Scottish Premiership 18 October 2020. Celtic 0-2 theRangers – Celtic were decimated by injury and Covid concerns with both Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard missing the match due to pandemic related issues while on international duty. Celtic’s set piece woes were exploited to the full by the visitors who thereafter managed the game effectively. Other that a great chance for Moi Elyounoussi just before half-time Celtic created nothing and registered not a single effort on their goal. A second goal was inevitable but the performance was more concerning than the scoreline for most Celtic minded observers.
Afterwards Neil Lennon had this to say:
“The win gives (the)Rangers a lift obviously. It’s early in the season though and you can’t listen to all the noise outside. Can they respond? Absolutely. They’ve done it before. But they can’t live on the past. This is the present and we’ve got a title race on our hands and we have to roll our sleeves up and do better.
“We really needed a spark. I thought we lacked a bit of experience today and we’re a little naive in some aspects.”
“Unacceptable. Unbelievable. Unforgivable,” David Potter’s damning verdict
Unacceptable! Unbelievable! Unforgivable! Just what was all this about, Celtic? Why was there no effort? Why, when the team were 0-2 down and time running out, did we have the scarcely credible sight of Celtic passing the ball across the park? Why did no-one seem to care? We are deserving of explanations. Just what happened today?
Mistakes can be forgiven. There were two bad mistakes. I have said before that the jury is out on the goalkeeper. A verdict was possibly delivered today. And Elyounoussi! What on earth got into him? A simple slipping of the ball along the ground would have produced the goods. The second goal absolutely cried out for the big ugly punt up the park. These were mistakes, bad ones certainly, but even they need not necessarily have been fatal ones – as long as the team fought back. But it didn’t!
Excuses about coronavirus, empty stadiums and International commitments simply won’t wash! Nor could you really blame the referee. There is no excuse. Celtic simply have to cope with all that if they want to win 10 titles in a row. The important thing, as always, is hunger – the desire to be “in their face”, to get to the ball first, to stop (the)Rangers running the show. That was sadly missing today – and to an unbelievable extent. Just what on earth is going on? We are mystified.
READ THIS…Neil Lennon: How it All Went Pete Tong – The Ferencvaros Fiasco
The team was again a funny one. It was hardly the best game to give Diego Laxalt his debut when Greg Taylor was available, and once again we would have liked to see Leigh Griffiths on the park from the start. As it is, there must now be major questions marks about Olivier Ntcham and Patryk Klimala. Several others under-performed as well. Elyounoussi really must raise his game, and Jeremie Frimpong, an excellent player normally, seemed to have a problem knowing whether he was meant to defend or attack. As it was, he did neither satisfactorily.
Rangers? They got it easy today. Didn’t you just love that playful slap at Scott Brown by Alfredo Morelos? If my 5 year old granddaughter did that to her brother, she might get a row from her mother! Rangers, however, are off to a good start this season. But if we start thinking that we cannot beat them, then we are in trouble. We were mighty close to that attitude today. Why? They are not unbeatable.
So a deep breath is in order, and let us brace ourselves for the flak that is bound to come our way. It will not be easy to read the gloating Daily Record on Monday (so let’s not buy it!) and the vitriol and abuse from our own supporters will be equally hard to take.
So we will quite simply, have to pick ourselves up. There is still a long way to go yet, and we have to face Rangers another three times this season. That is either a cause for depression or a signal to waken up! But the immediate concern is not so much AC Milan on Thursday (Europe is a bit of a distraction this year, let’s face it) as Aberdeen the next two weekends. And it is Aberdeen we have to play sometime (after the New Year, presumably) because that is the fixture missing. We really have to fight back now. This winter in particular the fans need a team to be happy about.
The answer lies in anger, but controlled anger. It is good for some of the players to take a long hard and angry look at themselves. A shrinking of egos and swollen heads is also in order in some cases. But then all that must be replaced by a grim determination that it must not happen again.
And to be honest, I found myself in agreement with SKY TV and Ally McCoist and Andy Walker. They were similarly mystified by it all!
Unacceptable! Unbelievable! Unforgivable!
David Potter
Issues – Tactical ineptitude, lack of fight, unfit players, Coronavirus call-offs, out-thought and out-fought.
