players.

So as you can see the final really is ours to lose.

That potential scenario sort of reminds me of Rangers losing to Dundee Utd in the final back in 1994.

The Tannadice club had just finished a disappointing sixth in the league under new manager Ivan Golacs and weren’t given much chance in the final against an all-conquering Ibrox side who had won the previous seven straight domestic trophies including back to back Scottish Cups.

Yet they just didn’t show up that day and after an Ally Maxwell howler in the Rangers goal Craig Brewster pounced and the Arabs won the national cup for the first time in their history.

Hopefully, we learn from history and it doesn’t repeat itself. Surely be to God it won’t.

Anyway away from the cup final build-up the rumours about who will be in the manager’s chair next season continue to swirl around like confetti at a windswept gypsy wedding.

Not so long ago most people had resigned themselves to Neil Lennon being made the permanent manager but in the wake of a woeful defeat at Ibrox to Rangers, the past few weeks has seen all and sundry getting a mention.

Last week I had it on total hearsay authority that Rafa Benitez was in pole position with talk that he was on the verge of a Newcastle United exit imminent.

But then nothing came of that and instead Davie Moyes name has reappeared from the ether.

According to some, him getting it was a stick-on and many in Celtic cyberspace appeared to agree with most venting their frustration as the possibility. Oh, how times have changed. I remember before Brendan got the job three years ago many salivating at the prospect of Moyes getting the nod. Now they are more spitting blood at the prospect.

Earlier today I heard talk that Celtic were planning to close down streets around Celtic Park on Monday in the anticipation of a big announcement. That has since been exposed as more bullshit.

The fact is that nobody knows yet who it’ll be and I include both Peter Lawell and Dermot Desmond in that.

My belief is that Dermot wants a big name to clamp down on any possible resurgence across the city and shift the feelgood momentum and the press adulation back towards Kerrydale Street.

However, wanting a big name and getting one are two different things.

Though it seems fickle now at the time Brendan was both available and had some feeling towards the club so his appointment was a perfect storm. The reality is that the likes of Mourinho, Benitez, André Villas-Boas etc just don’t have that sentiment and with jobs available at the likes of Juventus etc we are in the grand scheme of things somewhat small fry I hate to say.

I guess we’ll see and with nine and then ten in a row at hand and there for us to go get our majority shareholder still might have a firecracker to produce come Monday but my overarching feeling is that we should be preparing to be underwhelmed.

Anyway we’ll get the answer to that long-standing conundrum soon enough.

Until then I just hope we can get the Treble Treble in the bag, that weather forecast is miles off and that it turns out to be a memorable day in which we bask in both the sun and shiny silvery glory of another treble.

The potential gloom can wait until Monday if indeed it has to come at all.

To finish here’s a reminder of the last time we played in a Scottish Cup final under Lenny. Much better than the Hearts memory.

 

I have been immersed in work all week and as the days past doing a post-mortem on the game at Ibrox, last Sunday became less and less relevant as a result.

There really isn’t much to tell anyway. Celtic rolled in and may as well have had their slippers on and the cigars and brandy out. The match clearly meant far more to them than it did to us and they won the game quite comfortably 2-0 with Scott Bain being at fault for the first and more or less the whole team for the second.

Oliver Burke should have got us back into it late on but his woeful effort from close range after great play from Edouard just about summed up the wingers time at the club. Disappointing.

Mikey Johnstone was also thrown to the wolves once again just like he was back in December. I feel genuinely sorry for him as he was tasked with playing out of position and covering for Lustig’s lack of pace down the right side. He did a half-decent job of shackling Ryan Keny but offensively did little to nothing.

Neil Lennon cut a frustrated figure after the game but truth be told this kind of listless and confused performance has been the norm under him by and large since his return it’s just our luck finally ran out and we were up against a team that could actually punish us for it.

Back in the day when the shoe was on the other foot and Rangers were winning all before them in the ’90s we quite often gubbed them in the final league game of the season when said match was at Celtic Park. In the grand scheme of things though it meant little as they either had or were about to wrap up the league as well and had already hoovered up most of the domestic trophies.

Examples are us winning 3-0 against them in late March 1991, and in other near season-ending ties in 1993 (2-1) and 1994 (3-0).

Even in more recent times, we beat the old them 2-1 at Celtic Park in 2010 when they were already champions. Indeed that was Neil Lennon’s first Old Firm game in charge.

At the time those were great wins as it gave momentary relief from what had otherwise been painfully inept campaigns with little to nothing else to shout about it.

Now it’s their time to celebrate a win which just like they were for us back in the day mean in the grand scheme of things absolutely nothing. The league table may look more competitive and even like there was a serious title challenge at one point. But they’ll still finish second and we’ll still be champions as well as on the verge of a historic Treble Treble.

