Neil Lennon has described Celtic’s performance against St Johnstone as all fur coat and no underwear.
It was certainly a new cliche in the world of manager-speak but a sentiment that the watching Celtic support could instantly agree with.
For 70 minutes the display could kindly be described as laboured but with five substitutes on the park things started to change.
Describing the turnaround in the match, The Herald reported Lennon saying:
I’m delighted to win the game. We deserved it but I wasn’t happy with the first half. It was all fur coat and no underwear really.
We lacked any sort of aggression in our play. Second half was a lot better. We had to wait and be patient. I thought we made the subs at the right time and they made a good impact.
Leigh Griffiths and Patryk Klimala supplied goals after the 89th minute with fellow substitutes Scott Brown, Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie also making an impact.
After a second midweek trip deep into Europe there was a clear hangover in the way Celtic played against a team that set out to defend in depth.
Last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Hibs was a beacon alongside wins over Riga, Sarajevo and St Johnstone that were difficult to watch with the hoops toiling against unambitious opponents
