Celtic Park is not its usual self at the moment, Peter Grant has admitted.
There are multiple reasons for this. The team’s performances and results haven’t been convincing, but the elephant in (or not in) the room is the Green Brigade.
The traditional singing section of Celtic Park has been banned for months, with the stadium quieter than usual.
This is especially remarkable when you consider that Martin O’Neill’s side are in the midst of a four-way title-race, as Grant has been discussing.
You are the Celtic manager. What do you change for the rest of the season? 🤨
Tell us in the comments ⏬
Peter Grant on Celtic fans and title-race
On the Go Radio Football Show, Grant declared: “History tells you: Celtic are absolutely nothing without the supporters. Nothing. They never will be, and they never have been.
“Because the times that it’s been questioned – we went to Hampden for a year, and the supporters didn’t want to come.
READ MORE: Celtic ‘show interest’ in cut-price Huddersfield Town man Cameron Ashia
“They didn’t want to give the SFA their money, because they’re renting it and all that sort of stuff. Really poor season.
“The Covid season – 25 points, Rangers win the league with. So if you just want to talk about two incidents, there’s two to tell you:
“Celtic’s most important people are always the supporters, and you need every one of them. And if you want to look across the road, look what they were like at the start of the season…
“…There’s four teams in it, and you’re saying, ‘I need a push over the line’. What you don’t want to do is choke yourself. You want the other teams to beat you, not to beat yourself.
“And at this moment in time, I think that’s what’s happening.”
Asked by host Paul Cooney if the atmosphere was getting better, he said: “I’m not so sure, Paul. We’ve kept waiting on that switch to get flicked, and it’s just not happened.
“I think the players are capable of putting performances in, we’ve not seen that yet. We keep waiting on it, we keep waiting on it. That’s a worry.
“It’s very interesting – the next three games could be so decisive. Because if you lose in the league against Rangers, then you lose in the league against Aberdeen, then you lose in the cup, you’re talking about Celtic being out of everything.”
Do you see Motherwell as a genuine threat to Celtic?
Celtic’s threatened position, and how they got there
It is more than feasible that the Hoops can enter their clash with Motherwell on March 14th with the Steelmen in a position to potentially overtake them in the league.
In a truly chaotic season which has seen Celtic change manager on three occasions, the instability has taken its course on their league performance.
The disastrous spell of Wilfried Nancy saw them lose the Premier Sports Cup final to St Mirren, as well as home league games against Hearts and Rangers.
But since O’Neill’s second return, convincing performances have been few and far between. Before Sunday’s game, they had relied on injury-time goals in three straight matches.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
