Mark Wilson: Tony Mowbray proved Celtic's pre-season form is meaningless

Mark Wilson is currently without a club, having left Celtic at the end of his contract in the summer.SNS Group

Mark Wilson has urged Celtic supporters to remain calm going into the new campaign, despite the weekend reversal at the hands of Ajax.

The former Parkhead defender watched on as the Dutch side dismantled Neil Lennon’s team in Amsterdam, running out 4-0 winners.

HJK Helsinki lie in wait in the Champions League qualifiers in just over a week’s time but, basing his opinion on previous experience, says results in friendlies count for nothing when it comes to competitive games.

“We had our best pre-season work of my time at Celtic under Tony [Mowbray] and yet the championship which followed ended in disaster when the manager was sacked after a 4-0 defeat from St Mirren in Paisley,” Wilson told the Daily Record.

“I can understand Celtic fans’ reaction after going down by the same scoreline to Ajax in Amsterdam but there’s a world of difference between the Dutch side and St Mirren and a variety of reasons why pre-season form is meaningless.”

Having posted indifferent pre-season results for a number of years, Celtic fans appear relaxed over the result but more concerned about the failed experiment to play a 3-4-1-2 formation against a side which lined up 4-3-3.

Wilson continued: “If Ajax sorted a few things out regarding which team formation suits, or doesn’t fit, the players then know now’s the time to get that out of the system.

“The worse we did in pre-season when I was at Celtic, the better the time we had when it was all over and the real stuff started.

“We went to Australia with Tony and did so well that we came back and won the Wembley Cup by beating Spurs in the final.

“We flew into the first SPL match of the season and were three up against Aberdeen at Pittodrie before half time but none of that prevented the team from feeling as if life was being sucked out of us as the weeks went by.

“That’s why it’s crazy to read too much into what happened to the team on Saturday night. They’ll put everything right in time.”

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