Daniel Majstorovic started while Ledley and Commons were on the bench with Hooper and Stokes restored up front as the attacking force. Stokes and particularly Hooper looked very sharp right from the start. Hooper took his chances well and seems to be back to his best form, which was fortunate as otherwise this could have been another one of ‘those’ games we have occasionally seen from Celtic in the past twelve months.
For this match became the curious case of the St Mirren team that suddenly started to play as if they were 2-0 up and lot losing by two well taken Gary Hooper goals. Yet Celtic should have one by a lot more. The myopic Willie Collum chopped off an absolutely fine goal by Anthony Stokes, while Ki Seung-Yeung was particularly wasteful when through on goal in the second half when it would have been much easier for him to score.
Celtic are missing the width of Izaguirre and Mark Wilson which was an important element of the team’s great performances from last season. Cha has oodles of energy on the right side, but very little precision and while Charlie Mulgrew has many other assets he doesn’t have Izaguirre’s pace and attacking threat on the left wing. Mulgrew would be an effective and more assured centre back partner for Kelvin Wilson and he can pass quickly with assurance turning defence into attack.
Once again Majstorovic’s jittery approach to pretty much every situation seemed to infect the rest of the defence like a virus, and a remedy for this before the end of the transfer window is devoutly to be wished.
It’s a bit of a cliché but stars are made at Celtic rather than imported and Ki Seung-Yeung is proving to be one of those Celtic-made stars who has been reborn this season. However he seemed out of sorts against St Mirren that also accounted for their periods of sustained dominance.
Post match rumours of a move away by Ki were quickly shot down by Alan Thompson saying, ‘We don't want any of our better players leaving,’ while there is still time for a few much needed reinforcements if the team are to improve on the successes of last term.
Celtic did win of course and did begin to put some of the disappointment of the Europa League behind them. The ineptitude of Uefa and Fifa in not banning FC Sion for fielding ineligible players could still mean that Celtic are only provisionally out of Europe. No matter how embarrassing any reinstatement would be the fact is Sion cheated and should rightly face the consequences.
But what are the consequences for Scottish football after last week’s European failures by Rangers and Hearts as well as Celtic?
It seems apparent that the Scottish football media and the SFA in slavishly promoting the anti-football of Rangers and Hearts, the two establishment teams, have helped create a downward spiral for Scottish football.
The bias of the media and the incestuous affiliations of those who control both the SFA and the SPL are malignant growths on the game. These forces are always there enslaving the game at every turn and at every level of performance. They drag the game down to the lowest common denominator. Kick your opponent. Rush the ball. Cheat whenever you can. All applauded by drum beating hacks. That’s the establishment way. So that too has become Scottish football’s way.
This undying love for the negative approach is the reason Scottish football is enslaved in a dark depression, compounded by the further negativity of Sky, the BBC and other mainstream broadcasters. As long as these dark forces seek to make a living from the game and take against those teams playing more positive, less Scottish style football, then Scottish football will continue to decline.
A neutral media would be celebrating the attacking football that Celtic have been known to play under Neil Lennon in recent times. Instead, corruption has clouded their vision and their judgement. They can only see what they are told to see and hear what they are told to hear. Objectivity and truth have been poisoned along with the game itself.
Celtic are a team with Irish roots who play in Scotland and when at their best don’t play the Scottish way. The Celtic way is more European, more skilful and has had much more style and passion since long before the Jock Stein era.
A decline in Scottish football should not necessarily mean a decline for Celtic, even though it looks ever more unlikely that Celtic will escape the quicksand of the SPL any time soon. As with the Europa League itself, there may be little hope for Scotland but there is still hope for Celtic as long as the team and Neil Lennon are allowed to play the Celtic way and have the support from all levels to do so.
This is my first of many blogs for SixtySevenLive one of the brightest new sites in the Celtic media, created by like minded people who simply want to report the truth at a time when the truth is very rarely reported.
SSL is a collective and has an open policy that does not attempt to impose a particular viewpoint on the Celtic support. SSL tries to unite and heal rather than divide and rule. In this we applaud the great work of other sites, most notably the very professionally produced new additions to the CQN family.
This is a time for all right minded people to come together and speak plainly and clearly. It could still be a long and difficult season.
@the_eriugena chief reporter on Celtic and the media for @SixtySevenLive
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