The fallout from Celtic’s Derby Day win over Rangers has been spectacular.
And 7 days on its showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.
But whilst the ongoing tantrum has made for some entertaining content in the opening days of the New Year its vital that Celtic – and more specifically Celtic’s recruitment team – don’t let anything distract them from the vital work that’s required this month.
It was Napoleon who once said “never interrupt your opponent when he’s making a mistake” and whilst the legendary French emperor may have been long gone by the time Rangers, the SPFL or VAR were even thought of, his words still ring true today.
Celtic – as they’ve done since the final whistle blew at Celtic Park on the 30th of December – should play no part in fuelling the fire of the deflection tactics that Rangers have deployed in the week that’s followed.
And make no mistake, that’s exactly what they are.
Let them and countless others continue to tie themselves in knots over a game where Celtic – once again – exerted their authority where it mattered most.
FULL FOCUS ON THE JOB AT HAND
Former manager Ange Postecoglou was a huge proponent of “controlling the controllables” and on giving full focus to matters that you can directly influence.
It’s an approach that has served him well, and one which the club would do well to adopt at this time.
We can’t control what our rivals, what the SFA, and what countless media individuals choose to get upset about, but what we can do is use the next few weeks wisely as we prepare for the second half of this season and beyond.
Whether we get the four “quality” players that Brendan Rodgers has deemed necessary or not remains very much in the balance, but the board must now do all they can to support him as he targets what would be an eighth trophy as Celtic manager.
Kyogo staying in Glasgow during the Asian Cup, as well as the upturn in form from the likes of Paulo Bernardo, Greg Taylor and Callum McGregor are all huge positives as we head into 2024 but we cannot allow complacency to creep in as we target another all-important Scottish Premiership title.
As is always the case at this time of year several names are doing the rounds including Sydney Van Hooijdonk (Bologna), Tiago Araujo (Estoril), Scott McKenna (Nottingham Forest) and many others – most of which will likely amount to nothing.
However, whether we recruit household names or otherwise it’s crucial that quality additions are made – particularly in the areas of left back and centre forward – if we’re to kick on between now and May.
The financial rewards of next season’s Champions League have been well documented and of course that’s of vital importance if the club have any ambitions to restore credibility in Europe.
The shorter term focus however should be fully on maintaining our domestic dominance, and on retaining the Scottish Premiership trophy for what would be a 12th time in the last 13 seasons.
Anything else in the background, as always, is just noise.
