Celtic now have the third best unbeaten run if world football, behind Steaua and Lincoln Red Imps.
64 unbeaten. And counting
After perhaps the dreariest game of the season so far, the first where the television viewer looked at the screen and was thankful he’d not made the trip as he noticed those in the crowd peering out through a jumble of woolly clothes into a sun so low it was burning the tops of trees, Celtic moved six points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the table.
It was one of those games where nothing seemed to go right for the Hoops, and even when it looked like it might one or two of the Ross County players were under instruction to make sure play was stopped.
The free flowing passing and moving was difficult enough on a pitch that was laid in tribute to first World War veterans , and the constant fouling and piss poor refereeing made it look like Celts would get a draw at best.
One or two players, notably Dembele and Sinclair looked either as though they didn’t want to be there or simply couldn’t cope with the conditions.
However, we still have a few who would play on concrete and broken glass in a blizzard, and when one of them, Leugh Griffiths, entered the fray, there were huge sughs of relief becuase you knew that sooner or later Celtic would get a free kick in a decent position and Griffiths is due to score one.
On 77 minutes, thats exactly what happened.
And you’ll have to look very hard to find a better strike than this one…
For those who take victory for granted, this was a reminder of how conditions and attitudes of opponents can be a great leveller.
There was more controversy when the TV microphones picked up some of the singing from the crowd, and Mark on twitter recalled the words of the late , great Jock Stein on the matter..
“Surely there are enough Celtic songs without introducing religion or politics or that dreadful fucking Lustig song?” – Jock Stein
There are a couple of songs dedicated to the likeable big Swede, however, “You Can Make Me Whole Again by Atomic Kitten is not, and never will be , a sound basis for a football chant.
The ridiculously named pop combo were one of those vocal girl bands who neither mastered the concept of vocals or what a band was back in the nineties.
The then set format of attractive youngsters warbling along to a backing track played its part in killing the genre and you have to hand it to the girls who have recently adopted the maxim that music was better when it was made by ugly people..
anyway, no doubt those cheeky Liverpool fans will nick the song for one of their players, and claim it as their own.
This time, we should let them.
Celtic held on-although they didn’t really have to-to get the points, and we could all go about our business until the other results came in…
Aberdeen lost, to the ever improving Motherwell, at Pittodrie, which combined with Hamiltons win at Ibrox over “rangers ” and Hibernian’s spectacular defeat at home to St. Johnstone-they managed to lose 2-1 despite pulling it back to 1-1 in the 90th minute, means that the league table now looks like this, with a Celtic finally having a wee bit of a cushion..
By the way, the 12th placed team is Dundee, still under the management expertise of Neil McCann,
The next three domestic games are against Motherwell, one home, one away and one next sunday at Hampden.
This is perhaps the most threatening sequence of fixtures to any chance of a second invincible treble.
Louis Moult could be the man to shatter that record, so moves have been made to put either the frighteners or the sweeteners on him…
Celtic have already done a deal for Moult. You can scoff at this but please save it for later date. As many did with Roberts and Armstrong deals I called months earlier.
The silver Ox is right more than he’s wrong on this sort of thing, and its worth taking seriously. Apparently the plan is to sign the forward in January and lend him back to motherwell for the rest of the season.
It certainly ties in with the stories about Demebele exiting stage left, and would provide us with that third striker to cover for the other two-as long as Eduardo lives up to his billing.
Ann budge, who is in charge of another farce over at Tynecastle must be putting her place as a major player in scottish football after the Edinburgh sides game against Partick was called off because the new stand still isn’t ready, despite the good lady remembering to order seatrs after someone left them off the original list.
The SFA haven’t commented yet, but surely the club has a duty to provide a venue for matches, and a failure to do so should incur a punishment of forfeiting the game ?
And reimibursing everyone who bought a ticket. And for their travel costs ?
The game is apparently being played today, but frankly I wouldn’t chance it. In fact, Ann Budge should be looking at resigning her post with the beaks and concentrate on getting her own house in order before suggesting how she thinks others should.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.
As would this..
Had the illustrious broadsheet sent its reporter along the A9 yesterday, they’d have seen where all the police actually were…
Whilst the police whinge about cuts, and their inability to do their job properly due to a lack of numbers, it was good to see so many having so much fun as they confiscated beer from football fans who hadn’t actually done anything wrong.
You see, it may be illegal to be drunk heading to a football match, but if the beer is unopened, then there is no reason to seize it. There is no proof of intent to drink it, and it may be that the supporters were saving it for the journey home.
But that doesn’t mater, apparently.
We hear the Scottish government are considering ordering seizure cars in case someone gets run over, kitchen utensils in case someone gets cut and telephones in case someone wants to ring the police and report a real crime.
Makes you wonder what an independent Scotland would be like in reality…after the nonsense of democracy is removed.
I’d be using that point to make Sturgeon do something about the OBFA…
However, some things will always be funny, largely because those we are laughing at remain so serious…
And boy, their team is guff.
The staunch and dignified supporters are having a moan again, despite initial optimism as recently as yesterday morning..
Their problem, of course, lies in their deep rooted sense of superiority, even though they can;t help but doff their caps to their own superiors.
What they need is a new hero, a true rebel who will inspire them to victory against those who have been taking advantage of them…
There is a distinct lack of courage among their number, they need someone with, dare i say it, a set of danglies to stand up and lead them.
I know just the chap.
Graeme Murty has had a shot at taking the managers job away from Kenny miller, and a historic third win in a row may have sealed that for him, but the veteran striker is now favourite again, and we hear he has been set a task by the Ibrox board to prove he can make the step up.
All he has to do is explain to them how he can improve the players based on this heat map, which shows players movement and effort , from yesterdays game..
He will also need to galvanize the support, get them all singing from the same sheet, however foul that may sound.
That sense of togetherness is disappearing, and some supporters cannot hide their disappointment..
Yesterdays picture…
Caption:
Dug for sale.Comes with snow shovel plus 25 disposable bin bags.
Today..
