scottish-football

Celtic 3—0 Hearts

At the business-end of the season, Kyogo comes alive. Lawrence Shankland almost scored in under a minute. The Hearts forward had a stinker. His handball late in the second-half gave Celtic a penalty, well dispatched by O’Riley into the top corner and made the game safe.

Kyogo scored in three minutes. VAR took almost as long to decide he was onside and it was a goal. The Hearts keeper opted to punch out a corner. Hattate on the edge of the box, looked to shoot, but instead opted for a lobbed cross. Kyogo nipped in front of defenders and keeper to head into the net.

Hatate, in contrast, had one of those games where he ballooned shots over the bar and gave the ball away, but he’s still one of the best in midfielders in Scotland. He literally rolls with the ball and creates pockets of space all around him

The Japanese’s forwards second goal was a thing of beauty. Hearts had shaded possession. O’Riley on the right touchline on the half hour mark played one of those precision passes you see on video screens. Kyogo’s finish was also sublime. Running onto the ball and volleying home from inside the box. Simple but effective.  

They had created chances. With Joe Hart making a wonderful fingertip saves from Devlin to keep Celtic ahead. Overall, the Celtic keeper had a great game. He wasn’t as busy as his counterpart in the Hearts’s goal, Zander Clarke who had to deal with almost twenty shots on goal and was easily Hearts’ best player. But Joe Hart had to make important saves at important times. And  he was up for it. Vargas’s  onside and offside shot was saved by Hart (if it went in, he’d have been on). And late in the game with it 2—0, Taylor went down on the touchline and Hart had to come out to block another one-on-one.  

Brendan Rodgers went for the same team that started against Dundee. No surprise that James Forrest, who dragged us out of a giant hole of our own making, keeps his place. Nicolas Kuhn must be doing something extraordinary in training because he’s shown little on the big stage. It was good to see Kuhn, for once, hooked before Forrest. Maeda coming on. Forrest was by far our most effective winger. I’m hoping it’s Forrest and Maeda next week when we’ll beat Rangers and we’ll go through all that bullshit of it being not mathematically done yet.

 Of course, we know Daizen Maeda is back. That thought fills me (and I suspect many others) with joy, because our win today and next week—and we’re Champions. Maeda always turns up against Rangers.

We’ve been reminded Hearts have beaten us twice. One was a free hit at Tynecastle. A penalty that wasn’t a penalty and a man sent off that shouldn’t have been. But we’ve moved on. Hearts other win is something we’ve grown used to. Smash and grab. Hearts actually played better today, shading possession in the first thirty minutes. This goes way back to the Postecoglou era and in recent matches against Dundee and Aberdeen, we’ve been lucky.

We were seven points ahead. Five points behind. Now we’re six ahead with the finishing line in sight. Plan A—beat Rangers and it’s done. But as Hearts showed in spells today, if the opposition get the first goal (we certainly hope not) then it’s not a given we’ll win. I’m pretty sure we will. Plan B is win out remaining matches. I’m pretty sure we’ll do that too. Then it’s fifty-fifty for the last game of the season and Cup Final.

We’ll take the league. First and last and always.  

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Dundee 1—2 Celtic

A James Forrest double gets us over the line. With four games remaining, Celtic, with a win over Hearts, can effectively win the league by beating Rangers at home in the penultimate match. This was a twitchy match. Like many others we could have been out of sight or left reeling in injury time when Mellon missed a free header at the back post.

The Dundee plan was exactly what we’ve come to expect. Sit in, hit longish balls towards the forwards, focus on Taylor and Liam Scales side of things were Celtic are vulnerable to cross balls and corners in particular.

Celtic do what we always do. Started well with seventy or eighty-percent possession, with a few half-chances. Nicholas Kuhn and Reo Hatate threatened. The latter hitting the post with a wonderful drop of the shoulder, in the second half, but his shot hit the inside of the post. With Celtic two ahead that would have settled the match. Hatate is not back to his best, but he always tries to make a forward pass. He was the best midfielder in Scotland last year. Kuhn has had teething problems with his teeth and weight loss. I’ve yet to see him play a good game. To me, he is an empty jersey as he was again today.

James Forrest—yes I used to slag him off, but even a blind Rangers supporter would recognise him as our best winger in a poor bunch—match winner. Brendan Rodgers said something along the lines of he was the best winger at the club. Play him, many of us have been saying so for weeks. Palma looks good enough for backup. Yang may prove a good buy next season or the season after, but it doesn’t look good. Kuhn (sigh) I don’t understand why he keeps starting. I’m waiting for him to prove me wrong.

