CELTIC’S start to the new Premiership campaign had been impeccable – until Paisley at the weekend.
Prior to the game against St Mirren, the only blemish on the record was a 3-0 reverse at home to Real Madrid, which is hardly something to be embarrassed about. Other than that, they had swept all before them, including arch-rivals Rangers, who were handed a 4-0 drubbing at Celtic Park in early September.
The perfect start to the domestic campaign, however, came crashing down against Stephen Robinson’s side. Goals from Mark O’Hara and Jonah Ayunga either side of half-time were enough to consign the visitors to a 2-0 defeat, ending their 38-game unbeaten sequence.
The backlash from the result has been strong. Rangers fans have come back out of the woodwork — unseen since their loss thumping 17 days ago — to throw in their two cents on social media. The Scottish press also didn’t mince their words, either.
But has the public outcry been somewhat of an overreaction?
Disappointing but not devastating
Losing to St. Mirren is not something to be proud of. Far from it. But Stephen Robinson’s side have enjoyed a decent start to the season. They had won three of their last four prior to hosting the Bhoys, including an impressive, hard-fought home win against Hibs. Their battling victory over the Hoops fired them up to fourth in the table.
As we all know, when Celtic come to town, teams up their game, and that was exactly what happened at the weekend. Add to that the fact that the visitors were well off the pace, and it’s a recipe for defeat.
You could perhaps argue that Ange Postecoglou’s side were tired and a little jet-lagged. They travelled to Eastern Europe just four days prior and returned back to Scotland with a hard-earned point. The 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk sets Celtic up nicely for the rest of their Champions League campaign.
The Ukrainians beat RB Leipzig 4-1 away from home on matchday one, so the point has opened the door for Celtic to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.
But with those tough Champions League matches coming thick and fast, and with the upcoming FIFA World Cup providing another headache to the calendar, footballers have never had a tougher schedule, and perhaps that was reflected in the recent performance.
How do they come back?
Ange Postecoglou has plenty of time to drill into his players the lessons taken from the St. Mirren performance. Celtic don’t play again in the Premiership until October 1 when Motherwell visit Parkhead. Four days later comes the first of a double-header with RB Leipzig. Whoever comes out on top of that stands the best chance of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League and it’s very possible that this fixture will become the priority, rather than the visit of the Steelmen.
The playing staff at Paradise should be looking at the crunch clash with the German side as a pair of fixtures that are winnable. Last season, Die Roten Bullen stumbled when they visited the blue half of Glasgow in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.
Despite travelling to Ibrox with a 1-0 lead, goals from James Tavernier, Glen Kamara, and John Lundstram sent Rangers on their way to Seville. We all know how that ended.
But if Rangers can defeat Leipzig, there’s no reason to think why Celtic can’t. Throughout the past two seasons, the Hoops have proven their dominance over their bitter rivals. They’re unbeaten in their last four league meetings with them and that can perhaps provide the best barometer of how they will perform against the Red Bulls.
If the Bhoys can manage to secure either four or six points from that upcoming doubleheader, the result in Paisley will be a distant memory.
