It’s still on! In Lenny we trust…
A Forrest thump with a side order of Broon(y) sauce. What a way to end a week from hell!
Celtic returned to fitba (remember that?) with a fantastic victory at Easter Road.
After a fairly insipid first half bereft of imagination Celts finally wore down the opposition with class and no little intervention from the new manager.
I would admit to being slightly confused mid-morning when The Celtic Star broke the team news. The dropping of Toljan for Lustig seemed a bit Old Brigade for me given the form of Toljan since he joined up.
That said when the game panned out it was clear from the outset this was down to the input of physicality rather than guile or imagination. It was much required. Had we gone to a replay I’m certain Toljan would have been back in.
It looked like we had immediately taken on board the lessons from Tynecastle on Wednesday night. Despite a late win we had been bullied. Not so much in possession or even out of it but certainly from set plays and cros balls from open play.
Thankfully the boss was also true to his word, despite playing out from the back we’d clearly been warned and reacted about spending too much trying to evoke the Barca /Man City approach of sweeper keeper and were a bit quicker clearing from the back. There were even times we played the ball out of play under pressure and regrouped the formation rather that fanny about showing the world we were the Scottish Guardiola’s.
The introduction of French Eddy as starter was overdue but the way Lenny utilised the player was not only at the front end of the pitch but also most tellingly using him within our own defensive quarters when faced with an Ariel bombardment from corers and free kicks.
Hibs had some decent attempts on the break but rarely troubled us. The worrying thing however was the way from open play they had fairly nullified our threat.
A change mid-way through the second half dropped Forrest in behind the attack and moved Burke, who had started as sharp as we’d seen over to the right to accommodate James through the middle. It was the decision that altered the course of the match.
It was a slow burner and other than a Burke click of the heals and a French Eddy stumble as he was caught in 2 minds through on goal, we offered little. Granted we had a chance with Burke early doors but it fizzled out off Sinclair’s heal and would have been a bit jammy had it sneaked in at the corner.
Second half however the change began to tell.
We huffed and puffed a little up to the hour mark but even then our game had more intent and more invention as our opponents tired. Granted they kept their shape admirably but they looked slower to react.
If we kept up our intensity, if we kept being patient they looked like they’d drop off, they looked like they were tiring. Turns out they were.
We started to stretch our legs and more importantly run Hibs off theirs. Hibs remained reluctant to commit and Forrest, playing in his number 10 advanced role, made the breakthrough in style.
Milligan, hooked soon after was done like a kipper and Forrest danced past ballerina-esque, one sweet shift beyond Slivka saw an opportunity to aim, before executing the finest of strikes high into the net from 20 yards. Delirium!
In the minutes leading to the opening goal, a bottle thrown from the East Stand landed close to Sinclair, narrowly missing the winger by a few feet. This was followed by a coin.
Now I know we’re not immune from criticism in this matter post Tynecastle/Rugby Park, a half bottle of Buckie is taking things too far. No moral high ground taken I assure you, but this needs to be addressed. Self-policing needs to out the neds. Whether it’s songs in the Roseburn bar, coins from every corner of Scotland or bottles at Easter Road. This is not a Glasgow issue but it’s a Scotland issue and needs cross club support to address.
I digress. Back to the action.
A sliding Hanlon tackle stopped French Eddy in his tracks but the big man recovered some composure to roll the ball to Captain Brown he danced past a challenge (somewhat lacking in conviction) from Slivka to thump the ball home from a stride or 2 inside the area. Man that felt good!
The treble is on!
We’ve now won at 2 grounds we’ve lost at pre-Lennon. As we saw at Ibrox we needed more guts to this side, in particular away from home at places like today and last Wednesday, not to mention Ibrox and Pittodrie.
We have dodgy referees and establishment conspiracies to take on board and we all know they are real, relevant and dangerous to Celtic.
We lacked a bit in front of goal today but we saw already a manager who knows our limitations and recognises our inadequacies.
Who knows if we give him the job and a remit to re-shape the mould we might even challenge for a few second balls now and then.
For now however it it ain’t broke don’t rip it up and start again (Just tweak it Lenny).
The Treble Treble is on. Oh Yes it is on!
Niall J