Forrest has nothing left to prove. But he’s only 32. His first goal on the half-hour mark was a belter. Kyogo teed him up from the edge of the box. A ball fired into the Japanese striker. He spun away with the outside of his boot. Forrest took it first time on the volley and fired it in the net.

Around the hour mark, after Dundee had started the second half strongly and corner after corner created goal scoring opportunities for the Den’s men, Forrest robbed a defender on the edge of their box. He played a give-and-go with Hatate and got on the end of it. Ricki Lamie and Portales played like Laurel and Hardy and Forest nipped in and nutmegged the keeper. That looked like job done.

Forrest, of course, comes off for Palma. Kyogo off for Idah. But it was the loanee Norwich striker that brought Dundee roaring back and looking for an equaliser. Mo Sylla and Jordan McGhee headed past the post and straight at Joe Hart. The Celtic defence looked to have cleared—yet another—free kick. Portaless’s downward volley was nothing like Forrest’s, but it hit Idah and wrong-footed Joe Hart.

Hart found time to get a late booking for time wasting. He deserved it. But it would be interesting to see if the same rule was applied when we play home and away and keepers take an eternity and opposition players fall down.

Man of the match by a mile, James Forrest. I gave him the man of the match for his contribution against Aberdeen. Let’s hope he’s a certain starter for the remaining fixtures. We still lose too many goals. McGregor still looks off the pace, but he’s still far superior to Iwata. If we can get Maeda back and Forrest on the other side, we’d be full strength for the remaining four league fixtures and the cup final. We’ll win the league, not the cup. I’ve been saying that for a while. I hope I’m wrong and we win both. Maybe Kuhn will get a hat-trick in the Cup final. Let’s just get over the line. Hearts at home. Home win.

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Celtic 3—0 Saint Mirren

Zach Hemming had little or nothing to do in the first-half. Celtic had two enforced changes from the team that started against Rangers. Liam Scales has picked up an injury. I’m not particularly worried. He’s been on a downward slide. Nawrocki gets his chance and did OKish. I am worried about Maeda. We saw his value at Ibrox. It’s not so much the work he does with the ball, but his closing down, in that sense he is irreplaceable.

Yang got the nod. He took the wrong choice with a chance in under sixty seconds. He could have shot, but chopped back. His form has been up and down as it was here. The same could be said for Kuhn. He’d a disastrous start to his Celtic career and then had a few assists. I’d have preferred Forrest at Ibrox and Forrest now, which tells you everything you need to know of what I think of our wingers. But Kuhn made a few tentative passes and you wonder if he should have shot instead.

Most of our goal-scoring opportunities came from the right wing. After giving away the penalty that wasn’t a penalty last week, Alistair Johnson had a man-of-the-match performance with a hand in our two goals.  

Reo Hatate from the edge of the box and an attempted nutmeg inside the box were one of the few other first-half chances. O’Riley a sidefooted shot but didn’t look like scoring.

But it was Hatate’s genius that opened the scoring. A pass from Johnston and inside the crowded box, the Japanese international pinged it into the top corner to open the scoring and the floodgates of relief in the 53rd minute.

 Much has been made of there being lots of rain over Dundee. No conspiracy. Just Scottish weather and bad groundkeeping. The assumption being, Dundee wanted to avoid defeat by employing a rain maker. Someone explain that to me. All our games are must-win now. We take it for granted that is going to happen. But I get nervous, pre-match. We’ve seen what happened this season and it’s not been good enough.  

We’ve had high winds over Paradise making it harder to judge passes. A twelfth man. With Saint Mirren and all other teams coming to sit in, including Rangers, we know what to expect. Long throws were their primary weapon. In the main we dealt well, with them. Carter-Vickers brings composure to our defence and allows us to pass from the back.  But corners present the same challenge. But Saint Mirren’s first, and only corner, didn’t come until the 89th minute and we were 3—0 up.  

Kyogo’s goal, fifteen minutes into the second-half, settled the game. Again it was Johnstone with the assist. A delightful ball over the top took out Gogic. Kyogo from almost inside the six-yard box headed home.

Celtic upped a gear. Greg Taylor, strangely reluctant to shoot, with Hemming saving awkwardly with his knees locked together. Yang getting into a muddle in front of goal, again.  Hatate’s effort swinging past the post.

Obviously a quiz question in later years, both teams made six substations. We weren’t really sure how that worked. Something about a head knock.

