Fear continues to be Celtic's biggest enemy

JAMES TRAYNOR

31 Dec 1990

THE year will be over in a few more hours, much to the relief of Celtic and their followers, who have suffered terribly over the last 12 months.

They, more than any other team, are hoping the new year will offer the happiness and sense of well-being which come from victory on the playing field.

Billy McNeill and his players had so much wanted to end the year on a high, and when Tommy Coyne gave them the lead after only four minutes of Saturday's match it seemed as though they would do exactly that.

However, the fear and apprehension which has dogged them throughout 1990 returned and Hearts were able to make their own impression.

John Colquhoun, a former Celtic player, equalised late in the game and his team might even have inflicted the Parkhead club's fourth successive defeat before the referee called a halt.

"The game epitomised the year for us," said McNeill afterwards.

"Again we showed the generous side of our nature and took a point away from ourselves." The manager, who has seen his team win only eight league games in 1990, was suffering.

After taking the lead, instead of settling and attempting to retain possession in the hope that Hearts' resolve would diminish as the snow began to tumble, Celtic played as though they were waiting for misery to waylay them again.

They were never bold enough to subdue the Tynecastle side, who were allowed an even share of the ball and began to play some neat football.

In the end they deserved their point from a game which did nothing at all to ease Celtic's anxieties.

If they continue to perform like this they will lose more points and a place in next season's European scene again will be beyond them.

It's all very sad, particularly when all the problems besetting Celtic are taken into consideration.

We could, in fact, be witnessing the demise of one of the game's biggest clubs.

That may read like an over the top reaction, but the dangers facing Celtic are real, and depending on the decisions which the board and the management must make soon, the club either will drift into obscurity or begin the struggle back towards power in the new year.

On the playing side, it is obvious McNeill is in trouble, because he is relying on a group of players who don't seem capable of dragging themselves out of the current malaise.

The manager insists he has enough talent at his command, but there has been little evidence to substantiate that.

Too many of his players are of only average ability and should never have been given Celtic jerseys in the first place.

There are one or two who do possess genuine skill, but they lack the necessary commitment.

The two Poles, for example, can play a bit, but neither Dariusz Dziekanowski nor Dariusz Wdowczyk can be relied upon when the going is tough, and it has been all year long.

Wdowczyk can be faulted for the loss of the goal the other day, even though the rest of his defensive colleagues were out of position when a high ball dropped into the heart of Celtic's back line.

The defender went for it along with Colquhoun, who is hardly one of the game's heavy-weights, yet it was he who emerged in possession, after which he merely rounded Pat Bonner and scored.

There is a lack of determination about Wdowczyk's play and often he seems to be doing no more than going through the motions.

He and Dziekanowski, who has never fulfilled the promise he showed at the start of his Parkhead career, are luxuries Celtic can't afford right now.

In the absence of real talent Celtic's fans have been making the most of what they have -- and the worth of some players has become bloated.

Paul Elliott is regarded as an exceptional central defender, but I fail to see how this can be so when his distribution is poor.

He wins most of his aerial battles but rarely heads the ball to a team-mate.

As a consequence of the dearth of talent, players like Paul McStay and John Collins, in particular, are being asked to do too much, and the bottom line is that McNeill will have to make further buys if he and Celtic are to make an impact in the coming year.

The manager and the directors cannot allow the club to continue in such a feeble fashion for much longer.

Everyone at the club is under pressure, but the unfortunate reality of football is that the manager is the first to be blamed and McNeill knows he is in a precarious position.

He is at the mercy of players who have already shown alarming weaknesses.

He can only hope that, with 1990 confined to memory, they leave behind old inhibitions and give him and the supporters their very best.

Taken from the Herald