Celtic have buried the survival lie. By the end of this season, they will most likely have added 2 more nails in the Ibrox coffin. This has been 27 ye

12/16/2024 01:06 PM

In the end, they fought tooth and nail against Celtic to retain their bogus bragging rights, but it just wasn’t enough.

Anybody who thought they would roll over and accept this, wasn’t thinking straight.

Celtic were made to work very hard for the accolade of Scotland’s most successful club.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

And while a game like that going to penalties is nerve shredding, there was no way more fitting than this to take home the trophy.

Simply because there is no harsher way to lose a cup final than for it to go to the wire, and to then lose it on penalties.

It is gut wrenching.

Soul destroying.

So, the way in which the Ibrox side lost to Celtic was fitting for the occasion it encapsulated.

Yesterday was the day when all of the lies were buried.

When they were made insignificant by one final kick of the ball on a cold, damp and historic evening at Mount Florida.

Daizen Maeda was the man who secured it in the end.

Personally, I would not have wanted anyone else to take that final kick.

It would appear Brendan Rodgers was of that particular mindset too.

Maeda is as cold as ice.

The ideal candidate in a situation such as that one.

He dispatched his penalty with complete assurance.

The assurance of a man who knew exactly what it was that was on the line.

When the Celtic end of Hampden Park erupted, and the Ibrox end descended into a myriad of depressive emotions, he savoured every bit of it.

He will forever be remembered as the man who took the penalty kick that elevated Celtic Scotland’s most successful club.

Many people have said that if his finishing and final ball were just that bit better, he could become a cult figure at Celtic.

There was no questioning his finishing yesterday.

He took his goal with aplomb.

And I’ve already described how he dispatched his penalty.

By default, he is now a cult hero at Celtic.

He deserves every bit of that status now.

I said in the headline that yesterday was 27 years in the making.

Because, for people like me, the journey to yesterday began 27 years ago.

It started at Tannadice on the 27th of May 1997.

When Rangers 1872 secured 9 titles in a row.

A feat many of us Celtic fans of that particular generation believed could never be matched.

When it was, I would say that day, we were reduced to levels similar to those the Ibrox fans were reduced to yesterday.

It was rock bottom.

Most of us believed we would never see Celtic stop the juggernaut playing out of Ibrox at that time.

Then again, we never knew exactly what was going on under the hood there either.

All we knew was that they owned the media, they had a limitless supply of money, and they were kicking us again, and again, while we were down.

It was the hardest of times to be a Celtic fan.

But we never gave up the faith.

We never gave up the belief that things could change, despite the fact that at the time, it seemed hopeless.

And change they did, May 1998 and the stopping of the 10, may have seemed like a false start by the following year, but it WAS the beginning.

When they came to Celtic Park on the 2nd of May 1999, and won the title there in the fashion they did, aided and abetted by Hugh Dallas, it was rooted deeply in the minds of every Celtic fan that day.

Tattooed to our brains forever more.

The way they celebrated and mocked our huddle.

They could never win with grace, or with class.

I could go on, and on, about the 90’s, but to wallow in those days is now pointless.

Yesterday, all of the ghosts from those days were exorcised with that final penalty kick.

We are now the undisputed dominant force in Scottish football.

And we have built that dominance from the ashes of 1997, 1999, 2000 and everything that followed thereafter.

We have built it legitimately and from the ground up.

On solid foundations, sustainably, and through sometimes frustratingly frugal cash management.

But today is not going to be one of those days that I call out the board.

Whether I like it or not, they played their part in yesterday’s win too.

I’m sure they are smiling with satisfaction after it.

I will talk about the game in detail with James and Joe on tomorrow’s Trinity Tims podcast.

For the last 24 hours, I have been wallowing in the fact that the journey from May 27th 1997 is finally over.

Celtic Football Club is the most successful club in Scotland.

Read it again, and take it in.

I will never take it for granted.

Not even Hugh Keevins can dispute this fact.

I have been a Celtic fan for 4 decades now, I have learned the hard way never to take anything for granted.

So, I will cherish where we are today.

And celebrate the end of a journey spanning three decades.

This is what it means to be Celtic.

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