After the misery of the post-Tannadice week it was a great bonus to go into today’s match on the back of Rangers losing to ten man Aberdeen.
The Celtic performance was again patchy but did have it’s highlights, which mainly centred around the contribution of Aiden McGeady.
Playing on the right this week McGeady never shied away from the ball although he was hardly swamped with options when he won possession.
The third goal was scored by Scott McDonald but was made by McGeady’s driving run down the right and forceful cross which was met perfectly by McDonald to shake off any notions of a St Mirren comeback.
McDonald should have made it four with a late penalty but didn’t seem too downbeat afterwards as he discussed the match although missing a penalty did take the shine off his day.
Talk of rifts, fall-outs and a lack of unity behind the scenes seemed unlikely as McDonald openly discussed the match and the current form of both Celtic and Rangers.
Drinking from the half-full glass he was relieved that despite the troubled start to the season Celtic were sitting at the top of the table.
The striker said: “Consistency is the key in this league. There is none of that going on.
“Ourselves and Rangers keeping giving each other a lifeline. It’s us one week and them the next. One club is in turmoil one week and then it is the other.
“If we had had a good run in the league then by now we would be away from the rest.”
Building on today’s win and putting together a consistent winning run is the target now for Celtic if they are to progress, take control in the title race and help to build confidence amongst players who have taken a verbal and on-line kicking in recent months.
The first half hour was nervy and a patchy showing from a team short on confidence in front of supporters understandably short on patience.
There were periods when the discontent from the stands could be felt as passes went astray and players aimlessly passed the ball around the back without any real purpose or intent.
Two great moves in the period before half-time allowed McDonald, assisted by Chris Innes, and Georgios Samaras to put Celtic ahead but the relief of those goals was almost wiped out by a goal from Michael Higdon which wouldn’t have done much for the half time team-talk.
Celtic started the second-half confidently with the third goal giving them some breathing space and allowing Marco Fortune to come off the bench for Samaras.
Some of the football played was impressive, McGeady and Andreas Hinkel linked well down the right, while McDonald worked hard without any luck and Fortune looked lively and keen to get involved.
The £2.5-3.8m striker did have his chances but failed to find the net with two decent chances, one skied over the bar and the other an angled shot that flew across goal and wide of the post.
Danny Fox had a great shot blocked by St Mirren ‘keeper Paul Gallacher who then blocked a poor McDonald penalty and the rebound to keep the score respectable.
There will be a feeling of relief amongst the players about today’s win, coupled with Rangers defeat it should give the whole club an easier time of it in the week ahead.
Beating Hapoel Tel Aviv on Wednesday is unlikely to retain the teams interest in the Europa League but it will bring a little bit of momentum which hopefully can be carried into the Aberdeen match next Saturday.
McDonald’s post-match demeanour would suggest that behind the scenes things aren’t anywhere near as troubled as some folk would suggest.
Two more wins over the next week and we might start looking forward to the matches again and go into the away games at Motherwell and Hearts with some confidence.
