A season defining week awaits Celtic at the start of March, it will decide whether the double is on or not…
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
So, last night Celtic were drawn away at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup quarter final.
Most people knew the Ibrox side were going to get a home draw, but not many expected us to be the opponents.
We automatically expected they’d get something softer.
The first week of March now becomes a defining week in our season.
It will 100% decide whether we can land the double or not, and it will probably go a long way towards deciding the outcome of the title too.
We could not have asked for a harder week.
Then again, there has been absolutely nothing easy about this season, so why should we expect any different?
The fixture congestion around that period is off the scale.
During a ten day period Celtic has four extremely tough fixtures.
They are as follows:
Thursday Feb 26th – Stuttgart v Celtic
Sunday March 1st – R*****s v Celtic
Wednesday March 4th – Aberdeen Celtic
Saturday March 7th – R*****s v Celtic (Scottish Cup)
By Sunday the 8th of March, we will have a very clear picture of what competitions we are still in for the remainder of the season.
There is no doubt this will take it’s toll on the players.
Squad rotation is going to have to be perfect throughout this period, and we have to hope that injuries are at a minimum.
It will either be ten days of hardship, or ten days of glory.
In reality, as Celtic fans, we need to look forward to this.
We wouldn’t want it any other way, would we?
I have no doubt that Martin O’Neill is relishing the prospect of facing such a tough period.
Its the ultimate challenge, isn’t it?
One thought that did occur to me though – was that by then – we could have a fit and firing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
If ever there was an opportunity to mark your time at Celtic, that ten day period would be it!
These are the kinds of occasions Oxlade-Chamberlain would relish.
He has won, and won big, in high pressure situations.
They don’t come much higher than a Champions League final.
There is one major boost with regard to our cup tie against the Ibrox side, though.
As reported in the Record this morning, Scottish cup ties allow for a 20% away ticket allocation:
The standard away allocation for league games five per cent of the stadium capacity. However, Scottish Cup rules dictate a larger share can be requested.
The rules state that the away club can claim tickets amounting to 20 per cent of spectator capacity. That would mean the Hoops could push for over 10,000 tickets at Ibrox if it signed off by both clubs and the police.
A similar push for tickets came from Hibs at the quarter-final stage last season, having initially been granted around 2600 tickets for their trip to Celtic Park. Hibs announced on their website that after talks an allocation of over 7000 had been granted – a whopping 10 times more than what had previously been grated for league games.
While it may be a very tough run of fixtures, at least this is one major positive.
A vociferous support at Ibrox works wonders, as we well know.
Who can forget the last time we had 7000 fans in the Broomloan end?
March 2018, down to ten men, and emerging victorious with a 3-2 win.
As I said earlier on, there is no point in dreading this run of fixtures.
It will define our season.
We need to ensure that it defines it in our favour.
It will also tell us what this Ibrox side is really made of…
I, for one, can’t wait for it.
It doesn’t get much more exciting than this!
Key Takeaways
- Celtic faces a crucial week with four tough fixtures in ten days, starting with Stuttgart and including two matches against the Ibrox side.
- This period will determine Celtic’s chances of achieving a double and significantly impact the league title race.
- Squad rotation and managing injuries will be essential for success during this demanding stretch.
- Celtic fans should embrace the challenge, as support at Ibrox can make a significant difference, especially with a 20% away ticket allocation.
- High-pressure matches could showcase talents like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, defining their legacy at the club.
These games are always challenging due to obvious referee and other officials , but for the board and Desmond to deliberately weaken the squad over the past 3/4 transfer windows is unforgivable after the dust has settled they will either claim the or try to dodge the bullet, so stop giving them your money
Sadly, I believe that having away fixtures midweek, both times between the Derby games, whilst they have none will have a major outcome on the games and to Celtic’s detriment.
If MON goes unbeaten through the SC Q/F they will need to set aside a place for a statue.
Tough run of fixtures right enough, Stuttgart may be a bust but doubt they’ll mangle any Celtic players intentionally, guaranteed the league game against SEVCO they’ll be out to maim as many Celtic player’s as they can so it gives them an advantage in the cup game at ibrokes as any Celtic players injured would struggle to be fit and ready a few days later to face them, and take into account the filthy MIBS will make sure they have free reign to dish it out without fear of them calling any fouls, these corrupt bastard’s in black will let it turn into a turkey shoot against anyone in a Celtic shirt, VAR will not intervene except to punish Celtic at every chance they can get .