Five biggest Celtic talking points of 2020

The biggest stories in what’s certainly been an interesting year for the Celtic Park side

Celtic players celebrate after defeating Hearts in the Scottish Cup final. Picture: SNS

Winning another title - albeit a little unusually

Celtic got themselves their ninth consecutive top flight title and moved to within one of the much coveted ten-in-a-row. Though it looked an almost certainty when the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic as Rangers were in poor form and Celtic were continuing to motor along, there was a bit of controversy that the championship was awarded to the league leaders before it was mathematically certain. Nevertheless, there's little doubt they were the best team of the 2019/20 campaign and were worthy winners.

European exits

The embarrassment of Cluj at the beginning of last term was forgotten when Celtic put in a series of terrific performances in the Europa League to finish top of a group including Lazio and Rennes. However, similar failings at Parkhead reared their ugly head again when Copenhagen dumped them out in the knockout stages and then another Champions League failure occurred in August. Just like the Cluj game, the aftermath of the Ferencvaros debacle saw Neil Lennon heavily criticised for his tactics after deciding to start without a recognised striker and Ryan Christie at the head of the attack.

Neil Lennon's struggles

Regardless of what anyone thinks of the Celtic boss at this moment in time, it surely must be agreed that he's quite fortunate to still be in the job. Most football boardrooms, especially those with demands as high as that at Celtic, would have pulled the trigger after a sequence of two wins in 12 matches in a season where they've barely played well even when winning. To fall 16 points behind Rangers in the title race (albeit, with three games in hand) is truly unthinkable and at this moment in time the previously unforeseen struggles this campaign could well cost them the chance of clinching ten-in-a-row.

'Sack the board'

Of course, many Celtic fans would argue the struggles of this season were not unforeseen at all. In games like Cluj and Copenhagen, the evidence was there that a significant drop off had occurred between Brendan Rodgers leaving and Lennon being hired on a permanent basis. They believe the board have penny-pinched and hired someone they wouldn't have to butt heads with, while the refusal to listen to the demands of the support angered them further. It's got to the stage where there have been several protests asking for the top brass at Celtic Park to leave their positions.

Quadruple-treble

Like a lot of this term, the reigning champions were far from convincing at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final clash with Hearts but they got the job done in the end, winning on penalty kicks after throwing away 2-0 and 3-2 leads to their Championship opponents. The Betfred Cup defeat to Ross County means Celtic’s dominance will end at 12 consecutive domestic trophies, but that takes nothing away from a unprecedented historical achievement that will live long in the memory of those who were around to witness it.

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