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.
