ALEX’S ANGLE: ZERO AMBITION

FAR BE IT for me to be a pooper to your party, but I don’t think you should be popping those corks on the Dom Perignon just yet.

Understandably, the sheer relief of actually winning a game after four consecutive failures may have overwhelmed a number of us, but the fact remains Celtic, until the 88th minute, were drawing 1-1 with Aberdeen and carelessly shedding their eighth point in three league games.

Keiran Tierney transformed the complexion of the afternoon when he materialised at the back post to put the finishing touches to a wicked right-wing cross from Colby Donovan and it was smiles all round when James Forrest tucked away the third deep in stoppage-time.

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but that is far too close for comfort for my old ticker.

Undoubtedly, the Dons rode their luck in the Scottish Cup Final in May against a strangely lacklustre Brendan Rodgers team. It seemed they were re-enacting the great escape in this latest meeting between the clubs in Glasgow.

MAKING A POINT…Wilfried Nancy signals to his Celtic players.

At Hampden, they were gifted their equaliser seven minutes from time after an uncharacteristic howler from Kasper Schmeichel and Daizen Maeda threw them another lifeline just before the end of regulation time with a negligent drive that was too close to keeper Dimitar Mitov who thrust out a left boot to divert the effort to safety to invite extra-time into the proceedings.

Over the two hours, the Hoops had given the impression they were running on empty. If Rodgers had spent any time motivating this assembly of players with a world record ninth treble on the line, I saw no evidence of any geeing-up in the midst of mediocrity.

Having said that, the Dons survived when Arne Engels rattled one off the right-hand post and on-loan Jeffrey Schlupp almost demolished the crossbar with a pulverising first time drive from the edge of the box.

When it went to penalty-kicks, there could only be one winner and tame attempts from 12 yards by Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston were gobbled up by the grateful Mitov.

The well-prepared Pittodrie outfit, who probably spent a week practising spot-kicks, impeccably thumped four behind Schmeichel and it was game over.

And it looked as though they had perfected the art of contributing practically zilch and going away with a reward when they levelled at Parkhead in the 74th minute last weekend after being used as a virtual punchbag.

In the first-half, Johnny Kenny routinely squandered two excellent opportunities before Benjamin Nygren stroked a Meada low ball from the left beyond Mitov for a deserved opener.

EXPOSED…Kasper Schmeichel is helpless as Jonah Ayunga heads St Mirren’s second goal in the Paisley club’s 3-1 win over Celtic in the Premier Sports League Cup Final.

After the turnaround, the painful procession of misses piled up as the woodwork was struck three times, twice by Engels and once by Nygren.

Mitov was throwing himself around like a man possessed, pulling off a sequence of remarkable saves with a tip-away from McGregor in the unbelievable category.

While all that was going on, just one simple through ball eliminated Auston Trusty and a thankful Kenan Bilalovic strolled through to prod the ball under the exposed Schmeichel to level matters.

And that simple act is why I am not swimming in a sea of bubbles this Christmas Day. I’ll delay my celebrations until later in this intriguing crusade.

Any team that can be undone with such ease by the opposition will always generate concern and alarm. Especially, when the guys further up the pitch are displaying all the sharpness of a sausage in their attempts to convert overall superiority into football’s currency: ie goals.

Wilfried Nancy likes to play forceful, attacking play. Don’t we all? I’ve been brought up with Celtic teams whose natural instinct is to go forward.

Jock Stein revolutionised the side, taking over a collection of misfits with reasonable natural ability and moulding and reshaping them into the formidable progressive unit that conquered Europe in 1967 and beguiled us all for years.

But Big Jock, a no-frills centre-half in his playing days, built everything on a solid foundation. The adventurous Tommy Gemmell was given licence to bomb up the left wing – but only if he accepted his main responsibility was as a defender.

WATCHING BRIEF…Jock Stein keeps an eye on Tommy Gemmell during training.

Heaven help poor Tommy if he was caught upfield when opponents broke into Celtic’s half. It didn’t matter what he had contributed to the attack that day, he would have some explaining to do afterwards to a less-than-understanding gaffer if something had gone awry at the back.

Schmeichel is still awaiting his first shut-out since the arrival on Nancy five games ago. The Danish legend has been invited to retrieve the ball from the back of his net 11 times over that period.

The 39-year-old shotstopper must look out from the penalty box and view an abundance of green and white jerseys at the opposite end of the pitch and dread what happens next when one ball is fired into the Hoops half to kick-start a cavalry charge.

Nancy has got to find a balance. Sorting out his back lot is utterly crucial and, hopefully, the rest will follow on.

One thing is absolutely certain. Nobody ever succeeded while building on quicksand.

Okay, enough of the Bah! Humbug! stuff. Please allow me to drift back twelve months when I first published this little message to all CQN readers.

I had been searching for a suitable saying or proverb when I had been writing my fifth Charlie Brock Mystery novel, ‘What’s Got Into Geronimo?’, which is now on sale. (Forgive the shameless plug.)

There’s a chapter in the book which is set in an Irish bar in New York around Christmastime. I had been exploring the sort of artistic messages you might find adorning the walls of such an establishment.

I found this one and I thought it would be appropriate to sign off this feature.

May the winds of fortune sail you,

May you sail a gentle sea,

May it always be the other guy,

Who says This one’s on me.

Cheers, folks, hope you all have a wonderful day.

ALEX GORDON