The last home game of 2018 was a pleasant, almost relaxed, sort of game – once we got that first goal!
I had visions of it being one of those games in which we simply couldn’t score, and then Dundee would run up and score a goal. But the increasingly impressive Mikey Johnston scored an absolutely superb goal just before half time, and there was no real problem after that.
The two second half goals were also well taken but Celtic were so much ahead that Dundee were happy to settle for 3-0.
The disturbing aspect of this game was the amount of chances that Celtic had and couldn’t put away. This was particularly true in the first half, and underlines the point that Celtic MUST have a striker, a specialist goalscorer who can put away all the easy ones.
If Edouard does not recover from injury, and Griffiths does not recover from illness, then we must buy in January. Myself, I would have a good look at Lawrence Shankland of Ayr United (yes, I have heard all the stories about him being a Rangers supporters too – but does it matter?). I feel that a Scottish striker accustomed to Scottish conditions and pitches might be the best bet.
Some of our foreign strikers in recent years have not been encouraging – unless, of course we can find another Henrik Larsson!
The young lions continue to impress.
I would have not the slightest compunction in fielding Anthony Ralston and Mikey Johnston at Pittodrie or Ibrox. Ralston is hard working, enthusiastic, confident and gives the impression that he has been playing in the first team for years, and Johnston is tricky, has good positional sense and as we saw, can take a great goal.
These young men are to be encouraged.
There was a very encouraging performance from Scott Sinclair. He is not yet back to his 2017 best, but is well on the way, and it was his best game for some time. He does occasionally seem to lack speed though, and his shooting is still poor. But he is on the way back.
It is a shame that we cannot field Tom Rogic next week at Ibrox. We will miss him, I fear, for he is definitely a big game player and has good form against both Aberdeen and Rangers, so he’ll just how to shine at Pittodrie on Boxing Day.
I really liked Callum McGregor today.
I felt that if we had not got that goal before half time, Scott Brown might have come on to take Callum’s place and Callum might have been pushed up to find a goal, but, as it happened, that was not necessary. I also thought that Callum captained well, and the experience will do him a great deal of good.
And the big bonus was Ryan Christie! He was not really on for long enough, but he still made some contribution. Nice to see Ryan back!
Dundee were poor, and nice to see our old player Kenny Miller again. He didn’t get a great reception from some of the crowd. Why was that, I wonder?
Frankly Dundee were never really in it, and were lucky to get off with 0-3. The referee Euan Anderson had a good game, I felt, although there were few important decisions for him to make.
So the two most difficult fixtures of the season approach. How stand we?
Confident, I think. But not complacent. We have better players than either of them have, and we usually play well against Aberdeen and Rangers.
Let’s have a real Merry Christmas and let’s make it last until 29 December!
Festive wishes for everyone!
David Potter
Also on The Celtic Star…
We’ve Got Mikey, Mikey Johnston…’ Minute by Minute as Celtic beat Dundee 3-0…See HERE.
