Celtic’s three wins against DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea on the US Tour were great morale boosters for Brendan Rodgers’ team.
The Celtic supporters were expecting tough tests from both Premier League teams despite having players worth tens of millions of pounds in both of their squads, Rodgers’ team took care of Pep Guardiola’s City and Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea with professionalism and with good attacking football.
Guardiola’s reaction to the defeat was measured and respectful as was Maresca’s but how Celtic dismantled his team left the Chelsea boss fuming for a few extra days.
So whilst the Celtic fans were delighted, how were the defeats taken by both sets of supporters down south? Former Scotland striker, Kevin Gallacher explains.
Fans view Celtic defeats ‘differently’
Gallacher works as a pundit down south for the likes of BBC Radio and Sky Sports and here he explains how losing to Celtic was taken by the Man City and Chelsea fans.
Gallacher said [The Sunday Post print edition page 65], “The start of a new league season is always a very exciting time for players.
“Fans might view it differently but, for players, the friendlies are just a means to end. They are about getting fit and regaining your match sharpness.
“After a break, there will be aspects you need to improve on, and you also know that things will pick up. There is also an awareness that if you don’t start the season well you could be straight out of the team.
“If you take Celtic as an example, beating Manchester City and Chelsea is going to be good for their team morale.
“Players will tell themselves they not only bode well for the title race but also for the Champions League group games to come. Yet while the results were noticed down here in England, not too much is being read into them.
“The fact the games were friendlies, played in America and at a time when Scottish teams are a couple of weeks ahead in their pre-season build-ups allows them to be dismissed by followers of the beaten teams.”
Celtic defeats hurt more than Gallagher knows
Now I don’t doubt many fans down south did ‘dismiss’ these results as just pre-season games and I also accept that as Celtic fans, we can’t look too much into them either.
However, as many of you already probably know, the reaction to being beaten by the Scottish champions didn’t go down well on social media or on many of the fan media channels. You just need to look at what was offered on many of the Chelsea fan media sites that showed these fans care a lot about getting a sound beating off Celtic.
Whether it’s pre-season or not, fans don’t like being defeated in the manner that City and Chelsea were and if you were to offer them a choice of winning or losing these games by the same scoreline, I guarantee the supporters of both clubs would take the win every, single time.
With Celtic starting the defence of the title this afternoon against Kilmarnock, confidence will be high in the team after those US Tour wins and that stands them on good stead to pick up a positive result against Derek McInnes’ side.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
