There is no substitute for quality substitutes.
Today in Perth Celtic proved their strength in depth off the bench.
There was a half time debut for Jeremy Toljan and the Dortmund fullback immediately gave the away side more energy down the right flank.
In the first half of the season, Celtic have lacked a physical presence up front since the departure of Moussa Dembélé.
The next few weeks will tell if Brendan Rodgers sees Oliver Burke as an orthodox winger or as powerfully imposing centre forward.
So far he has been deployed in the latter position.
The WBA player was brought off today as a tactical substitution and replaced with Odsonne Édouard.
It remains to be seen if the young Scot will fashion a permanent move to Celtic a la the player who came on for him.
When Édouard was replaced by Timo Weah only 12 minutes later it was out of dire necessity.
However, it proved decisive.
The young American contributed a brilliant assist and a finish from close range on the counter-attack to secure the points
Celtic went down to ten men when James Forrest hobbled off with all of the substitutes used.
A red card for Ajer saw the Hoops close out the match with nine on the field.
It was a bizarre turn of events when referee Willie Colum got it spot on.
The young Scandinavian was the author of his own dismissal.
Moreover, by that time Ryan Christie was reduced to a hobble in the middle of the park.
This was a victory through the pain barrier.
It is on days like this that teams without championship qualities can stumble.
Today Celtic did not.
The champions are unbeaten in 2019 and have yet to concede a goal this year.
It is title retaining form.
Rodgers knows that his guys just have to keep winning and that is 90% mental attitude.
Today was about attitude.
Serious attitude.
Next up Hibernian at Parkhead.
I’m sure he doesn’t need it but I’ve just made a direct contribution to Ashley’s warchest. I know it’s a good cause and all that yet I still feel sullied by the experience of setting foot inside one of his stores.
A bit off topic. Is the Lying King due in court today?
Ryan Christie is having treatment for bruising to his rib cage following the assault on him by the St J’s defender in the same melee that resulted in Edouard getting injured.
Collum and his officials either missed the incident or decided that being whacked by a flying leg and brought crashing to the ground is acceptable within the rules of the game….. thats SFA rules of course, the ones where kicking a player off the ball is perfectly acceptable as long as it’s not too violent and you wear a blue jersey.
It’s not about stopping 10 IAR. The kitchen sink is being thrown at derailing 8 IAR because if Rangers and their fellow travelers fail to best The Champions this season they won’t have the resources to mount a challenge over the subsequent seasons.
Until our Club…OFFICIALLY…makes the same points to the SFA as we do….we will get nowhere.
The silence from Celtic Park is deafening.
I almost hesitate to write this because the last time I tried such a prediction it went quite spectacularly tits up.
The right set of results on Wednesday night could see us 8 points clear of the Dons in 2nd, with sevco and Killie in joint 3rd, and Hearts making steady ground on the outside.
All of a sudden instead of looking up at us, sevco could be looking around themselves at a closing pack.
Wow, Specsavers will be demanding the return of their sponsorship monies as Scottish referees continue to plunge the depths with criminal decision making.
3 penalties denied to Celtic today, the clearest being Christie almost chopped in two with a kick around chest height.
I read that Gilmour, a previous St Mirren Chairman, was sitting behind the referee supervisors in the Ibrox stand as they giggled their way through the Son Of Dallas penalty show.
2 clearly outside the box and the tackle on Defoe where he quickly got to his feet for fear of a yellow card, as if, from the ref for simulation. He looked surprised when the ref pointed to the spot nevertheless.
As we get to the business end of the season some of the refereeing decisions will impact on points won and lost.
I don’t see anywhere evidence of the maxim that good and bad decisions even out over the course of a season.
Dallas and his main stand side official contrived to award two penalties to the home team for incidents that clearly occurred outside the box.
Not 50/50, not close, clearly outside.
Once again ranks will be closed to protect the poor wee whistlers and within a few days, like Beaton’s horror show, will be swept under the carpet never to be spoken of again.
More than any other season this will be the most challenging.
A 6 point lead and healthy goal difference is fine but there are a host of tricky away fixtures to be surmounted and the growing list of injuries is worrying.
Wednesday is a vital 3 points at home to Hibs as the clash at Pittodrie could remove one of the two closest challengers from the SPFL race.
I would love to know what targets John Fleming is being held to by his employers, if any, as his conveyor belt of failures trundles on.
Come on Mr Maxwell. Where is the open and transparent SFA that only exists in the minds of the brain dead.
Time for you to show some leadership for once, so toddle off and get permission from those pulling the strings!
Champions elect performance again today, let’s hope we appeal the Ajer red card, there could be a compliance against 3 or 4 Saints defence for brutality though I doubt so.
Nice to hear Stewart call the hun penalties for what they were, no doubt young Dallas making his mark.
Anyway, the hoops stroll on 14 goals 0 against undefeated in 2019 and we have our own destiny in our own hands.
HH
Another outrageous performance by our central midfield pairing. Callum could play two consecutive games of football against SPL opposition. A victory today not just for skill but for sheer physical conditioning.