Celtic done the business yesterday after a heroes welcome by the Celtic faithful on the Paradise Way. The Sun was shining over Celtic Park when the players took to the field. You’ll Never Walk Alone was belted out as the team went into the huddle. The Green Brigade produced another fantastic Tifo – A large 1986 retro Jersey taking centre stage in tribute to the heroes of Love Street 1986.

Another Man of the Match performance from Maeda who is hitting form just at the right time scoring two goals and an assist to Kieran Tierney who banged the ball in the net to make it 2-0 at half time.

Falkirk played their part and came back into the game in the second half when substitute Wilson scored a cracker. He is a player and looked lively down the right wing giving Tierney and Scales plenty to think about.

At 2-1 Martin O’Neill made the changes from a very strong bench. Johnston returned from injury and took the captains armband from Callum McGregor and looked like he had never been away and Sarrachi who replaced Tierney has quality and  add the Ox into that and you have plenty of decent pedigree.

With the rangers and Hearts not playing till today. Celtic moved level with Hearts and edged ahead of our city neighbours who are very upset about the Celtic boards refusal to invite the Onion Bears to the upcoming Glasgow derby in a few weeks.

3 points in the bag and job done on a day that James Forest made a rare start after signing a new contract. Next Stop Edinburgh and a tricky away game against Hibs. Stress levels will be high again before kick off but ye gotta roll with it and Get Up Stand Up!

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

 

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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