Celtic FC won the Scottish Premiership in the 2024-2025 season. This means that coming into the new cup, they’re the fan favourites. This puts a lot of pressure on the team to perform as everyone is expecting them to win again but to do this, they need to instill a level of training that surpasses every other team. This is no easy feat, as all teams are working their very hardest to maintain a high performance. However, given how hard the Celtics are training, it’s already looking good for them.
It’s not easy to win once and then try to win again. Coming on the field in August, all eyes will be on the team as they face St Mirren. What are they doing to prepare themselves for this? Well, keep reading to find out more.
Training is a Daily Occurrence
The Celtic team is doing what they do best, which is putting their heads down and getting the hours in. Just like any other thing, if you work hard at it and you practice, you will get better. This is the same in football as it is when you play casino games and you spin the reels with free spins on top UK slots, as although things are still up to chance, with practice, you’ve at least developed smart coping and resting mechanisms to keep things golden.
Training daily is of huge importance to the team; however, part of training is also the recovery. Coaches Brendan Rodgers know this very well, which is why he’s spending a lot of time trying to find the perfect balance.
A Checklist of Training
The Celtics are engaging in a lot of training. To give you a better idea, here is a set checklist of all the ways they’re trying to make sure they’re set to play St. Mirren in the upcoming game to kick off the premiership.
Here are some training tactics of Celtic FC:
- Warm-ups and Mobility Work: You’ll always start with a proper warm-up. Here you can think of the team doing dynamic stretches, light jogging and mobility drills to get the muscles firing and prevent injury.
- Technical Drills: These focus on ball control, passing accuracy, dribbling and first touch. Coaches keep it sharp and quick, often in small-sided drills to simulate match pressure. It looks easy when you watch but when you’re actually doing it, you see how much finesse is needed.
- Tactical Sessions: This is where the players will work on shape, formation play and team movement. Expect walkthroughs of specific match scenarios, both defensively and in attack.
- Small-Sided Games & Match Simulation: These help with decision-making, speed of play and teamwork. The players will often be in 5v5 or 8v8 games to recreate real match intensity. It’s quite a smart tactic as it also puts pressure and competition on the players.
- Set-Piece Practice: Corners, free kicks and defending set-pieces are all rehearsed again and again. A player will know exactly where to be and what their job is.
- Strength & Conditioning: Gym sessions are built into the schedule. You’ll work on core strength, power, injury prevention and recovery, which is usually monitored by fitness coaches. If you watch any sports documentary, you don’t just see the players on the field or court; you see them working it out in the gym for muscle conditioning, too.
- Recovery Days: Ice baths, massage, pool work and stretching are all key for injury prevention. On lighter days, the players will still be in for analysis or a team meeting.
- Video Analysis: Coaches break down footage so players can see what’s working and what needs tweaking. It’s not just physical, it’s mental prep too. When you’re playing the best of the best, you need to be in tip-top shape all around.
Formation Plays the Celtics are Thinking About
Formation is everything in a game. Depending on who they play, they will bring in different tactics. For a team with stronger strikers, they might start with a strong line of defense. Against a team with less strong strikes, they might work on their offence. It’s impossible to say how they’ll approach this upcoming game but take a look at some of the options.
Seeing that Celtic FC already know they’re taking on St Mirren, you can expect them to go in with an attacking mindset. They’ll likely stick with their usual 4-3-3 formation, which gives them plenty of width and pace going forward. The full-backs will push high up the pitch, almost like wingers and the midfield three will look to control possession and break lines with quick passes.
Celtic will press high and try to win the ball back quickly if they lose it. They won’t give St Mirren much time on the ball. The front three will be sharp, always looking for space behind the defence or cutting in to create chances.
You’ll probably see Celtic dominating possession and trying to break down St Mirren’s defensive shape with quick movement and overlaps. It’s all about keeping the pressure on and creating constant goal-scoring opportunities. For now, this is an assumption; you’ll only really know when you’re watching the game in August. However, given their previous track record, it’s likely that this will be the case.
It will be exciting and thrilling to catch the game live and see what the outcome is.