Tag: St.Johnstone

Celtic 2-0 St.Johnstone: Six points clear one month into the new year plus transfer deadline day talk.

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In the last update on the blog, I wrote that it was three wins on the spin since the return from the winter break. Well, I guess we can make that four now as Celtic coasted home to a 2-0 win over St.Johnstone which makes it 12 goals scored and four clean sheets too.

At the top of the table we remain and now we’re six points clear with a superior goal difference as well. Not a bad eleven days if you ask me. Incredible to think we’ve already played four games in that time.

Celtic dominated the first half with Saints keeper Zander Clark making a wonderful save from a point-blank Scott Sinclair header. Later on, in the half,  Olly Burke produced a curling effort from the left-hand side of the box which zipped just past the far post. But that aside the visiting side kept it tight and remained encamped around their box for the whole 45 mins with only Rangers legend Michael O’Halloran looking any kind of a threat on the break.

At halftime, you started to wonder if it just might not be our night but five minutes after the restart any such fears were allayed when Callum McGregor had acres of space to advance towards the opposition box after being fed in from the right by Mikel Lustig and he unleashed a storming drive that gave Clark no chance and ended up in the bottom right corner to give the men in Hoops the lead.

A mere two mins later it got even better and the points were pretty much signed, sealed and delivered when the advancing Lustig again fed a ball in from the right, this time to the edge of the box where Ryan Christie left Saints captain Joe Shaughnessy for dead and proceeded to curl the ball spectacularly past Clark high into the far corner to make it 2-0 and more or less game over.

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It’s a beauty from Christie. 

Odsonne Edouard made his long-awaited comeback from the bench and almost scored before Clark made a wonderful save from McGregor minutes later. Then right at the end, Ricky Foster produced a blatant handball whilst sliding in the box to prevent a cross from James Forrest after the Celtic winger had played a cute one-two with Lustig but the referee and the linesman had already decided Celtic had scored enough for the evening so chose to pretend they didn’t see it.

So that was that. As comfortable as you like with the Celt’s keeper Scott Bain a virtual spectator.

That’s our 13th win in our last 17 league games now, 16th win in 20 domestic games and our 12th win in 12 home league games this season.

We now visit McDiarmid Park on Sunday to face the same opposition again and let’s hope for more of the same or better still a repeat of the 6-0 hammering we dished out to them back in early October. Hard to believe that’s four months ago already. I remember it well. It was pretty much the performance that kick-started our season after a, to say the least, tepid start.

Tomorrow is, of course, the final day of the transfer window. By Celtic’s standards, it’s been a pretty active January with most of our business done uncharacteristically early via the signing of striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo and the loan deals for attackers Timothy Weah and Olly Burke. There were of course hopes of a right back arriving though rumoured interest in Atalanta’s Belgium internationalist Timothy Castagne was kiboshed by a price tag of somewhere in the region of ÂŁ10 million.

Scott McKenna was also linked with some social media sources even going as far as to proclaim that a ÂŁ6.5 million fee with Aberdeen had been agreed and that the big centre back was en route via a taxi all the way from Dubai. It was of course baseless. Aberdeen have got the player tied up until 2023 and have already said they think they can get an eight-figure fee from a club down south this summer. Being that they are in rude financial health these days they are under no pressure to sell and can name their price. That price is likely to be too rich for our blood especially when you consider that McKenna is far from the finished article.

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Perhaps the closest Scott McKenna will ever get to wearing a Celtic jersey.

The latest name to be linked is Borussia Dortmund’s Jeremy Toljan, a right back who made 27 appearances for the current Bundesliga league leaders last season but so far none this term. Brendan was quick to dampen any hopes though prematch saying that there’s nothing in it.

Who knows what will materialise over the next 24 hrs.  But with Filipe Benkovic out until at least March suddenly central defence is a concern again.

