SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all. 

I described last night’s performance as being solid but uninspiring. And it was all of that. Our defence was solid,featuring probably the best four players on the pitch,while the rest were by and large uninspiring. 

Certainly it is unlikely to feature in many conversation pieces between Celtic supporting friends in a few years Or even a few weeks. But is that really a fair assessment,I wonder? Well,looking at the match itself,it is hard to draw a different conclusion. We were playing a side who have just lost their inspiring young manager,and who have struggled since as a result. Far from pushing for an unlikely place in Europe,or even just The Top Six,they are now hoping to turn things around quickly before they get sucked into a relegation battle. And for periods,we struggled against them. In fact,two of our players had to “take one for the team” after typically woeful corners when St Mirren broke upfield. 

Our midfield once again looked disjointed while our forwards continued to misfire. Well,they would have done if they had got that far-I think that of the three of them,only Abada got a shot away all night. And that led to a straightforward save. But there were goals in us from elsewhere,with CCV stepping up to head home a Jota free kick ten minutes before the break. 

Aye,a goal from a setpiece-I was shocked,I tell ye!

Hatate,Abada and O’Riley were hooked halfway through the second half,with Biton allowing CalMac to move forward,Big Tam and Jamesie looking to rediscover their form. Only one of those ploys really paid dividends on the night,when CalMac rattled the second one in from the edge of the box. Bit of nostalgia there then…

So to my description of the performance. Was it true? An accurate reflection? Yes,I think it was. But was it entirely fair,was I missing something? Well,we were vastly improved on most of our performances in the past three weeks or so. But nowhere near the quality of say,three months ago. But after those recent performances,maybe what we really needed was a Ronseal does-what-it-says-on-the-tin type of solid performance that we saw. Additionally,while so many of our players failed to sparkle-none of them failed to turn up!

For most of the game,most of our players were just that percentage point short of doing what they were trying to do. So they kept trying to do it! Our subs when they came on were mainly like for like,rather than tactical,so AP was happy enough with what he saw,but he just wanted to be happier and to see if fresh legs could find the magic key on the night. 

And most important of all,and certainly not to be overlooked,is that we won? Continuing our unbeaten form in the league. Isn’t that what champions do?

******

Above article by BMCUWP