Adam Idah got a late goal in the 89th minute. Luis Palma should have scored but fluffed it. His rebounded shot hit by Paula Bernardo. The ball looped into the air and easily knocked over the line by the Norwich loanee. Every point counts. Every goal counts as we know from the recent past. We weren’t as ruthless as we could have been, but after a wind-strewn first-half, most everyone would have settled for a three goal, full-time lead. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow on Hampden next Saturday.

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Celtic 3—1 St Johnstone

Pre-match, We’d Never Work Alone was song by different-abled kids in sign language. Celtic in any language is our team. We’ve stuttered. Looked off the pace. Not today. Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest scored, but there was something extraordinary that we were only three goal to the good.

Joe Hart was angry when Connor Smith netted Saints’ consolation goal. Substitute Stevie May heading across goal, Hart making the save and Smith netting the rebound, in which was the away team’s only effort on goal.

There was still time added on for an Idah effort to be saved. Alistair Johnston to have a goal disallowed, even though he was onside and for Iwatta to miss a sitter, heading over by two yards.

 Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the team that won against Livingston. Carter-Vickers comes in and so does Kyogo. Both improve the team. The difference was this was Kyogo of old. He could have hit four or five. He’d two goals disallowed for offside. Scored with a fabulous header with a dinked pass from Kuhn (also checked for offside). And set up the goal the effectively finished the game, with a minute gone in the second half, playing a ball across the goal for Kuhn to tap in.

We await the return of Hatate and McGregor then we’ll be back to full strength. Idah drops to the bench, because, quite simply, he looked like a Norwich reserve last weekend.

First twenty minutes, as we expected, total possession. Kuhn half-chance the only threat. Craig Levein is predictable. His sides sit in. Open and expansive isn’t going to happen. Sidibeh lands a quick long ball forward and took on Carter-Vickers. One-on-one. That’s what St Johnnstone were playing for. But there was only one winner. We were far enough ahead after seventy minutes to rest the American. Odin Holm coming on for him.

But it was the new-old boy, James Forrest that made the difference. O’Riley hunted down the ball in the last third. His ball across the box played in Forrest. He took his time and picked the corner of the net. He almost made it a double in the last few minutes. His shot blocked. 

O’Riley, like his midfield partners, looked back to his best. He’d a late free kick tipped onto the bar.

Kyogo earlier had also lashed a shot off the bar. He’d an early one on one saved. In retrospect he should have played in Maeda for a tap in. He chested in one and scored another both offside. His run in behind from Greg Taylor’s pass was something he did all afternoon. The difference today was his teammates found him.  

A chance missed as the ball bobbled about the box. Bernardo had a chance cleared from a first-half corner. Iwata had a shot cleared off the line. Kyogo just off target as he chips one over Mitov but also the bar.

Celtic denied what looked like a stone-wall penalty after thirty minutes. Matt O’Riley whipped in lots of corners and we looked like scoring from most of them. Carter-Vickers had a shot on goal from ten yards, which was blocked. Maeda (as usual) got to it and whipped in the rebound. As expected, lots of players were on the goal-line and in the six-yard box. Kucheriavyi kept the ball out of the next with his hand. I don’t care if it’s natural of unnatural. If his hand isn’t there, it’s a goal. If his hand is there, it’s a penalty. No penalty.

Great to see Kyogo hitting top gear again. Maeda did what he does every week. Kuhn got man of the match. I’d written him off as a dud. I wanted to be wrong. Maybe Lagerbielke will also prove me wrong. The international break gives us breathing space to get our top men fit for Livingston and then Ibrox. If we can win those games—and I’m sure we can—then we should win the league. Today was high-tempo football was some great cameos. It was like old times. Disappointing to lose that goal and not score more. For those of us that remember Helicopter Sunday, we know goals for and against can decide who wins the league. We always need a wee bit of luck.  

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Celtic 4—2 Livingston

A victory can feel like a defeat. Daizen Maeda’s hat-trick and a Kyogo goal in the 93rd minute was enough to put us into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. The performance was shocking but by recent standards not unexpected.  

I don’t really care about the Scottish Cup. I say that a lot. A kind of bargaining chip that I use to convince God, or the higher power of the SFA, to let us win the next nine league games and win the league. I’m giving something up. So I expect something in return. By saying I don’t really mean I don’t mind us winning the Scottish, there’s always a caveat. As long as Rangers don’t win it. On the evidence of today’s performance, we’ll win neither.

