SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Our first outing of the season to the capital had an all too familiar feel about it as once again we failed to take all three points. There were some other things that were all too familiar too,but I’ll get to them later.

First off,to the team sheet. Difficult to argue with the back line in front of Fraser. Bauer,Ajer,Jullien,Boli. Hard to disagree with Edouard up front either-impressed though I was with Bayo’s performance on Wednesday. And so to the midfield.

Lenny was never going to leave Broonie out of this game,Christie and Forrest had been rested in midweek-even McGregor had been given half an hour off!-and Ntcham was outstanding the last time. But playing the five of them had all of us scratching our heads as we watched the match at my sister’s place. Especially as Forrest,Christie and CalMac were playing out of their favoured positions to accommodate this.

Simply put,the midfield was out of balance and out of kilter-and it was out of sync all day too. So much so that Scott Allan ran the bloody show. Shakes head,moves on. Even at all that,we still had the vast majority of chances. But we went a goal down early on when a through ball caught our back line too square. There may have been a suggestion of offside to it but we were never gonna get the benefit of any doubt. Doige tried a cutback to space but unfortunately,Ajer stuck out a leg to intercept. And put it straight past the wrong-footed Forster.

Just one of those things,but nothing really went right for big Kris after that. I’ve noticed that before about him,and I think he could do with a wee bit of advice on how to deal with things when they’re not all hunkydory. Don’t dwell on these things,big fella. It’s done,get on with it.

The rest of the team did just that,even without really stamping our authority on things. We got away with one shortly afterwards when Bauer slipped in the box,then Hibs thought they’d got away with one in midfield when Forrest was hit late and hard. Clancy,on advice from a colleague,gave the free kick. Hibs fannied about,some crap about thinking it was a drop ball and they were going to get it back. Aye,right. Quick free kick,shove it out right,Bauer crosses it in and Christie rose to bullet a header into the net for the equaliser.

Cue bedlam from greetin’-faced Hibs types. Red card for the manager too. And the way Clancy was shortly handing out yellow cards,there was a strong likelihood that it wouldn’t be the last. Clancy hadn’t booked anyone at that stage but he was soon dishing them out like confetti,and mainly in our direction.

(By the way,Hibs claimed that they were caught cold and out of position. Well,that’s tough-but they still had ten men in their box when we scored. We had three!)

Vela and Ntcham were first in the book,for a series of niggles followed by some afters from Ollie. Ajer was next,a few minutes later. Caught too close to the player as he tried to turn,he just went right through him. Just the kind of day it was for him,in truth.

CalMac and Broonie soon followed after the break,and I tell you I was a tad concerned. Lenny then decided to freshen things up by taking off Ntcham before he really stiffened someone,bringing on Jonny Hayes around the hour mark. He didn’t really add much though he tightened the midfield,allowing Christie and CalMac a bit more freedom in their preferred roles. And he did have our last half-chance,kneeing the ball over from about ten yards. Bloody thing was denying gravity and wouldn’t come down for him to hit it right! Bayo soon followed for Edouard,and Sinclair for Forrest with a whole five minutes to go.

Let’s be honest here. Bayo won the ball all night in the air on Wednesday. We had three players out there at the time of the substitution who are adept at swinging the ball in-Boli,Forrest,Bauer. Had he kept Eddie on for a bit,we might have seen him get onto a knockdown from our big Ivorian. But naw. We just kept huffing and puffing,with Hibs in truth adding little to the occasion. Eventually the game just petered out.

So,on the strength of the above,was a draw just about right? Probably,aye. But oops,I seem to have forgotten something. Just because we aren’t our usual scintillating selves doesn’t mean that the ref can make the rules up as he goes along. We had two very strong penalty claims in the second half. Christie was nailed from behind as he was about to cut the ball back across goal,and that was a penalty every day of the week. Except for a Saturday in Leith,of course. Bauer was hammered late on in a similar position,albeit he had got his cross in beforehand. Had that one been given against us,I frankly wouldn’t have complained. So that makes it a penalty in my book too.

Let me put it another way. I can think of a certain club not too far away who would have got them. Every day of the week including a Saturday in Leith. So how come we never get them unless we happen to be about three up at the time?

I’m willing to bet that there isn’t a title-winning team anywhere on the planet who get as few penalties as we do. Season after season too. It is nearly nine years since Dr John Reid,in his position as chairman of the club,stated that while we were not demanding special treatment,we were no longer going to accept being treated unfairly. I think he made that statement after the AGM that year. It was his last,and I wonder why?

2010 that was,and his words came after the infamous Season of Honest Mistakes.

Well,it’s been a long time in the making but it looks as though the sequel is well under way. We should be demanding that Celtic do something about it,go vocal on our concerns. But we don’t do vocal in our board,not when it comes to complaints against the authorities. Too busy tugging the forelock and pocketing the bonuses to speak out on our behalf.

You’ve been warned,folks.

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Above article by BMCUWP. Remember that we welcome contributions from our readers for Article of the Day. Mail it to Mahe,get your name in lights!

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