The sun was shining in Perth yesterday afternoon, maybe some players thought they were on their holidays in the first half. In a season that has been for the most part really good, there has undoubtedly been a few really poor days, and yesterday was definitely one of those days. Everything was set up for another step closer to the title, we had a massive crowd in three stands, there were obviously some supporters there who don’t normally get the chance of a ticket for away matches, and I saw quite a few with young kids probably going to their first Celtic away match, maybe even there first match, but it turned out to be a disappointment for us all.
I keep saying every week it’s all about speed, moving the ball quickly through the middle to the front players, but the other teams are learning, they are pressing high and denying us space to pass, so the ball is moving along our back line giving them the opportunity to get back into a defensive line, we have to move the ball forward quicker, and we have to take our chances when they come our way. The second half was much better, faster and more aggressive, but we still didn’t manage to take any of our chances. We had 80% possession, with twenty six shots, nine of which were on target. Nico Kuhn has gone off the boil lately, and Jota hasn’t had much game time, the same could be said of Adam Idah and Luke Mc Cowan.
We need to get this sorted asap, if any supporter thinks St Johnstone are just going to roll over a Hampden on Easter Sunday, just watch the replay of yesterday again, you don’t get handed anything in professional football, you have to work for it. Brendan was talking after that match about the Saints players giving everything, fighting for every ball, and defending like their life depended on it, I might be wrong here Brendan, but is that not what you’re supposed to do in every game? Players that don’t give everything, shouldn’t be playing, and certainly shouldn’t be playing for Celtic, every player can have an off day, but there is no excuse for giving less than 100% effort.
Talking about Hampden on Easter Sunday for the Scottish Cup Final, we all know that the SFA have imposed their new digital ticketing process on us, we knew this was coming, but had asked for it to be delayed until next season, giving us a full year to fine tune the process, and to tweak it where necessary. The SFA refused that request, they also did what they always do, they made a decision with consulting the most important people, the supporters who buy the tickets. They never considered the supporters who run buses all over Scotland every week, and who keep the smaller clubs in business, like the 7,500 thousand Celtic supporters at Perth yesterday. Ironically, as of Thursday night at 5pm, St Johnstone had sold 564 tickets, they might sell a couple of hundred more after yesterday’s result.
A couple of important bits of information for supporters going to Hampden.
First of all you need to download the Hampden Tickets App to a smartphone, all tickets will be issued via the App by email. If any supporter has real problems with that, you need to contact the Celtic Ticket Office directly, we are assured that no-one will be left behind.
You are able to transfer a ticket twice to another email address, more than one ticket can be sent to the same email address.
Supporters entering the stadium with children, do what you would normally do, put young children through first, then enter the stadium, if there is a problem there will be SFA staff on hand to assist.
Wi-Fi will not be required at the stadium, but you should have the App opened when you come to the stadium.
It is important that you enter the stadium via the area/turnstile indicated on your ticket. You will receive an email from the SFA/Celtic when your ticket is being sent.
Lastly, if we beat Saints, and Hearts beat Aberdeen, there may not be a transfer of tickets for the final, Hearts have sold their allocation for the semi, so it will be a 50/50 ticket split for the final.
Glasgow’s still Green & White.
