Former Celtic striker Derek Riordan has made an important claim about his ex-club.
Riordan only made 20 appearances for the Hoops before returning to Hibernian, where he made his name. After leaving Celtic two years later, his varied career included stints in Beijing, Bristol, York, Alloa and Brechin [Transfermarkt].
While Hibs figures have talked up the Leith side’s chances of overtaking Celtic, Riordan, a Hibees hero himself, has curbed expectations. Speaking to the Edinburgh Football Show, the 3-cap Scotland international was emphatic about both his former Green and White clubs.
Riordan said:
“[Hibs] have taken third spot and put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the season.”
“[Re: Catching Celtic] Nah, nah, I don’t think we are playing well enough. I know we are getting the wins, but. I know Celtic are going through a bad patch, I know that, and they have gave up tools or whatever but it’s a funny season.
“No-one has ever experienced it like this, with no fans. Celtic players wouldn’t be getting away with this if there were crowds.”
Ex-Celtic man Derek Riordan is correct: to a point
For what it’s worth, I’m not buying the “downing tools” narrative.
It’s not as simple as that. This Celtic squad is good enough to win titles, as has been made abundantly clear. The job of motivating players belongs to the coaching staff and manager. If Celtic players are sulking, then a large portion of blame needs to be attributed to those who are meant to be keeping them focussed on the task at hand.
It’s a widely-held opinion that the players have simply given up, but it abdicates a large part of the responsibility for what’s gone wrong at Celtic this season.
Where the former Celtic striker Derek Riordan is right, though, is that the players – and manager – would be facing severe opprobrium from the stands if Celtic supporters were allowed in. In a cauldron of atmosphere where misplaced passes are met with vocal derision, there’d be few sitting quietly during some of the shambolic displays this season has given us.
The thing with these kinds of arguments, though, is that there’s little to qualify them. It’s all entirely hypothetical. We’ve watched Celtic transcend in person, we’ve watched them capitulate in person. Whether or not fans would make a difference is incredibly hard to actually prove.
However, you get the sense that Riordan’s assertion is right, here. That said, unless you’re following the top-flight in New Zealand, it’s the same case for every football fan. From our couches, rather than the stands, we’ve been venting our frustrations. It doesn’t seem to have affected others as decisively.
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