Another good three points. Now a run of away game, why?

[Joe O'Rourke]

Another good three points on Saturday versus Dundee, that keeps us clear at the top of the League before our trip to Rotterdam on Tuesday to face Feyenoord in the Champions League. As you would expect Dundee were well organised in defence, you know they’re going to make it difficult to create chances, and they had one or two decent chances themselves, but its job done, and we move on to Livingston at the weekend.

This set of players are still evolving as a team, so it was good to see some of our recent additions getting some game time. I thought Nat Phillips did well, but obviously is not match fit. It was also good to see Luis Palma and Paulo Bernardo get on the pitch for their debut’s. and let’s not forget, Liam Scales hasn’t played a lot at Celtic, neither has Yang, Oh, or Lagerbielke. And the biggest bonus was the return to the midfield of Reo Hatate, make no mistake, Reo is really a top class player, lets hope we can nail him down to an extended contract.

I must confess my heart missed a beat when Kyogo went off holding his arm, my first thoughts were, oh not again, but thankfully the wee man returned in quick time. I read a few comments about people comparing Kyogo to Henrik Larsson, I suppose it’s understandable, but there will never be a Henrik Mark 2, just as there will never be a Kyogo Mark 2. Kyogo is a fantastic footballer, his movement during a game is magnificent, it must be a nightmare for any defender trying to mark him, he’s just so quick. I like to think the Bhoy’s from Japan are happy at Celtic, not only the players, but also their families, if you have a happy player, you have a good player, and Kyogo is far more than just a good player, hopefully he will continue to show that at Celtic, and especially in the Champions League.

Right now, Celtic are in a great place, we have a winning team on the park after a couple of hiccups against Kilmarnock and St Johnstone. We have a very successful business model as a football club, and the recent news about the development of Barrowfield is most welcome. If we are to have any chance of turning young players into first team players, we need to have the best environment for them to train in, and the same goes for the Ladies Team, we need to give them the best facilities possible, and as close to Celtic Park as possible. There will be far more supporters going to watch the youth and the ladies if they are playing in Glasgow not Airdrie. Hopefully the work at Barrowfield will commence in the not too distant future.

We now go on a run of four away games out of our next five League games, I wrote to Neil Doncaster earlier in the year when the fixture came out, I really don’t understand why it cannot be home/away in succession, I get that because of certain rules it can’t always happen, but surely four out of five away is extreme, and two matches in a row we are in Edinburgh, I don’t know who operates the SPL computer in the USA, but I don’t think the know anything about football, and surely in situations like that, the SPL should step in and rearrange some fixtures. Obviously if we are away from home, then Sevco are at home, they have five home games out of six fixtures, can anyone call that a level playing field. On the financial side of it, Celtic Supporters will be forking out over £130 for the four away matches, plus travelling costs, cost of living crisis anybody?

Glasgow’s still Green & White.