HALF-TIME was fast approaching at Celtic Park on Wednesday night. St Mirren, with their deep-lying back five, had successfully frustrated the home side, limiting their chances as Celtic huffed and puffed to find a breakthrough.
Off the back of the goalless draw against Hibernian at Easter Road at the weekend, and the limp UEFA Conference League defeat to Bodo/Glimt, Celtic were about to complete their fifth consecutive half of football without finding the back of the net.
The fans were getting restless. One of the darlings of the Celtic Park crowd – the outrageously gifted winger, Jota – tried to take matters into his own hands, feeding off the anxiety dripping down from the stands.
He found himself on the right, the opposite flank to where he is usually stationed, and attempted to force a backheel pass through to teammate Liel Abada that was cut out with ease, sparking more discontent from the increasingly frustrated home support.
Captain Callum McGregor recognised that an intervention was required. Firstly, to calm the players around him, which he then hoped would result in a calming of the tension that was building all around Celtic Park.
By returning to their principles, Celtic found a way to breach the St Mirren rear-guard action and ensure that they kept Rangers at arm’s length at the top of the Premiership table in the process. Their patience, this time, ultimately paid off.
It is a maxim that McGregor believes both the Celtic players and supporters would be advised to heed as the league season enters its final nine games, as he pleaded with fans to stick with the team even when they aren’t at their free-flowing best, and when packed defences are making life difficult.
That might not always be possible, he acknowledges, so it is then up to the men in green and white to block out that unease from the terraces, and not allow it to creep into their decision-making on the field of play.
“It’s just frustration,” McGregor said. “That’s the pressure you get playing at a big club.
“You have to take that on your shoulders and still be able to perform, still do the right thing, still do what the manager is asking you to do.
“There are some new players, some young players, but I think they’re handling it well. It’s a difficult prospect sometimes.
“The boys are really trying to keep implementing what the manager is asking them to do. It’s about the experienced boys just calming them down at the right times and keeping them on the right path.
“We try and play a type of football that requires patience sometimes as well. When you get teams that come and sit low, it is hard to break down. You have to keep moving the ball and keep shifting it side to side to try and find that opening to get you a goal.
“It can come from a set play, it can come from a mistake or whatever. You’ve just got to be ready to take the chance. That’s our game. We want to pin teams in and make it hard for them to defend till we get that opening. But it does require patience.
“It’s going to be a nervy run-in towards the end. It’s just about the players and everybody staying calm and trusting what has got us this far. It works, so we stay calm and keep doing the right things. Hopefully we will do enough to get there.”
McGregor understands why fans sometimes do get frustrated, and completely respects their right to. But he also wants them to know that when things aren’t panning out the way anyone of a Celtic persuasion wants, it’s not for want of trying.
“For us as players, we are always trying to do the right thing,” he said.
“People will misplace passes and give the ball away. That’s part of football. You have to accept that it’s part of the game.
“As long as people are trying to do the right thing, and trying to do what the manager is asking them to do within that structure, you just keep everybody calm. That’s what we are trying to do.
“We are trying to score goals. We understand the frustration sometimes when it’s 0-0 and it’s a little bit edgy. But we always try to do the right thing. We are always trying to get the goals to win the game.
“It’s a learning curve for the players but everyone has got to stay calm and focused on what we are trying to do.”
The mantra to remain calm is a familiar one from the mouths of the Celtic players, and the captain in particular, during recent months. He concedes it is easier said, than done.
But by focusing on getting their performances right rather than obsessing over the number of wins they require to lift the title, McGregor believes that Celtic can actually remove a great deal of chance from where the results may fall.
“We try to stay away from being outcome-focused rather than performance,” he said.
“We know if we perform at a good level, there is a pretty good chance you will win the game.
“That’s what the manager is asking us to do - stay away from that side of things. Just focus on your performance, focus on your role in the team and if you do it well, hopefully everything comes together and you get the three points anyway.
“That’s the mentality within the group. We just want to keep performing, keep getting better. Football’s about winning as well so you have to make sure you win the games, but trying to focus on performances is what will get us the success.”
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