The flights are booked for the Scottish Cup Final eventually. I never tempt faith by booking a flight until the game is over. Normally at full time I would jump on straight away and book after the final whistle if Celtic win. On Sunday I was caught up in the emotions of the win and headed for a hotel nearby Hampden to celebrate with like minded people.

The party did not stop there and we enjoyed a wee pub crawl around the East End of Glasgow. The game was a roller coaster from kick off till it was finally over. The atmosphere was great pre-match. The Green Brigade and the Bhoys were in full voice behind the goals and the St. Mirren Ultras all in white played their part in creating an atmosphere in their corner of the ground.

My phone was buzzing before kick off. My son Conor watching in Toronto and my wife Sandra in Spain. Conor had said after the penalty shootout win over the rangers in the quarter finals at Ibrox that he would come home for the final if Celtic beat St. Mirren. So the prayers were said and the candles lit to get the bhoy home for the football but also to see his Mammy.

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The game could not have started better when Maeda’s pressure got Celtic off to a flying start only 1 minute into the game and Celtic were 1 up.      The first half could not have finished better either with Tony Ralston banging in a cracker of a goal to send Celtic down the Hampden Tunnel with a 2-0 lead.

Halftime and the phone is buzzing again with confident texts. I told them to calm down we have another 45 minutes to go. After 53 minutes Mandron struck a blow and goal for St. Mirren 2-1 and on the 90 minutes my heart sunk when he scored again. 2-2 and now we are heading for extra time and potential penalties when I should have been heading for the bar.

Martin O’Neill had shown his cards and made all his substitutions and they would be main heroes in the story. We joke about James Forest’s age but he rolled back the years and played his part 7 minutes of magic.

Iheanacho showed us what he can do if he can stay fit 2 goals from the bench! Fantastic! Luke McCowan 1 goal from off the bench and Nygren making it 6 and number 20 for him for the season.

The celebrations were class. We have waited all season for a performance like we witnessed in the first period of extra time.

There were some nervy moments during the game. Sinisalo made some great saves but he almost got caught out twice due to messing around at the back. Just clear the ball was the shout from the lad behind me Killian Philips not once but twice reacted quickly to his mistakes. Thankfully they came to nothing.

Hopefully that extra time performance can give the Celtic players the lift needed to kick on in the league and beat Falkirk at Celtic Park on Saturday evening. They will come like a wounded animal after going out on penalties to Dunfermline which now means Neill Lennon will go up against his old Gaffer Martin O’Neill.

We are back to Hampden on Saturday May 23 but before that we have a league to compete for. The tension, the nerves, the celebrations all these emotions will play a big part now in each match day.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

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An incredible night in Celtic Park under the lights on February 2nd 2022 had every Celtic fan filled with excitement and expectation for what most believed was the beginning of something special. After a blistering first half which saw Celtic take a 3–0 lead into the break, Celtic Park was absolutely rocking and by the end of the night most Celtic fans believed they had just experienced an old-school classic — a game that will be recalled to the grandchildren.

Something that really stood out that night for me was former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou’s post-match comments. While every Celtic fan was jumping for joy, the manager said this:

“We had 60,000 in here. I’m sure a lot walked in with some problems in their lives and for 95 minutes we made them forget that and feel good — and that’s something special.”

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Why this stood out to me was so simple and yet so complicated at the same time, because the conversation around mental health is a tough one. I mean, it’s OK to use the tagline “it’s OK not to be OK”, but I speak from experience when I say that “not being OK” is a brutal battle to try to navigate every day.

In recent times we have seen that conversation more front and centre. Tom Rogic’s incredible retirement statement, where we were all reminded that these players are human beings too, is a powerful example of how the mental health conversation is so deep and invisible to most. Without exactly telling the fan base the in-depth details of his private life, Tom said in his Instagram post:

“Throughout the past seven years my wife and I have been on an immensely challenging journey with fertility issues.”

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To put that into perspective, when Tom Rogic was scoring the last-minute goal to secure an Invincible Treble, he was likely dealing with some extremely stressful and emotionally draining personal circumstances that we, the fans, never knew about.

On the 10th of February 2024 my youngest daughter Penny, who was born with a rare genetic disorder, passed away aged 10. I’ve dealt with grief in the past with the sudden deaths of both my parents, and a divorce which crippled me emotionally and financially. However, nothing even comes close to the day I held Penny’s hand as she took her last breaths.

It is an image that is engraved on my mind in a way that never rests. It’s there when I try to fall asleep at night, when I get up and go to work, or when I’m standing in a stadium full of Celtic fans. The grief can hit like a bullet train and there is absolutely zero respite from it. It is relentless.

Outside my immediate family and friends, who have given myself and my daughter Lucy unwavering support, what has helped me on a level that is hard to put into words is the Naomh Pádraig Chariot — or as I call it, “the men’s shed on wheels”. A group of Celtic fans getting together and travelling extreme hours for sometimes poor performances makes absolutely no sense. It’s something I’m doing coming up to 30 years now, and yet I still love it.

