Seville and the four lessons for Scottish Champions Celtic

The Celtic Star

·19 May 2022

Seville and the four lessons for Scottish Champions Celtic

Stop laughing! Stop gloating! And let’s learn a few lessons! That Shaun Riley fella is leading you all astray this morning.

Today is probably a good day for Celtic. Just imagine what life would have been like otherwise! The BBC Reporting Scotland in particular this week has really annoyed me by its grovelling sycophancy, and the Press has been little better. Just imagine how often we would have had to see someone lifting that trophy and someone else coming off an aeroplane with it, and guess where tonight’s Reporting Scotland would have been broadcast from? Everyone walking up the marble staircase dressed in blue, and no-one talking about who won the League! Yes, we can be relieved we have missed all that!

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TOPSHOT – Frankfurt’s Serbian midfielder Filip Kostic lifts the trophy as Eintracht Frankfurt players celebrate after winning the UEFA Europa League final football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Glasgow Rangers at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville on May 18, 2022. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP) (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)

And yet I can feel a wee bit of pity for some of them. There are decent folk among them as well, and we have been there too – in that very same city 19 years ago. But the pity and the sympathy must be tempered when we recall what they would have been like if they had won. At least two of their former heroes went around saying that the Europa League was more important than the Scottish Premier League, and we would have had an awful lot of that to put up with. As it is, they have won neither.

SEVILLE, SPAIN – MAY 18: Aaron Ramsey of Rangers looks dejected following their sides defeat in the UEFA Europa League final match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers FC at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on May 18, 2022 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

But enough of the gloating! There are four lessons to be learned from this.

1. It actually says a lot about Celtic. If the team that we beat in the League by four points can reach the final of a major European competition, so too can we. Celtic can’t be all that bad, can they? No need for any inferiority complex.

2. There can now be no excuse about money and not having a big budget etc. Whatever they can do, we can do better. Not only can we. We must! There can be no more losing to these teams who begin with the letter M – Malmo, Maribor etc. We are Celtic! Only the best is good enough, and a run in Europe is now a must.

3. Maybe a club can spread itself too thinly. Remember 2003 when we lost everything? That is why we must keep on adding to the squad.

4. Never let a game go to extra time and/or penalties. It is a lottery, and I agree, great television, but let’s get the game won in 90 minutes.

And so enjoy today! And on Saturday break the habits of a life time and support the Jambos! No building bonfires on Saturday at least! But maybe you would prefer a game of golf, or a day in the garden or in the pub, or shopping or (as in my case) a game of cricket. It would be nice to see Robbie Neilson with the Scottish Cup, would it not? They haven’t had an awful lot to be happy about in recent years. And we could do with seeing a few more happy faces.

After all, we saw a lot of tears last night.

David Potter