Saturday versus Falkirk was a very good result, they have been playing very well this season and have taken a few big scalps, so it was great to have a good display against the Bairns, and it was great to see Celtic Park full again, and the backing from the supporters was top class as well. It was strange to have a 5.30pm kick-off, but everything else was great, the sun was shining, and the welcome the team received on arrival was outstanding, that continued throughout the game, and it seems as if the players fed off that support.
One player who definitely fed off the support was our Japanese Duracell Bunny, Daizen Maeda, that was certainly one of Daizen’s best performances, he was on fire, the Falkirk defenders must have had nightmares on Saturday night seeing him running at them in their sleep. I don’t think there is another player in the world who could have scored that first goal, the press was fantastic, but the finish was even better, it was far from an easy finish, pun intended. He took his second goal brilliantly as well, and well done to Seb Tounekti for supplying the cross. The three goals were brilliant in their own way, Kieran fairly smashed his goal in off the underside of the bar, no goalkeeper was stopping that. It was just a pity we lost a soft goal, and their goalie made a few good saves.
Every game now is a must win game, starting next week at Easter Road, I used to love going there, but they have fallen into the trap of listening to the moans of their own supporters, when it’s costing them a lot of money. It must be the only public entertainment in the world where they refuse to sell tickets to customers when there are plenty of seats available. Celtic are receiving 1,400 tickets for a stand that holds about 4,000, that equates to about a £90,000 loss, times two, and if you add on the Deid Club, they are losing close to half a million pounds a season. They are not alone, Kilmarnock, Hearts, and St Mirren do likewise, “Financial Lunacy” fair play to Livingston, they would sell you a ticket in the dugout if it was allowed, why the Broadcasters haven’t got involved I don’t know, or the SPL should make it mandatory to offer a minimum of 5% of capacity.
Back to Saturday, it was a good display all round, although I still maintain Benji Nygren is a “Number 10” and should play off a striker, although if the striker is Daizen, how do you keep up with him? I thought Jamsie did well, and maybe Yang needs to pick his passes better, but his workrate is fist class. I thought Arne Engels added a bit of muscle to the midfield, he will get better with the games coming up, and talking about that it was great to see Ali Johnston back in the team. I also like Marcello Saracchi, and wouldn’t mind him on a permanent basis. I might be being greedy here, but I would be asking the question of Andy Robertson, and if he fancied fulfilling his lifetime dream of playing for Celtic, then make it happen. It is pretty obvious that we really need a main striker who is going to get us plenty of goals, we haven’t replaced the goals of Kyogo, that has been a major problem, added to conceding too many goals. Some players will obviously move on in the summer, so it will be a massive rebuild for Celtic, so we need to start early, it will cost plenty, but that’s the result of previous transfer activity not being good enough.
The search should be on now to appoint a new manager, I understand that most are under contract at another club just now, but we cannot afford to wait too long. We need to be scouring the continent for players, there is a major rebuild ahead of us, even if we win the double. We have to admit the top managers would not come to Scotland, even if you could afford them, but there are gems everywhere, you just have to identify them, then convince them to come. I would not be against a move for Robbie Keane, he has a bit of experience, and has been a winner, and I would certainly like Scott Brown involved in some capacity. I also think there should be a role for Martin O’Neill, even if it’s in an advisory role.
Four more League game to go, let’s give every one of them out 100% best effort, we still have a great chance to be successful, we are course and distance serial winners, let’s continue in that way.
Glasgow’s still Green & White.
