I took a long time to recover from this one. It was frustrating, depressing, exhilarating, triumphal, cautionary all in the course of an afternoon, and of course it was also very wet, very windy and very cold with some lovely sunny spells as well. Curious how the weather mirrored the moods and the football! See saw and changeable! But it ended well, and the weather only got really bad when we were all heading home in our warm buses singing all the old favourites of volunteers approaching border towns etc.
It would be a lie to say that the game was not affected by events at Tannadice. We get all this stuff about it is what we do that matters- and that is very true- but nevertheless we do get a boost from good news from elsewhere. We already knew that even in the worst case scenario, life would not be totally disastrous. It was of course the other way round on Thursday – the depressing news from Germany did, I am convinced, affect the supporters and at least some of the players. Everyone will deny these things, but we all know that there is an element of truth there.
But yesterday belonged to Georgios Giakoumakis. I think we all had serious doubts – especially after that awful penalty kick that he took against Livingston in the autumn, after which he disappeared for a while and we began to wonder if we had seen the last of him. But yesterday he proved himself with three high quality goals, and his elaborate celebrations showed that he cared! He is now one of ours, and that final goal I can see myself playing back time and time again. And well done to the three separate players who provided him with the crosses!
But now to the bad news. To put it as simply as possible, we cannot expect to win the Scottish Premier League if we do not defend set pieces a little better. I don’t want to name names and point fingers, because it is an endemic Celtic problem which reached its peak last year in front of empty stands with half-hearted defenders.
I had hoped we had excised this malignant growth, but we lost a bad goal this way at Aberdeen a fortnight ago and yesterday we saw two absolutely horrible pieces of defending, one from a corner kick and one from a free kick. This must not be allowed to happen any more. In the first place don’t give away set pieces, and secondly “tak a man apiece”, as Sunny Jim used to say more than 100 years ago. The defenders have an extra man, because the attackers effectively have lost a man to take the kick, so there is no reason at all why a defender can’t pick a man each, stick to him like glue and get to the ball before he does. Otherwise, I repeat, we cannot win League championships.
It is hard to criticise players too much because the conditions were tough, but Matt O’Riley looked particularly unhappy, and Ange took him off. Indeed this is one of Ange’s strengths. He usually takes off the right man, and yesterday the arrival of Tom Rogic and particularly Nir Bitton made all the difference at the end when the team needed a boost. Jota was always a threat, and Ralston was also very productive. But it was a team performance, a squad that is prepared to die for the cause and a group of players who work for each other. It was a fine effort, and how nice to see so many smiling faces at the end!
Dundee? It is not hard to see why they are where they are. Those of us who have been watching the Curling (well done, girls, by the way!) will be familiar with the term “steal”. That is what we would have been saying about Dundee but for Giakoumakis’s late goal or if Mr Duncan had listened to that absurd claim for a penalty kick right at the death. I cannot say that Mr Duncan had a good game, however. He was no “homer” and how he missed that penalty claim near the end of the first half when a Celtic player was simply cleaned out by a Dundee defender, I do not know. Was there even a case for a red card?
So three points ahead and a better goal difference. We can now afford to lose a game and we would still be on top on goal difference, but let’s just keep winning, shall we? Eleven League games to go, and we are in pole position.
So where stand we about Thursday? Yes, I know that “the League is the priority” (I must have heard that about 100 times yesterday), but it would be nice to win in Europe as well, if only to silence the chortlers. Two goals without reply takes it to extra time. Don’t anyone dare try to tell me that it is impossible! The same advice is valid for Borussia Dortmund. Believe!
David Potter
