THIS was not the easiest game to watch by any manner of means, but at least we scraped home in the end. Dunfermline in a compact and well drilled defensive formation (which sometimes looked as if all eleven men were behind the ball!) almost frustrated Celtic and almost earned a penalty shoot-out.
But they didn’t, and Celtic are into the quarter finals of the Scottish League Cup. This result has at least bought some time. It would have been difficult to envisage any other end result than “regime change” if Dunfermline had won this game.
The game was played in a surreal atmosphere in front of a paltry crowd still in a state of shock after the doubly whammy of the Tierney transfer and the Cluj disaster. A third catastrophe would have been too much. The silent protest of the Green Brigade was very effective, and it really shows how the club ignores the wishes of its support at its peril.
It is not very often that Dunfermline Athletic’s supporters outshout ours at Celtic Park, and some of their chants were rather unpleasant. I heard one awful one about Leigh Griffiths and one or two about Glasgow not being a very nice place to live. I have always had an admiration and even a soft spot for the Pars. After today I am not quite so sure.
Had Celtic won on Tuesday and had Kieran Tierney still been on our books, it would have been a different story, but today’s game was very unsatisfactory with Celtic clearly finding the wind very difficult to cope with. Mikey Johnston, who apparently was exhausted (so I heard) was made the Man of The Match – but then again on the island of the blind, the one-eyed man is king! – and he certainly scored a good goal.
Ryan Christie and James Forrest when he came on earn pass marks, but the two forwards of Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths were very disappointing. Odsonne Edouard does not star when the play is tight, and I was amazed that neither he nor Celtic wised up to that. It was a day for shooting from a distance, but then again Olivier Ntcham had at least two horrors late in the game.
James Forrest’s winner was very welcome. There was a touch of luck about it, but Celtic probably deserved a touch of luck after pressing for about 98% of the game. Dunfermline should have scored early in the first half, and of course did score in the 77th minute with the Celtic defence not looking very clever at all. Callum McGregor had one of his poorer games, and much was the discussion of the fans around me centred on whether Scott Brown’s absence was more than met the eye. We certainly missed him. His presence would have made a great difference.
The much maligned defence? Jullien steadied after an uncertain start, and Ajer had a few dodgy moments as well. I am beginning to like Elhamed, but we really do need a specialist left back (and yes, yes, I know we had one in Kieran Tierney!) although Johnny Hayes tried hard when he came on. Bolingoli, playing further forward, was OK but not spectacular, and congratulations are due to Lewis Morgan who became (as far as I can make out) Celtic’s first ever fourth substitute.
Bobby Madden said the change to the handball rule "will result in more penalties being given" failed to mention
Not in SCOTLAND pic.twitter.com/vhMmKjGFkk
— Derek Crothers (@deaks1ey) August 17, 2019
Not a great day at Celtic Park. A thing that surprised me in conversations was the amount of indifference as to whether Celtic qualify for the Europa League, with some even saying treasonous stuff about how they hoped Celtic did NOT qualify, on the grounds that it would cause a few changes in the Boardroom, that we are not likely to win the competition anyway, and that it would forestall this nonsense of playing on a Thursday night and then a Sunday – something that does not suit all supporters.
I sympathise, but cannot really bring myself to wish that Celtic lose. Nevertheless, the Europa League is definitely a poor fourth in the club’s priorities, away behind the three Scottish trophies. Getting the better of Stockholm would be all very well, but the games against Hearts and Rangers are far more important.
The next two weeks promise to be interesting.
David Potter
Also on The Celtic Star…
‘Ajer popped his shoulder but we think he’ll be fine,’ Lenny’s post match update…see HERE.
Celtic 2 Dunfermline – Forrest Spares Blushes in Extra Time…see HERE.
