Tom English: 'Celtic's woe-is-us mentality is stark. They're looking for people to blame'

Published on Saturday 6 March 2010 20:07

BOB DWYER, the great Australian rugby coach, spoke eloquently about the sporting mindset and in fairness to him, he knew a thing or two on that front since he won a World Cup and left a mark on the game that will never be erased.

Dwyer's point was about the good pro and the bad pro. The good pro will stop at nothing to succeed, he said. No matter the distraction or the barriers put in his way, he'll try and rise above it and do his level best. He won't make excuses if the training pitch is poor, or if the food is bad, or if the hotel isn't up to the mark, or if bad luck befalls him. He won't allow his mentality to get weak because of his surroundings. The bad pro, said Dwyer, is one who will look to all of these things and use them as an excuse to fail.

He'd seen it before many times. He called it a form of sporting cowardice. Guys opting out because of bad refs, or bad pitches. "You hear sportsmen saying, 'How can we be expected to win when we're dealing with X, Y and Z'," remarked the Australian. "I don't have any time for these people. They're searching for reasons to underperform, they're backing away from the challenge, bottling it if you like."

There is more than a touch of this going on at Celtic right now. The self-pity, the woe-is-us mentality, is stark. They seem to be searching for people to blame for their poor performances.

It's hard to know what the truth about this business with the Falkirk pitch is. Clearly, somebody at Celtic had a word, unofficially, with somebody at the SFA and expressed some views about the surface at Falkirk, which in turn sparked a pitch inspection and brought Steven Pressley's wrath crashing down on Parkhead. If Falkirk's pitch is a ploughed field – far from it – what difference does it make? Celtic have to play there. There's no way out of it. The SFA didn't just decide to have an inspection out of the blue. Somebody had a word. Not Tony Mowbray, but somebody.

They're ten points behind in the league and a person at the club – maybe the same secret source who sparked the referees story the week before last – is talking about Falkirk's pitch? Don't they have better things to obsess about at Celtic these days?

Of course they do. Refs. The fact that they have a point about their complaints is actually largely irrelevant. There is no doubt that they have been subjected to some terrible refereeing decisions this season. Penalties have not been given, goals have not been awarded, a red card was handed out to Scott Brown on Sunday and it shouldn't have been, another one perhaps should have been shown to Madjid Bougherra and wasn't. Fine. They've suffered. But they're wallowing now. They're distracted. And it is utterly self-defeating. Dwyer might call it a form of cowardice.

Tony Mowbray was only responding to questions from journalists on Friday, but he was only too happy to get involved. He could have said, "No, boys, we've spoken about referees enough, we're moving on and we're going to rise above it". But he didn't do that. He sets the tone for the club. He is supposed to be their strongest leader. When he complains, as he did on Friday, then he's effectively telling his dressing room that it's okay to feel sorry for themselves. Maybe he's looking to create a siege mentality, but that doesn't seem to be working for him. Judging by his team's limp performance, particularly in the second half, on Sunday then what he's got on his hands is a group of players who seem dangerously close to using their misfortune with referees as an excuse to fail.

On Friday, Mowbray was drawn into the saga of Brown's red card and Celtic's failed appeal against it. He said that the SFA's decision to uphold Dougie McDonald's decision to send Brown off might have been a "political decision". He also threw a barb at Kyle Lafferty who, he claimed, threw himself to the ground a little theatrically in order to get Brown into trouble. He went on to question the SFA's procedures in all of this.

Fair comment on all counts. Celtic have good reason for moping about the place. And moping, they are. But what good is it doing?

You have to wonder where the leaders are at Celtic these days. Where are the "men", as Gordon Strachan likes to call his go-to guys in times of trouble? Brown is the captain of the club, but with the best will in the world, he is not cut out for that job. Earlier in the season, Darren O'Dea wore the armband in his first game back from a loan spell at Reading.

Stephen McManus had many faults as a defender, but the guy had character. Gary Caldwell was no great favourite of the Parkhead faithful, but he was made of the right stuff on some very big days at his former club. Barry Robson, too. Undervalued by Mowbray to a surprising degree. These guys won championships. They felt it when Celtic lost. They understood what it all meant. They got it. How many of Mowbray's crew "get it"?

Landry Nguemo, the talented Cameroonian signed on loan, has taken Robson's place and the other day he was quoted talking about his future. Yes, he would like to stay at Celtic, he said, dutifully. But, he added, "I am ready to go anywhere. My preference is England or Spain. Of course, there are other very attractive championships such as Germany, but I'd love to play in the Premier League or La Liga."

You can't blame Nguemo for this. He's wondering what the future holds for him. He's probably just passing through Glasgow, same as Robbie Keane, Diomansy Kamara and Edson Braafheid, the other loan players in Mowbray's first team. Four tourists out of 11, it's quite a lot.

It might be too late for Mowbray already, but instead of contributing to a culture of whingeing at Celtic, he needs to change it. Just because Celtic have a cause to moan doesn't mean they should if it drags everybody down and gives them a reason to fail. That, increasingly, looks the case at Parkhead.