Celtic’s deserved 2-0 win over Hibernian yesterday in the Scottish Cup Final brings us tantalizingly close to yet another domestic treble. Let’s walk through what we have to do over the next few weeks to make it a reality.
Settling an Old Score, With a New Club
Naturally, all eyes now turn towards Sunday’s Glasgow Derby. In what I previous called a stunning display of competence, Rangers somehow managed to beat a woefully underperforming Celtic 3-0 at the beginning of January.
We all know that game was a mere blip. The form of both sides since that game has proven this point.
However, Celtic’s players and manager will still feel they have a point to prove. That New Year defeat allowed far too many in the Scottish media to resurrect the nonsensical idea that Celtic and the current incarnation of Rangers are somehow equals, rivals on an even footing.
We are not, and I doubt we ever will be again. Nonetheless, a win, and a convincing one at that, on Sunday is crucial to once again shut down this myth.
3 Wins from the Title
More importantly, in the grand scheme of things, a win on Sunday would mean Celtic only need to take 6 points from their remaining 7 matches to win the league. So, following Sunday’s derby, wins over Hearts then St. Johnstone would allow us to officially wrap up the title before the split.
These will not be easy games, but on current form, winning all three is well within Celtic’s capabilities.
A Cup Semi and Hopefully a Final to Follow
At the time of writing, Celtic’s Scottish Cup Semi final opponents remain unconfirmed. Livingston play St. Johnstone tonight for the right to join Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen in the last 4. The draw will follow the conclusion of that tie.
Subscribers to the “hot ball” theory say we will almost certainly get Hearts. However, personally, I hope we get Aberdeen. The Dons made an explosive start to this campaign, and for a time it looked as if they might genuinely challenge Rangers for second place.
Unfortunately, our 6-0 demolition of Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final seems to have pretty much derailed their entire season. Truth be told, they just haven’t been the same team since that shell-shocking result.
And let’s be honest with ourselves, since we won’t have the pleasure of piling more misery on Rangers in the final, breaking a few Jambo Hearts on Cup Final Day would probably be most fans’ second choice to wrap up the treble.
One Game a Week from Now Until the Treble
Celtic didn’t just look stronger and more confident against Hibs yesterday; we looked energized and revitalized.
Remember, our controversial defeat at Easter Road a couple of weeks ago came off the back of an incredibly busy run of games. Yes, a team of Celtic’s size should have the depth of squad to manage 2 games a week, but the fact that we no longer have to can only benefit us.
The recent form of players like Yang and McCowan coming off the bench also shows that we have the reserves to switch things up tactically when we need to.
On a similar note, I’m sure like me you were all absolutely delighted to see Adam Idah get that all-important second goal at the end of yesterday’s game. As I’ve said before, Idah is a confidence player, and one who will almost certainly play some role in Sunday’s derby. That goal is just the boost he needs going into that game.
It’s a Great Time to be a Celtic Fan
Whatever happens over the next few weeks, I think we can all agree that this has already been a superb season to follow Celtic. The League Cup is in the bag, the league will soon follow and the Scottish Cup is a real possibility.
Best of all though, in my opinion, we showed once again at the very highest level that we can and will go toe to toe with the very best in Europe, where it really matters.
Enjoy these times, because I’m old enough to remember when such levels of success were merely a distant dream.
Celtic have earned this dominance, and we’ve done it the right way. No tax scams, no cheating, just by playing good football on the park and exercising fiscal responsibility off it.
Scottish football is ours to command, and long may it continue.