To Care or Not to Care? That is the Question.

By: Matt | September 22nd, 2009

I don’t think any Celtic supporter would disagree that the CIS Cup aka the League Cup is the third most important domestic competition in Scotland. The league title and the Scottish Cup are first and second on not only to Celtic supporters, but most likely most SPL teams. However, everyone likes winning silverware. Everyone likes winning silverware against your bitter rivals in extra time with two of their most hated players on your team scoring, like was the case last year. A Hampden victory over Rangers is a Hampden victory over Rangers, no matter what competition you are in. There’s a wide variety of reason to dismiss the CIS Cup and play the youth/reserve team and there are a wide variety of reasons to play your starters for 90 minutes and go all out. As the Bhoys start their title defense of the CIS Cup tomorrow against Falkirk, here’s a list of the pro’s and con’s of the CIS Cup.

Against Taking the CIS Cup Seriously:
-The squad already has SPL, Europa League, Scottish Cup fixtures to worry about.
-The current squad is already a bit thin. Celtic loaned Darren O’Dea to Reading until January, Massimo Donati wanted to go back to Italy, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s contract expired. Whether you agree with this plan or not, the squad is a bit bare bones and there are less quality reserves available to ToMo if someone gets hurt in this competition.
-There are other priorities. Beating Rangers in Hamden last season was one of the greatest moments of last season. Unfortunately, it was one of the few bright spots from a disappointing season last year. Was the CIS Cup win remembered after pissing away the league last year? Not for me, how about you?

For Taking the CIS Cup Seriously:
-Silverware. I love winning. You love winning. We all love winning. You can’t get a domestic treble without winning this competition. I’d hope that last year was an aberration and we won’t be losing any 7 point leads again any time soon. Winning, in any competition, is a morale booster. Winning a cup is double that morale boost.
-A chance for the future to stretch their legs. Sure, playing every starter for 90 minutes isn’t a great idea. However, young guys stuck on the first team bench have a chance to get a run out. Niall McGinn, Paul Caddis, Paddy McCourt, and others have shown some bright spots, but are behind first team starters. These players could potentially be the future of Celtic sooner rather than later and these games are a chance to see what they have against SPL talent. They’re not exactly the U19 team, but still can offer a competitive team for Celtic.
-For all the fans that pay good money to see Celtic play tomorrow, they deserve to see the best effort and best team available that can be put out. Football is for the fans.

So what do you think, should Celtic send out a full squad tomorrow? What would you do if you were Tony Mowbray? What do you think he should do?