Callum McGregor’s equaliser…Hearts v Celtic, 26 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
CALMAC – 7/10 MOTM – One shining light – the skipper’s heroic effort to save the season. Brilliant play to score, and on-point aggression to counter Hearts’ nippy wee koala. Shame the rest of the side couldn’t find in it them to take any inspiration from their captain in that dreadful second 45.
Arne Engels. Hearts v Celtic, 26 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
THE TERMINATOR – 4/10 – Wherefore art thou, Arne? Looked the part when we surged back into the game, taking control of the mid with Calmac. But after the break? Deliveries went to hell and he appeared spooked by the ghastly display of Halloween masks in the crowd. For a bhoy that often exudes arrogance, there seemed a bit of a confidence crisis going on.
Reo Hatate. Hearts v Celtic, 26 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
HAKUNA HATATE – 2.5/10 – Ghost in the machine. When Reo doesn’t click these days, he’s lost in the shimmering fury of a midfield battle. Today, we waited… And waited. And he wandered and wandered, and eventually wandered off.
Always great insight and writing. The John Kenny description deserves an extra mention!
Have to say I agree with, pretty much, all of that.
But I’ll go further. As I’ve said many times, I don’t care for Rodgers, didn’t like him the first time, still don’t now, but I am close to accusing him of deliberate sabotage, on Sunday. Bearing in mind the venue, Ralston and Trusty HAD to play, yesterday and Rodgers should have known that, maybe he did? His substitutions are dubious, at the best of times, but bringing on Balikwisha was, for me, the final act of treachery.
He has an assortment of wingers who play on their ‘weak’ side, so never get ‘to the line’, he obviously can’t get the best from Engels and Nygren, he NEVER drops his favourites and I wonder, looking at some of his signings, if he could ever recognise a good player.
Time for a change, starting with an uninspiring manager.
Agree with all that, but for me the bottle crashed around 35 minute mark. By this point we had fought hard and having got the equaliser , took control. Then inexplicably we totally bottled it, not from Hearts pressure or Rogers changes to personal or tactics, just got a nose bleed after fighting our way to the top, and went to pieces. Powder puff team though, and too many passengers, not to mention self sabotage from Murray.