That aside defender Jack Hendry and midfielder Lewis Morgan continue to be linked with loan moves away for the rest of the season. Considering the improvement we’ve seen in Ryan Christie since his return from a loan stint at Aberdeen I’d say such moves would be good for both young players. It would also trim a very bloated squad that at his way too much dead wood with Gamboa, Hayes, Eboue and Mulumbu other worthy candidates for the dispatch box. As for Marvin Compper, well, they’ll need to carry him out.

All of this and more will be answered in the coming hours. Of course, it could be that nothing happens at all.

As is always the case with a Celtic transfer deadline day………….expect the worst…..hope for the best.

 

Scottish Cup weekend review: Celtic 3-0 Airdrie, Auchinleck shock Ayr and the curse of Jimmy Bell.

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As Celtic continued their charge for the mythical treble-treble and a record third consecutive Scottish Cup we welcomed the team once named Airdrie Utd before being re-Christened Airdrieonians – in tribute to the team that were liquidated back in 2002 – to Celtic Park for the unusual kick-off time of 5.15pm on Saturday night as Premier Sports finally began their new coverage of the Scottish Cup.

It was, of course, all meant to start at the luxurious surroundings of Cowdenbeath’s Central Park the night before but Rangers kitman, the infamous Jimmy Bell put paid to that as the game was called off due to a frozen pitch allegedly at wee Jimmy’s instance. Well, that’s what Donald Findlay QC claims anyway.

Getting back to Celtic and it was as expected pretty easy-peasy as we coasted home to a 3-0 victory. Having missed a penalty and an open goal in the first half Scott Sinclair tapped in on 37 minutes to give us the lead. At the other end just before halftime keeper, Scott Bain made an incredible five saves in a row and all within the space of about seven seconds too.

In the second half, Celtic laid siege to the Airdrie goal with Sinclair tapping in a second, then was denied his hat-trick after being adjudged as offside despite two opposition defenders clearly playing him on.

Substitute Timothy Weah came on for his debut and after being fed through from Dedryk Boyata finished beautifully to make it 3-0. Another debutant Olly Burke missed a header late on that he really should have buried but that aside I thought he looked pretty good showing some nice touches. Both players injected energy and enthusiasm into the side and look like positive additions.

Over the piece, it was three going on seven and the visitors did well to keep the score down.

Considering the kick off time and lowly opposition getting a crowd of just under 30,000 inside Celtic Park for the tie was pretty impressive and the pubs were definitely rammed to boot. What is all that about January being a dead month when everyone is skint and off the booze? Not around these parts anyway.

Off the pitch, Airdrie’s lovely Section B fans showed up and after nearly being overrun by the Green Brigade outside the ground before the police arrived to save them, they were escorted into the stadium where they serenaded the home support with some classic sectarian anthems and catcalls for 90 minutes.  Apparently, the Section B-boys were all ramped up by the rumoured attendance at the game of their man crush Tommy Robinson though in the end he never made it. Wise call Tommy.

In other matches, BBC 1 decided to give live television coverage of the all Ayrshire battle between Ayr Utd and Junior side Auchinleck Talbot. I get the romance of the cup and all that but this was some pretty desperate early Saturday afternoon viewing with Ian McCall’s men – who are somehow in the chase for promotion to the Premiership – looking simply woeful without the services of goal machine Lawrence Shankland up front.

The game was dire on a grey and cold day with the only highlight being one of the Talbot players rattling the upstairs window of a house behind the Ayr goal in the second half. Though in fairness the headed goal by former Ayr defender Craig McCracken on 78 minutes was well executed leaving the Ayr fans behind the aforementioned goal with their big union jack flag absolutely gutted.

Aberdeen somehow contrived to draw at home with Stenhousemuir, who currently sit bottom of League 1 and will now replay in 10 days as will Dundee who continued their season-long woeful form with a 1-1 draw at home to Championship side Queen of the South.

