Celtic swept St Johnstone out of their way as they continue to drive towards that third consecutive treble.
I read somewhere yesterday that should the hoops score early, we could be looking at a four, five or six goal victory, and when Sinclair and Brown…thats right, Scott Brownaldinho, more or less put the Celts two up before the bovrils were finished, the writing was on the wall.
Brown smashed a shot behind a despairing Zander Clarke from around sixty yards…reports vary…and afterwards said;
‘I don’t think they (crowd) actually want me to shoot most of the time.
‘I usually get the shout of ‘Sebo’ two seconds after I shoot.
Or “ouch ” from the unsuspecting fellow in the stand that the ball cannons off.
Sinclair scored two more, taking his tally since the break to about fifty, and James Forrest was on the end of a mazy run by stand in left back Johnny Hayes to score his sixth against the Perth side this season.
The only downside to the game was the injury to Oliver Burke, who took a knock, but should be okay for Thursdays game against Spanish minnows Valencia.
Well, if I want to get carried away I can.
Rodgers praised the contribution of Burke..
Oli took a knock to his ankle but we hope he’ll be okay. You see his intensity and the threat he gives us. He was absolutely fantastic today. He should be okay for Thursday.
Oli has shown and started to progress as we thought he could. He has wonderful attributes and his pressing sets a real tone.
He’ll be difficult to play against for anyone because the one thing that frightens defenders is pace. The speed he showed today is frightening really. It’s a joy to watch a Scottish player with that physicality and quality. There are things that he continues to work on, but he’s doing exceptionally well and he has to keep improving.
Scott Brown also had a few words on the winger/striker/all round top guy…
‘Ollie is by far the quickest I’ve played with.
‘He knows nine times out of 10 he’s going to beat people for pace and Scotty was in the right place as well.
‘People won’t keep a high line because of his pace.
‘With our forwards, we have pace everywhere in Ollie, Scotty, James and Timothy (Weah). We have pace all over the park and it scares people more than anything.
‘If people want to press the game we have that long pass in behind that Ollie, Timo, James and Scotty can take up and run through on goal.’
Brown has certainly come back after the break a new man. He’s even talking about forward passes.
Jeremy Toljan also caught the eye. His tireless runs on the right flank had a few of us old timers recalling a man who used to run up and down the opposite flank, and whilst the talk is of keeping Burke when his loan spell is finished, there should be equal effort put into retaining Toljan, the first German player to arrive at Celtic and not hand in a sick note as soon as he got off the plane.
And what of Scott Bain ?
There is an argument that he has yet to face quality opposition, but the results still speak for themselves.
Since the return after the winter break, Celtic have not conceded a goal.
Not one lapse in concentration, not one shot dropped and not one dodgy kick out to put the defence under pressure.
Whatever way you look at it, the defence deserves as much praise as the attack.
More importantly, the confidence in the team ahead of the Valencia game might just be the difference as Celtic look to get enough to make the second leg at least interesting, and dare I say, even comfortable ?
Whats the difference between a Celtic supporter and a “rangers ” supporter ?
Apart from looks, intelligence and tolerance, that is ?
We weren’t paranoid enough, whereas they are bordering on hysteria.
Their panic, now that it appears they’ll have to wait another 55 years to get their 55th title is becoming more and more audible each day.
Their scattergun approach to finding someone, or something to blame is mpore deserving of pity than scorn, and their friends in the media are promoting it as though there was actually somthing in their wailing.
Gordon Waddell, the chief football writer at the struggling Sunday Mail..the two facts may be linked..had a go at Tom Boyd…
Interesting difference in the language used by Brendan Rodgers and Tom Boyd talking about refs.
Rodgers wants help for them, suggesting maybe bringing it in from other countries while working on raising standards.
Boyd, on the other hand, wants them to be ‘neutral’. Meaning he believes the current lot have a bias, one way or the other – but especially the other, eh, Tom?
The undertone of his comments was clear, but just in case it wasn’t he said he would need to wait 100 years before the supposed injustices inflicted upon the Premiership champions by our whistlers were evened up.
This is part of the usual MSM narrative. Ignore what someone has said, and hint at an undertone, which can then become the story, allowing a commentary to suit the mainstream agenda.
