Fantastic, Expectations, Amazing, Revelations

Crash! Bang! Wallop! That was the sound at 7.50pm on Wednesday night as a nation which, takes pride in working itself into a frenzy of expectation came crashing to the ground from somewhere just by Mars. Now we will have to face the other Scottish trait of the aftermath, the accusations, the blame culture and the general realisation of where we belong in the grand scheme of things.

Now there is a similarity between the Tartan Army and the Celtic support. Fortunately for us it’s not an unhealthy obsession with deers, Posh Spice, Jimmy Hill and generally making a tit of oorselves but when it comes to going into hyperbole then us and the kilted hordes are exactly the same.

We love to raise oor expectations to unprecedented levels after victories and performances. We tend to exaggerate when things are going well. We tend to believe oor team have suddenly become world-beaters, world class and unbeatable and forget that we are limited and have faults. Also we tend to forget that there are better teams out there us.

While the Tartan Army got their week on the pesh comedown hangover last night we almost got oors on oor last outing. After a week that was almost perfect for a hoopy bhoy in beating r*ngers and winning a CL game we went to the shameless Westfield and almost left with faces as red as Alex Ferguson. A terrible performance it was master yoda I do not deny.

Outings after international weeks are fraught with danger. Luckily only one, so far, has been ruled out as wee Aiden was subject to a freak accident or a knee-high challenge or a boot to the baws in training. You can just see him nutmegging John O’Shea, then doing it again and again until O’Shea hoofs him in the air. Freak accident eh? Was big Mick McCarthy’s “tackle” on Colin Healy not classed as a freak accident as well?

Injuries are part and parcel of the game, but what us as fans don’t take into account is the mental welfare of oor players returning from all corners of the globe. Take Gary Caldwell for example. He has had two games in a week when he has been under the cosh for the whole game. He has had to carry Elvis and an OAP in football terms. He has had to chase Terry Henry and Scevchenko. He will be mentally and physically tired but still expected to handle whatever Dundee Utd throw at him.

See us as supporters or those anyway that don’t follow the game, you know the ones the guys who think we should hump Benfica as they are not a big name, expect level of performances that never fall below brilliant. They don’t understand the pressure Caldwell will be under cause he knows his position within the Celtic support is still not secure even after immense performances over the last few weeks. He is the only man that is glad to see Telfer on the team sheet as abuse wise he might get a break.

We will have other players who have played two games in a week. Games some might see as big games others might see next weeks CL tie as bigger. Internationals do not hold the same sway now as they did in the days of cotton “v” neck tops and tight shorts, most professionals see their club sides who fill their bank balances with filthy lucre as their main priority, so they may have conserved their energy when games were being won easily or lost more easily. When the team they were playing took to hammer throwing tactics they might have not fancied it, feigned an injury or done a Petta i.e. hide on the touchline. Or some might still have national pride and run their guts oot.

But whatever their choice for them arriving back today then training tomorrow Dundee Utd may come to soon. Preparation time is almost non-existent and if we have another scrappy 1-0 victory I will be happy. But some won’t.

I read and have heard comments that are solely concentrating on the Lisboa dogs of war. Maybe that is a bigger game than DUFC as in all probability losing points to DUFC will get made up by beating Hertz’s or R*ngers at a latter date. But the flippantness that Benfica is being afforded by some of us is quite frightening.

Even though oor home record against Portuguese teams is good, a few recent 1-0 victories in the last couple of years, we struggle against them. We canny cope with their superior technique, pace and streetwise-ness. Away from home, Boavista aside, I canny remember winning a game away from home against a Portuguese side when it really mattered. And we all remember that night in Porto and Seville.

So how come we are bullish and confident that we will beat Benfica? So what we gave a decent showing against Man Yoo and we beat a FC Copenhagen side that were a bit off colour on the night. Playing decent football but keeping it tight and trying not to give anything away achieved both those results.

Again against Benfica I expect them to have loads of the ball but I’m confident, unlike Scotland, when we get the ball back we can be quick, expansive enough and at one point WILL have a spell of pressure that we need to make count. We have better creative players than Scotland. And GS won’t shackle them as much as Wally the cardio did in Kiev.

How the dogs from Lisboa approach the game is the key. They might see a point as a result. A point in fortress parkheid might see them jumping for joy al la Byern Munchian, or they might see this as a chance to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Take a point as a good result just now, thank you sir, bitey your hand off for that and it’s better than getting poked with a sh*tey stick. But 3 points at Tannadeechie is important as well. Probably more so as we want CL football every year so oor young guns improve at that level.

Most think going to the Dee is a straightforward 3 points thank you very much. Oor record against them since the year dot gives us that confidence but a look at recent history dictates that Craig Brewster teams know how to trouble us and oor away form, for want of a better word, is sh*te.

When you think of Tannadeechie good memories come to mind. Last minute goals against the Hibernians of Dundee- another team that reinvented themselves must be something to do with the name Hibernian-, Craig Burley, Harald Brattback are in that exclusive club, a Craig Bellars hat-trick and also I can always say I saw oor samba Brazilian Bhoy Juninho have a good game there and have the miss of the season there. Last season saw a humdinger of a game that took us to the top of the league for the 1st time under GS and the debut of a song that has been heard all over this land since “oh the r*ngers are sh*te”

Unfortunately for the DUFC support their team is full of under achievers, charlatans and money grabbers whose position belay they’re supposed quality. The fact that they take points from oor friends in the west regularly makes me suspect that they are all Tims but on Saturday I expect them to lift their game be full of the special brew and get stuck right in.

The reason being we are not firing on all cylinders, have just returned from an international break and have one eye on a CL game on Tuesday. Injuries to McGeady and The Beats- time for a taxi maybe?? - mean that Short arsed Shaun will start and Zurawski better start looking interested rather than looking all biscuit arsed. Know JvoH didn’t play in midweek but do you reckon GS will risk him? Bigger fish to batter and all that?

But deep down oor expectations are of victory. It goes without saying that we expect a victory. We are on a decent run and results have hidden poor performances. It’s a results business after all. But oor expectations always outweigh the ability of the team or the real world.

I mean do we really think the DD will give us a slice of his £700 million pie for selling a wee airport doon sooth?

Hail Hail- Dreaming of the CL final…