IT'S DAIZEN MAEDA'S WORLD AND WE'VE ALL BEEN LIVING IN IT!
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- May 29
- 4 min read
ACSOM's Liam McBride looks back on a season of highs and lows for our Japanese Bhoy.
And now it’s finished. What a crazy season of football. In my young years of football watching, it certainly tops the lot. It’s been ugly at times, or most of the time. The quality has been lacking. But at the end of the campaign, with a domestic double to show, it’s without a doubt the most satisfying of any season I have seen.
As a 19-year-old, I’ve heard about the stopping the ten season under Wim Jansen and the 1985/86 last-day drama when Albert Kidd secured his status as a cult hero, winning the title in the final ten minutes for the Hoops as a Dundee player. But never have I seen something with my own eyes so euphoric as the scenes that concluded this season.
It will, by many quarters, and perhaps already is, be discarded as just another title for Celtic in an era of unprecedented dominance. Yet, deep down, everyone knows this was different. With seven games to go, sitting five points behind, even the most optimistic fan knew an uphill battle lay ahead.
Don't be Sad if Daizen Maeda Leaves: Be Glad You Saw Him in The Hoops
Martin O’Neill, as defiant as ever, warned “It is a setback at this particular time of the season and you can't really afford to do that but we are not finished yet.”
And heading into the split, even after two victories, spirits weren’t a whole lot higher. The Hoops had managed to edge past Dundee and St Mirren, both by one goal, but tougher tasks lay ahead.
Before that, though, there was a Scottish Cup semifinal to deal with. Seemingly cruising at 2-0 up, defensive fragilities repeated themselves. With two more goals conceded in the second half, extra time awaited. Celtic were struggling to get past the poorest sides in the league. It stood to reason that the likelihood of picking up five straight victories against the best performers seemed low.
Yet, something happened. Something that proved to be a real momentum shift in the season. The Bhoys scored four goals in seven minutes to rush into a 6-2 lead. Hampden became a coliseum of Green and White noise. Hoops were jumping in joy again, a leash of energy had been blown into the club.
The following week, things got even better. The club agreed to let the Green Brigade back in for the weekend test against Falkirk. The atmosphere would have been electric anyhow, but with Rangers suffering an unexpected 3-2 home loss to Motherwell earlier in the afternoon, there was a real feeling of belief spreading.
Celtic would run out 3-1 winners; Daizen Maeda would rediscover his scoring touch, adding two goals to his tally for the season, one week after he ended his goalscoring drought in the cup semifinal.
And it’s the Japanese international’s form which would deliver the title back to Paradise. It’s been rightly highlighted how this end to the season was the fairy-tale ending to Martin O’Neill’s return to the club. (It looks increasingly likely that this will not in fact be his ending).
Yet, at the same time, this was every bit the ending that Maeda deserved to his illustrious Celtic career. Five seasons, five league titles, three Scottish cups, three league cups, he has eleven honours to his name and you can only wish him the best wherever his career takes him.
Over this period, he has grown into a cult hero, known for his laughably inconsistent finishing but incredibly positive influence on the team overall. He is certainly the best presser ever seen at Celtic Park, a trait that will excel in whatever league he goes to play at.
However, his form at the end of the season, which saw nine goals in the final seven matches, puts him into a whole different conversation of striker. Without his input, Hearts would be sitting as champions and Celtic’s run of four straight titles would be down the drain.
He now stands alongside Moussa Dembele, Odsounne Edouard and Kyogo Furuhashi in terms of incredible recent Celtic strikers. Yet, for all three of them, things ended rather sourly. Whether it was Dembele’s fallout with Brendan Rodgers, Odsounne Edouard being accused of downing tools in a season where he finished the SPFL top scorer or Kyogo looking a shadow of himself as he secured an exit to Rennes in the 2025 winter window, none really got the send-off their talent deserved.
And that’s football; it often doesn’t give you that perfect full-circle moment.
Yet, for Maeda it did, and as a Celtic fan and more broadly as a human being, you can’t help but feel intense joy for him. You saw just how much it meant for a near stoic player over the years to drop to his knees in tears of joy when his league-title winning goal was proved onside.
It’s been four and a half years of running, sweat and eventually tears. And it’s likely over now. It’s been Daizen Maeda’s world and we have all been living in it.