The members of the club collectively put their arm around me in a way that only the Celtic family can do. Nobody will ever know what it was like to head for the Chariot for my first trip back after losing Penny, but the lads on the bus that day were so good to me. I owe them more than they know and I’m extremely grateful to them all.

The utter madness that is the Chariot can be best explained by a trip we took in January 2025 to watch Celtic v Dundee. We left Dublin at midnight, got to Celtic Park at 8am, and the game was called off after poor weather had damaged the stadium roof. We waited around in the freezing cold until 5pm before setting off for home — no football seen at all, and yet it was an absolutely fantastic trip. We sat in the Forge Shopping Centre drinking coffee and reminiscing about days gone by, and it was brilliant.

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What stood out to me was that I never sit and drink coffees with my mates. It’s something I’ve always thought women are fantastic at doing — they get together, talk their stuff out, and go about the rest of their day. Men tend not to do that. We bottle things up, and that comes from a generation where we were told that “this is what men do”.

In October 2024, after severely struggling with my daughter’s passing, I began counselling with LauraLynn Children’s Hospice. LauraLynn had provided respite care to Penny during her far too short life, and I always loved going there. The friendly staff providing such love and care to extremely sick children is so powerful to witness. The dignity they show these children is something that should be commended. These are real-life heroes.

The support since her passing has been nothing short of incredible. They presented me with some handmade gifts Penny had made before her passing — gifts I didn’t know they had made with her. Even as I write this I find myself emotional just remembering the day they called to my home with them. Now they are my greatest possessions, and I cannot thank the staff of LauraLynn enough for the impact all this has had on me.

On March 8th just gone, Penny should have turned 13 — a day which should have been a celebration but is now a day of crippling sadness.

After forcing myself to the game that day, I stood in Ibrox for the quarter-finals of the cup — 120 minutes of football with almost nothing to discuss at the end of it. Several moments during the game I found myself fighting the emotions of her birthday while trying to keep it together, looking to the sky and questioning whether I was mad altogether being there when I felt like this.

Then came the euphoria of winning the penalty shootout. The songs, the chants and the atmosphere were incredible. I found myself completely lost in the moment, jumping around like young kids while trying to avoid the bottles and seats that were being thrown towards us.

On the way back on the Dennistoun bus all I could think about was Ange’s statement. Celtic had allowed me to forget — even just for a few minutes — the woes of the day.

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I wanted to give something back to LauraLynn as a thank you for their incredible support. To try to use all the pain and sadness to create something positive.

So for all the reasons above, and with the help of my own club, the Naomh Pádraig CSC committee have supported me as I have arranged that on the 30th of May we will be climbing Djouce Mountain in Wicklow in an attempt to raise as much funds as possible for a charity that has been an incredible support to my family and to countless families around Ireland.

All Celtic fans are welcome to join. Afterwards we will be heading back to the Ardlea Inn in Artane where there will be prizes raffled off, followed by live music and some finger food.

In other words — a great Celtic day out in aid of a children’s hospice.

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Martin O’Neill and Auston Trusty faced the main stream media again today with fan media remaining banned. Trusty and Celtic return to Hampden on Sunday for the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup after mixed luck at the stadium this season. This will be Celtic’s third visit to the national stadium after a League Cup semi-final win over the rangers and that painful defeat in the final against St. Mirren.

Martin O’Neill was on the sideline in Hampden when we beat the rangers that day but the league cup final against St. Mirren it was Wilfried Nancy who was in charge. Stephen Robinson was the Buddies manager when they lifted the cup but he has moved onto Aberdeen. Criag McLeish is now in charge and he has got the new manger bounce but lets hope that’s not the case on Sunday.

O’Neill hinted that Trusty will line up on the left side of the central defence with Liam Scales suspended with Benjamin Arthur or Dane Murray to play alongside on the right side of that central defence. But could the Celtic manager throw a curve ball in and keep Trusty on the right-side to be joined in that central role by Kieran Tierney with Marcelo Sarrachi at left back?

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Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand trained this week but the game has come a little too soon for them but it is positive news ahead of the league run in.

Last weekend Celtic beat St. Mirren 1-0 but it was not a convincing performance. After the game Martin O’Neill spoke about how tired the team looked. Hopefully on Sunday we see a Celtic team full of beans and chomping at the bit to get the win and get back to Hampden in May.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Mintues & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

Martin O’Neill Presser: https://youtu.be/Dn3k9w5PFdA?si=JlDJKZfHv3K6UIyw

Auston Trusty Presser: https://youtu.be/RFn9RLATFu4?si=x88dgWOeP9c8GHgH

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It is clear now that a lesson has been learned by the Celtic directors that a lack of investment in the team is a strategy that does not work. The result of not replacing key players with those of an appropriate standard has become painfully obvious.

At the present time Celtic are threadbare in midfield and up front and it is only as a result of the management of MON that they are still contenders for the two most important competitions in Scottish football, notwithstanding the fact that the team at present is not particularly good.

When players such as Kyogo, O’Reilly, Kuhn and Idah left little effort was made to replace them with players of similar ability. I believe that the board of directors had a particular plan at the time to try and muddle along with players of lesser ability in the knowledge that they would still be good enough to rake in domestic trophies and that success in Europe was not prioritised as they were never going to win a European competition in any case.

