Set up to fail by no-spend policy

So the dust has settled on a top-of-the-table encounter that was not so much a disappointment as a confirmation of the worst fears of Celtic supporters.

What have we learned? Nothing.

What have we been forced to confront? That the club's negligence in maintaining an adequate squad (never mind aiming to improve) could better be described as reckless endangerment of our title ambitions.

For 45 minutes, Celtic dominated a Rangers team whose paucity of talent is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that the club and Scotland's top scorer was not allowed a second on the park while Lee “Elbows” McCulloch was invited to start the match and introduce his studs to rib-cages at his whim. Despite this, only one chance was created.

In the second half, the team somehow contrived to allow time on the ball to Barry Ferguson and Pedro Mendes – the only two quality players in blue (and with the greatest respect to Ferguson, time has taken its toll on his limbs). This resulted in Celtic actually managing to be second-best to Rangers after the break.

But here's the rub: Rangers are and were awful, their smothering 4-1-4-1 epitomising the anti-football of the pathologically inferior side. Celtic looked almost embarrassed, like a strapping young man being attacked by a drunk pensioner but constantly slipping on an icy pavement, continually looking round to make sure that no-one was watching.

Is this a team to achieve a treble (yes, Darren and Giorgios, that question is aimed at you)? Not unless all football conventions turn on their heads, Celtic Park is laid with one-way grass and referees like Willie Collum start moving walls away from balls instead of the reverse.

Given recent form and a transfer window that saw Celtic defy the odds and enter February actually relatively weaker than the club that ended 2008, the best we can hope for is a stumbling performance the like of which was last seen when Wim Jansen's side tripped over the line with the least-worst form of the two hamstrung giants.

Our strikers – all three of them – seem to have spent far too much time at the hands of Zero Tolerance, habitually assuming a non-threatening demeanour. Scott McDonald looks like a player who, with a big fat pay check thinks it is appropriate to replace quantity with rare, special quality when it comes to goals.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (much admired on this blog) is demonstrating how injuries to nippy players with a turn of pace over ten yards are as nothing compared to the crocking of one-gear strikers without an accelerator. Jan has been quoted as saying he must end his goal drought, which is tantamount to saying that the banks ought to get their act together.

As for Giorgios Samaras? Well, suffice it to say that his polo neck is hotter than the odds of him upsetting any goalkeepers these days.

On the other hand, we have a glut of talent in midfield – too many to play – amounting to a “too many cooks” scenario that is by no means adapting to squad rotation.

The defence continues to have its wobbles – with personnel still looking uncomfortable with zonal marking every time something unexpected (like a cross or a mis-hit pass) is witnessed.

On this, it is only right to mention Lee Nayor. Lee has suffered from constant demands for a new left-back (hey, his form has led to demands for a new left-back) but on Sunday he performed reasonably well, as he has on several occasions this season. We absolutely need competition in that area but the attempts of our financial decision-makers to smudge over this weakness has exposed poor Lee to the sort of unwarranted intrigue last seen when Saddam Hussein was filmed in his y-fronts.

Lee has not been an especially weak link of late and he hasn't prevented any signings.

But we know the men who have.

All this doom and gloom is a roundabout way of returning to an inescapable point: Celtic are regressing while attempting to keep one notch ahead of parity with a Rangers that is heading down the toilet.

There are easily identifiable people who shoulder the blame for the wreckage of our squad and squandering of our ambitions.

We know who they are and the empirical evidence helps to identify them, despite what their paid apologists claim.

But that is another story...





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Motherwell 1 - 2 Celtic

Celtic’s ugliest three points all season also brought the greatest relief to a side that has now opened a sizeable gap at the top of the table. With Rangers having four games in hand, the Ibrox side remain favourites to win the SPL but Celtic’s eight-point lead must look like a chasm to the chasing side at this stage of the season.

Top-flight football will probably never be played on a worse surface than the disaster that is the Fir Park pitch, but Motherwell adapted their game better in the early stages.

A combination of a packed midfield, tenacious tackling and using an offside trap to limit Celtic’s previous aerial success against the home side, left Celtic struggling for answers as Motherwell won eight first-half corners. Celtic, on the other hand, failed to make any impression in the first period with Aiden McGeady’s threat negated by a combination of an uneven pitch and opponents prepared to double up or even send three players to challenge him.

For Motherwell, Keith Lasley and Darren Smith were especially impressive in a confident, committed and aggressive team display and such little football as there was came from the men in Claret and Amber.

The match came to life in the second half when Chris Porter beat Bobo Balde to a Brian McLean cross to nod home on the hour mark. However, it was Motherwell whose game was more disrupted by the goal and the over-excited players allowed Celtic hitherto unheard of space through the middle allowing Shunsuke Nakamura to find Scott McDonald who headed an immediate equaliser.

With the crucial goal came a sense that the momentum had swung in Celtic’s favour.

