Yesterday’s win over Motherwell came 29 days after the defeat in Gibraltar but for all intents and purposes there was a lifetime between the performances. Celtic have been transformed in that time. It’s still early days but you can see the week-on-week improvement in Celtic.
We look like a proper team, one which will be difficult to play against and will carry a threat. Although we went home raving about the flowing, attacking, football, Celtic were patient early in the game; it took them 11 minutes to craft a chance. I think this is going to be a feature of our play this season. Getting our systems organised and feeling our way into games before stretching opponents.
Scott Sinclair probably did more last night than on his marquee performance at Tynecastle to show what he will bring to the team. He often played between the forward and midfield lines and always had an eye open for the defence-splitting pass.
It was another solid performance from Moussa Dembele, who looks increasingly comfortable in a Celtic shirt. Goals help, of course. Top performer was Tom Rogic. Twice he scored by perfectly timing a run into the box, the first of which was an exquisite piece of work between Rogic and Callum McGregor.
You will have again noticed Rogic’s fondness for ‘having a pop’. He’d developing that antenna for goal which we like so much in Kris Commons, a good number of Motherwell keeper Craig Samson’s saves came from the Aussie.
In the next round it’s ‘Same old Alloa……..’ This game comes in the midweek between the first and second European group stage games, so a home tie against lower league opponents will probably be a welcome change of pace for Brendan and the players. And us.
The Road to Lisbon
As many of your know, our own Mouldy67 will undertake an enormous effort in May to commemorate the 50th anniversary of something or other. He and others will cycle from Celtic Park to the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon to raise funds for the Celtic Foundation.
They will leave Celtic Park on 6 May 2017 (50 years to the day since we won the league across the city), arriving at Estadio Nacional on 25 May, the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions becoming the first team to break the Spain-Italy-Portugal stranglehold on the European Cup.
This is a stunning project. At the moment, opportunities exist for you to join Mouldy and the others in the cycle, you can also become a project sponsor, or simply donate to the fundraising effort. For more information, visit theroadtolisbon.com