Celtic reaction: Fourth best in 132 years; complete ignorance in minute’s silence disruption; outpacing Rangers’ league invincibles
Fourth best in 132 years
The majestic league form of Celtic perhaps hasn’t been given its full recognition as a consequence of Rangers’ fracturing. The nine-point cinch Premiership lead that has Ange Postecoglou’s men looking set to breeze the title is the product of 14 wins and a defeat across their first 15 games. To give that context, this record eclipses any first 15 league games in a campaign by Jock Stein’s storied Lisbon Lions, or indeed Willie Maley’s six-in-a-row team from the first decade of the 1900s. Indeed, only three times since the first Scottish league season of 1890-91, have Celtic had a better record over their first 15 league games. Martin O’Neill’s stewardship in the early 2000s accounts for two of these. In 2001-02, Celtic won 17 and drew one of their first 18 league games. In 2003-04, as Celtic set the longest winning record in Scottish top flight history with 25 straight wins, they put together that sequence after drawing their opening game. Then there was Brendan Rodgers’ invincible treble-winning campaign of 2016-17. Celtic had one draw – in their fifth game – and 26 wins from their first 27 league outings.