St. Mirren were written off by Chick Young with 22 minutes to go probably due to being 2-0 and a man down at home to Alloa Athletic but that only served to galvanise them as they charged back to win 3-2 and Motherwell continued their bleak season as last year’s runners up exited to the cup 2-1 at home to Championship high flyers Ross County.

The rest of the 4th round results pretty much went as expected save League 1’s Raith Rovers flattening Dunfermline Athletic 3-0 in the Fife derby as Stevie Crawford’s reign as the new Pars manager got off to a ‘flyer’.

On Sunday Hearts went some way to avenging their 5-0 embarrassment away to Livingston five weeks ago as they beat the men from the Tony Macaroni arena 1-0 via a solitary Sean Clare strike at Tynecastle in another BBC televised live game and another forgettable affair.

As for the draw for the 5th round – or last 16 as they say in Europe –  we got St.Johnstone at home which you’d imagine should be pretty routine. Elsewhere there is a Highland derby, Auchinleck got Hearts at Tynecastle which will likely be live on the BBC and will also likely be awful,  St. Mirren will host Dundee Utd in a ‘Pick’Em’ encounter and barring the worst result in their history a week on Wednesday when they finally meet Cowdenbeath, Rangers should be playing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in what will be the tie of the round between two teams currently only separated by one point in the league though of course, Killie could be miles ahead of them by the time the tie comes around on the weekend of the 9th/10th of February.

Post-match analysis: St.Johnstone 0 – 6 Celtic. How’s about that then

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Finally Celtic produced a performance worth raving about after a pretty tepid opening few months to the season as they found not only their shooting boots but some actual form in Perth.

It’s been a bit of a slog so far this season with elimination from the Champions League qualifiers, no wins away domestically in the league and generally pretty monotonous and uninspiring play week in, week out.

That all changed though at a wind and rain swept McDiarmid Park on Sunday.

After a ropey start where the Saints clearly fancied their chances and decided to take it to us, no doubt believing we would be drained both physically and mentally after a second-half roasting by RB Salzburg on Thursday evening, and created a few decent chances with a Danny Swanson volley from close range stinging the palms of Craig Gordon.

For the first 10 mins, Celtic were struggling and you couldn’t help but think ‘here we go again.’

Thereafter though it was a slaughter.

Celtic rained down attack after attack on the Perth sides goal and eventually took the lead after 15 mins when an Edouard shot was saved by Zander Clark only to rebound back to James Forrest whose shot made it into the back of the net after an unsuccessful attempt by Clark to claw it away.

Edouard, who had been unlucky not score only minutes previously, then did get on the score sheet only seven mins after the opener, finishing from outside the box with a neatly drilled finish into the far lower corner.

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French Eddy and Ross Callahan compare dance moves.

In the final 15 mins of the half, the floodgates truly did open as Forrest added another three to his previous effort, combining well with the majestic Rogic for each one and showing some wonderful finishing ability with both feet.

All of those three goals were special with the first seeing him finish off a 1-2 with the aforementioned Rogic which cut the Saints defence apart and then the Aussie playmaker feed him through to finish with his right foot and seal his hat-trick. Forrest’s final goal was probably the pick of the litter though as he played another 1-2 with that man Rogic again and raced through on goal from his own half before finishing low past Clark also again.

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A liquid finish from the impressive Forrest.

In amongst all of that, a Leigh Griffiths free-kick effort from 30 yards produced a wonderful save from Zander Clark who was actually having the game of his life in between picking the ball out of the net.

Nobody could have predicted 5-0 at halftime in their wildest dreams and a shellshocked looking Tommy Wright was clearly regretting his decision to play expansive football and attack an apparently bedraggled Celtic.

A beleaguered Tommy Wright demands the ref blows the final whistle.

As is often the case after that kind of first half the goals dried up in the second period with Callum McGregor tapping in a sixth after some neat build-up play on the 84th-minute mark.

