Hamilton Academical 1 Celtic 2
I am frequently castigated by my friends for being too “soft” on the team. I don’t think this criticism will be levelled at me today, for I thought that today was a very poor performance, lightened only by the fact that we won, and thanks to Hearts beating Aberdeen yesterday, we are now only one win away from our seventh League Championship in a row. But it was poor, poor television, a significant factor being that the game was played in more or less total silence for large periods. Once again, you could not really fault the midfield all that much, – a question mark about the defence for Hamilton’s goal (although it was well taken) but the forward play was very disappointing.
This seems to be pointing the finger at Moussa Dembele. Just what was he all about today? He should have scored in the first ten seconds but shot weakly at the goalkeeper (how I hate to see that!), and then these two free kicks that he seemed to insist on taking were high and wide. That was simply poor, and there really has to be a large question mark on Moussa’s involvement next Sunday. He has got off with an awful lot in the eyes of the support since his spectacular exploits against Rangers last year, but Brendan now has a difficult decision to make about next Sunday.
And another decision really has to be made about Scott Sinclair. I fear he has just been “sussed out” by the opposition. It is called “second season syndrome” in other sports, but he is simply not doing it for us this year. No-one doubts his commitment or determination (I have often wondered about Dembele’s attitude this season!) but I cannot help thinking that a re-think may be necessary here. Once again, I would not like to be in Brendan’s shoes as he ponders this one.
Leigh Griffiths got his early goal when he came on, and I felt we were in for a barrow load in the second half, but it failed to materialise. Once again “the last third” let us down. This must not happen next week.
Life of course is now all about next Sunday which will dominate our thoughts (and those of the rest of Scotland ) perhaps to an unhealthy extent for the next seven days. The newspapers will become more and more hysterical, and we must not underestimate the value of propaganda ourselves. In a sense, today’s game and the Dundee game on Wednesday are now irrelevant. Sunday’s game will be totally and completely different, and this is why the team selection is now vital.
As for the rest of today’s game, little more needs to be said. It was obvious that we were wary of the artificial pitch, which doesn’t really look good, it has to be said, but Hampden is grass. Young Dallas, like old Dallas, seems to like being hated – and not only by Celtic fans. He was probably technically correct in his double yellow card decision, but a wiser and more experienced referee might have handled it differently – but as the commentators said the Hamilton man “gave the referee a decision to make” and he is guilty, at least, of extreme stupidity, if nothing else.
Hamilton will probably not get relegated, Celtic are now one win away from the Premier League title, Callum McGregor was my Man of the Match – and time to put this game to bed… and start thinking and planning for next Sunday.
David Potter
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