Bank Of Scotland SPL
Saturday 30th October 2004
Fir Park, Motherwell
Kick Off 3pm
It's not very often we get to play an away game at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. But tomorrow we do that, against Motherwell, at Fir Park. It'll be good to get back to the way it used to be, a traditional kick off time, even if it's only for a week.
Okay so we got beaten by Aberdeen on Wednesday, and yes we were terrible. Watching the highlights on television hit home just how bad we really were. Our defence is in tatters and it has to be sorted out pronto.
But football is a funny old game. On Sunday night, we found ourselves seven points clear in the title race, and we were brought back to Earth with a thud three days later. The gap now stands at four points between us and Rangers. Even so, I'd rather be in our position than theirs.
Many Bhoys have been complaining about the lack of investment in the team during the summer. The way I see it is there's no point in going on about it. The board will not splash millions of pounds on players any time soon, many people have to realise this. For the time being, we have to make do with what we have.
What we have is a thin squad who are picking up an increasing number of injuries. Chris Sutton has been ruled out for a 'few weeks' and will miss important games against Shakhtar and Rangers. This is a massive blow to us all, but we have to live with it and move on. He'll be back soon.
With Sutton out, Henri Camara (if fit) will take his place back up-front. We missed the on-form striker on Wednesday and hopefully he can pick up from where he left off on Sunday.
A man who has alot to prove is Juninho. I say this every week, but I am not impressed. You can give me all the excuses you want about how he is not fully fit and how he has not been given time to adapt to the game or regain his sharpness which he lost in pre-season, but a player like Juninho - a World Cup Winner - should be able to turn it on anytime he walks onto a football pitch. Lubo Moravcik wasn't fully fit when he arrived at Celtic, yet stuck two past Rangers in only his second game.
Juninho's place in the team is seriously at risk after the performance of substitute Aiden McGeady against Aberdeen. Rumour has it that McGeady was hunted by several clubs recently, looking for a loan deal. If Martin O'Neill rates him so highly, he should start playing him. Never mind who is the big name and who is earning the most wages, the player with the best assets to the team should be playing the games. This indicates that McGeady should start tomorrow.
The worrying thing about our defence is that Balde and Varga are not really at risk of losing their place. If we drop one of them, who are we going to bring in? Kennedy and McManus are injured, the only alternative is Big Joos. That is going backwards. The two central defenders need to shape up quickly, or we will continue to lose silly goals. I'm hoping for a good performance from the two of them tomorrow, and as long as they don't try anything fancy I am sure they will be fine.
Motherwell were the visitors on the opening game of the season, which Celtic won easily by two goals to nil. Our last visit to Fir Park was a 1-1 draw, at the tail-end of last season, when the league was already won.
The home side have not won in their last four games, and are going through a bad patch. They are sitting in seventh position in the league but always seem to raise their game when the Old Firm come to Fir Park. Expect niggly kicks and fouls on the park and the usual 'we hate the Old Firm' nonsense off it.
Tickets are still available for the Celtic End, from Celtic Ticket Services, priced £20. If you go up, ask them where my Ibrox ticket is.
Enjoy the game.
Come On The Hoops!
Prediction: Motherwell 1-3 Celtic