Celtic swept Falkirk aside last night with an entertaining 4-0 win.
The players enjoyed it, the new management team enjoyed it, and the support seemed to enjoy it as well. If Martin O’Neill was nervously excited before the game, then he would have been overjoyed after it.
The tempo was higher, the players seemed hungrier and although you could argue Falkirk probably allowed the hoops more space, at tleast this time, for probably the first time this season, the players exploited it.
Even Kasper Schmeichel saved a couple with aplomb.
At the back, Austin Trusty returned and made one wonder why he had returned sooner, Marcelo Saracchi took over the left back slot and may well have made it his own, and that combination seemed to reflect on the goalkeeper who looked a lot more confident than he has for a while.
Arne Engels put in a shift alongside a newly energetic Calum McGregor , and they were ably supported by Ben Nygren, who has the knack of being where he should be when he should be there. This allowed the Swede to score one and make two for Johnny Kenny, who may yet prove to be the striker we’ve all been looking for.
Kenny showed excellent awareness and link play, which when combined with his goals means he will surely be given at least until January to prove he’s fit for the jersey.
James Forrest gave us an hour of the old James Forrest , which would have done his confidence the world of good, and Seb Tounatki finally got on the scoresheet at Celtic Park, which seemed to please him as well.
If there’s an overall theme to last night, it’s that the players were enjoying their work again, and the horseshoe formation and turgid possession football of the previous manager are now firmly in the past.
I would suggest I’m not the only happy hoopy this morning, which will surprise a few given my recent mood swings…from miserable to bloody miserable…on podcasts and on these pages.
Which may well surprise a Mr Paul McLaughlin, who hangs around comedy gigs in the hope of putting a smile back on his face after reading and listening to our output.
What last night showed is that as long as we can enjoy our football, everything else can wait to be sorted.
There was a protest outside the ground last night, but it may not have had the effect that was hoped, simply because the football on show lifted the mood. If we’re going to have a moan, that is if we still feel like it, the AGM is on November 21.
Hearts dropped a couple of points at St Mirren last night, which closed the gap to six points, although with Celtic in League Cup action at the weekend, they could increase it back to nine, a few more performances like last nights will no doubt see major bowel action in the gorgie region.
Sunday’s opponents “rangers ” also bagged three points last night, winning at Easter Road, which will no doubt see their latest manager Danny Rohl heralded as the new messiah.
Let’s be honest, they should know a messiah when they see one. They’ve followed a few.
Anyway, their support can be expected to conduct themselves with dignity, and perhaps even be allowed a sense of cautious optimism.
Martin O’Neill may have been the face of Celtic, but the word is that Sean Maloney picked the team, instructed the team, wrote the theme music and sang the theme music. If that’s the case, then although he has distanced himself from the top job, he may yet be making that speech about how others have persuaded him, albeit reluctantly, that he is the best man for the job.
I would suggest, however, that O’Neill hangs around to help him bed in. Say for about ten years.
There are some stories beginning to circulate around the departure of Brendan Rodgers, and how it came to be. the suddenness was a surprise to everyone , it seems, and it was the result of a meeting he had called to clear the air and unify the club under one banner.
Presumably the one where we march with O’Neill to an Irish battlefield…
We have found ourselves in possession of a recording of that meeting, at least that’s what the somewhat fragrant and urine soaked donor told us…the transcript is below.
“Fuck off ”
“No, you fuck off ”
“Right, I will ”
“Go on then ”
And, in summary,
There is still specualtion about a new manager, and given our board and it’s stunning lack of ability to actually run the sporting side of the business, no doubt they’ll pluck someone from somewhere who will come in with his own ideas and his own people, so for now, let’s just enjoy what we have, and who knows, maybe when they said it was a new chapter, it will actually be a chapter and not just a footnote.
Yesterday, we had this..
Caption: In a long line of dodgy claims mobility allowance was a belter.
Today, we consider this…
Caption Think someone’s got a hot tip for William Hills phone line
“Hurry up in there! Ah’m burstin’ fur a pish!”
The inside track about what happened duirng the meeting with Desmond and Rodgers, straight from the horses mouth, apparently he has been phoning it in all season!
Sky Sports viewer mistakes horse’s arse for Kris Boyd.
You can lead a horse to a phone box, but there’s neigh chance it’ll use it
“Don’t want to talk I’m a little horse.”
Last night I felt I had gone back in time and was watching a Martin O’ Neil team…
The feel good factor won’t last if we fall rinse ind Rangers, the big test is however FC M
What an amazing tactical change last night, moving the ball in a forward motion, and telling players to head in the same direction, the players had lost confidence in the snake bstd, and his horseshit Horsehoe style…. overlapping fullbacks, people finding players in space, energy, crosses into the box, playing with some freedom to go forwards, everything the snake bstd sacked out of this team…KTF.
Good performance and result but lets not get over-excited, as we put 4 goals past Falkirk early in the season and just a week ago we had a fine performance against Graz, which were followed by wretched ones like Dundee and Hearts.
Sunday will be a whole different ball game and will provide stronger proof if we’re on the road to recovery.
Saracchi put in a strong performance and it’s a shame he’s not right sided, as that’s weak without Johnston, whereas we have him and Tierney on left.
I was pleased that Kenny got his goals, as I thought it might calm him down in front of goal but his appalling miss in 2nd half shows he’s never going to be the long-term answer.
He’s obviously going to be top dog when Iheanacho is out and it was interesting that Osmand was brought in from the cold and Yamada sent to deep freeze.
Nygren has scored a few good goals but jeez he misses horrible chances from over playing.
Obviously, what happens on the pitch doesn’t change matters off it and they can/will mess up next manager appointment, so until they’re cleared out the song remains the same.
Back the team, sack the board.
You criticise young Kenny – fair enough, although he didn’t miss as many sitters as Nygren – but what makes Iheanacho such a better option? How many times has he scored from open play since he arrived and he’s had a lot more minutes to prove himself. I worry that certain players – Kenny, Scales, Taylor – are written off so easily by the support that it becomes an accepted fact regardless of how they perform.