We know Liel Abada is away. The boy done well in spells, but not well enough to mourn his loss as if we’d lost Paulo Di Canio. Bernarbei seems to be no loss at all. He was too wee and kept giving the ball away. Around £3.5 million wasted. The problem here is Ralston isn’t great at right back. At left back he’s not even good enough to cover the basics. In other words, a liability worse than Bernarbei.

Rodgers has time on his hands. No European football. The season funnelled down to the next game being win all or lose all. I don’t think he’ll be here for the start of next season. He’s gone for the safe approach. No Carter-Vickers. I hope he’s been held in reserve. Our defence today was on par with Livingston’s and often below that of the bottom of the league team that gifted us two goals.

The relegation candidates opened the game by hitting the inside of the post in the first few minutes. After Celtic took the lead, we expected the game to be finished. The equaliser was a simple enough ball in behind a high line. Dan MacKay, not the quickest, ran onto it and scored from an acute angle. We’re so poor now we’re hoping for Lagerbielke.

Could Joe Hart have done better? Possibly, but he redeemed himself with a couple of decent saves. For example, a close-in Tete Yengi header, in the second-half, was international class.  

Maeda’s second goal seemed to have settled our nerves. We went in at half-time ahead and expected to go on and win comfortably.

Matt O’Riley gets caught on the ball. Tete Yengi who was playing up front himself, held off our two central defenders and scored low past Hart. Yengi has recently scored more goals than the Celtic strikers and played better than them today. Most strikers fancy their chances against this Celtic defence. And for good reason. We’ve been linked with the Hearts striker, the Aberdeen striker, now the Livingston striker caught the eye. Whoever we play next will probably also be made to look decent.  

Idah missed two decent chances. Didn’t lead the line well. And looked like a reserve Norwich striker. After the penalty miss against Hearts (which could have changed the game) let’s hope we’ve not seen the best of him.

Kyogo on the bench and coming on to score has perhaps pushed him back into the top spot in the team.  

Kuhn—who has all the markings of being a complete waste of cash—coming into the team, wasn’t make or break for him. He’s on a four-year deal. This was his best game. He set up the first goal and might even do something. I suspect not, but there’s a glimmer. I like to use words like I’ll reserve judgement and hope to be proved wrong

James Forrest, coming back into the reckoning and coming on for Kuhn, speaks for itself.  Ironically, Mikey Johnston does for West Brom all the things we’d hoped he’d do at home in Paradise. Sometimes it feels like the world is conniving against us.

 Bernardo comes back into the team, despite offering nothing better-than-average performances and sometimes less (a goal against Rangers obviously makes him popular). He missed two good chances today and was substituted midway through the second-half.

 Iwata doesn’t do enough. I’m not sure what he’s for. He doesn’t add stability. He doesn’t move the ball fast enough. In a word, average. He was lucky to get away with a Hearts’ goal being chopped off last week, because he got caught on the ball in the middle of the park.

 Maeda does the running and doggies for the team. He’s always going to start. Livingston also have a makeshift team. His hat-trick had all the things we have come to expect. The ball bouncing off him rather than controlling it for one goal. He could have hit five. But thank God for his final headed goal and hat-trick.

We’re into the hat. Let’s hope it’s Rangers we get. That way we’ll play them three times and that will decide our season for us. We need Carter Vickers back. We need McGregor back. We need Hatate. This collection of misfits has all the markings of collective failure and we’ll hear all the usual mealy-mouthed words of needing to rebuild.  

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Hearts 2—0 Celtic.

No Kyogo. No McGregor. What we have got is the—unexpected—chance to go top of the league again. Not taken. I’m of the generation when ten-men-won-the league. I remember it well, the Jungle bounced and Parkhead rocked when Murdo’s strike hit the back of the net.

This is yet another game we could and should have won, but didn’t, which is a worrying and familiar pattern for a damp-squib of a season. Hearts have beaten us twice this season. Celtic have been dominant in all areas of the park when playing them, except goals scored and conceded.

Brendan Rodgers rightly had a shout about the match officials. John Beaton on VAR and referee, Robertson. Matt O’Riley had the ball in the net. Adam Idah had the ball in the net. Lawrence Shankland had the ball in the net twice, but only one counted. Idah misses a penalty. Grant scores a penalty.

Who is next up for taking penalties for Celtic? Rangers may be 90% certain they’ll get a penalty, but they’re over 95% certain they’ll score from it. Celtic are 50/50.

