Alas, family commitments have kept me away from writing up all the things I wanted to this week.
So I’ll talk briefly about the two games I missed covering in the blog before getting to the real meat and bone that being the big encounter on Saturday at Castle Greyskull.
Last Saturday Celtic coasted to a 3-0 win over lowly Dundee. Even without a host of regular starters such as Tierney, Boyata, Lustig and Edouard we still coasted to a 3-0 win as Mikey Johnston stepped up to the plate and scored twice in the first half with Benkovic adding a third in the second. There was some concern before the game that without a recognised striker we’d struggle and not only were the aforementioned players absent but Ryan Christie who’s been one of our main goal threats of late could only start on the bench as he recovered from injury but that was all rather academic with the 19-year-old Johnstone depositing two nice finishes to put us on easy street. Dundee offered little and underlined why they are bottom of the league and have been for most of the season.
It’s incredible to think that was nearly a week ago so hectic is the build-up to Christmas and the usual social and shopping carnage that follows it.
In amongst said carnage, we visited Aberdeen at Pittodrie. We’d own there 13 times out of our last 14 visits so it’s a venue that holds little or no fear for us but the Dons had won four straight and were in free-scoring form which saw them sit a mere three points behind us in the league so a tough day was expected. Certainly much tougher than what Dundee offered up four days previously.
So it proved to be as in an exciting end to end game Celtic were pegged back twice after going ahead through Scott Sinclair on both occasions by penalties. The first was a result of an awfully timed challenge by Tierney’s recent stand in Emilio Izaguirre as he decked Nial McGinn needlessly beside the byline and the second saw Graeme Shinnie produce a world-class dive that was seen as legitimate by referee Willie Collum.
Both spot-kicks hitting the net were met with riotous cheers and applause by many of the patrons of the pub I was frequenting on Boxing Day which was rather busy and somewhat split in terms of allegiances.
But all’ss well that ends well and the returning Odsonne Edouard underlined just what led us to break the clubs transfer record so resoundingly in the summer to gain his services on a permanent basis as his introduction off of the bench saw him play a part in the build-up to Sinclair’s second before scoring with a sumptuous finish to make it 3-2 and then setting up Sinclair for his hat-trick after some magnificent wing play.
Lewis Ferguson, son of Derek and nephew of Barry, of course, got his moment to shine as he netted late to make the last few minutes of injury time slightly nervy but in the end, the three points were ours and what with Hibs drawing with Rangers for the second time in the space of a week via a 1-1 draw at Ibrox thanks to a late Darren McGregor equaliser we now sit top of the league by three points with a game in hand.
Talking of Ibrox we go there on Saturday for the customary end of years clash, well customary when they are in the same league as us that is. And yes I still refer to it as the ‘Old Firm’ game which I know leads to much huffing and puffing amongst some of our support but what can I say…………..I’m a sentimentalist.
No matter what happens by 5pm on Saturday we’ll still be top of the league going into the New Year and winter break due to our superior goal difference but let’s be honest we want to beat them every time we play them no matter what the circumstances.
The form is definitely with us in just about every way imaginable. We’re unbeaten in the last 12 encounters against them with 10 wins, all of which have occurred under Brendan, and sit on an incredible 31-5 aggregate lead over that period.
In fact, we’ve not actually lost over 90 mins to them in our last 15 meetings with our last defeat against the light blues not occurring since the 25th March of 2012.
All that aside their recent form pales against ours also as we’ve only lost two out of our last 15 games in all competitions and have lost only one domestic match in our last 15 games with 13 wins. We’ve also scored 10 goals in our last three games whilst racking up nine points out of nine. Meanwhile, Rangers have won only six of their last 16 matches in all competitions with eight wins from their last 15 domestic games, four draws and three losses. In the last three, they have taken five points from nine and have scored only three goals.
There’s no doubt they are better this season under Steven Gerrard what with the fact they are second in the league – albeit having played a game more than us and that they are only three points above fourth-placed Aberdeen – plus their Europa League run which saw them emerge through four rounds of qualifying to make the group stages before taking qualification to the last 32 down to their last group game.
Though to be honest having been pretty impressed with the early season form of their central defensive pairing of new signings Goldson and Katic in the last few months that has pretty much collapsed and what has really kept them competitive has been the incredible form of goalkeeper Allan McGregor and the scoring exploits of Alfredo Morelos who may look like a bulldog chewing a wasp but knows the way to goal as he’s hit 20 so far this season.
Katic appears to have dropped out of the first team starting favour completely having previously had ‘buy of the century’ etc bestowed upon him and his place has been taken up as of late by either English loanee Joe Worrall or the ancient former Northern Ireland internationalist Gareth McAuley who put of retirement to ‘live the dream’. His words. Not mine. Katic’s countryman Borna Barisic has also featured sparingly as of late and the much heralded Albanian winger Eros Grezda has looked exactly that…….an Albanian winger.
Going into the game Goldson along with Scott Arfield, McAuley and Ryan Jack are all struggling with injury though Gerrard has intimated he may play them anyway not that any of them present any real threat.
As for our squad, the only significant absentees will be Tom Rogic due to the nonsense of the Australian national team needing him for a friendly in preparation for the Asia Cup. The other will be Leigh Griffiths whose issues have been well documented.
Rogic will be a significant loss and LG is always capable of doing damage in these games so both will be missed but with Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard back along with Lustig and Boyata we are not far off full strength. Kieran Tierney faces a late fitness test and that is a real concern as I don’t fancy Izaguirre in these games at all. He has the experience sure but is a shadow of his former self and always has a mistake in him as seen on Wednesday up at Aberdeen.
Of course what could count against us is the crowd. There will only be just under 800 Celtic fans in the ground which will lead to intense pressure on the match officials and in that sort of atmosphere players can do silly things and get punished to the extreme. Things like penalties not being given when they should or given when they shouldn’t, harsh red cards, controversial offsides etc can’t be legislated for of course and what will be will on that front. Sometimes I also factor in the law of averages also. I mean even when we were on our arse against a good Ranges team back in the early to mid 90’s we still pulled the odd result out of the fire against them, though it rarely meant much in the grand scheme of things so the old adage ‘they are due a win’ comes to mind.
Rangers are desperate for a win against us. By hook or by crook any win will do. Having home advantage helps them but we start favourites and with good reason. If we turn up and play our game then it will be five straight wins at Ibrox for the first time since 1909. Considering how chomping at the bit they are to the point of tears and breakdowns to get it then expect Stevie G to really get it in the neck in January if they don’t.
Anyway, roll on 12.30pm tomorrow. Oh and Merry Christmas.
Here’s a little reminder of the last time we visited Ibrox around about this time of year.
....Always A Tim! 