A Slight Celtic Stumble Or A Sign Of Something Worse?
Article by James Payne
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Celtic played two games in the last week – a home game with Partick Thistle and an away match at Inverness Caledonian Thistle (ICT) - winning the first and drawing the second. With seven games to play Celtic’s lead is 5 points with a game in hand over nearest chaser’s Aberdeen so it is hardly a crisis situation but things look a bit less bright than they did the last time I put pen to paper for this blog.
The match at Inverness was particularly disappointing as, for the first time under Ronny Deila, a lead was surrendered to Scottish opponents with the performance looking particularly flat especially during a numbingly tedious second half when Celtic had almost all the play but never really threatened to score a winner. Leigh Griffiths had scored a fine early goal but the lead was surrendered almost immediately after careless play by Jason Denayer. The game had looked set fair at that stage but alas it ended with the whimperiest of whimpers.
Both of Celtic’s newest signings, Gary MacKay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong, came in for some criticism after the match and it was true that both players had easily their weakest games since signing at the end of January but nobody played well I thought so it seems a bit unfair to pick on them. I did feel sorry for Leigh Griffiths who was substituted near the end as he had been starved of worthwhile service after the second minute and with the home team apparently happy with the draw from very early on in the second half (if not before) this seemed an ideal opportunity to try out a twin strike force for the first time in ages. Ronny Deila does however seem reluctant to try any alternatives to his preferred set-up. The 4-2-3-1 has worked (domestically at least) but I have felt that both Guidetti and Griffiths would score more if they played together as front men against teams which sit back. It has to be acknowledged though that with the normally reliable Bitton, Johansen and Brown all being below par and Commons being brought on a bit late Celtic would have struggled to create much whatever formation they had used.
Celtic’s performance three days earlier against Partick was praised with the 2-0 scoreline only hinting at the superiority the Hoops enjoyed. And yet I felt that this was another game where a second out-and-out striker would have helped and it took a penalty on the stroke of half time to break the deadlock against a Jags’ side which played some nice football and forced the ever superb Craig Gordon into one excellent save with the score at nil-nil (and another at 2-0). Celtic did play some lovely football in the second half with the excellent Johansen scoring a goal of real class but it has to be acknowledged that this was against ten men as Thistle had a player (correctly) sent off as a result of the foul which led to the penalty. The Firhill men defended stubbornly and goalkeeper Scott Fox made some fine saves but Celtic really should have scored more goals and that has been a fault throughout the season even – in fact especially- when the team has been playing well.
Celtic has so far played 53 games in a season that is already nine months old so it is understandable that in some games Celtic will sag a little now and again but I think it is a legitimate concern that the manager seems so inflexible with his formation and I can understand why there are fears that the team might just be running out of steam with the prizes in sight. We shall soon find out as Celtic has three big matches in the next 8 days.
First up is a home match with Kilmarnock in the league. Killie has slipped to the fringes of the relegation play-off zone recently and will be desperate to go into the ‘split’ with as much breathing space as they can so I would expect them to be more ‘up for it’ than the earlier matches (both won 2-0 by the Bhoys) so Celtic would be more than happy to win again by the same score. As the Rugby Park team is likely to play as tight a defensive game as they can this could be a tricky match.
On Sunday Celtic face ICT again this time in a Scottish Cup semi-final. Celtic has an infamously bad record in Cup ties against these opponents and has a far from flawless record in cup semi-finals in the recent seasons so again this will be tricky – ICT did enough in the opening half hour of last Saturday’s game to suggest they could give Celtic problems if they actually try to force the issue though in turn that may give Celtic more room. As with the Killie match I would though be surprised if Celtic does not win but in the latter match without the ‘cup tied’ Armstrong or McKay-Steven Celtic will be below strength against opponents who have nothing to lose.
The third match is the outstanding game-in-hand at Dens Park against Dundee. The game has been outstanding for a while now and it is hardly a ‘gimme’ three points. The Dark Blues were comfortably beaten in a Scottish Cup ties two months ago – at a time when Celtic was playing a touch more fluently than at present- but in the previous visit last September Celtic only achieved a draw in a game that on play the home team just about shaded.
The cup tie will look after itself but the two league matches are arguably even more important. Victory in both will almost certainly assure Celtic of the league with only five games to play. Anything less and Celtic could find itself with more to do than it expected. Aberdeen deserve credit for sticking in – especially after that crushing defeat to Celtic on 1 March- but Celtic could and should be further ahead than they are.
The Scottish Premiership season might just be about to get interesting again.