Idah is the latest culprit. The game had started much as we expected. Celtic dominating the ball. Hearts filing back into a defensive shell. Hoiking the ball forward when caught out. Hoping for corners and free kicks to take them up the park. Long throws and corners, perhaps a wonder strike to get a goal. Tame penalty. The title race could be in Idah’s miss.

Equally, it could come down to Yang’s sending off a minute later. Yang had a good cameo against Dundee. Our wingers have not performed well this season, both individually and collectively. He’s the latest to step up and get a start. His ability to go past players gives him a real chance. His sending off, as Rodgers reminds us, unmerited. He did lift his boot into Cochrane’s face on the touchline. I can say the usual things about it not being malicious. A booking—probably. A red card? Not in my book, but after the referee was told to check it by VAR it seems a 99% certainty. What happened to the referee’s discretionary powers?  

Celtic were lucky not to be a goal down before the break. Iwata was brought in to stabilise the back four. To allow McGregor, perhaps, to be moved forward. Quite simply, he’s another that doesn’t look good enough. He was caught on the ball in the middle of the park, with a simple pass available. Beni Baningime slides in to take the ball. Alan Forrest played in Shankland inside the box. Shankland scores, only for the goal to be brought off and disallowed because he was marginally offside.

Iwata is not to blame for the penalty just before half time. VAR got it wrong. The referee got it wrong. Rodgers got it right. Both Alistair Johnson and Iwata went for a header inside the box with Stephen Kingsley. Johnson got to it but not convincingly. It barely made it outside the box. It came back into the box and Hearts had a corner. VAR asked the referee to check for handball. It had hit Iwata’s arm and hand as he jumped and jostled with his own player, but it was unintentional and should not have been given. Both VAR and the referee are culpable here. Call it conspiracy. Call it bad luck. The effect is the same a goal down at half time.

Kyogo came on at half time. Paulo Bernardo went off. Another loan signing that had failed to establish himself in the team. With both McGregor and Hatate out, he’ll never have a better opportunity. I wouldn’t keep him when the loan period is finished. No firm evidence suggests he’ll be a first-team regular. Talented but doesn’t do enough.  

Perhaps the only bright spot was Kyogo’s second-half cameo. We know he can do enough. He got on the end of an O’Riley pass, but man-of-the-match Zander Clark dealt with it easily enough. Kyogo also played in O’Riley. Clark made another save. None of them were of the top drawer variety, but they didn’t have to be. He denied Idah from close in, but Celtic’s second-half performance lacked belief. It also lacked players from the bench that could have come on and changed things.

Heart’s second and killer goal, ten minutes into the second half, was well-enough taken by Shankland inside the box.  Calem Nieuwenhof had stumbled and fell inside the box with Scales and Carter-Vickers in front of him. The ball came off his toe and went to Shankland. This is what bad luck looks like.

On Friday we didn’t expect to go top. On Sunday night, we didn’t. Rangers remain mediocre. We’re battling with a squad that’s not fit for purpose. I’ve got a feeling we’ll stumble over the line and win the league. Next up the Scottish Cup. We’ll not win the Cup, is my gut instinct. Nine games to win the league. We can win nine of them. We need to start scoring all of our penalties. Get a bit of luck. Get McGregor and, hopefully, Hatate fit. I don’t care about next season. I don’t care about Joe Hart leaving. I do care if O’Riley leaves this summer, as he surely will. But we’ll get top price for a brilliant player. None of these things concern me. We need a clear-out of players. But we need to win the league. Simple. Days like today happen. Let’s hope they’re the exception to the rule, rather than the rule itself.  

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Celtic 7—1 Dundee.

Six first-half goals and a second-half strike by teenage substitute Daniel Kelly hit Dundee for seven. No big surprise those players that finished so strongly against Motherwell get their start. Cameron Carter Vickers came back into the team and got us the first goal in seven minutes. Nodding in a cross at the back post. Two-goal hero Idah quickly added a second tonight with another header. Matt O’Riley had seen what looked like a goal of the season come off the bar. But he wasn’t to be denied. He too scored with a header. Daizen Maeda, who had the miss of the season against Motherwell, failing to score from close in with a header, made amends here and it was all his own work. He got to the byeline and chopped back inside the Dundee defender, placing the ball beyond Carson.

At 5—0 the game is over. Dundee had started strongly with Joe Hart having to make the first save of the match in two minutes. Carter-Vickers had also fluffed his lines with a backpass that fell short allowing a run on goal. Curtis Main also had a goal chopped off after indecision by Carter Vickers and Liam Scales allowed the Dundee forward to force his way past them and power the ball into the net. Marginally, offside after a VAR call.

