‘Spiteful’ BBC’s Jota bitterness, Kyle Laughable’s penalty claim, Celtic ‘Fantastic on the Plastic’

Monday morning reflections are comforting today. The extreme heat has gone (at least for a while) the reservoirs will soon fill up, and Celtic are on top of the world with a devastating performance which really should have been more than five. To his credit, Derek McInnes, although rightly complaining about some of his defenders, said that Celtic were simply in a different class.

We have probably said enough about the empty seats, the awful pitch (although I liked the quip about Celtic being “fantastic on the plastic”!) and the pitiful home crowd who before half time were wishing they had taken the family to the beach, so let us talk about the overhead kicks that gave us two wonderful goals and Jota’s strike.

This is Celtic flair and this really is what we need to see more of. We will of course come up against a lot more difficult opposition than Kilmarnock, but every defender in the world struggles against the unexpected, the brilliant and the sheer class. There was a lot of that on show at Rugby Park yesterday.

Joao Pedro Neves Filipe of Celtic celebrates after he scores his team’s second goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Kilmarnock FC and Celtic FC at on August 14, 2022 in Kilmarnock, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

This must now be maintained for the stern tests ahead. Hearts will put up a fight next week, and then we have the early September visitors before the European Champions League. I have a funny feeling that we might not be talking 5-0 very often against them…but you never know! With the players that we have, the obvious passion that they share for the club and the equally obvious team spirit (which cannot be too easy to create in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment) the sky is the limit.

Sooner or later someone is going to start complaining and saying sentences beginning with “Celtic cannot compete against…”. Well, Ange, let’s prove that we can! Believe!

The ability to recruit well continues. You would have thought that Moritz Jenz had been with us for years, and we must hope that his injury gets better soon. Celtic Park and Lennoxtown are hoaching with great players these days, but we shall need them all in the days ahead.

But to return to yesterday, did you not enjoy seeing Kyle Laughable wanting a penalty when he has his elbow deeply buried in the defender’s neck? I must confess to being a wee bit surprised to see him still getting a game. We may not have that privilege too much longer.

I’m sure that a pundit’s chair is being prepared for him somewhere, possibly alongside our old hero Mr Boyd, perhaps? Now that would be a combination that would guarantee me waiting until kick-off time to put on the telly, going through to the kitchen for a long cup of tea at half-time and taking the dog for his walk on the final whistle!

And finally a word about BBC Sportsound, for a second week in a row they can turn a significant and impressive Celtic away win into a negative, this time it was Jota’s goal that was the subject of their most bitter moment yesterday afternoon. Richard McGinley summed it up perfectly when he tweeted: “The BBC. That’s me done with the radio. Used to be funny. Now its spiteful.” Listen to this and you’ll see what he means….