Not a good day for Celtic! A draw was probably a fair result, for Celtic deserved something for their belated fight back, but we really could not afford this. We had to win to-day, and thus we find ourselves depending on the unreliable source of Aberdeen tomorrow to prevent us going further behind. 10IAR is now beginning to recede. It is not yet out of sight, but we are beginning to need glasses to see it. The fight back has to start soon.
Bobby Madden likes to give soft penalties. Scott Brown really should have known that and his challenge, although not dirty or vicious, was a bit clumsy and stupid. But Bobby also gave us a soft penalty (which I cannot honestly say that I would have given) and we got a lifeline, and then how great it was to see Diego Laxalt score our equaliser.
It was a good game to watch, and I am glad that I paid my £15 to Hibs TV to see it, and probably their service was better than Celtic TV’s although John Collins told us at the start that Diego Laxalt couldn’t play!
Where Celtic were badly at fault was in the first half. Nothing really happened at either end in that first boring 45 minutes, and that is not good enough for a Celtic team. The shooting in particular was poor. No doubt we will hear stuff about jet lag, exhaustion and empty stadia, but that really will not do. This is Celtic we are talking about! We really have to rise above everything, and that includes Internationals and coronavirus!
When we did start to fight back, Tommy Rogic, Ryan Christie, and Callum McGregor took more of a grip of the game, but I fear that we are really going to have to learn to live without Scott Brown who has performed brilliantly for many years but is maybe now coming to the end of the road. Elyounoussi I called El Enigma the last time, and nothing made me change my mind today. Just what is this guy’s problem? We know he has the ability. Why can’t we see this every week? I repeat, this is Celtic we are talking about.
Albian Ajeti I fear is slowly sinking into the Teemu Pukki and Derk Boerrigter school of under-performers. I had forgotten he was playing, and really Leigh Griffiths has to be deployed for longer. And how I wish Nir Bitton would defend for Celtic as well as he does for Israel!
So we really have to up the game! Let’s have a good FIRST half for a change! If there is an attitude problem, let the Manager name names and sort it out! There is still the potential there, but it is so frustrating to watch Celtic these days.
We now approach a very important and busy part of the season. I wish them well in Prague on Thursday, but frankly, the domestic season is more important. The next game is in the League Cup against Ross County. Now wouldn’t it be nice for us to GO to the League Cup final at the end February. It depends on Nicola Sturgeon, vaccinations and falling cases, of course, but it also depends on Celtic winning Cup ties. To be fair we have done well in Cup ties of late. Let us keep this up!
