It’s not just Celtic that are feeling the Kris Commons effect- Derby’s fortunes have nose dived since the midfielder’s £300,000 move north of the border.
Whilst not yet singing ‘I belong to Glasgow’ the 27-year-old will face Rangers for the third time in a month tonight while Nigel Clough battles to save his job at Pride Park.
Last night’s 3-1 home defeat to Doncaster had the Derby fans baying for blood with Clough under pressure to stem the drift towards relegation.
After slipping to 19th place in The Championship Clough publicly criticised his players which is almost the kiss of death for a struggling boss.
He said: “Sometimes we can come and explain what we think. But I think there’s a time for them to explain it. Did they think they did their jobs tonight? Did they think they earned their money?
“I have been criticised for being too honest about their performances. But this probably should come from them.
“The crowd applauded us off after Hull and we lost. They did not do that tonight. To be honest, I thought they should have booed a little bit louder. After the second goal, we visibly crumbled.
“All three goals were disappointing from our point of view. They didn’t have to work too hard for any of them.
“You impress upon them that they can just concentrate on keeping clean sheets, maybe nick a nil-nil. You’d take a point. But I don’t think any of my players can say: “I thought I did okay tonight.”
“I don’t feel let down so much as I feel more for the 24,000 people down. And that’s what hurts me.
Commons month at Celtic has been a whirlwind creating a number of firsts but his debut goals at Hampden, Ibrox and Celtic Park have been overshadowed by an unwelcome first at Motherwell- his first Celtic defeat.
The midfielder has quickly grasped the dynamics of the Celtic-Rangers rivalry and knows that winning tonight is about much more than earning a Scottish Cup quarter final trip to Inverness.
“I’ve been here for a month but it feels as if I’ve been here all season,” he told Channel 67 last night. “I’ve been thrown in at the deep end with so many games.
“I’ve got my third Old Firm game and I’ve not really had time to reflect on what’s actually happening in my life, it’s just been football, football, football. I’ve been living in my hotel and been away in a few hotels with the club,
“We’ll go into this game very confident, the Motherwell game was obviously a blip, that result effected badly one every one of us and we’ll all be fired up and ready.
“We know what’s at stake in the match tonight and owe it to our fans to give them a winning performance.”
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