Another good 3 points. Another inept display by the Referee.

[Joe O'Rourke]

What a first twenty five minutes down in Kilmarnock yesterday at lunchtime, that was as good as it gets, with the obvious exception of the Kyogo penalty, small margins, six inches to the right and he nets his 30th goal of the season, but that will come soon enough, and hopefully another few on top of that. Kyogo has been a phenomenal player for Celtic since his very first game, his work rate is exceptional, he made a run back into our own box to stop a Killie player getting a shot away, only the very best of strikers have that commitment to the team cause.

It was a typical Derek Mc Innes team, every team he has managed against us, is full of giants, the ball is up in the air that much, that you need an air traffic controller as well as a referee. They are always a very physical team into the bargain, and add to that the state of the playing surface, and it’s not a pleasant experience for our players. Why the SPL didn’t change the rules the last time Killie were out of the league, I’ll never understand, they had the chance to have an 11-1 vote in favour of banning those surfaces. There is something not right when a team has to leave out at least one very important player because of the playing surface, as with Cameron Carter Vickers. It needs changed, and if Killie go down, then do it.

It was also another baffling performance by referee David Dickenson, Celtic had 77% possession, but still managed to have 15 fouls awarded against us, and two players yellow carded. He just contributed to the Killie plan of stopping Celtic’s high intensity game plan by awarding fouls against us that looked petty indeed. We lost our way a wee bit at the start of the second half, but finished the game strongly, and could have added to the goal tally. It was also great to see the two youngsters (Rocco Vata & Ben Summers) getting some game time, we need to make sure there is a path into the first team for our best young players, either that or we will continue to lose them to other teams.

The title is very close now, and should be done and dusted within a couple of weeks. We can look forward to the semi-final with a degree of confidence, although I’m never over confident when playing against the team from Govan, too many people can influence the result who aren’t actually plying during the game, we know that has happened many times in the past. But suffice to say, if we field our strongest team, and they play to the game plan, and to their capabilities, and the officials play their part in a fair and impartial way, then we’ll be fine.
Glasgow’s Green & White… We Never Stop