GREG TAYLOR has reminded us all of how much better position Celtic are in coming out of the winter break. To be honest, it wouldn’t be very difficult to be in a better place considering what we were up against last year after the short break.
Celtic got a picture moved so they could fly out to Dubai during a global pandemic – a decision that was baffling at the time and no less confusing a year on.
The goalposts were moved by the Scottish government, but we left ourselves majorly exposed by taking the needless trip.
Celtic came out of their last mini-winter break with 16 players and staff having to isolate after an injured Christopher Jullien – who didn’t need to be on the flight – tested positive for the virus.
The rest is history, and Neil Lennon was eventually dismissed at the end of February.
Coming out of this winter break with Ange, we’re six points behind in the league. It’s not ideal at all, but given the major rebuild going on and the turbulent first half of the season, Celtic are still in touch with a trophy already in the cabinet.
Greg Taylor was asked if they’re more prepared now than last season coming into January. As quoted by The National, the defender was quick to point out the circumstances of last season in a light hearted manner. : “Aye well we don’t have 16 missing for Monday, so definitely! That’s certainly a start. No squad can handle losing 16 players, so thankfully, we’ve not got that amount missing.
“Exactly, the gaffer has touched on that, we’ve had challenges throughout the whole period since he came in. But we’re not looking to make excuses for ourselves, we just take each game as it comes and try to play the way we want to play.
“Now we’re coming into the business end of the season, and hopefully we can put on more performances and the results will take care of themselves. We always want to improve. The gaffer is a big believer that every game, every training session is an opportunity to do that.”
There was no trip away with the squad this year. The Bhoys were allowed to break up for a bit and get some needed downtime but then it was back to business at Lennoxtown.
Celtic’s first lineup of 2022 should be interesting with the new signings in contention for starts.
