Celtic: In General
Utrecht, Falkirk and Araujo.
Utrecht(H)
There are loads of little titillating subplots in football. A player’s shot at redemption, a player scoring against his former club and so on. Little entrails of almost fiction intertwined with the stats and facts of results and league position.
Martin O’Neill being the Celtic manager is one. Uber nostalgia, clashing with a parallel universe type scenario. This season has been so surreal that, we’ve never really stopped to wonder. How did that happen? Not once but twice in fact – both spells sandwiching the 33-day tenure of Wilfried Nancy. A spell that thankfully, is hastily sprinting to the borders of my memory.
There will be a lot to unpack at the end of this season. A lot to write about, a lot of it scarcely believable. Has a football book ever received the Booker prize? We’ll get to it all in due time. For the time being, we’re still living out the case.
These subplots are curious little things that capture our interest. They’re sometimes doused in irony as well. It was O’Neill that famously and prophetically quipped about Celtic preparing for “Life in the slow lane”. And well, here we are. Here he is as well. Speaking almost daily, in the cutest, most diplomatic manner possible about the parsimony and paralysis that has coldly put, caused Celtic’s rapid decline in the last 12 months.
More accurately, this is the hard shoulder. Celtic have the money for major repairs needed. They have the Honda civic – sorry. Comparatively – to Hearts and Rangers - they should be tearing up the outside in the Ferrari. Celtic, are looking for a short-term rental.
The subplots don’t stop here. This was O’Neill’s first home game in Europe since 2004. That night in the Champions League, Celtic played out a goalless draw against AC Milan, that probably left us all slightly underwhelmed. How times have changed.
This was Utrect at home in the Europa and it will be lost on no one, that O’Neill has previous in this competition, despite its revamped format. A win would guarantee progress to the knock-out round.
It was over in 19 minutes - we thought. Goals from to Nygren, an O.G and Arne Engels, from the spot blew away, any trepidation there may have been. Utrecht looked amateurish and shell shocked. Their calamitous start gave the evening a vaudeville, comedy like feeling, when it was in fact quite serious. Their fans added to this by joining in the celebrations. Quite bizarre.
The last of the little subplots was the homecoming of Vasillas Barkas. I wondered pre kick off if I ever actually saw him in the flesh. I’m not sure I’d had the pleasure but here he was. In a classic Barkas nature, he did supply us with a touch of calamity, to gift Celtic’s second goal. He does kind of owe us.
All joking aside, him being booed was a bit unnecessary.
Like Barkas, this Celtic team struggle to maintain concentration for a sustained period. There can be a very visible dip at times. A collective loss of focus, allowing fear to permeate. A weird sort of footballing contagion; the sharp intake of breath and sighs from the stands, roll down onto the pitch. Whilst that takes hold in unison, individuals detach themselves from the herd. Passing and shape becomes staccato, rogue.
Our ungainly passing fuelled the Dutch team, who at this point had little to play for and little to worry about. Released by the fact it couldn’t get any worse, things started to get better for Utrecht, who grew tentatively, in confidence and possession. They had rallied admirably and their period of ascendance was bookended by two goals. The second of which, was the type scored by visiting European teams often down the years. A slack pass, a swift breakaway and a cutting finish. A cold concern descended as the hushed euphoria of the away end grew louder.
Disaster hung high on the horizon. For all of 4 minutes.
Their second goal had woken Celtic up and in-turn, seemed to sedate the visitors. Trusty climbed high to reach an Engels corner on the 65th minute. Heading home, dominant and towering, to put the Dutch back to sleep. Qualification secured with time to spare.
The most pleasing aspect at this point was the ability to make five changes in relative comfort. Not rotation but minute management, with an eye on our relentless fixture schedule.
Attention turned to who we would face in the knockouts. Whispering and conjecture turned to factual declaration, only for a late goal to completely change the table.
I must say, the whole evening left me with many questions. Some that there is little answer to maybe. The drama of the pre match music, the flame throwers and the quality of opposition, gave this all a very staged feel. The walk-on was unexpected, unnecessary and filmed en-masse by the Utrecht fans. I couldn’t help but find it all a bit performative, and ultimately indulgent. More to unpack later, I guess.
On Friday, we got the news that it would be VSB Stuttgart in the knockout round. A challenging tie against opposition that we have previous with. O’Neill, Seville etc etc. And on that subplot, we’ll leave it there.
