Celtic beat Hamilton 2-1. And thats about all we can take from yesterdays game, although it was what the side set out to do.
Another game where Celtic did well until they reached the final third, whereupon the predictable sidieways football kicked in, and yet again a defence was allowed to regroup and get in the way.
The style was epitomised when Charley Musonda, an adventurous attacking sort, made a few yards, and then passed backwards. Chelsea will be delighted. He’s having the football coached out of him.
Celtic have had 93 shots on goal in our last 4 games and scored only 5 goals. Thats not great, and whatever reason is offered for such a poor return, something isn’t working.
But do we change a system that has the club on the verge of a historic back to back treble ?
Yesterday, Celtic were 2-1 ahead when Musonda took to the field, he was following instructions, as the three points were there to be lost. Had he gone forward and lost possession, and Hamilton scored from the breakaway, then we’d have been a little fraught about it.
He did what he was asked, and we won.
Celtic were facing ten men after Hamilton lost their Lyon, who had roared around for a bit with the eye of the tiger before finally accumulating so many fouls that even Andrew Dallas felt obliged to send him off. That can create, and probably did create, a siege mentality among the home players. Which is why it finished only 2-1.
Anyhoo, Celtic won, and we move on, despite the usual grumbles about style and content.
# | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Last 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Celtic | 33 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 64 | 21 | 43 | 75 | |
2 | Rangers | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 67 | 38 | 29 | 62 | |
3 | Aberdeen | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 50 | 36 | 14 | 62 | |
4 | Hibernian | 33 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 49 | 35 | 14 | 59 | |
5 | Kilmarnock | 32 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 43 | 38 | 5 | 52 | |
6 | Hearts | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 35 | 30 | 5 | 46 | |
7 | Motherwell | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 36 | 43 | -7 | 38 | |
8 | St Johnstone | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 32 | 47 | -15 | 38 | |
9 | Hamilton Academical | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 42 | 58 | -16 | 30 | |
10 | Dundee | 33 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 31 | 53 | -22 | 30 | |
11 | Ross County | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 38 | 57 | -19 | 26 | |
12 | Partick Thistle | 33 | 6 | 7 | 20 | 26 | 57 | -31 | 25 |
As it stands, one more win will secure a seventh successive title.
But it will have to wait.
Thats because the SPFL have to discuss matters with the police, the TV companies , the clubs and everyone else except the fans, without whom, there would be no point in having a league.
Celtic aren’t allowed to play “rangers ” when a title can be won. Thats possibly our own fault as we took it rather badly when Rangers won the league at Celtic Park.
There is also a reluctance to have “rangers ” visit Celtic after the title is won as they would be expected to perform a roll of honour ( Are you sure you’ve got that right? -Ed )
And there is even more reluctance to have the hordes anywhere near the trophy presentation.
It is a pickle, isn’t it ?
Neil Doncaster, a proven incompetent, explained..
“This is the 18th season that we have had a split league, and with the split comes, just a matter of logic, imbalances that may mean a club or clubs loses or gains a home fixture. And it will mean distortions in terms of the amount of times clubs play each other home or away.
“So there will be clubs that end up playing others three times away or three times at home.
“What’s important is that we go through the process of liaising with broadcasters and the police, as you’d expect.
“That is something that [SPFL secretary] Iain Blair is well used to doing over the last 18 years and he will do that over the coming days to ensure the best possible set of post-split fixtures, but also the appropriate scheduling.”
The real problem lies in the system. a league should be where everyone plays everyone home and away equally, be it once or twice. What we actually have is one of those ideas that was put forward to try and spice things up a bit, but in actual fact by definition a league should have all competitors on an equal footing, facing exactly the same challenges.
And this set up doesn’t do that, yet doncaster wants us to see that as the “norm ”
All of those who run Scottish football can’t see that the system is laughably amateur, and so we now have the annual shuffle where the two Glasgow clubs must be equal but no one else is, thus destroying the integrity of the system.
But then again, the integrity in Scottish football left a long time ago, closing the door firmly behind it.
However, manager Brendan Rodgers wants the Ibrox club at Celtic Park to showcase Scottish football.
We’ll have to wait and see.