No Real Shock In Brisbane As Celtic Crash At Dens Park

I saw some of the photos which were posted online, and caught a glimpse of ‘our Wispy’, Lisbon Lion, Willie Wallace, accompanied, as always, by his good lady, Olive. Sevillian legend, Alan Thompson, he of the ‘skelper’ fame was also in the frame, and I hear the weekend went well.

The sight of Dundee embarrassing the hoops on the telly was not the way to round off what was a spectacular weekend, but still it happened. Wispy and Thommo would have been livid watching that circus.

After a succession of ‘meh’ performances in recent weeks, we expected Brendan’s men to up the ante, give the supporters a modicum of succour, and a goal-fest as payback for a lacklustre season to date. Not a bit of it!

The match began with a false start, the weans behind the goal chucking an assortment of balls into the goalmouth where Celtic goalie, Kasper Schmeichel was warming up in a bid to win a match for them.

I can only assume they were weans because surely to God grown adults would find another way to challenge the board in a way which did not mean that the Celtic Captain, goalkeeper, and other team members would be reduced to bending down for five minutes or so clearing the debris launched by their own fans?

I’m not sure that the absence of juvenile behaviour in the stands would have caused said players to actually perform once the whistle was tooted, but, I don’t think it helped.

I’m all for demonstrations which is the right of every paying ‘customer’ as we are called, but, I would expect it done in a mature and constructive way. This was not the way in my opinion.

The game itself was beyond shoddy, with only one team taking credit for their efforts. This Celtic team is rank rotten I’m sorry to say, and bereft of genuine talent, endeavour, and goals, the main thrust of our concern.

There is no confidence surging through the side, and it appears some have given up already when we should be battling our way forward in a bid to overcome a very decent Hearts outfit.

The stats show that Keiran Tierney was one of our most effective players, but he still looks well short of the genius we hoped would return and conquer Scotland, and Europe. That’s just one example of where we are at.

Not one player can put his hand on his heart and say they played well. There were little or no real chances against a solid, but struggling team who, if not for yesterday’s win, would be bottom of the league! Dundee deserved their win.

When the second goal went in off Carter-Vickers, there was not the usual response from the depleted Brisbane Celtic patrons; merely a hushed acceptance that it was coming. Ponder on that.

There’s a malaise around the squad which is threatening to become a disaster if it is not arrested. It’s early days, and I’m not panicked by this, however, look at theRangers to see what an extended period of ineptitude gets you. We’re not that bad, yet…

Brendan says that we need to hang on until January to purchase players who deserve the shirt on a regular basis. That is a disgrace! We could well be languishing further behind Hearts if this is not corrected.

We are Celtic, and, without engaging the spirit of self-entitlement, we have grown a giant of a club over the years, and provided huge amounts of funds into the biscuit tin – we deserve better than the dross which is being served up to us at the present moment.

So yes, get the board ‘telt’ and unshackle the shekels, but do it without turning our players into groundsmen. There’s a massive tie in Europe on Thursday night, and, hopefully, our boys in green will unshackle their mojo, and give us some hope for the rest of the season.

If Hearts beat us at Tynecastle on Sunday, we are struggling, but it’s not insurmountable. Eight points would raise eyebrows, and make this the best challenge in years, but, who knows which Celtic team will turn up in Edinburgh?

I love a good flag race, but I love it more when we have a team we can trust on the field. Let’s see it Celtic.

Hail Hail!

Eddie Murray

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