Bhoys keep winning, squad keeps thinning
Last updated : 09 November 2008 By Mikbhoy
Gordon Strachan was happy with the 2-0 win over Motherwell at Celtic Park which saw his team go five points clear of Rangers who play at Kilmarnock today. He's not so pleased with an injury list that grows ever longer by the day.
Georgios Samaras, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Marc Crosas, Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe, Chris Killen, Glenn Loovens, Aiden McGeady, and Artur Boruc were joined by Shunsuke Nakamura, who was sent for a scan on his knee injury, and youngster Paul McGowan. Then things got even worse when Shaun Maloney hobbled off early in the second half of yesterday's game giving the manager a full team in the treatment room.
"Shaun had a dead leg." said Strachan "We tried to keep him jogging about at half-time but he couldn't get going in the second half. Nakamura injured himself on Thursday. He wanted to give it a go on Friday at training but the doctor sent him away for a scan and it's not good news. It's his knee and he will be missing for a couple of weeks."
"Young Gowser (McGowan) was going to be substitute today but he had a problem and he couldn't make it." lamented the manager "We are up to a full team of injuries now but the rest of us will just get on with it. It's not easy but they are sticking to their job and doing well. I was very pleased with them because it was a hard game and we'll go again against Kilmarnock on Wednesday with the same guys."
The Celtic Park crowd were pleased to see the introduction of Koki Mizuno albeit it was a very brief appearance. The manager was also happy with what he saw from the young Japanese player "He did well when he came on and he really enjoyed it," he said "He got the crowd going with his energy and movement so we were pleased with him. He worked hard that's what we've seen from him in the last couple of weeks in the reserves and again against Motherwell so it was a good bonus for us."
Mizuno wasn't the only player who showed energy and the boss was pleased with the teams commitment "We had plenty of energy but Motherwell were very good and the crowd and ourselves were mentally tired from Wednesday. We did well for the last 25 minutes of the first half and I was pleased with that, I'd have been happy with nil-nil at the break because I didn't want to give them a goal and make our crowd anxious. So to get the goal was a real bonus."
"It was a terrific performance." continued the manager "We knew it was going to be hard. Motherwell started well in the first 20 minutes and then we got our second wind and so did the crowd. When you've got 10 players missing, it's a lot to handle. The lads had to get on with it."
"Paul Hartley was good and even in the sticky first 20 minutes I thought he was the best player on the pitch for us in terms of energy and understanding. The longer the game went on, the better he became. When the second goal went in, I could just see the players going, 'thank goodness'."
Paul Hartley was delighted with his goal, his first in front of the home crowd since signing from Hearts, and he thought the team had answered the questions that had been asked about their fitness "Some people have a lot to say about our fitness but we showed how fit we are against Motherwell. I was fine at the end of the game. People talk about being tired but we are only into November, we will see if we are tired in April."
