It’s fair to say Celtic’s visit to Easter Road on Sunday lunchtime is a huge match for both teams involved. On the one hand Celtic have a chance to turn what was a six-point deficit, as we emerged from the winter break, into a twelve-point turnaround and a six-point lead in the Scottish Premiership title race, ahead of theRangers home clash with Motherwell later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile former Celt Shaun Maloney’s Hibs were put into a New Year tailspin following a 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park in January and didn’t win for six league games until last week’s 2-0 home win against Ross County.
A corner turned? Possibly, however, considering what happened to their performances after the last time they faced Celtic, Maloney and Hibs will be nervous about Celtic’s visit to Easter Road on Sunday.
Hibs however, have a former player fighting their corner, and Tam McManus speaking on PLZ Soccer has issued a challenge to Celtic ahead of this tie, as he feels the impact of Thursday’s decision to send out a shadow team and ultimately conceded European football for another year, could have a negative impact on Celtic’s domestic momentum, something he feels was starting to crumble already. McManus states he feels the signs are there that Celtic’s intense style of play is now having an impact on performances, stating Celtic are now ‘flagging’ as the season reaches the business end.
“It will only work if they beat Hibs on Sunday (the decision to rest players on Thursday),” If they don’t beat Hibs on Sunday then there will be serious questions being asked about why he gave up the ghost (against Bodo/Glimt). When that team came out, every Celtic fan must have thought ‘we’ve chucked it, we’re not interested in this competition.’
“If he goes and gets a result against Hibs on Sunday then people will say it was the right decision to rest players. There was no guarantee, even if Celtic played their strongest team, that they would get a result. I thought they [Bodo/Glimt] were the better side across the two legs.
“The thing for me is, will Celtic start running out of legs? I’m seeing signs of it over the last couple games that they are running out of legs a wee bit. They play at such a high tempo and I’m sure they train at that tempo as well.
“Have they got the legs, stamina and staying power in that squad to maintain that from now and until the end of the season? There’s signs that they are maybe just flagging a little bit in the last few games.”
Time will tell of course, however McManus seems to have mis-read this one. Celtic aren’t flagging physically, although we have been conceding more goals of late and that perhaps has given an indication the Hoops are treading water.
However, that’s not been the case. The manager has rotated the squad well during games and the team has been going to the end when the opposition have been the ones out on their feet. Celtic have scored late winners against Dundee United and Dundee of late, and at Pittodrie having led 2-0 were pegged back to 2-2 only for Jota to immediately grab a winning goal. Those are signs Celtic have plenty of physical and mental strength even at this stage of the season.
The issue Celtic have had but surprisingly Tam McManus fails to hit on is the return to losing goals from set pieces, indeed the concessions to Aberdeen and Dundee amounting to four goals conceded all game via this route rather than Celtic being overrun in open play.
And let’s not pretend things are all rosy in Edinburgh either. Hibs may well have turned a corner with the recent win over Ross County, however the natives remain restless, the club has as many as eight players out through injury and illness at the weekend and Shan Maloney has already had to contest with the support booing players as they come off the bench. If one club is flagging ahead of this league game on Sunday then the evidence suggests the fraying at the edges is more evident at Hibs than it is at Celtic.
Whether Celtic fans agree or not with the decision to play a weakened team against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night or not, it appears the manager did so to prioritise this weekend’s crunch encounter with Hibs. As such Tam McManus and Hibs can expect a full team, with most players rested to visit the Capital on Sunday. We’ll see who is flagging the most at the final whistle on Sunday. Recent evidence suggests Celtic have more than enough to take it all the way.
Niall J
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He’s right there have been signs in the last 4 or 5 games we are losing intensity in our play. If we don’t have that intensity,we had it at the beginning of the season, we’re in trouble. Ange is struggling to find an answer. I’ve wondered what what happen when pitches deteriorated in the winter.Whatever it is Ange has to find an answer ….and quick.