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I remember writing in this column about a year ago about the exploits of Nottingham Forest under the management of Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor and the plan they had known as “observe and replace”. What this plan involved was to look at all the players and when it was felt that a particular players performance was slipping he would be moved on and someone at least as good as him would replace him. It seems clear that Celtic had no such plan [or any other plan]. There is a term for this type of approach when applied to industrial relation where it is known as “manpower planning” and thousands of books have been written on the subject.

In any event, when the above-named players moved on, there was nobody to replace them but it seems that the board felt that the existing panel could compete with the opposition in Scotland and keep winning. Europe was not prioritised as it was felt that the team was not strong enough in any event. In fairness to the board, it has to be admitted that injuries formed a major part in the unavailability of players with such luminaries as Alistair Johnston, CCV, Jota and Engels, Tierney and Calmac being unavailable for large parts of the season. This meant that at least half of the first team was injured for a sizeable portion of the year. In addition we have Kelechi Iheanacho who has been sidelined for most of the season.

 I think we can safely say that Celtic have been unlucky with injuries this season. It seems that the board did not foresee this happening and its’ potential impact on the team and this is another lesson. Football clubs of any kind must anticipate injuries and it is clear that this was not the case. To make matters a lot worse the penny pinching continued with the appointment of Wilfried Nancy. I don’t need to say a lot about this time as it has all been said already except to say that we would be twelve points better off at this stage if Martin O’Neill had been left where he was the first time and we would be out of sight by now.

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MON has performed a minor miracle keeping Celtic in the race for the title. It is as a result of O’Neill’s great work that we are in this position.

I turn now to the team itself. Whatever happens this season, Celtic are not strong enough for the coming season, although we have an excellent keeper and defence. Sinisalo has come in instead of Schmeichel, who is injured, and is playing really well. The full-backs Araujo and Sarachi have been playing very well [and in addition Ralston, Donovan and Tierney are also available] and there is a wealth of choice in the centre in the form of Scales, Trusty, Murray and Benjamin Arthur [on loan from Brentford]. With Araujo is now out injured.

It is further out the pitch where the problems lie. Firstly, it’s a pity that Hatate is not playing as well as he was previously. I’m not saying he is playing badly – it’s just that he doesn’t seem to be as good as he was before. When you add to this the absence of Engels and Calmac during the season through injury it is clear to see that there are problems in this area. It’s just as well that we have McCowan and Nygren in this area and the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain has been prescient even though he doesn’t seem to be fully match fit in the sense of being able to compete for the full game. As regards the forward line Maeda is not playing as well as previously and this is a pity.

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We are lucky that Yang is playing well now. I remember writing previously saying that Yang was improving. Since then has has been up and down but now we can see the potential being realised. He was great recently in the home game against Motherwell, scoring twice. As regards the players brought in on loan recently, it is clear that they are not good enough to play for Celtic and they will have to be moved along. Cvancara is an odd case. He has converted two very important penalties for which were eternally grateful it is necessary that a centre-forward be capable of scoring regularly other than from penalties.

Looking at the team in the round, Celtic will have to sign a new keeper to back up Sinisalo. I believe that the back line is sufficiently strong, particularly if Celtic are able to sign the two full backs Araujo and Sarachi on permanent contracts. In midfield there is every chance that Engels, Hatate and Nygren will move on. I’m not too worried about Engels or Hatate but I would prefer if Nygren stayed. At the time of writing he has scored nineteen goals. This is a fantastic scoring rate for a midfielder and in the absence of these goals Celtic would be out of both competitions already. However, because of this ability, we will have a number of English clubs knocking on the door to prise him away. Arising out of all this Celtic will have to sign one or two players in this area. I understand that Celtic are looking at Miguel Chaiwa the Hibs midfielder and he would be a good signing.

As regards the forward line I think Celtic should sign the two Motherwell players Elijah Just and Tawanda Maswanhise. I also believe that Celtic are looking at the Plymouth Argyle player Aribim Pepple. This is a worthwhile approach, that is to search the lower leagues in England. For example, if a player is scoring regularly in League One, this means that he is Championship Level and if he is Championship Level he is good enough for the SPL [think of Gary Hooper].

And who will be in charge of all these players? The current favourite is Jens Berthel Askou. Having said that, I was looking at his CV lately and I thought it was a bit light. He is doing well with Motherwell but we’ll see.

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Finally, after this difficult season, I will be more than satisfied if Celtic win the Scottish Cup alone, after the gutless display away to Dundee United in the League. This loss means that Celtic have lost 8 games in the League. No team has ever won the League after losing this amount of games. This fact will not be changed this season. In this context, and having regard to the difficulties experienced by Celtic this season [some of which were self-inflicted], this is a significant achievement [i.e. winning the Cup], and it is clear that normal service will be resumed next season.

Tim Molloy lives is a life-long Celtic supporter and an Irish language enthusiast.  He is a law graduate of London University. Read Tim’s column in every issue of  More than 90 Minutes

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