Callum McGregor made is six in added time of the first-half. He’d played a one-two with Taylor inside a crowed Dundee box and got his shot away.

Brendan Rodgers had the luxury of using whatever substitutes he liked as the second-half got under way. Findlay Robertson was booked for a late tackle on Johnston, who had a fine match, as did Yang down the right. Our wingers have been pretty dreadful of late. This was a different game with many more balls going into the box, rather than back the way.

Among all the dross we’ve signed, Idah looks a real find. His headed goal getting above two defenders was encouraging. He’s edged out Kyogo, and we’d never have thought that was possible on last season’s form. Kyogo come on and cannot score, but comes close with Carson making a wonderful save.

 Kuhn takes a place on the bench. He has done nothing to suggest that’ll change. Palma comes on and hits the bar, but he too looks reserve material. Rodgers rested Taylor, bringing on Ralston at left back. Phew. Talk about square pegs for round holes. He’s always cutting inside and playing the ball inside. We need better simple.

Hard to be critical, but every goal matters and it could come to the count. Substitute Michael Mellon came off the bench, finds himself unmarked at the back post and volleys home. Consolation goal.

For the first time in a long time I wasn’t apprehensive about this game. I think we’ll go to Tynecastle on Sunday and win. Just keep winning. That’s what we need to do. The eleven who started here is (without Hatate) the strongest. No room for sentimentality. Idah is delivering where Kyogo is not. We know our strongest team. Keep going. Rangers will drop points. Let’s not make it easy for a mediocre Ibrox team.   

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Motherwell 1—3 Celtic

It was hardly the Helicopter Sunday of 20 years ago, but an Adam Idah double—his second goal coming in the 94th minute—with an even later 96th minute goal from Luis Palma added gloss to an unlikely win. Defeat would have left Rangers five points clear, with eleven games remaining. Celtic quite simply needed to win.

At the end of the first-half that seemed unlikely. Stuart Kettlewell and Motherwell had Celtic’s number. Sit in and let our defenders have the ball, retreat to the half-way line. Hit on the break. Mostly up the left-hand side. It’s worked for most Scottish teams such as Ross County, Hearts, Hibs and Kilmarnock are repeat offenders.

Motherwell got in the act. Celtic had more of the ball in the first-half, but few shots on goal. Motherwell looked the more dangerous team. Theo Blair thought he’d scored after two minutes. Beating the offside trap, running into space and chopping back with a back heel into the six-yard box and slotting past Joe Hart. VAR showed he was offside.

He wasn’t offside later in the half, playing in the channels between centre-backs but Nowrocki got a block in.  

Blair and Spittal combined down the right, with the latter misfiring when sighting goal. All Celtic offered was a tame Kyogo effort. But we looked to be going in at half-time with the game even.

Seventeen-year-old Lennon Millar (sign him?) spun away from McGregor marking him on the edge of the Celtic box. His cutback to Spittal was perfectly weighed to leave him with a one-hit strike from the edge of the box which curled into the corner of the net.

Rodgers made changes to the team at half-time. Loan signing Adam Idah is one of the few success stories. Kuhn looks like more money wasted. And it’s difficult to see him having a future at Celtic, but, of course, I hope I’m wrong. Up until now our loan and summer signings have been disastrous. None of them look ready to replace the old guard. We all know about the £80 million banked and it sickens us. Neglect of that scale has handed Rangers the advantage in a two-team race for Champions League riches.

Adam Idah’s first goal was every bit as good as Spittal’s, if not better. Greg Taylor had one of those games when he was picking out passes to Motherwell player’s feet. His cross into the box was more in hope than expectation. Idah got in between two defenders and steered it home.

Celtic dominated from then on. We know what to expect from Diazen Maeda. Faultless effort and backtracking work. His headed miss from inside the six-yard box after been teed up by Yang, was the kind only the Japanese international specialises in. When it seems easier to score, but he doesn’t.

Yang coming on for empty-jersey Kuhn made a difference on the right. And  it was from the right Alistair Johnson cut back from near the touchline. Idah still had to ghost in front of two defenders to stab it home. He was even sensible enough to take the ball into the corner in the 95th minute and run the clock down.

Luis Palma’s late-late goal was checked by VAR for offside. It wouldn’t have affected the result. But we know from previous seasons this title is going to the wire and we’re second favourites to win it. I’ve a sneaking suspicion we will (but not the Scottish).