All that being said the warning signs are there. They are galvanised now and have a genuine belief they can stop 9-in-a-row never mind 10.  We have had our warning shot across the bow and have to pay heed to it otherwise we are literally sailing towards an iceberg and hoping it melts before we get there.

Personally, I don’t think Neil Lennon is the man to take us forward. He’s a downgrade from our previous manager without question and anyone denying that is either in denial or an insufferable sycophant. Downgrading is not what you do when on the brink of something truly monumental and most likely once in several generations.

Early signs from Lenny aren’t promising. Not only is the football by and large guff but he’s already talking about ‘building a team’ around our 34-year-old captain which shows complete short-termism. He also wants new contracts for the faded pair of Mikel Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre and has been linked with a move for the forgotten man of Sheffield Wednesday Gary Hooper. I mean why not go the whole hog and contact Charlie Mulgrew, Fraser Forster, Joe Ledley, big Samaras et al and get the band back together? That’s really how it feels.

Back in 1997, Walter Smith decided to stay loyal to the old guard of Ally McCoist, Andy Goram, Alan McLaren, Alec Clelland, Ian Durrant, Stuart McCall and Richard Gough. As a result, they lost the league and their only chance of making it ten in a row. Most of those players have all since acknowledged that.

We are now in a similar predicament. We have a squad full of faded veterans and dead wood and it’s clear to see that Neil Lennon isn’t the man to make the big decisions and pull the plaster so to speak when it comes to certain players.

Instead, we need someone with a fresh approach who can sweep the boards, reinvigorate the squad and get us back to playing high intensity, dominant football and once again put the men from Govan in their place.

It doesn’t matter what happens against a piss poor Hearts team in the final next weekend. Even if the unthinkable were to happen and we lost all it would do would confirm what we already know. The warning signs are already there. Lennon has had his dress rehearsal and it’s just not been good enough and we all know it. The fact we’re even debating it across social media so vigorously tells you that. It’s time for decisive action and change.

Who exactly depends on what ambition the board have? They showed it in the summer of 2016. With the tenth straight title so close you can almost touch it now would be a crazy time to not match or even exceed that. I hope they do the right thing. It might be tough but the hardest road to travel is usually the one that reaps the greatest req=wards.

On Saturday Celtic finally sealed 8-in-a-row at Pittodrie and with it a fitting tribute to our dearly departed former captain and manager Billy McNeill and the scorer of our greatest ever goal in Stevie Chalmers.

God knows it feels like it’s been a long time coming.

Strangely considering the final result we started rather typically of late playing with a sort of malaise which has been par for the course more often than not under Neil Lennon in recent weeks as the team appeared to be going through the motions.

Despite coming in as huge underdogs and nursing a large casualty list – a point that clearly pressed on the home support who left six thousand seats empty – the Dons actually created a host of good chances and should have taken the lead in the first half when James Wilson – on loan from Manchester United – had an empty goal at his mercy after Scott Bain saved from Sam Cosgrove only to rattle it off the outside of the post when it seemed easier to score.

Considering they were shorn of the likes of Niall McGinn, Graeme Shinnie, Andrew Considine and Gary MacKay-Steven Aberdeen really were making a proper fist of it and a little bit of frustration was starting to set in when Mikel Lustig stooped to conquer and put us ahead after ghosting in at the back post with a diving header past Joe Lewis from a Callum McGregor delivery.

With only minutes to go before half time, we had conjured a lead from nowhere and that combined with the chances they had missed previously seemed to knock the stuffing well and truly out of Aberdeen.

The rest of the game was a pretty one-sided affair and any doubts about the final result ended when big Jozo Simunovic outjumped towering Dons defender Scott McKenna to bullet home a second goal eight minutes after the restart. It also had the novelty of being a goal scored from a corner which is a bit of a rarity for the men in Hoops.

With only two minutes to go before the full 90 were up Odsonne Edouard stroked home his 21st goal of the season from inside of the box and that was the icing on the cake.

Three goals, three points and an eighth consecutive league championship.

Since the turn of the year, we have had to endure the undoubtedly traumatic loss of Brendan Rodgers which was as sudden as it was unexpected. For many his temporary – for now – replacement Neil Lennon was viewed as underwhelming and the football has at times been equally so.

But what you can’t argue with is the stats and they are pretty impressive. Domestically since returning from the winter break, we’ve gone undefeated in 20 games with 17 wins, scoring 42 goals and conceding only three. Pretty sensational.

Of that sixteen have been league games with 13 wins and three draws and 13 clean sheets.

