Izzy really going out with him?

Ah what a difference a week makes.

Just after the abject Aberdeen performance, I put up a piece asking a few questions and pondering the possible outcomes. it was all a bit negative. I still stand by it while somewhere Charlie Saiz is sitting smiling and saying “Told you so”, you know in that sanctimonious way the cat that got the cream licks itself all day after a sweet treat.

The Pittodrie defeat is history and after a decent showing in Amsterdam, the real Celtic finally turned up this season and set about Frank Gallaghers Dundee outfit. A great display from all in the hoops saw attack after attack with the crowd literally on their feet. The Dundee keeper( a Mr S Bain – note for later!)  was having a blinder and the crowd was oohing and ahhing and clapping away as wave after wave of onslaught headed towards the Dundee goal. This was football, The Celtic way!

Performance wise, Gordon was solid and quickly got down low to prevent a cheeky long range shot from Dundee midfield.  At the back Dedryck and Efe lined up and despite a lot of fans apprehension, they totally strolled it and no real mistakes or hearts in mouths moments were called upon. On the right side of defence, well done to Saidy Janko, a great performance up and down the line and with  Lustig forever marked under “Mibbes Aye, Mibbes Naw” this lad could cement his place with such future showings. As for Izzy..more later.

In midfield,  Tom Rogic was proving he is more that just a 5-a-side player with plenty of long runs and excellent vision as well as shots on goal when possible including his goal to start of the onslaught. Kris Commons and Scott Brown were doing that “quiet work” were you think they’re not really in the game much but then realise “oh he helped make that goal, and he also played that ball etc”. Nir Biton continues to progress and is showing signs of a new found core strength to compliment his skill, at one point near the end of the game he turned and lost 3 players in the one move which had the crowd cheering and the Dundee players trying to use Google Maps to locate him. James Forrest arrived with a good appetite for the game and had some great runs with one cut in and shot almost a contender for Goal of the Month, damn that crossbar! Up front,  Leigh Griffiths had a strange game as he seemed to have a free role and while he took his goal well, he could have tried a bit harder to bring in my £5 hat-trick wager. To a standing ovation, Griffiths made way on 60 mins for the Nadir Ciftci to get a decent run out.

And that brings us to Izzy.

What a day for our Honduran hero.

After a rather curious start to the season, some had questioned if Ronnie was gonna have to employ some tough love. His team looked a little lost, a little down in the dumps and frankly some looked as if they were feeling sorry for themselves. Well if anything it seems the opposite tactic worked. Izzy had been sent off in Amsterdam for 2 yellow cards and wasn’t just a little down in the dumps, he had changed his name to Stig. He had apologised to his team mates and felt responsible for the late equalizer with his colleagues having to hold back Ajax with Izzy sitting in the dressing room. Ronnie duly stepped up and defended his defender come striker. Welcome to Celtic FC..no Scapegoats required.

This would be no occasion for a defender feeling sorry for himself. izzy was called upon to get up and down that line and by the end of the game he was almost playing ahead of our striker. Our Mr Enthusiasm was clearly up for the game and his first goal was a peach with a lovely 1-2 and a lubo-esque slot into the near post. His second was a cracking late run in at the back post to side foot volley home.

The reaction of Izzy when he scored against Dundee was a great sight, he looked to the skies, praised the lord,  gestured his appreciation to the crowd and then made a million Celtic ghirls jealous by running straight into the arms of his beloved manager. A great sight and even early on, this game really could be a season changer with Nadir Ciftci getting his first goal, despite that Linesman trying his best to stop him at every turn.

The Sebo penalty moment for Izzy was also a great occasion with the crowd were all smiling, the players all relaxed and an Easyjet pilot shitting his pants as Izzy mistakenly thought he was Dixie Deans for a few seconds and sent the ball flying high like a rocket. Oh how we laughed as Izzy threw himself to the floor in mock anguish and no doubt there was a rueful Hugh Keevins preparing his “That was just disrespectful to Dundee!” speech..its coming to radio Clyde Superscoreboard anytime soon.

Mind you, its not just Hugh, seems some Celtic fans don’t understand the concept of enjoyment. Some bam behind me was soon complaining that “This Celtic side are shite, how many chances have we missed now!”. It was up there with the guy next to me saying “We should never have let that boy Fox go, he’s having a blinder in goal for Dundee today!”…reminded me of the days when a guy in the Family section constantly berated Chris Sutton for not holding the ball up, despite the fact he was sitting on the Aston Villa bench by then.

So…corner turned or too early to tell? Who knows but lets enjoy it. The crowd even had a round of applause for a “GB Team win David Cup Semi Final” announcement. Who knew the Green Brigade liked tennis? Its onwards and upwards to the next game, a  league cup clash against Raith Rovers..lets keep that momentum up Celtic, sure Ronnie, we will let you rotate a few players in preparation for Hearts coming to town next week but lets keep the focus and surely the goals will come.