Previous to that Danny Swanson got a straight red card for hacking down Forrest who was on the charge again. Swanson had clearly seen enough of that in the first half and refused to stick around for more.

It was quite a day, easily Celtic’s best domestically so far this season, notwithstanding the Rangers game, and before we unilaterally dismiss the level fo opposition let’s not forget that St.Johnstone had been unbeaten at home since late February.

So Celtic now climb to the third spot in the league, only three points off the top and with a vastly improved goal difference. Not a bad way to go into the international break and let’s just hope this is a return to the dynamic free-flowing football we had previously associated with Brendan’s reign at the club.

Kris Boyd must be raging.

 

Post-match analysis: St.Johnstone 0 – 1 Celtic. Better in the Betfred!

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Not the greatest performance by any means but a win and a deserved one at that.

As predicted the Saints sat in still licking their wounds from a 5-1 pasting at Ibrox on Sunday.

In an action replay of Celtic’s last half dozen or more displays, Celtic lacked tempo and mainly passed the ball aimlessly around at the back for the majority of the first half as the Perth side rarely ventured into our half.

Despite that, both Leigh Griffiths and on the stroke of half-time Callum McGregor passed up stick on chances as Leigh headed straight at the keeper and Callum raced through one on one only to clip it past the far post.

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A whisker away. 

In the second half, Celtic came out like a team clearly given a boot up the backside by Brendan during the half-time team talk and played like a team determined to actually win.

It was all one-way traffic with Zander Clark producing some fine saves in the opposition goal and Leigh Griffiths passing up a few more chances you would usually fancy him to bury.

The men in blue did break away on a few occasions and David Wotherspoon was unlucky to see his curling drive from the edge of the box whistle just past the post but that apart Celtic were dominant.

Just rewards were delivered as Griffiths pounced on a loose ball in the box to bury it and give a deserved lead and eventual winner on 83 minutes. His third goal in as many games and it was good to see him not give up the ghost after a frustrating evening.

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If at first, you don’t succeed……

That was pretty much it bar Boyata getting a senseless straight red card moments later for dissent towards referee Steve Beaton. Replays showed Beaton originally planned to only dish out a yellow but the Belgian internationalist refusal to A) walk over to him when asked and B) keep his mouth shut leading to the claret-coloured one instead.

Scott Bain, in goal for the night with Craig Gordon on the bench, then had a rush of blood in the last few seconds and came for a ball he was miles away from almost resulting in disaster but thankfully it came to nothing.

Aside from that Bain literally had nothing to do all night bar gather up a few speculative crosses and shots from distance.

On the whole, the second half was more like it from Celtic. Showing determination and a real will to win they created chance after chance and it was inevitable one would eventually be taken. It really is amazing what injecting a bit of intensity to the play can do.

Lewis Morgan came on and looked good once again and he is starting to cement a pretty solid case for a starting place.

To the minus points though and the man Morgan came on for, Edouard, again looked ineffective showing very little and there would appear to be slim hope of a partnership with LG up front working as both are way too similar.

Boyata’s straight red rules him out of the semi-final which is cause for concern though it can be appealed. However, I’d hold out little hope of it being successful.

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Boyata walks. No one looks surprised. 

As for the semi-final we got Hearts which is a refreshing change from Rangers who we’ve been drawn against in three out of the last four cup semis.

It brings up the also potentially controversial situation of either ourselves or the side from Govan having to play their semi on the afternoon of Saturday the 27th of October, just 40 hours after a scheduled Thursday night Europa League match.

Rangers are at home in their game against Spartak Moscow whilst we’ll be away to Red Bull Leipzig.

The possible solution is to play both matches on the Sunday with one at Hampden and the other through in Edinburgh at Murrayfield. Outside of that, I don’t really see how it would work. Playing one after the other at Hampden on the Sunday will be kyboshed by the police and having one semi remain on the Saturday will lead to outcry from either half of the Glasgow divide claiming bias.

Watch this space.