What Boyd actually said was..
“I’ve seen two waist-high challenges on Edouard this season and neither was deemed to be a foul. That’s not acceptable. There is something way wrong with the standard of officiating just now.
“It needs to be addressed and the only solution is to bring in the kind of neutral referees who came in a few years ago and did well.
“Players are not afforded protection. I’ve said it on Celtic TV on numerous occasions – challenges go unpunished from opposition players on Celtic players.
“I recall Ryan Bowman on Kieran Tierney, I can recall Jason Holt on Patrick Roberts where we had a two-footed challenge from behind and no foul given.
“We tried to address it. I believe the club are still looking for answers from the Old Firm derby game in December.
“It’s something we need to sort right away and the only solution I can see is to bring in neutral referees because the ones we have at the moment cannot handle the games.”
As usual, anything that threatens the status quo, is simply turned into a Celtic “rangers ” issue.
Waddell continued;
For an official ambassador of the club, what an embarrassment.
He pointed out that Celtic players are getting injured, and need more protection. Thats actually a fact, which is probably where the mainstream hack got a little bewildered, as they’re not used to dealing with facts.
Hardly an embarrassment.
The portrayal of Celtic as permanent victims is an image that will be scoffed at by fans of every diddy club in the country who ever played them and watched them get every ‘big club’ decision going.
With the greatest respect to Queen of the South, one of the “diddy clubs ” I assume Waddell is referring to, the south of Scotland side tweeted yesterday something that leaves no one in any doubt how the “diddy clubs ” view the current refereeing fiasco, regardless of what Waddell thinks…
PENALTY RAN…sorry Aberdeen Aberdeen FC – Queen of the South FC
Everyone else knows it.
One team is getting favoured above others.
Have a look at this, its a list of clubs , who over the last two years, have been in front of Notice of Complaint tribunals, where the referee has missed something they’ve done on the park..
Rangers – 9
Kilmarnock – 6
Hearts – 6
Aberdeen – 5
Hibs – 5
Livingston – 5
St Johnstone – 4
Motherwell – 4
Dundee – 4
Hamilton – 3
St Mirren – 1
Celtic – 0
Tells its own story really.
As for their support, the hysteria mounts..
More racism. He’s targeted because he’s a talented, black South American. A clean living role model at that. Had he been a white Scottish striker with alleged gambling and drugs problems he’d have “mental health issues” and “need an arm round him”
@NevilleSouthall @kickitout @GaryLineker @SRTRC_England @SRtRCScotland Amd so the sustained attack on Black, South American striker Alfredo Morelos continues. Every single day this young black clean living role model has his character assasinated by the hateful Scottish media
Someone in a position of power really needs to challenge these Neanderthals and their continual discrimination, attack and targeting of this professional black footballer
Apart from anything else, I’d have said he was Hispanic, and the reason he is being targeted is because of his behaviour, which i reckon is down to frustration, as he would probably do well in a good team, even ascend to international level, but for some reason he’s stuck where he is, and his behaviour on the pitch has been noted by potential buyers, who have decided that the ridiculous price on his head would be better spent elsewhere.
As a result, he grows more and more frustrated, and his behaviour worsens.
Its a shame, as with the correct coaching, he could be a player.
No, no.
I said the correct coaching.
Meanwhile, ahead of Thursdays Europa league game, the Valencia coach Marcelino has been getting his excuses in..
“When you play a game less than 72 hours after your last one, then it is very obvious you are going to be tired.
“We now only have another three days before we have to play Celtic and that will be another exhausting game for the players.
“I would have preferred to give some of my players a rest for the game in Scotland, but that is not possible.
“We now we face a very difficult match in Glasgow and we need our best players for it.”
They drew at the weekend.
They have come on in leaps and bounds, and it won’t be easy under the lights.
Then again, so have we, and we won’t be easy to beat either.
Yesterday we showed this picture, and sat back to enjoy the comments..
Caption
Alfie mate, you’ve got balls mate. Just make sure after 90 mins the opposition have none.
Today..
In other news, Phil the Greek has voluntarily given up his driving licence after his recent accident. We hear he will also give up his shotgun licence when he’s shot someone.