Well, the problem about watching Celtic these days is that there seem to be several Celtics! Even today, there were two of them. We had a smart incisive Celtic at the start, and at the end – but we fell asleep in the second half, and nearly suffered very badly for it.
To an extent, you have to give Motherwell a certain credit for fighting back, but the job of Neil Lennon and his players now must be to understand the meaning of 100% in every respect. 100% effort for 100% of the time, and Celtic will win everything you ask them to.
Moi Elyounoussi should be re-named “el enigma”! On Thursday we were prepared to throw everything at him, and he was deservedly pilloried for his mobile phone incident, but today, he was the hero of the hour with a well taken hat-trick including the McGrory/McNeill style header in the second half. I hope he got his mobile phone out to tell his mother about that! On a serious matter, though, we simply need that performance and commitment every game.
Diego Laxalt was once again superb, and there was no doubt that the defence looked a lot more secure with Kris Ajer there. It was nice to see Shane Duffy coming on at the end, though, because I have it on good authority from a Brighton supporter that he is a good player. Possibly, he has simply under-estimated Scottish football (yes, yes, OK, Czech football as well!) – in which case he has to learn.
Callum McGregor was back to his best, Scott Brown made mistakes but recovered, but I still think that full back is not Jeremie Frimpong’s best position. He did receive a nasty tackle however which definitely deserved a red card and a long walk for Mr Cole. Tom Rogic was superb and it was nice to see him playing a full game. Ryan Christie, although missing a few chances, was also satisfactory.
This result has at least bought us time. A break for two weeks is now in order. It will give a chance for injuries to heal and for batteries to be recharged. The cause is not yet lost. Ten-in-a-Row is still with us, we are in the Scottish Cup final, and there are another two Scottish tournaments as well. Europe is possibly beyond us, but that, frankly, would be no loss, this year in particular.
So, can we now have a rest to the Neil Lennon persecution? It makes no sense whatsoever to change Managers at this time of the season. Neil has got things wrong, as he knows himself, but he is the best man to put things right. The players must now also realise that they have a part to play. It is still “game on”!
So a good weekend. A fine 4-1 win at a difficult venue, that buffoon in America got beat .., all we need now is someone to kill that virus! All the best to Scotland and Ireland as well, and we look forward to Easter Road in a fortnight!
David Potter
