Celtic captured a surprisingly commanding 2-0 victory at Ibrox on Sunday and laid down a pretty impressive marker for the rest of the campaign.
After our exertions away in Sweden on Thursday night and with home advantage to the men in light blue – which really is a big advantage these days what with only 750 away fans now being allowed in – we entered the game underdogs.
Truth be told after our last two pretty feeble efforts in Govan that was understandable so as kick-off approached I went in with middling expectations on how we’d perform.
One thing I was certain of and that was that we’d concede. We have let in ten goals this season and with a makeshift backline including the shaky Boli Bolingoli, the apparently injured Elhamed and Nir Bitton in the middle with derby debutant Christopher Jullien how could we not?
The first half was a pretty tame affair. Rangers decided to try and play it all through the middle in the mistaken belief that Ryan Jack and Scott Arfiled were better players than Scott Brown and Callum McGregor. They decided not to deploy any of their myriad of wingers and as a result, the game ended up pretty stifled by their narrow play.
There was a languid pace to the game with it pretty evident that both teams had been playing on Thursday night with both sides lacking any real bite or energy. As visitors, this suited us down to the ground. The whirlwind first 15-20 mins I was expecting us to weather never occurred and most of the debutants were allowed to settle gently into things.
On 32 mins Mikey Johnston advanced forward and released a fabulous past to Odsonne Edouard who timed his run perfectly and ran through to finish under Allan McGregor beautifully.
In the second half Rangers huffed and puffed but lacked any spark or creativity. Kamara was subbed at half time and Joe Aribo looked lost for the entire game. Jermaine Defoe rarely got a sniff and was subbed for Morelos – who surprisingly didn’t start- and he just had his standard runout against us that being both ineffective and inconsequential.
As the game wore on we carved out a few chances with McGregor producing a few fine saves and Ntcham should have done much better after a neat one-two with Edouard on the edge of the box.
With Rangers throwing everyone up-front in a desperate bid for an equaliser late we broke away with aplomb and it was sub Jonny Hayes who raced down on goal to strike only for it to be saved before knocking in the rebound with a composed finish from an unlikely scorer. That really rubbed it in.
Our small band of visiting supporters went wild in the corner whilst the home support departed in their droves.
Moments before the final whistle Jordan Jones tried to prove how staunch he was by launching himself at new Celtic loan arrival Mortiz Bauer and getting himself a straight red, a nod of disgust from his own manager and several weeks on the sidelines with a self-inflicted injury. Well done Jordan.
Huge credit to the back four all of whom were outstanding with special praise for Bitton who is very much an unsung hero keeping his head down and just getting on with things even in the face of provocation from his own support at times.
Everyone was expecting Boli to have a nightmare but he did really well and Jullien cruised through it all effortlessly.
Elhamed was also terrific on the right side and when he had to move into the centre of defence after Bitton’s departure he was just as assured.
Last night Celtic finished the transfer window with the capture of Kilmarnock and Scotland internationalist left-back Greg Taylor in what has to be one of the worst kept secrets in Scottish football. The fee is unknown though is likely to be something north of the basic seven figures.
A few young players arrived as well in 18-year-old Dutch full-back Jeremie Frimpong from Man City and Manchester United’s 19-year-old Irish under 21 internationalist defender Lee O’Connor. Despite the rumours, a last-minute loan move for Victor Wanyama did not occur.
Jack Aitchinson (Forest Green Rovers), Ewan Henderson (Ross County) and Tony Ralston (St. Johnstone) all went out on season-long loans to make it 16 first-team squad departures this summer.
Jack Hendry and Calvin Miller apparently turned down moves to Kilmarnock. A strange and silly decision by both who are well down the pecking order now along with forgotten midfielder Eboue Kouassi. Indeed all three are so far out of the picture now they’d be as well training at Barrowfiled.
Over on the other side of the city Rangers conjured up an alleged £7 million fee for winger Ryan Kent from Liverpool. More proof if any is needed that they really are going all-in on stopping us winning the league this year even if it means flirting with financial oblivion again. Their fans aptly remain oblivious to the possibility.
This weekend it’s international time as Scotland play Russia and Belgium. I wish them well and hope the myriad of Celtic players involved do us a turn.
For the moment though we can all just bask in a great win at Ibrox which few outside of our own support thought us capable of.
Including the tactical genius that is Stevie G. Back in your box. Better luck next time.
....Always A Tim! 