Celtic's perfect week: The good, the bad and the Sebo

THE GOOD

Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon, take a bow. Tremendous stuff!! He is really coming into his own this season. You can see he has matured as a manager and now he is showing he has a bit of tactical nous as well.

As soon as Spartak lost a man, he smelt blood and went for the jugular by introducing Forrest. This got us to 2-2 and a lot of managers might have shut up shop but we had them on the ropes and they were lying deep, so he brought a fresh set of legs into the centre mid and kept at them until we got a deserved winner. This game will long live in the memory of Celtic fans and for that we thank you Neil!! YNWA

Champions League Group Away Win
Martin O’Neill had 9 away games and no wins. Gordon Strachan had 11 away games and no wins. Neil Lennon has achieved it in his first. There is now a bit of belief about the squad, you could see it in the way they played in the second half.

We have the makings of a decent team on a small percentage of the budget Neil’s predecessors had and with this monkey off our back, who knows what could happen. This now makes it 5 away games in Europe without defeat, stretching back to last season. Are we not supposed to be woeful away from home?

Georgios Samaras
What a hugely importantly player Sammy is turning out to be. Again a bit of credit has to go to Lennon for sticking with him when pretty much every Celtic fan, myself included, wanted him nowhere near the team. I seriously think if he did not have that outstanding game against Rangers he would not be in hoops right now. He has improved in every facet of his game. Forster aims for him with kickouts and he wins 90% of them because he has learned to use height to his advantage. He has also improved his decision making, passing, assists and goals. Most importantly though is that he seems to have established himself as a “Big Game” player. When we need him now he steps up and delivers, 3 goals and 3 assists in Europe is a absolutely fantastic turnaround. 

Mikael Lustig
He was my MOTM against Spartak and received a huge honour of being selected it the goal.com European team of the week. It has taken him a while to get to match sharpness but now he is looking very assured at right back. Strong in the air and a good passer, you can see why he is the Swedish International right back. I think Lustig is going to turn into another outstanding find for our scouting network. What is more amazing for us is that I still rate Adam Matthews ahead of him, though the gap between them is getting closer. 

Fraser Forster
Congratulations to the big lad in getting his first international call up. He put his faith in us that we could give him a platform to showcase his talent by qualifying for the Champions League. We did that and now his form has gotten him the recognition he deserves. Fair play to Roy Hodgson for giving him a chance and selecting a player from a league that is often overlooked for English internationals. Gary Hooper should take heart from this and know that someone down south has been watching recently and i’m sure they will have noticed him as well. Good luck to Fraser, i’m sure he will do us and our league proud if called upon.

Goals Conceded
We played brilliantly against Spartak all game. Limited them to pot shots and half chances. Big Fraser only had to save the free kick on the half hour mark. Yet twice we switched off and twice we were punished. That is what happens at this level. You cannot afford to have lapses in concentration. You must remain focused for the full 90 minutes. The good thing is they did not cost us in the end and they are mental errors due to inexperience. We can learn from these mistakes. It would have been much worse if someone was outmuscled or straight up burned for pace, you cannot teach someone to be stronger or faster, you can teach them to pay attention and become more aware. 

Attendance
This is something I have been keeping an eye on for years, but the crowds are dwindling at Celtic Park for SPL games. After yesterdays game with Hearts we have an average of 45345. This is down almost 5500 per game on last season’s SPL average of 50904. Over 4 games that amounts to 22000 fans missing. What is more concerning is that the game against Hearts, who over the last two years generated the biggest attendances behind Rangers saw a drop of 5300 alone. This is the team that should be the new number one in attendance figures for us yet we don’t show up. Now all of our home games came after a midweek European game. We can make excuses for the first 3 SPL games due to the fact we played a big game at home a few days earlier, but there are no excuses for this game. We should have been buzzing after Moscow and playing against the Diet/Mini buns should have had us out in droves. I was under the impression we wanted Rangers out of the SPL and if they were not kicked out we would boycott. I doubt the boycott would have affected attendances much worse than they are now. What happened to faithful through and through?

THE UGLY
Nothing to report here, 4 points from 2 Champions League games and top of the league, great week to be a Celt!!!

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