Gordon Strachan brought on Scott Brown for Nakamura, whose skills were largely wasted on the bumpy ground and under some rough physical treatment. Giorgious Samaras replaced captain for the day Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who had had little joy with the few high balls that were launched his way and who seems to be penalised every time he tries to challenge for a header.

Samaras’s strength and skill on the ball gave Celtic a greater sense of composure married to the now expected resolute play of Barry Robson as Hartley tidied up when Motherwell pressed forward. Meanwhile McGeady, on the left wing, was benefiting from running on the only decent patch of grass on the field and getting forward more regularly, playing some testing deliveries.

On the other side, Brown’s energy gave Celtic more width and the ability to reach the touchline.

Mark McGhee decided to go for the win, replacing the excellent Smith with Ross McCormack while Strachan responded by replacing Lee Naylor with Mark Wilson.

The breakthrough came from a 79th-minute Robson corner which Samaras duly converted, being the hungriest man for the ball. It is indicative of the team spirit that exists at Celtic that Samaras’s first instinct was to head to the bench and embrace Vennegoor of Hesselink in a display of solidarity.

With the game now far more open, nerves were jangling in the Celtic supporters but another top-drawer performance from Gary Caldwell did much to alleviate the pressure, not just with his defending but through clever forward passes that relocated the play to the Motherwell half.

The home team continued to press, forcing corners and with Stevie Hammill’s shot flashing across goal in the 88th minute, Motherwell could yet have wrecked Celtic’s dreams.

The final whistle was greeted with joy from Celtic fans who were asking for nothing other than a “job done” performance. But, in difficult circumstances, the spirit of the team shone through. Special praise is due to Gordon Strachan who demonstrated all his managerial expertise with his substitutions and transformation of a match when the stakes were at their highest.

Man of the Match: Barry Robson for his insistence on taking charge of the midfield when most needed. Gary Caldwell could make a case for his own bottle of champagne.

Gordon Strachan: the time for change

If there is anything more unedifying than a Celtic defeat it is the sight of Celtic fans who have never taken to Gordon Strachan consoling themselves that every misfortune is another excuse to say “I told you so” and strengthen their calls for his sacking.

However, sometimes criticism is just and the manager must simply learn or fall on his sword.

Celtic’s defeat by Rangers – Strachan’s fourth failure against Walter Smith, setting a record for failing to score in four consecutive matches – has profound implications for the partial remains of the season. Simply put, Celtic must win all remaining games and hope that Rangers’ away form sees them drop silly points, a scenario that seems unlikely.

But Strachan must be accountable for his own actions. It was a brave decision, some would say bordering on foolhardy, to drop top scorer Scott McDonald, favouring Giorgios Samaras. That decision was partially vindicated by the Greek forward’s performance – he looked dangerous throughout the match. There were also good reasons for the selection. McDonald has been a little off the boil lately, both in terms of goals scored and in his generally exceptional ability to hold the ball.

Samaras, performs that function admirably and has the strength, stature and attacking instincts to justify his selection. In picking a front two, Strachan was faced with a choice between the proven partnership (McDonald and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink), the top scorer and all-round forward (McDonald and Samaras) or the two form players (Vennegoor of Hesselink and Samaras).

His choice of the latter pairing was understandable and sensible, presuming that Strachan was as good as his word in saying that he had three excellent forwards he would like to utilise to the full.

In midfield he had one other key decision to make. Shunsuke Nakamura or Barry Robson. Again, the clever variety of passing and dead ball ability of Nakamura made him a reasonable choice over the recent acquisition of Robson. However, for all the ground that Strachan’s computer indicates Nakamura covers, the Japanese international has had an indifferent season and rarely imposes himself on a physical game (though he doesn’t lack courage in getting up after kicks).

In contrast, Robson has a variety of skills, including making aggressive driving runs, the ability to link with others, a strong scoring record and a dead ball ability that is bettered in the SPL only by Nakamura. Robson had one other quality – a sense of injustice that could only have further fuelled his undoubted hunger.

It is wrong to blame the manager for these decisions, using the benefit of hindsight, just as he can make a case for the exclusion of his best central defender, Darren O’Dea.

But where Strachan continues to get it infuriatingly wrong is with his reluctance to make changes at the appropriate time. With his team desperately needing a goal and crying out for a win, the manager waited until 78 minutes to make his first substitution. Yes, some teams have supersubs, but generally players need time to make an impact on the game. If Celtic’s front two had done a decent job of working the Rangers defence, 20-to-30 minutes is the least that a player like McDonald or Robson (who should have replaced Nakamura rather than Hartley) should be afforded to exploit a tired defence.

It is ridiculously precipitous to forecast Strachan’s decline but it has to be said that in his recent contests against Rangers he has evoked memories of a belligerent Martin O’Neill making a tactical genius out of Alex McLeish.

O’Neill learned eventually – but after unneeded damage had been done.