Chalmers: Jinky would have loved it

Stevie Chalmers believes nobody would have appreciated Celtic’s championship success more than fellow Lisbon Lion Jimmy Johnstone.

The Hoops confirmed the return of the Bank of Scotland Premier League trophy with their victory over Hearts, who lie 20 points behind with six matches remaining.

Parkhead was awash with emotion as Gordon Strachan celebrated the SPL and CIS Insurance Cup double.

And the name of the greatest ever Celtic winger was never far away from the thoughts of those inside the stadium.

The current squad paid tribute to the recently departed Johnstone by wearing his number seven on shorts and tracksuit tops while dedicating the trophy to him.

Chalmers, who scored the winning goal for Jock Stein’s European Cup-winning side, said: “Jimmy would have loved it.

“Jimmy was not only a great footballer, he was a strong Celtic supporter.

“He would have been among the crowd enjoying every minute of it.

“It would be nice if we could use it as a tribute to wee Jimmy but I can’t really say that.

“They will sing his name for years to come because Jimmy was a one-off.

“He’ll never be forgotten by anyone at Celtic and that’s why even at great times like this he is remembered. He will always be in the history of Celtic Football Club.”

The Hoops will not get praise from everyone with many suggesting this was the poorest side from the east end of Glasgow to win the league.

But Chalmers said: “I don’t agree with that at all.

“This is still a tough, tough league and Hearts played very well last night and have closed the gap.

“You still have to win and beat the rest of the teams and Celtic have recovered from disappointment to do that.”

Chalmers believes Strachan deserves more credit than he has been getting.

“They have won the league easily but there have been a lot of hard games,” he continued.

“The manager has had to put up with a lot of his critics but he has worked himself through a very hard situation.

“He had a bad start but he has done very well given the circumstances.

“He has answered the critics back and people should not forget he had to make a lot of changes.

“When Martin went away it was not easy for him. It’s not easy to follow success. People don’t want a job after success. They want to take over a team at the bottom.

“This was a hard job but the manager should now be praised for what he has done. His bravery has been rewarded.”