Premier League Sunday 18th December 2005

Inverness CT 1

Celtic 1

1:0 Dargo 1
1:1 Hartson 21

Att: 7,382

MIB: Stuart Dougal

Celtic: Boruc Telfer Balde McManus Wallace Petrov Lennon Nakamura McGeady Maloney Hartson.
subs
Sutton for McGeady 72

A day for the hardiest in teuchter land and with Rangers doing us a favour by beating Rangers Lite it was a chance to go six clear at the top of the SPL.

With a team unchanged from the Hibs match it looked a certainty that the craft and guile of the Hoops would be too much for ICT. Instead, all the skilful flicks and big city trickery of the fancy dans frae doon south were nullified by the sweat and snotters of the hairy-arsed Highlanders.

Which is a bit unfair on Caley. They played out of their skins and but for a couple of saves from Boruc could easily have won all three points. From a Celtic supporter's point of view, though, it wasn't good to watch. I've been impressed with Gordon Strachan's analyses of matches so far. He tends to point out flaws that most fans would agree with, so he'll have plenty of food for thought after this one. It wasn't a vintage performance from the midfield, as witnessed by the number of crosses and shots Caley were able to get in, but my main concerns surround the defence at the moment.

Ross Wallace can occasionally turn a trick and get a good ball into the box when going forward - Celtic's goal came from a nice Wallace trick followed by a fine cross to Hartson - but he sure ain't no Tommy Gemmell when the other team have possession. The number of times WGS was ranting at him from the touchline would suggest that a player for this position should be a priority in January, especially now that Camara seems to have fallen out of favour, although quite why remains a mystery as his recent performances haven't been any worse than they were at the beginning of the season.

Stephen McManus had a 'mare. More worrying when you consider that he was up against Craig Brewster, not exactly one of the SPL's spring chickens. His central partner Bobo Balde did little to calm my nerves either. The phrase 'second touch is a tackle' could almost have been written for him today. Maybe the timing of Bobo's trip to the African Nations finals is no bad thing. Get Du Wei in there sooner rather than later and if the big lad's any way worth his salt he has a great opportunity to play himself in for an extended run in the team. Telfer gave the ball away too often and far too cheaply, so overall it was a vintage day for Sievewatchers.

Petrov had another pretty ineffectual afternoon, although it must be said that he did look as if he was carrying an injury for most of the game, while Lennon looked out of sorts as well. With Maloney, Wallace, McGeady and Nakamura left to tough it out against a fully committed and thoroughly robust Caley midfield it was always going to be a hard afternoon. Anyone who wants to debate whether Roy Keane should walk into this Celtic side should maybe watch a replay of this match.

I can think of several players who might be thinking twice before counting on their appearance money after this showing. It didn't help going a goal behind after less than a minute either thanks to a carbon copy of Caley's goal at Celtic Park earlier in the season, complete with merry Christmas defending. And with Stuart Dougal around there was always going to be a talking point or two. Having booked McManus for a foul early in the game Dougal then failed to show him the red card when he awarded Caley a penalty at the end of the first half. Perhaps he was embarrassed at actually giving the award in the first place for a dive that Peter Lovenkrands would have been proud of. WGS was also doing his nut at the fourth official who threatened to send him to the stand for putting his head in his hands. When Strachan questioned if this was legal the official denied having said it! Is it only here??

To finish on a positive note, at least we played badly and avoided defeat and at the end of the weekend the lead at the top was extended to four points.