There’s no doubt the bedrock has been the tight defence we’ve kept with an increasingly solid partnership being formed between Simunovic and young Kristofer Ajer in the centre back positions as well as the emergence of keeper Bain as a very impressive number one.

We’ve always known big Jozo had talent – you could see that in his first season under Ronny Deila and again in spells in 2016/17 under Brendan  – but inconsistency mainly as a result of injuries have hampered his progress and truth be told he looked ultimately destined for the exit door. Now he’s a first pick every week. And Ajer has also really won me over. His old school defending where he celebrates every successful tackle like he’s scored a goal is a throwback.

Initially, after the break, we were energised by the arrivals of Timothy Weah and Olly Burke with the pace and tenacity of two such young and highly touted talents appearing to resonate with the rest of the team and the fans. As time has passed and in particular with the arrival of Lennon both have played an increasingly diminishing role and both are unlikely to be back with us on loan next season. But their impact shouldn’t be forgotten. Stefan Benkovic who was magnificent in the first half of the season has also seen his opportunities reduced to the point of non-existent due to initially an injury but then ultimately the form of the aftermentioned Simunovic and Ajer. In fairness, he’s also a loanee and they’re not so it is understandable they would get preference.

The stats don’t lie and with 26 wins from 36 games, six draws and four defeats Celtic are SPFL Premiership Champions with two games to spare.

Now there is only two weeks until the Scottish Cup final and an opportunity to claim the historic ‘Treble Treble’.

Of course, there is the small business of a fourth and final domestic meeting with Rangers at Ibrox next Sunday.

Ultimately there will be nothing at stake for either club with Celtic now confirmed as Champions via an unassailable 84 points total and Rangers themselves have confirmed they will finish in second spot with a 75 points total so far this season leaving Aberdeen and Kilmarnock well behind to fight it out for third.

All three previous encounters have been tightly fought resulting in 1-0 and 2-1 home wins for us and a 1-0 defeat the last time we visited Govan just before New Year.

There’s no doubt that the light blues have improved under Steven Gerrard this term albeit only marginally. They are on a five-game winning run themselves in the league scoring twelve goals and only conceding one. Indeed they have suffered only one loss in their last 14 games which was of course to us back on the 31st of March at Celtic Park.

That day we dominated them for thirty minutes, took a deserved lead thanks to a superb goal from Edouard and even benefited from Alfredo Morelos’s perennial stupidity as they went down to ten men after about half an hour. It was all set up for us to thump them but instead, it was them who come back into the game, equalised and could have even gone ahead before a late winner from James Forrest.

Indeed the last time we visited Ibrox they were well-deserved victors and 1-0 probably flattered us in a game they dominated and could have scored more.

So basically put this will be a tough task and it might just come down to who’s more up for it which when you consider their home advantage – which really is a home advantage now via the minuscule away ticket allowance for these games which they have absurdly manufactured – plus the fact we have the title in the bag and will have one eye on the cup final could be them.

I remember them rolling into our patch to play us back in the ’90s when the roles were reversed and despite our generally inferior personel, we were still able to conjure up results which would prove to be more or less the highlights of our season. How things have changed.

Anyway, I guess that’ll take care of itself when it comes about.

Elsewhere Dundee finally bit the dust as they lost their tenth consecutive game and whimpered out 1-0 at home to fellow relegation battlers Hamilton Accies who appear on the brink of pulling off another great escape.

They really have been pathetic all season and Jim McIntyre probably wishes he’d stayed at home rather than take over the reins back in October.

St.Mirren are still in with a fighting chance of avoiding the playoffs via a battling 1-1 draw at Motherwell and Kilmarnock went into third spot ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference thanks to a late Stuart Findlay winner at Tynecastle against Hearts who continue to stagger to the end of the season. The result means the Ayrshire side have obtained a record points total in the top flight for the second campaign running and both have been under Steve Clarke who rightfully won the manager of the year award on Sunday evening.

Thanks to their meek performance in a 1-0 loss at Ibrox, Hibs lost their unbeaten league run under Paul Heckinbottom and with it any outside chance of obtaining a European place next season.

But it was all about the Celtic this past weekend as it has been for the past eight years and hopefully, as it will be for many years to come no matter who the manager is.

Like you, I’ve heard the Jose Mourinho rumours that have been flying about these past few days. Of course, it isn’t going to happen but just imagine it did? What a statement. What box office. What a sign of ambition on a continental level. Which is exactly why it won’t materialise.

But hey it’s okay to dream. Just remember to wake up and renew your season ticket afterwards.

Stevie Chalmers passed away earlier today so it’s only fitting that he gets a tribute considering his contribution to the club and that will follow later in the week.

Until then a quick look back at the games over the weekend and Celtic eked out a 1-0 home win over a pretty resolute and ambitious Kilmarnock side at Celtic Park.

