Mutual Trust and Confidence

After six games so far in December we have three more to go. It starts with a potentially tricky away fixture on Saturday at Hamilton. With kick off 11.30 pm locally it will be strange welcoming Christmas in whilst watching the final fifteen minutes of the first half! We Aussie based Tims experience some bizarre happenings!

As ever there has to be a tremendous focus on matching the efforts and enthusiasm of Hamilton and if we can do this I am confident we have the players to win games. If we don’t match their efforts we could be in trouble on a pitch that is potentially tricky when you do not play regularly on that type of surface.

Thus far this season Celtic has been very professional in their approach and let us hope that Sunday continues in that vein.

So far December has been good. We have kept our winning run going in the league and exited a Champions League campaign with a creditable point at Man City. In Europe quite frankly, given previous shambolic efforts in recent years, we overachieved.

That we have overachieved this season is down to a bond between the management and players. Thus far this season we have seen that the manager has public trust and confidence in the players and in turn it seems that they have bought into Brendan’s system and methods. This has highlighted Brendan’s coaching abilities but also his man management.

Brendan celebrates with players

It appears that there is togetherness at Celtic Park and this has meant that even for players who have not been regulars they have not felt excluded and gone are the days of stories leaking to the press of disgruntled players. This is attributable to Brendan working with players in an inclusive manner and instilling trust and belief in the way the team has been playing. This has allowed us to rotate the squad and give some players valuable game time whilst trying to maintain freshness in this ridiculous month of nine games.

Bottom line is that we are seeing what happens at Celtic Park when we have a manager who exudes confidence and authority but is also humble enough to remain rooted and not get carried away. Yes I know Brendan has set the team targets….every good manager will be doing likewise whether it is about avoiding relegation or winning trophies. However we are witnessing a manager who understands the club and what we stand for, on and off the pitch.

I do not subscribe to the view that we will go through a domestic season unbeaten. It will happen at some time but regardless of this we should be enjoying the ride that we are on with the bold Brendan. Long may it last.

Finally…Merry Christmas to all. Christmas for me is still a time of magic and wonder. I hope everyone gets exactly the kind of Christmas they want and we truly strive for love, peace and harmony across the World.