It was far from plain sailing, especially in the first 30 minutes of the second half, when Falkirk dominated play, penned Celtic inside their own half and scored, but fresh legs brought fresh control to the champions, before Daizen Maeda calmed nerves with his second goal of the game.
Martin O’Neill is juggling with the fitness of many of the squad. Tierney, McGregor, Iheanacho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Engels are all less than 100%, while Alistair Johnston made only his sixth appearance of the season and his first since October.
With impaired mobility in the middle of the park, Celtic look vulnerable. Finding the formula to see us through 90 minutes will be crucial to any title aspirations Celtic have.
That said, this was an excellent win and our fifth in five games this term against a dangerous Falkirk side. I am very happy we will not see them again until next season. Celtic defended well throughout (even at the Falkirk goal), while creating enough chances to secure the win.
Any pre-emptive joy at rising up the league should be tempered. Motherwell and Hibs showed what they are capable of yesterday, both have already beaten Celtic this season and have home games to come against the champions. It is still a three-horse race and any of the runners could finish third in the table.
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I came across this gem on Shorty from a guy called Colin Moffat about how ‘the Old Firm domination was “boring”.’
I expect the BBC in England is reporting that everyone is tired of 12 years of Premier League domination by Man City and Leicester City.
Saint Stivs on 27th April 2026 11:58 am
halliday celebrated the goal then sat down.
what was the problem with that ?
on radio he doesnt hide his support of 2nd rangers, but he also comes across as very far in analysis and professional in his approach to the game.
btw, he has staunchly stuck to hearts winning the league as his prediction.
Motherwell ran Rngers ragged in the first half yesterday, the away game will be a real test.
I will be disappointed if the their manger is nit in our dug out next year
Motherwell and Hibs showed what they are capable of yesterday, both have already beaten Celtic this season and have home games to come against the champions.
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what did hibs show yesterday that we should be overly concerned about ?
Motherwell, first win since february, that might be their season defining and finished game.
Hibs showed what they are capable of…
Like Hibsing it?
Ps for BSR re John Brown and the Deeds – Doune Castle circa 1975 ?
https://x.com/iRuntheshow1/status/2048485719266504786?s=20
Halliday back left,baseball cap on,if he’s my team mate or I’m paying his wages,I’m having a word
Having watched the Motherwell game yesterday, I would take Askou as manager
I will be disappointed if the their manger is nit in our dug out next year
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for some reason everyone ignores his possession football which is ver alike to Rodgers, and celtic supporters decided was boring.
5 well players in the team of the year, great.
but all thier midefield is small, like miller, and the celtic fans keep telling they need physicality.
well first win in 6 is it ?
the guy is good-ish, very tactically shrewd, gets the best of his players, but …………..
he isnt box office.
the Bada Bing on 27th April 2026 12:09 pm
https://x.com/iRuntheshow1/status/2048485719266504786?s=20
Halliday back left,baseball cap on,if he’s my team mate or I’m paying his wages,I’m having a word
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what word ? should they do the same for walsh over celebrating in the tunnel ? some decorum.
somethiing out of nothing.
poor andy.
Ps – plane sailing P67 ?
PlainWrong CSC
as good as the motherwellfinishing was, , a stat jumped off the page for me,
6 shots in total.
3 goals.
but,…….. only 8 touches in the opposition box.
great result, but the rangers really were shite.
he has their number for sure.
has he got martins ?
I’d have had Askou in after the League Cup final. I find him really impressive. Has improved players individually and collectively, plays an entertaining brand of football and communicates really well. Always enjoy his interviews and how he explains his tactics and adjustments.
We have some very difficult away fixtures on the horizon, but we have shown already this season that we can get points in Italy, Germany and Netherlands.
That should give us confidence for Fir Park and Easter Rd.
In recent games we seem to look vulnerable from the 50th to 75th minute ie after the opposition make some HT tactical changes. We tend to recover, after making substitutions, but only once our subs get up to speed. IMHO a proper HT warm up drill as opposed to playing keepie uppie with their mates would help.
Also, how about using Saracchi in midfield where he could bring energy, tenacity and quality football skills that are sometimes missing?
Last one, Iheanacho.
Decent footballer, but plays for himself.
Quad
What happened to your Bernardo blase Benfican ?
SS- I take it you mean Welsh? He’s celebrating his team winning a game,is that not what you’re meant to do?
I actually thought we started the 2nd half ok, then had a lot of poor decisions go against us then we seemed to fall off for 15 or so until they scored. Of course this might be due to the bus being nearly 3 hours early giving time for food for the kids and a beer or two for me.
Caught most of the motherwell game and their midfield looked class. Anyone know how many players are new to their team this year? Wonder if we should go after their manager if he improved what was there, or their recruitment team… or both.
the Bada Bing on 27th April 2026 12:27 pm
SS- I take it you mean Welsh? He’s celebrating his team winning a game,is that not what you’re meant to do?
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halliday cheered the goal and then sat down, so what is the problem ?
henrik scoring for barca at celtic park vibes.
Saint Stivs
Possession football, maybe, but to me it is much more vertical than Rodgers.
And, realistically, are we likely to get ‘box office ‘?
on radio he doesnt hide his support of 2nd rangers, but he also comes across as very far in analysis and professional in his approach to the game.
