SENTINELCELTS

We might have preferred a few warm up games, but in the end it didnt really matter,, we were always gonna go out and smash whoever was in front of us, such was the pent up frustration surrounding the club following THAT draw. The Icelanders were unfortunate in that regard, but the gulf in class was evident from the get go, so they can have no complaints about their exit at our hands.

The selection raised some eyebrows but should be seen as a kick up the ass for both regulars dropped, rather than a new first choice 11. At least thats how I read the situation.
Fan-a-tic is forever pointing out how Bitton is often caught on the wrong side of his man, and I’ve seen it myself, but the big Israeli strolled through the game, as did the other draftee El Hamed.
He especially didn’t blitz forward like his counterpart, leaving James the wing to himself, for better or worse.

On the left side though Taylor did have licence to roam with Calmac covering at least initially, and bhoy he enjoyed it, so much he even scored! The kid looked to be enjoying his football, on a mission, and got some just rewards. He laid a marker that the left back spot is mine, and it will be fought for. I hope to see more performances like that from our young native.
That left side produced another couple goals through our loanee Ellyanoussi, who showed quality to score twice but needs to make that level consistent.

Lenny will be pleased with what he saw, and rightfully so as we showed purpose and intent,,one touch play and the Celtic way in spells which is very encouraging. I expected no less, we always bounce back under this manager, his disdain for losing must show. He will be especially happy at the spread of goals, two midfield, two defence, two (almost) for Odsonne.
Hopefully those he left out find a bit of fire in their bellies to regain that spot, and a 6 zip win without isnt ideal, but competition for places should drive up standards, and last night was a great start in that.

The opponents were not awful, could have scored a couple although the keeper looked out of his depth at this level, so theres a lot of heart to be taken. Our new striker didn’t get his dream debut as hoped for, perhaps due to being stuck on as part of a duet with Paddy Klimala, who was looking to play in those spots and space himself. Ah well, plenty time.

The fans (and perhaps the season) needed a kickstart, and they got it. We can play well when on point, have good players to win games, and a blip is exactly that, a rare occurrence. Its now up to the management team to keep the standard of performance high, league winning high.
We seen glimpses last night of just how devastating we can be when we click,,those glimpses become the norm the league is ours.
Well done bhoys.

The above is by Mahe.
sentinelcelts@gmail.com