The visitors are a strong outfit these days under a talented manager and on their day can give anyone problems and on a few occasions in each half goalkeeper Scott Bain had to come to the rescue.

Steve Clarke is almost a guarantee to be leaving in the summer whether it’s for the Scotland national job – which he probably won’t get due to the standard SFA incompetence – or somewhere down south and the difference in this Kilmarnock team between now and before he came is incredible. It’s a shame their lack of crowds meant that they were never going to come close to being able to match his ambitions but they’ve done really well to get nearly 20 months out of him.

They’ll likely get fourth spot and a possible place in Europe next season and God knows who will replace him but if I was one of the few Kilmarnock fans who bother to show up every week I would savour every last moment under him. They really won’t see his like again.

I’d actually like him in the Celtic Park hot seat next season but that’s not likely to happen and for now and likely the foreseeable future Neil Lennon will have that honour.

As far as that goes you can’t deny Lenny is getting the results – we’re now unbeaten in ten since his return with seven wins and only two goals conceded – but it’s the way in which we are doing it that is pretty underwhelming.

With the exception of the performance against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semifinal two weeks ago and the first half an hour or so of the last game against Rangers, we’ve really struggled to kick into gear.

As good as Kilmarnock were on Saturday it was a pretty uninspired and insipid display from Celtic side lacking any real spark or imagination.

Big Jozo and Ajer at the back were strong and are starting to look like a really good central defensive pairing with Jozo back to the kind of form he showed in 2016/17 and the young Norwegian Ajer looking increasingly accomplished with every game. He even made up for giving the ball away to Eamonn Brophy in front of goal by redeeming the situation with a brilliant tackle.

Not long before that Bain had to deny Chris Burke at point-blank range after the former Rangers man manoeuvred his way through on goal quite brilliantly from the edge of the box.

Despite dominating the ball chances were few and far between for Celtic but when the goal did come we had been knocking on the door for some time in the second half with Rogic, in particular, passing up a great chance to put us ahead but instead electing to try and set-up Edouard.

The goal itself was a fantastic header at the back post from Simunovic after a wonderful delivery from Callum McGregor. Big Simo was wearing the number 5 jersey worn so many times by the legendary Billy McNeill and the goal came in the 67th minute just days after his passing. Things like that are just too incredible to be coincidental.

In the end, it finished 1-0 and though he probably wouldn’t have thought much of the performance I’m sure Big Billy would have loved the result and it means we now need only one point from our remaining three league matches to make it 8-in-a-row.

Elsewhere on Saturday, it was goals galore as Dundee made it nine straight losses against ten-man Motherwell in a spectacular 4-3 loss at Fir Park and are now more or less doomed at the foot of the table. Hamilton Accies blew a chance to virtually confirm they couldn’t finish in the bottom spot and suffer automatic relegation by throwing away a 2-0 lead before rescuing a point with a late equaliser to make it 3-3 at home to Livingston. And St. Mirren also gained a point with a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at St.Johnstone.

Earlier in the day Hibs and Hearts had battled to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road with not one coconut in sight. It now looks increasingly unlikely Hibs will catch Kilmarnock in fourth spot.

Then, of course, to yesterday where the title could have been won if Rangers had dropped any points at home to Aberdeen.

This was a pretty one-sided affair with an injury-ravaged Aberdeen remaining stoic but being unable to create much in the way of offence against a Rangers team that looked by and large ready for their holidays.

In the second half, the home team were awarded two penalties – the second for a farcical piece of play acting by Katic which even gained the scorn of his own manager and led to a second yellow and subsequent sending off for Andrew Considine – and both were converted by captain Tavernier.

So the three points for Rangers means that the champagne goes on ice for another weekend and we’ll head to Pittodrie for an early kick-off on Saturday where just a point will do us.

Though I was hardly cheering them on I was pretty glad that Rangers won. I’d much rather win the title on the pitch and it sets us up for a big day on Saturday with it being an away game adding an extra sense of occasion as I don’t expect the hosts to lie down to us by any means as they try and secure third spot and European football.

However, we’re due a performance in the league and taking into account how well we played in the cup against the Dons plus the fact they will be missing several key players – Considine’s suspension added to an injury list that includes Niall McGinn, Gary Mackay-Steven, Graeme Shinnie, Shay Logan and Connor McLennan – then I’m pretty optimistic we can turn them over and make our eight consecutive title official.

That’s one to savour and that combined with the hopes for a Treble Treble means we could be making a very fitting tribute to our dearly departed former captain and manager as well as the man who scored the winning goal in Lisbon.

Rest in Peace Billy and Stevie. Your feats will live in legend forever.