24/02/2025

European hangover.

Hibs(A)

Sluggish, shaky, tired and mentally elsewhere, Celtic suffered their first European hangover of the season yesterday. It was a bad one

Softened after Tuesday night’s exploits in Munich, Celtic were poor at Easter Road, unable to cope with the physicality of Hibs but also incapable of matching their urgency.

Mentally, still in Germany – where he played superbly - Trusty managed to read, both the situation and room wrong, charging out impetuously, in the 3rd minute and leaving a gaping hole in central defence.  Wide open in midfield, the through ball and subsequent finish by Josh Campbell was bizarre, in it’s ease and lack of opposition. Hibs smelled blood, emboldened, they continued to test Celtic’s hesitant backline. It got worse.

It’s not often we go two goals behind in Scotland but that was the case right before halftime. With all the time in the world to pick out a cross from the left, Martin Boyle found Josh Campbell, who headed neatly inside the post. Trusty had went rogue again, this time breaking the defensive line and playing Campbell onside. Two goals book-ending what was pound for pound, Celtic’s worst half of the season domestically.

On the ball, it had looked sedated. Sloppy, second-guessed and overly reliant on Kuhn, nothing happened. If it did, it was abruptly ended by Idah or Kuhn being offside. First touches bounced and passes lacked zip. Something had to change.

Has Rodgers ever made three changes at half-time before? He did here. It seemed dramatic but illustrates how poor the first half was. Idah, Taylor and McCowan all hooked, Schlupp, Jota and Hatate introduced.

Out of necessity, it got better. Maeda grabbed one back after a period of control from Celtic. Jota and Schlupp provided far more of a threat on the left and the Portuguese winger did come away with, an almost incredible moment. After carrying the ball 50 yards, he finally got free near the byline, he looked certain to cut the ball back but instead, threw a dummy to the keeper before seeing his shot blocked on the line.  He probably should have squared it but what a goal it would have been.

Then came the goal that never was. There are no conclusive pictures but in all fairness, it looked well out. The over-played ball from Engels, a perfect example of Celtic’s performance.

Hibs done well to kill the clock from this point, they were spent but Celtic were subdued and unable to muster another level. So often you would back the team to go on and score late but the kitchen sink never arrived. No further subs did either. After such exertion on Tuesday night – where we only made two – Rodgers chose not to bring on substitutes when chasing the game.

Aberdeen(H)

Due to other results Celtic’s lead at the top of the table, remained intact – a goal better off in fact - and next up on Tuesday night, it’s Aberdeen at Parkhead.

A chance to get back to winning ways. 3 points here would mean Celtic, going into the last 10 league fixtures, 13 points and 30 plus goals to the good. An unassailable lead.

 

This game brings to an end an arduous 11 weeks in which Celtic have played 25 times. Currently, we have no scheduled midweek fixtures until the split and at most, will have 13 games to play – assuming we go to the Cup final on May 24th – in 12 weeks. A far more manageable workload

Schlupp.

Jeffrey Schlupp could be a smart addition to the squad. The 32-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has already shown his worth.

His performance vs Michael Olise last week was very impressive and despite his age, he is still extremely athletic. Experienced, technical and able to play in a few different roles, you would like to think there’s a good chance, the club will offer him a deal.