GLASGOW'S GREEN & WHITE

Sebastian Zucchet

Around one year ago, Rangers had dominated the Scottish Premier League and ended Celtic’s 9-year title-winning run. There was so much wrong on and off the pitch at Celtic that left many doubts heading into the 2021-22 season. A major rebuild was needed in order for Celtic to be crowned champions again, and it was a busy summer for them.

Neil Lennon was sacked midseason last year due to poor form, and in the summer they found their replacement in Ange Postecoglu. Nicknamed “Big Ange,” Postecoglu came from Yokohoma Marinos in the Japanese league, making fans and pundits skeptical about what he could do with Celtic.

His first order of business was creating his squad. There were significant changes in the team during the summer window, including transferring out longtime captain Scott Brown, Kristoffer Ajer, Ryan Christie, Jack Hendry, and Odsonne Edouard among many others sold or either sent out on loan. A total of around 33 million pounds was left aside to spend on incoming players, and Celtic have a reputation of buying players for cheap and then cashing them in once they have developed.

Big Ange brought fourteen new players to Celtic park in the summer, although some would be sent out on loan straight away. Major signings in almost every position were key in Celtic’s success. Premier League winning goalie Joe Hart was signed for one million pounds and proved to be a stellar signing as Hart recorded 26 clean sheets in all competitions this season.

They bolstered their defence with a loan signing of Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottneham) and Carl Starfelt (Rubin Kazan) for four million pounds. Carter-Vickers became a cult hero after scoring the winner vs Rangers in an Old Firm Derby that basically sealed the league title for Celtic. Josip Juranovic and Liam Scales were also added on the flanks of the defence and performed well when they got their chance.

With the loss of Christie, Edouard, and Ntcham, Celtic were at a loss for goal support, but Ange and his scouting team were able to sign some players that absolutely took the league by storm. Jota, a young Portuguese star was signed on loan from Benfica, and quickly became a fan favourite with his blistering pace and skill. He recorded 10 goals and 11 assists in the league. Jota is only a third of the trio that took Celtic back to the top, and the second member is Liel Abada.

Abada was bought for 3.5 million pounds from Maccabi Petah Tikva in Israel and had 10 goals and 7 assists in the league, scoring some absolute belters as well, a memorable one being the third goal in a destruction of Rangers at Celtic Park in February. The fan favourite and player of the season was Kyogo Furuhashi. Signed from Vissel Kobe in Japan for a fee of four and a half million pounds, no one knew what was to come from Kyogo.

Kyogo scored 20 goals this season, finishing as Celtic top scorer. He scored two second half goals to win Celtic the League Cup in December. The final major signing was Giorgios Giakoumakis. He had a slow start to the campaign, but halfway through began to breakout into a star and a regular on the pitch, recording 13 goals finishing as the leagues top scorer.

Celtic had a slow start to the season which only piled on the pressure. They lost their opening match 2-1 to Hearts, were knocked out of Champions League qualifying by Midtjylland, and lost to Rangers and Livingston. But the 1-0 loss to Livingston in September would be the turning point.

The Bhoys did not lose a single league match after that, going on a 32 game unbeaten run in the league. They qualified for the Europa League, but were knocked out and sent to the Conference League where they were also knocked out by Bodo/Glimt, giving them a new record of being knocked out of all three European competitions in the same season.

The January transfer window is all Ange needed to fulfill his title winning team. He divulged back into the Japanese League, a place he is familiar with, and brought over three more players. Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and Yosuke Ideguchi. Maeda scored on his debut and has been class up top ever since arriving, while Hatate has been on another level, and single handedly tore Rangers apart. They also brought in Matt O’Riley for only 1.5 million and he has been a crucial starter. Hatate and O’Riley make up a work engine of a midfield along with captain Callum Macgregor.

Postecoglu has made an enormous impact on the way the team plays. There is a lot of aggression and intensity in this squad, something they lacked last season. They keep a highline, which allows them to have lots of possession using short sharp passes that create more chances which lead to goals. They bagged 92 goals this season, and won 7-0, and 6-0 on three different occasions this season. Celtic are able to stretch the pitch with their pace and skill, and sometimes have a front five which includes the midfielders.

In a season where Rangers were tipped to go back to back, Celtic came swooping in and surprised many people by taking the title back at the first time of asking. All credit must go to Big Ange and his staff for pushing these players to another level, and brining in loads of talent at cheap prices, and gelling them together to create a super team in the Scottish League.

His style of play has made big differences on the pitch and the mentality of this team has been crucial. Celtic have won their 52nd championship and have qualified for the Champions League next season. With a new summer window quickly approaching it will be interesting to see who they bring in. I, like many other Celtic fans are excited to see what they can do next season.