As the late great Michael Hutchence wrote – ‘sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked’. As Glasgow’s title rivals go head-to-head this weekend with the Jute City’s own footballing enemies, theRangers have taken a kick directly to their title challenge as they tasted defeat for the first time in 41 games at the hands of United in yesterday’s live Sky Sports encounter. Today Celtic have to do the kicking and ensure three points and United’s efforts aren’t squandered as they entertain Dundee at Celtic Park.
Celtic have been playing well in recent matches and were finally rewarded for their efforts with a 4-2 win against Jablonec in Europa League qualifying on Thursday night. Some of that attacking play was impressive yet it is clear the defensive and fitness deficiencies evident from last season remain. As such it may again be a case of Celtic having to ensure chances are created and converted today as there is no evidence at present that clean sheets are likely to be a regular occurrence for the time being.
Celtic however do now have two new faces in their defensive back five as Joe Hart, who made his debut on Thursday night, and Carl Starfelt who has now played two games for the Hoops, have certainly added experience to a youthful and naïve backline.
Hart may not have stood out particularly for his goalkeeping on Thursday but what was evident is he has supplied both a presence and communication long overdue. It will take big saves at big moments for the Celtic support to feel secure but much of the fan’s angst comes from the round robin approach to men between the sticks we’ve had in the last season or so rather than any immediate concerns that Joe Hart may not be an improvement on what we have suffered to date.
Carl Starfelt has already felt some criticism from certain quarters but much of that is unfair given how he was thrust into an underperforming defence with little time to prepare never mind settle in to his new environment. Overall, I’ve been very impressed with Starfelt and feel we have found at least one answer when it comes to the bolstering of Celtic’s defence.
He and Hart will need help and hopefully that will arrive, particularly in the full back areas, in the last three weeks of the transfer window, but for now there are at least signs of progress with the signings of two experienced performers. Whether that will be enough to keep Dundee from scoring remains to be seen, however a clean sheet at Celtic Park today would certainly help build confidence.
It is however likely Celtic will need to score goals and likely more than one to emerge from today’s match with a win, as such how pleasing was it to see Kyogo Furuhashi perform so superbly on his first start against Jablonec. Taking on the role of main striker his touch and finish to score on Thursday night had the hallmarks of a top-class attacker and hopefully we’ll see him continue in that position this afternoon.
On either side of him both James Forrest and Kiel Abada supported Kyogo well and indeed scored goals of their own. There will of course be a temptation for Ange Postecoglou to rotate the attacking options after the exertions of Thursday night but it will surely be a tough decision when the early signs were all three could be forming an early understanding, and with a leaky defence behind them it may be sensible to let them continue to build those relationships against Dundee today.
In midfield however there are decisions to be made. Callum McGregor is not one as Celtic’s new captain has dispelled any concerns as to whether he is captain material already, but behind him and beside him there is less consistency.
David Turnbull has started the season somewhat inconsistently. Last season as Celtic’s number 10 Turnbull had the run of things as a creative force, in Postecoglou’s side he’s had to add defensive duties in his number eight role and he’s taking time to get up to speed. Turnbull has lacked off the ball discipline and the new duties, alongside dropping confidence, have blunted his attacking threat to date.
There is an argument that will come with games and in truth it probably will, however there is also an argument for taking the player out of the firing line and focussing on training ground work for a couple of weeks and bringing Ryan Christie into the middle of the park alongside McGregor. The counter to that is a lack of balance with two number eights predominately left footed but given Turnbull’s form and regular conceding of possession it must be something Postecoglou by now is giving serious thought to trying.
Meanwhile in behind them Ismaila Soro can go from the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of sixty seconds. On one hand he can look dynamic on the ball, yet when pressing opponents or engaging in the tackle his timing looks off it at times and his tightness to his man often leads to the concession of free kicks.
Again, this is a player who many of us have been hoping to see given a run of games for over a year now, as such it would be a little churlish to discard the player when the rashness exhibited in his play could just be down to rustiness. It has to be another player however who is giving Postecoglou kittens at times, he appears to be a red card waiting to happen and in Scotland we have just the referees to who would enjoy making that threat a reality.
I’d like to see in the main a continuity of selection after Thursday night and hope confidence gained can build the badly needed momentum Celtic will need to build to take advantage of theRangers defeat at Tannadice yesterday. The only change I’d like to see would be Christie coming in for David Turnbull and I do believe Christie has earned the right to start.
Yesterday saw theRangers take the first kick to their title credentials as Dundee United dished out the second of back-to-back defeats for the Ibrox men following their Champions league defeat in Malmo. Celtic today, against United’s next-door neighbours, have to come out kicking themselves and ensure they grab a few goals.
As momentum slips at Ibrox, Celtic need to ensure it builds at Celtic Park. And I think it will. Celtic’s attacking threats should be too much for newly promoted Dundee. I’ll be expecting a big win today and clear daylight when it comes to the score. 4-1 Celtic anyone?
Niall J