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
Subscribe to the e-Football Podcast on iTunes (Click Here)
Celtic played two games in the last week – a home game with Partick Thistle and an away match at Inverness Caledonian Thistle (ICT) - winning the first and drawing the second. With seven games to play Celtic’s lead is 5 points with a game in hand over nearest chaser’s Aberdeen so it is hardly a crisis situation but things look a bit less bright than they did the last time I put pen to paper for this blog.
The match at Inverness was particularly disappointing as, for the first time under Ronny Deila, a lead was surrendered to Scottish opponents with the performance looking particularly flat especially during a numbingly tedious second half when Celtic had almost all the play but never really threatened to score a winner. Leigh Griffiths had scored a fine early goal but the lead was surrendered almost immediately after careless play by Jason Denayer. The game had looked set fair at that stage but alas it ended with the whimperiest of whimpers.
Both of Celtic’s newest signings, Gary MacKay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong, came in for some criticism after the match and it was true that both players had easily their weakest games since signing at the end of January but nobody played well I thought so it seems a bit unfair to pick on them. I did feel sorry for Leigh Griffiths who was substituted near the end as he had been starved of worthwhile service after the second minute and with the home team apparently happy with the draw from very early on in the second half (if not before) this seemed an ideal opportunity to try out a twin strike force for the first time in ages. Ronny Deila does however seem reluctant to try any alternatives to his preferred set-up. The 4-2-3-1 has worked (domestically at least) but I have felt that both Guidetti and Griffiths would score more if they played together as front men against teams which sit back. It has to be acknowledged though that with the normally reliable Bitton, Johansen and Brown all being below par and Commons being brought on a bit late Celtic would have struggled to create much whatever formation they had used.
Celtic’s performance three days earlier against Partick was praised with the 2-0 scoreline only hinting at the superiority the Hoops enjoyed. And yet I felt that this was another game where a second out-and-out striker would have helped and it took a penalty on the stroke of half time to break the deadlock against a Jags’ side which played some nice football and forced the ever superb Craig Gordon into one excellent save with the score at nil-nil (and another at 2-0). Celtic did play some lovely football in the second half with the excellent Johansen scoring a goal of real class but it has to be acknowledged that this was against ten men as Thistle had a player (correctly) sent off as a result of the foul which led to the penalty. The Firhill men defended stubbornly and goalkeeper Scott Fox made some fine saves but Celtic really should have scored more goals and that has been a fault throughout the season even – in fact especially- when the team has been playing well.
Celtic has so far played 53 games in a season that is already nine months old so it is understandable that in some games Celtic will sag a little now and again but I think it is a legitimate concern that the manager seems so inflexible with his formation and I can understand why there are fears that the team might just be running out of steam with the prizes in sight. We shall soon find out as Celtic has three big matches in the next 8 days.
First up is a home match with Kilmarnock in the league. Killie has slipped to the fringes of the relegation play-off zone recently and will be desperate to go into the ‘split’ with as much breathing space as they can so I would expect them to be more ‘up for it’ than the earlier matches (both won 2-0 by the Bhoys) so Celtic would be more than happy to win again by the same score. As the Rugby Park team is likely to play as tight a defensive game as they can this could be a tricky match.
On Sunday Celtic face ICT again this time in a Scottish Cup semi-final. Celtic has an infamously bad record in Cup ties against these opponents and has a far from flawless record in cup semi-finals in the recent seasons so again this will be tricky – ICT did enough in the opening half hour of last Saturday’s game to suggest they could give Celtic problems if they actually try to force the issue though in turn that may give Celtic more room. As with the Killie match I would though be surprised if Celtic does not win but in the latter match without the ‘cup tied’ Armstrong or McKay-Steven Celtic will be below strength against opponents who have nothing to lose.
The third match is the outstanding game-in-hand at Dens Park against Dundee. The game has been outstanding for a while now and it is hardly a ‘gimme’ three points. The Dark Blues were comfortably beaten in a Scottish Cup ties two months ago – at a time when Celtic was playing a touch more fluently than at present- but in the previous visit last September Celtic only achieved a draw in a game that on play the home team just about shaded.
The cup tie will look after itself but the two league matches are arguably even more important. Victory in both will almost certainly assure Celtic of the league with only five games to play. Anything less and Celtic could find itself with more to do than it expected. Aberdeen deserve credit for sticking in – especially after that crushing defeat to Celtic on 1 March- but Celtic could and should be further ahead than they are.
The Scottish Premiership season might just be about to get interesting again.
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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