Falkirk(H)
Due to the fraught nature of the title race, performance is not something we can concern ourselves with too much. I can’t do much handwringing with regards to how it’s done, as long as it get’s done. Ends over means and all that.
Falkirk are a nice side to watch. Easy on the eye, wholesome and refreshing, considering their resources. They came away with a fair share of possession. They were only really outdone by two moments of real quality from Celtic. Two moments that arrived, not against the run of play, but somewhat unexpectantly, considering the non-descript nature of the afternoon.
It was not an easy day, nor was it particularly challenging. What is valid to note though, is the sheer volume and intensity of the fixture schedule recently. This was our 4th game in 11 days. Two Europa League fixtures and a trip to Tynecastle had been successfully navigated but the team, the crowd and the club, are suffering. Lacking the energy or the verve, that takes games like this from 2–0 to 4-0.
The first goal was pleasing for a couple of reasons. Shortly before half-time is a very rewarding time to score, almost as if it counts more than just a solitary goal. The nature of the goal and the scorer was even more pleasing. All season; the most glaring deficiency in this Celtic team has been the absence of a striker. Not someone who will link things up, not a target man or a runner in behind. Ideally, someone who can perform in any of these sub-genres but importantly, a does what it says on the tin striker. Someone to apply the finishing touch, even if they only get one touch.
Tomas Cvancara done this on Sunday. Moving towards the front post he produced a deft, glanced header to put Celtic one nil up. It was made to look easy and for extra aesthetic effect it went in off the post, to empathise its accuracy. This coupled with the quality of his assist last week, represents a very promising start for the Czech striker.
The header was made possible thanks to another fantastic delivery from Kieran Tierney. After a laboured start to his second spell at Celtic, the left-back is now starting to look the part. His array of crosses and cutbacks have been a prominent feature of the last 6 weeks. This was his 9th assist of the season to date. It was also his 35th appearance since returning.
The second goal was scored by the decisive and divisive Benjamin Nygren. Last Sunday, it was a free kick at Tynecastle. Midweek it was a two-yard tap in. Against Falkirk, it was a fine interchange of passing, involving him and McGregor, which ended in the Swede lashing a high curling shot inside of the post.
He’s taken on a strange Bete Noir type role for a lot of the support. In fairness though, everything to do with Celtic, is the cause of much angst this season. The specific criticism of the 24-year-old though, is actually quite a general one. Something along the lines of, not doing much other than scoring high quality, telling goals. Not trying to be contrarian but for the time-being, we’ve got other things to worry about.
I’ll whisper this one but a Swedish International at £1.7million – shy of his peak years – who has got 15 goals in total and three assists, is a good win for the club.
He lacks dynamism, athleticism and isn’t the all-action type we would like to see, but the aforementioned moments, added to his finishing and ability to create in in the final 3rd, illustrate the nuance and technique he has in his left foot. Any success we do have, will have him front and centre when then the trophies are handed out.
Maybe wrap the ear-cupping though.
Julian Araujo (22)
As covered earlier, Tomas Cvancara has made an immediate impact since signing on loan. He has my support but our other new loan signing has my affection.
The Mexican right-back Julian Araujo, arrived on the 2nd of January to very little fanfare. His introduction, has been a soft-launch but over the last few games, the difference he is quietly making has been more and more evident.
With all due respect, it would not have been hard to improve this area of this pitch given the inconsistency and rotation witnessed there. Araujo has failed in his career, but failure at Barcelona is not something that can be perceived as too much of a negative, when plying your trade in Scotland.
Strong in the air for his size, quick, combative, with a nice amount of measured aggression, he has proven a lovely fit so far. His game is under pinned by a tight first touch, meaning he buys himself time to pass instead of having to rush a clearance. His passing is snappy and crisp although, we’ve yet to see how expansive he can be in an attacking sense. Most pleasing though, is the timing of his tackling. Whilst it is in his locker to go to ground and empty someone out the park, we have often seen him on his feet, stealing the ball and pressing his opponent back the way.
The 24-year-old has more to offer but is showing himself to be a classy, understated operator to this point. The peroxide hair and his enthusiasm to square up to Hearts players have firmly pushed him into my favourites category.
If and when we win this title, I will be getting his faced tattooed alongside Mark Fotheringham’s.