Of course, I hate Rangers and I’m biased. We’re not great. But they’re simply mediocre. I’ve little doubt we can beat them home and away. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we beat Dundee United 9—0. Every game seemed not only winnable but a matter of guessing how many we’d score. Now every game seems lose-able. Brendan Rodgers was quick to reassure us he’d signed a three-year contract and he intended to honour it. Lose this title and he’ll have no say in the matter. Dereliction of duty in all things Celtic springs to mind. We’re on the ropes, but we can still land killer punches. It would be easier on the nerves if we didn’t keep doing it at extra-time of extra-time.     

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Aberdeen 1—1 Celtic

A draw is a disaster. Defeat is catastrophic. We don’t need any reminding of that. We live it. Substitute Nicolas Kuhn’s second-half equaliser, after coming off Nicky Devlin, was fortuitous. Results like this are music to the ears of Rangers fans. Managerless Aberdeen hasn’t beaten Celtic in eight years. It’s been over three years since they managed a draw like today’s disaster, which could easily have been a catastrophe.  

A VAR check even before the game started. When the game got underway, a passback to the Aberdeen keeper, and the ball hoisted up in the air towards the left. We’ve watched enough matches to know how this works. Try and get free kicks and corners around the box. Devlin can take a long throw and hit the big men coming up from the back.

Taylor is tiny and he hasn’t been great this season, while still comfortably holding onto the left-back slot. Alexandro Bernarbei is so small his name is bigger than him. Taylor’s injury has opened the way for the young Argentinian to play his way into the first team. And he’s fine, as he was here, when teams like Aberdeen hardly get a kick of the ball in the first half.

An early goal always helps. We’ve scored in the first minute of our last two matches. Palma had a goal chopped off in the first ten minutes, after an Abada shot had been palmed out by the keeper. But young Israeli should really have scored. The Honduran also clipped the bar and had two other significant chances to finish. But after his double penalty misses last week, he’s no longer scoring. And I wonder now who will take our penalties.

Liel Abada isn’t scoring either and Kyogo is going on one of those goalless runs. Norwich loanee striker, Adam Idah, coming on, made more room for Kyogo. But we go back to that debate of whether he’s better playing the number ten role, where he looked more effective today. His strike rate through the middle, of course, would suggest otherwise.

Other players need to chip in. Bernardo hit the bar in the first half, in which he dinked the ball over Roos. O’Riley had a couple of efforts. He hit the post in the second half, but on another day he would have scored. McGregor had a quiet game and barely a shot on goal.

The first half went much as many of us thought. Celtic dominated between seventy to eighty percent possession. Aberdeen, in contrat, a solitary touch in the Celtic box.

The second half went much as Aberdeen supporters could only have dreamed. Celtic were linked with Bojan Miovski. Chris Sutton came out with the usual cliché’s of a thankless task in the first-half as Mivoski had few touches and no chances. When his chance did come, Sutton predicted his track record suggests he would take it.

 Maik Nawrocki, like many of the other Celtic players, strolled the first half. He played in Kyogo with a beautiful ball over the top which nearly created a goal. He was also booked for a needless foul on Miovski and probably should have been sent off for another mistimed tackle near the touchline on the same player in the second-half. No great surprise he was substituted.

Cameron Carter-Vickers was missing today. And we missed him. Nawrocki isn’t as good on the ball, which is so important when building from the back when teams sit in (as every team in the Scottish League does). More importantly, I doubt whether Miovski would have scored today had the American been on the field.

Aberdeen pressed higher at the start of the second-half. Celtic lost composure and fifty-fifty battles. The Dons were dominating. Dante Polvara played a curled pass, and it was fifty-fifty between Nawrocki and Miovski. Carter Vickers would have got there first and he would have defended better. Miovski’s took Nawrocki into the box and his finish into the corner. This encapsulated one of the reasons we were looking to sign him. But it was only as good as Nawrocki allowed it to be. I’d have fancied Carter-Vickers in this one on one.

Celtic’s substitute did bring us back into the game. But the introduction of Tony Ralston at left back tells you all you need to know about where we are. I don’t think he’s good enough for right back. And he looked as if he’d been brought off the terracing to play left back. I do like his commitment and he’s fan, but he’s just not good enough.

Obviously, we miss Hatate. Where O’Riley is this season (well, perhaps not in the last two matches) Hatate was last season. The Japanese international is out for five to six weeks. I can’t believe I’m saying we lost the midfield battle in the second half. And we’ll certainly lose the league if this slide continues. You don’t need to be an ultra to know we had to strengthen in the Window. We’ve went back the way. Regressed.

