Keith Jackson And The Rest of Scotland’s Mainstream Media Needs To Stand Up And Say Celtic Are Title Favourites

There comes a point in every title race where the noise needs to stop and reality needs to take over.

And after Sunday, reality looks very green and white.

Because we didn’t just beat Sevco at Parkhead.

We demolished them.

Physically, tactically and mentally.

Yet somehow, even now, there will still be sections of the Scottish mainstream press desperate to frame us as outsiders in a title race where we have just gone and delivered the biggest statement result of the season.

At some stage, people like Keith Jackson need to simply say it plainly:

Celtic are title favourites.

Not plucky underdogs. Not “still hanging in there”.

Title favourites.

In fact, at this point the coverage is starting to feel almost personal.

“Dear Keith Jackson,

I hope you had a lovely weekend and enjoyed Sunday.

I look forward to discovering what creative reason Celtic apparently still won’t win the league and how Hearts are favourites

Perhaps Daizen Maeda’s overhead kick was actually fortunate due to wind resistance?

Perhaps Yang only scored because Butland couldn’t see?

Perhaps Celtic winning six in a row is just lucky?”

Because honestly, what more does this team actually need to do to be recognised for the position they are in?

After everything this club has dealt with this season, that recognition is overdue.

Simply The Best

This performance had absolutely everything.

Intensity. Aggression. Control. Quality.

And above all else, Mentality.

Nothing tests your nerve in a title race more than going behind early at home to the Adams family across the city.

Especially in a game where defeat would have handed them momentum and almost certainly ended any realistic chance of us winning the league.

When Mikey Moore fired Sevco ahead early on, you could almost feel sections of the Scottish media preparing the “Celtic collapse” narratives in real time.

But this team refused to panic.

Instead, they responded like champions.

Yang’s equaliser was outstanding football. Finishing brilliantly after timing his run perfectly.

I previously wrote about Yang’s development and why his directness has become increasingly important to this Celtic side.

And Sunday showed exactly why.

He played without fear.

Maeda.

Daizen Maeda took the game away from Sevco completely.

His first was classic Maeda. Attacking the front post aggressively and finishing brilliantly from Kieran Tierney’s cross.

At that point Sevco already looked rattled.

Then came that goal.

The overhead kick.

Honestly, there are derby goals… and then there are moments that instantly become part of Celtic folklore.

The technique alone was outrageous. The awareness. The execution. The audacity to even attempt it in that moment.

Time genuinely seemed to stop for a second as the ball looped over Jack Butland and into the top corner.

And once it went in, Parkhead absolutely exploded.

Last week, I diiscussed how important Maeda would be heading into the split, and Sunday showed exactly why.

He doesn’t just stretch teams physically.

He breaks them mentally.

By the end Sevco looked exhausted trying to track him, and Maeda himself looked capable of playing another 90 minutes.

The exact type of Maeda form that made him POTY last season and the form we want him going into the final two games of the season.

Danny, Danny Rohl, Danny, Danny Rohl

I love the delusional tone coming out of Danny Rohl’s sevco camp.

And after Sunday… honestly… I hope they double down.

Give him another £40 million.

Offer him a five-year contract to stir that interest off. Last week Wolfsburg… Maybe Real Madrid, this?

Build the statue early. Add a fog machine and glowing LED eyes to it too… if they can afford it.

if this is what the “project” looks like, then long may it continue.

There was something almost cruel watching Maeda sprinting into space while Tavernier attempted to track him.

And forgotten in all of this, this is the end for Tavernier in this fixture; all that’s left to say:

We will all miss you, Tav.

Truly. Thank you for all the memories.

Perhaps the funniest part of this entire Sevco “rebuild” is that their brightest attacking player and most creative outlet is a loan player.

Mikey Moore will almost certainly be back at Tottenham next season, especially considering Spurs themselves are heading towards a rebuild.

So unless Sevco plan on kidnapping him and forcing him back to mordor, it’s difficult to see how this long-term strategy actually works… especially with Europa League Football… enjoy Thursday ya d**ks

WATP — We Are Third Place

The Scottish media narrative around Celtic this season has been genuinely bizarre at times.

For months, this team has been dismissed, doubted and repeatedly framed as incapable of sustaining a challenge.

“Sevco are title favourites.” – Peter Grant

“Sevco will win he league and if not Hearts” – Kris Boyd

“it’s between Hearts or Sevco” – Chris Sutton

And yet here we are.

I’ve also used two former Celtic Players to prove a point. Everyone except the fans has had a narrative for us to lose.

I’m not taking anything away from Hearts here because what they’ve done this season has been outstanding.

It should absolutely be recognised.

But our achievement in staying alive through everything surrounding this season also deserves serious acknowledgement.

Instead, too much of the mainstream discussion still seems obsessed with framing Hearts as winners and Celtic as temporary participants.

Sunday should have changed that for the week ahead.

Hearts Fan Boys

Right now, this title race feels like a proper dogfight.

But there’s still one thing lingering in the back of my mind.

These Hearts players haven’t been here before.

That matters.

Pressure changes everything at this stage of a season and suddenly you can almost feel the nerves starting to creep in.

Especially when there is now only one point separating Hearts and us… with the two sides still to play each other.

Which honestly makes some of the coverage this past week even funnier.

Because I genuinely feel like I’ve read article after article explaining how Hearts have either “already won the title” or simply “need to do this to win it”, like it’s some sort of step-by-step Jambos-themed Waitrose ready meal.

Very Edinburgh.

As if title races politely unfolds according to schedule because pundits wrote a neat little checklist for them.

It doesn’t work like that.

And neither do title races.

Still, future Celtic manager Jens Berthel Askou did us a massive favour with Motherwell’s draw against Hearts.

And now?

Now you can almost sense that the Hearts bubble beginning to wobble slightly.

The pressure looks very different when you’re expected to finish the job rather than chase it.

Still, if it all does go wrong for Derek McInnes, at least there’s a positive.

There are plenty of lovely sunny places to visit during Champions League qualifiers.

So maybe he can save some money on the sunbeds and enjoy a bit of the fringe festival.

Mentality Monsters

This is the bit where I feel I need to really give this Celtic team the recognition it deserves.

Because no matter what happens from here, the mentality of this Celtic side has been outrageous.

This team is now on its fourth manager of the season.

They’ve watched Hearts sit top for months.

They’ve dealt with the Rodgers situation, the Nancy chaos, the Breen Brigade fiasco, ongoing uncertainty around the football structure, boardroom turbulence and constant external noise surrounding the club.

Now, to be clear, I still think serious questions remain around aspects of the football structure at Celtic, and those conversations should continue.

But purely focusing on the pitch, the resilience shown by this group deserves enormous credit.

Lesser dressing rooms fold under that kind of instability.

This Celtic side kept going.

And now they find themselves right in the middle of a title race many had already written them out of months ago.

That doesn’t happen accidentally.