Luke McCowan’s warm reception a joy to see | OneFootball

Much like the rest of his teammates, Luke McCowan cut a forlorn figure on Tuesday evening at the end of our capitulation in Linz…

LASK vs Celtic. Linz, Austria, 25.August 2026 – UEFA Champions League, play-off, Linzer ASK vs Celtic Glasgow. Image shows Joao Tornich LASK and Luke McCowan Celtic. Photo GEPA pictures Christian Moser IMAGO

The 28 year old midfielder’s role in our collapse was highlighted on social media and that resulted in a pile-on that should never happen to a Celtic player merely for poor performance. Yes it was a costly defeat that saw the club miss out on a potential £40 million payday but that wasn’t the fault of Luke McCowan, Anthony Ralston or Dane Murray.

The blame lies with the three other Celtic men shown below, especially the one in the middle.

Brian Wilson, Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson overseeing 2 x £40m Champions League misses…

Luke deserved to be criticised for his part in the calamity, that’s part and parcel of being a Celtic player, but some of the criticism he duly received crossed a line, leading to the player deleting his Instagram account.

It’s since been said by former players and many supporters that Luke is merely just a scapegoat, and that is indeed the way I see it too. Other players were also culpable for our failure to hold onto a commanding 4-0 lead, not just the former Dundee man.

Benjamin Nygren of Celtic reacts to a missed opportunity during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on August 29, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It was a collective collapse that started after Benjamin Nygren foolishly and negligently gifted LASK a way back into the tie when they were 4-0 down and rapidly losing hope. We’ll never no for sure but had that stray pass never happened Celtic could have got to the break ahead on the night and would probably have seen it out in the second half.

So the spotlight was well and truly on yesterday, in regard to what reception Luke would receive in the Celtic Park clash with Falkirk, the first outing since the Linz capitulation.

LASK vs Celtic, Linz 25 August 2026 – UEFA Champions League, play-off, the disappointment of Luke McCowan, Reo Hatate and Kasper Hogh. GEPA pictures/Manuel Binder/ IMAGO

Luke was named as a substitute, even in the absence of skipper Callum McGregor, with Martin O’Neill opting to hand Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain his first start of the season. The Ox certainly delivered with early his best performance in a Celtic jersey.

Luke would have no doubt been nervous about coming on due to the midweek backlash, but he needn’t have worried as the Celtic supporters showed that the unfair abuse he received was down to a minority of ‘keyboard warriors’ or virgins as Sandman used to call them.

Just 17 minutes into the game, Luke appeared from the dugout with his fellow substitutes to warm up, and he received a warm ripple of applause from the supporters in the main stand, and adjoining Jock Stand.

Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic and Luke McCowan of Celtic. LASK v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria – 25 Aug 2026Linz Raiffeisen Arena: Photo Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock

Then on the 77th minute, the entire ground gave him a warm welcome as he replaced the outstanding Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the score nervously poised at 2-1.  Thankfully Celtic held on to maintain our one hundred percent start to the league campaign.

After his reception at Celtic Park yesterday Luke McCowan will be feeling much better about things this morning and hopefully can put that online abuse he received behind him and go on to have a great season in the Hoops.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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