Graham Shinnie is finished. Yet he could have hit the equaliser at the close of the match after Mivoski’s earlier finish had been called offside. Imagine if he had scored. Catastrophe. We’d be calling for the manager’s head. It saddens me greatly to say Rangers are back. And if they win the league (50/50 as we now stand) then they’ll have financial parity with Champions League cash. Over and over we are Celtic supporters and faithful forever, but we’re not mugs. Whether we win the league or lose it, I think this transfer window has shown Rodgers enough to know that he’ll be away in the summer.  

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Celtic 2—1 Rangers

It was no great surprise that Rangers fell from the height of mediocrity to their first defeat at Parkhead. The surprise for me is it’s taken this long. Of course, I’m biased. It took several seasons until after he’d left Rangers and had retired from football to admit Brian Laudrup was a good player. Rangers huffed and puffed and did little until the last ten minutes of injury time to raise the blood pressure. But I still didn’t think they would equalise.

There were two wonderful goals. Of course, all goals against Rangers are wonderful. Paulo Bernardo’s strike through a packed penalty box and into the net had me sitting on the moon for a while.

Kyogo has been off-form and not scoring. But he’s always a blizzard of activity. Always moving, closing down. Trying to get in behind. His take on the turn proved pivotal. Outside the box, he took a touch to create space and put it in the top corner. Two minutes into the second-half and Celtic had a two-goal lead.

Balogan’s red card when he wrestled Daizen Maeda to the ground was the work of Kyogo closing him down and feeding his speedy teammate. The form Maeda has been in, he’d probably have stumbled or fell over his feet. Celtic should have comfortably seen the game out from then on in. Added more goals.

Maik Nawrocki came on after thirty-five minutes with Stephen Walsh going off injured. He did OK and seems a good enough passer of the ball. I’m not sure why he’s fallen so far and so fast down the pecking order. He gave away the free-kick outside the box which led to the Rangers goal. James Tavernier’s strike was another top corner effort.

Celtic won the match by having better players. Cyriel Dessers’ chance for an equaliser, before half time, came from a dreadful pass by Alistair Johnson back towards Stephen Welsh, who mis-controlled it. Dessers took so long to shoot it allowed the Celtic defence to get back and for Joe Hart to amble out, clutching his Zimmer frame, and collect the ball. We’ve got Kyogo. They’ve got Dessers.

Good players in these matches look as if they’ve got time to pass. Chris Sutton advised Todd Cantwell to watch Callum McGregor DVD’s. He bossed the midfield in the same way that Kyogo always seems to score against Rangers. Matt O’Reilly got a bloody nose. But our prized asset was a level above the Lundstrums and Sterlings.

Paulo Bernardo only usually plays in our most difficult European fixtures were we get routinely start well, concede and get turned over. He got booked for over-celebrating his first goal. The referee didn’t book me for over-celebrating because he recognised I was too drunk to care. The referee could have been sent off Bernardo for a late tackle and a second yellow card. In other words, he carried a bit of luck. He’s seen off Odin Holm and David Turnbull for the starting spot in midfield. It’s now looking conceivable he might see off Reo Hatate, the best midfielder in Scottish football last year, for his place in the Celtic team. That’s encouraging.

Alistair Johnston could also have been sent off. He caught Abdallah Sima with a swinging arm. He’d already had a yellow, and he too was lucky. But the most talked about decision of the match also involved the Canadian. With hindsight, we know Rangers players were already offside. Johnston didn’t know that and he made several errors. He tried to shepherd the ball out. He didn’t. He tried to hold off Sima. He couldn’t. And he handled the ball. Stupid is as stupid does. He got away with one and so did we just before half-time. I think Johnston is average. I’d be looking for better, and I don’t mean Tony Ralston.

Joe Hart had a good game, but I’d be shopping for a replacement now.

Greg Taylor was decent. It’s no great secret that all teams in league hump the ball up to the left wing and try and get up the park. Win free kicks and corners and score that way, because they’re not going to see much of the ball. I’d like a new left back.

Daizen Maeda hasn’t played a good game since his return from injury. Dare I say it? We’ve a million wingers but Luis Palma is the only one that looks better than average. Even then it’s not a given. Bring back Paolo Di Canio.

We do need another centre-forward regardless of the Asian Cup. It’ll be an interesting transfer window. We’re supposed to be linked with Scott McKenna. Decently average. I’d hope for much better than another squad player. Top of the league and your no. I think we’ll stay there. But not win the Scottish. Too inconsistent. Too fragile defensively.