A certain feeling of disappointment about this one, but a more leisurely reflection might lead one to feel that there was more good than bad in this game.
The plus points were the return of Armstrong (and didn’t he have some bad luck at the end?) and Roberts, although possibly both men are still just a little short of total match fitness and match awareness. Other good points were that it was really quite a good game of football on a very cold day, and over the weekend we have gained another point on Rangers.
Credit must also be given to Motherwell. Mr Cipre will never send any Christmas cards or holiday postcards to Mr Thomson, but whatever the rights and wrongs over that one, Motherwell’s 10 men (goalkeeper Carson in particular) put up a good rearguard action, something that makes me think that they may yet be in with a chance of the Scottish Cup in that if they ever get ahead, they know that they can defend.
One or two Celtic players were a shade below top form. Callum McGregor was slightly out of position, I felt, and possibly suffered because of this. Jack Hendry looked good, although was guilty of a few errors. Dedryck Boyata, his confidence shattered because of last week and the vicious attacks on social media, nevertheless did well after a few mistakes but I continue to be impressed by Kristoffer Ajer. Scott Bain looks worthy of a transfer fee. Scott Brown has possibly had better games, and Olivier Ntcham, although powerful in the middle of the field, seems to have a major weakness at taking set pieces. Tom Rogic was never far from the action, but James Forrest was less effective that he has been. Odsonne Edouard was rightly substituted for he was not creating enough, and Moussa Dembele always threatened more than he produced.
A decision will really have to be taken about Scott Sinclair. He is far too good a player (as last season indicated) to be totally discarded, but the fact is that he is not producing the goods this season. Perhaps he was affected by the morons booing him and maybe he was just a little to determined to score and shut them up! Certainly that break after Motherwell’s penalty claim (justified, in my view) saw him squander an excellent chance when Dembele was in a better position.
There have been better days, but see it is a positive. It was a very good weekend. We now have an International break (yawn! yawn!) and then Ross County, Dundee and Hamilton Accies. If we win these three, a point when Rangers come calling will suffice, unless the SPFL change the intended fixture list post-split.
I’ve never been a great fan of Fir Park with its slope and bottleneck at the end which now has a pompous big name, but it is commonly known as the Celtic End. And there is an inordinately long walk to where the buses are parked – on a double yellow line!
David Potter
