The Celtic Blog, I think we know who the real “bottlers” are

There has been a strange narrative emerge after our exit in the Scottish Cup to St Johnstone, one that the season has been a failure of some sort.

Let’s get this right from the offset, there was one objective this season – win the league.

I say one objective but that is from a fans perspective, Steven Gerrard and those above him will also have known the importance of doing well in the Europa League, especially when you consider the current financial climate.

Times have changed, when Walter Smith was in charge in the 90s a European run was desirable, not essential, we wanted to do better but winning domestic trophies was the priority, now, given the lack of money in the Scottish game, continental football beyond Christmas is almost a key component to how we operate as a club.

Our cup exits this season have been hard to take, scoring two goals against St Mirren should always be enough and being in front in the 120th minute at Ibrox should also see us through, however, for various reasons they weren’t but bottle wasn’t one of those reasons – we have proven that with how easily we have won the league and with our Europa League performances.

Which makes the claims of The Celtic Blog even more bizarre, James Forrest branding Steven Gerrard and his side as “bottlers”.  James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos both get the treatment, weird when you consider their roles in winning the league and performances in Europe but my favourite line is this:

“Had we been right there, all over them, I think we’d have seen them go down like a pack of cards.”

Oh, the irony. I’m not sure how he would describe a team that has gone from winning everything to winning nothing in their most important season as soon as the slightest bit of pressure was applied.