ANDY PANDY fair. He said CELTIC supporters were at the halfway line at EYEPOX.
Saint Stivs
Apart from Rodgers..who has been box office in the last 25 years. Dalglish maybe? MON certainly wasnt first time around. Hiddink was the fans choice. Ronnie, Amge ..totally unknown. Strachan nope. Neil…say no more.
Anyone coming in is a huge gamble.
That young ref was really poor yesterday.
Inconsistent application of the rules.
Ps; BSR – poor punktuation my side.
The Huns are definitely still in it although the won’t be if they don’t get three points at Tynecastle- where hearts are unbeaten all season in the league.
Motherwell scored 3 goals off the back of a 0.6 xg. They won’t get that variance again this season.
SS- Stephen Welsh has nothing to do with this…
He celebrated his team winning ,Halliday was gutted
the Bada Bing on 27th April 2026 12:55 pm
SS- Stephen Welsh has nothing to do with this…
He celebrated his team winning ,Halliday was gutted
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and so what
Paul 67,
Its still a a three horse race you say. I think you are correct, but hay we have the most experienced jockey with a winning mentality and one who has been round the stable a few times.
Saddle up, the journey continues.
Thought Falkirk only had a ten or fifteen minute spell where they were on top and ultimately scored a cracker. This was aided by a series of free kicks that went in their favour.
Just my opinion of course. Sometimes when a period of a game is even we feel the opposition are on top .
SS- If you’re happy a paid player not celebrating his team winning, that’s up to you.You mentioned Walsh/Welsh,who did celebrate, and had nothing to do with my point.
Thought our defending at Falkirk goal was poor especially KT shirking away from the shot
bada.
back to welsh.
in a couple of weeks time his current and probably future employer will play Celtic in a match that could give hearts the title if motherwell win.
welsh cant play but will surely be in the motherwell dugout or in the stand.
if motherwell his current team score a winner in the last minute. denying him a league medal and Celtic a trophy what would be the acceptable way for him to acknowledge the result ?
celebrate wildly like he did winning at ibrox or
accept his employer winning with a cheer and then a quiet sit down reflecting the team he supports have lost the league ?
what should he do ?
halliday stood up for the goal . he cheered. and sat back down again.
in all the things i can get annoyed about while supporting celtic his behaviors is not on my list.
if he invaded the pitch and butted paul mcginn i might be a bit annoyed.
enjoy our win. onwards
kt didnt shirk. he was a nano second late. thats it.
fantastic build up and a wonderful strike
Paradoxically we started the game with a more physical approach to our press in their half, got closer to our opponents and tried to tackle the player in possession. The ref gave fouls for pretty much every challenge.
On the wider point every team we play gets the better of our midfield at some point in the match. Some of it self-inflicted, Yang & Scales giving possession away, some of it tactical, and some of it down to the fact our opponents can all play a bit. Fitness wise both Engels & CalMac did well enough, as did KT, and we did not use either Reo or Luke who far as I know are fit enough. As to Falkirk’s goal….we did not defend it at all never mind well….they played out from their own half, broke to yer man McCann wide left to whom nobody got near leaving him to hit the crossfield pass to the advancing Wilson who crashed the ball past Sini. Dont want to see too much of that kind of good defending in the games ahead…
A lot of talk about the Hun on Monday, personally I don’t think the result really matters because any result is good for us. As long, that is, that we do our job on Sunday. Ideally for me a draw hurts both of them so that’s my preference.
The Ralstonator rushed to press, missed and gave away the pitch as a consequence. Falkirk scored in two passes.
It’s something we seem to do deliberately, CalMac particularly, but it only works if you’ve got a defence behind you to cover if you miss the press.
KT pulled up his arms to protect his face and turned away from the shot
Just concentrate fully on beating Hibs. We can think about what’s best for us in the Huns ‘ derby, after that.
If Askou is Celtic manager material on the back of his team finishing 4th in the SPFL, why were we not after Stevie Robinson or Tommy Wright in previous years? They both did better.
I previously said that JBA had not completed a second season with a club, but this is not true.
He took over as manager of Horsens in Denmark in January 2021 but couldn’t prevent them being relegated.
He got them promoted in 2022, and stayed on for the following season. They were relegated again.
Everything else is a single season gig.
Question for those who are proposing him as the next manager of Celtic:
Apart from the respect he is gaining for his work at Motherwell this season – taking them to 4th in the league but doing little in the cups – what is there in Jens Betherl Askou’s career that you think suggests he has the materials and wherewithal to be a success at Celtic?
We did this topic to death last night so apologies for bringing it up again, but some of the stuff I’ve seen, heard and read today is just wrong.
The huns are not out of it if they are beaten by Hertz next week – they would be 7 points behind with 9 points to play for. For sure them winning the league would then be improbable, but it’s not impossible. It is Celtic who would have the opportunity to finish them off by beating them at Celtic Park – they would still be 7 points behind but with only 6 points to play for.
But get this, a draw next week and Hertz beating Motherwell the day before we play the huns would also mean Celtic can finish them off at Celtic Park. It would also mean Celtic are only one point behind Hertz with 2 games left to play.