Strachan: Celtic failed to achieve standard worthy of the name

Last updated : 08 February 2009 By Mikbhoy

Celtic limped painfully into the last eight of the Homecoming Scottish Cup after an insipid display gave them a narrow 2-1 victory over Queen's Park at Celtic Park. First-half goals from Gary Caldwell and Scott McDonald looked to have wrapped the tie up early but substitute Adam Coakley's 65th-minute strike for Queens was a cue for grumbling within the discontented home crowd.

Gordon Strachan claimed that his side's lacklustre showing in the cup tie against Queens Park was not worthy of a Celtic team. The scrappy 2-1 win over the minnows which saw the Bhoys progress to the quarter-final of the competition left the Celtic boss unhappy and he intimated that previous wearers of the famous hooped jersey would have been ashamed of the performance put in by his men. Strachan conceded there was a problem but he insisted that it had nothing to do with the widely reported spat between two of his top players "That has been sorted out. I have spoken to the players and it's finished." he said.

"As for the game, it wasn't very good." he continued "You hope that you set standards over a few years and the teams before us set standards and you try and emulate them and get better. The guys who played here previously would not have been proud of that display and it's not a good standard to set for anyone who comes after us. We are not proud of it. Most of the praise has to go to Queen's Park. We had one or two bonuses like Darren O'Dea coming back and I'm glad Paul Hartley was in midfield. But after that you are scratching your head to find anyone who comes close to the standards we set."