THE end of a painful season brought bittersweet emotions for John Kennedy, with the Celtic interim manager knowing that the final whistle at Easter Road also signalled the end of an era at the club. Though, there is the obvious joke that after this troubled campaign, it is also the end of an error.
As tired as that crack may be, it does provide a neat summation of this term for the erstwhile champions. What Kennedy does know is that big changes are afoot. What he doesn’t know is whether or not he will be swept along with the new broom, or cleared out by it.
“For me, it almost feels like the end of an era,” Kennedy confirmed. “I have been here through some really good times, successful times when we have been on the crest of a wave.
“This year unfortunately it has not worked out as we would have wished. The club captain is leaving, there will be changes in management and at board level.
“There will be a number of players leaving, loan players or whatever it might be. It is almost like we draw a line now. You look back and you reflect on what we have achieved over the years. You draw that line then it is time to rebuild and then you move on.
“Football changes too quickly. That is the thing, people look at things in isolation judge purely on things like points totals. Ultimately football can change very quickly.
“We could have picked up more points in different games this season if things had fallen for us. We weren’t quite in our groove but I have been here long enough to know how football operates.
“You go into next season, start positively and it can take you anywhere. That is the ultimate goal for the club, stabilise, get everybody in place we need to get in place.
“Get a good squad and go out and become champions again.”
As for Hibernian manager Jack Ross, he and his team skipped out of Easter Road bound for Hampden on the crest of a wave. The avoided defeat after resting so many of their key personnel, and escaped with clean bill of health. Something that their Covid-hit opponents St Johnstone may not be able to enjoy.
“It was fitting to finish the season that way because we had so many players involved who haven’t played regularly,” said Ross.
“With their contribution on the training pitch and the standards they’ve helped us to keep, it has helped us have a successful season.
“We had to be resilient and work incredibly hard today but I’m really pleased they got a reward from the game and got a point.
“We are fit and healthy with the numbers we’ve got. There’s a positive feeling around that dressing room that we’ve got to produce next weekend. But in our frame of mind we’re in the best possible place.”
The national stadium would have course been a much better place to be next week had supporters been allowed to attend, but the Hampden hokey-cokey ended with the fans sadly out. Much to Ross’s displeasure.
“There are lots of different answers I can give as a football manager and as a human being,” he said. “From a football perspective, we probably got a little bit excited all of a sudden at the thought of having people in the stadium. One to create an atmosphere and, two, as a reward for the supporters, albeit it would have been a minority of them. That’s been pulled away again.
“It doesn’t really change much from our point of view. It’s just a shame people’s hopes and expectations rose and they’ve been taken away quite quickly.”
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