“Time to pick up the pieces, Celtic, and to fight back,” David Potter

It was a tough lunch time today, No point in pretending that it didn’t hurt, or that the detestable Kris Boyd doesn’t annoy. He is a far more pleasant man when he is unhappy! It has been a horrible, horrible day. John Hartson did his best but it was not his day either.

But that said, let’s analyse it. Basically the difference was corner kicks. We didn’t defend the one that they scored from, and then again in the last minute we got a corner kick, and we couldn’t take advantage. It was as simple as that. And poor Carl Starfelt, for whom nothing is going right! He had a good game apart from that, but that one mistake in not getting to the ball first means that he has had a “shocker”, a “disaster” and heaven help him on social media tonight.

But there were other moments as well, and other questions that we have to ask. Just what is Odsonne Edouard all about these days? On Thursday night, we talked about “pantomime” defending. Poor Eddy’s first half mistake was a “pantomime” miss, but yet one could forgive that. Why however was that charge on the goalkeeper necessary? He was rightly hooked immediately afterwards, and one feels that he may never wear a green and white jersey again. Or perhaps he will, for it is difficult to imagine Everton or Crystal Palace or anyone else splashing the cash.

And what about Ryan Christie? I have been loath to criticise a man of such undeniable talent, but he disappeared woefully in the second half when we needed him. One fears that the fans may turn on him as well. We needed someone to take a grip of the game, and neither Christie nor Turnbull rose to the occasion. And Abada was simply nowhere in sight.

It was painful, but it is important to realise that there are still 34 League games to go. Time is on our side, and Ange now has a couple of weeks to think before the next game against Ross County. Two days remain in this transfer window, and he will be glad of that, for he can then work on what he has without the constant talk of who will be coming or going. There were good performances from Ralston, Juranovic, (looks good!), Kyogu, Welsh and McGregor. We must work on this. In particular, we must not allow a “complex” to develop. With a few improvements, we are at least the equal and possibly the superior of them.

Referee Kevin Clancy made a few mistakes, but no-one could say that he had a major impact on the game. It would have been nice to have some of our fans inside the ground, though.

As far as the TV presentation was concerned, we have mentioned Kris Boys who said at least three times that St Mirren and Dundee were inferior opposition – something that seems to have hurt him – but Ally McCoist gave a surprisingly fair commentary even though he had a tendency to describe an ordinary kick of the ball as a “magnificent touch”.

Time to pick up the pieces, Celtic, and to fight back!

David Potter