Yes, it was slower and I wonder whether other matches were slower too this weekend? If so, is this an effect of the silly crowd limitations? And yes, despite the fact St Johnstone sat deep, Celtic looked likely to score a bundle, so maybe the formation tweak helped. No doubt Ange will consider that formation again against anti-football duffers. 

The game felt a lot slower than usual. There was a period of about 20-30 minutes that St Johnstone tried to make a game of it but apart from that it seemed like a casual kick about at the local park for Celtic. It should have been a lot harder with all those key players out.

Having said that, I wonder if Ange has found the solution to the low block being used by sides in Scotland or if he was forced into playing the 1-3-5-2. It seemed to work very well, especially because Juranovic and Scales didn't have to transition too much.

So how did that work out ? The hammer thrower couldn’t get near wee Alfie. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡🤡🤡

I managed to stay up and watch the whole match against St Johnstone last night, a solid effort for an old bloke to make it until after 1am, but that’s the beauty of being on holidays. My wife had to get up early and walk the dog while I slept in and I’ll pay for that later! Meanwhile, I enjoyed the game. The pitch was an absolute cow paddock, and clearly Perth, Scotland is very different to Perth, Australia. I don’t believe all teams should strive to play possession football, but St Johnstone seem to hate the ball itself and have no interest in hanging onto it anywhere on the pitch, at any time. Anti-football at its purest. So for Celtic to play some decent football with an injury (and maybe Covid) depleted side was impressive. No CalMac, Hart, Bain, Turnbull, Jota, Forrest, Johnston, Taylor, Giokoumanis, Ralston etc etc, and Kyogo going off early in the first half, all presented a challenge. But those out there, including the debutant 18 year old striker Dawson, played the same way and did well. Ange’s system seems to be embedding slowly. Bitton and Rogic were very good and Bitton dribbled into the spaces left in front of him from a deep defence quite well - a bit loose with his passes at times but a good game overall and a good captain’s game in the absence of CalMac. I think McArthy played well too, so these three experienced midfiedeo held together an inexperienced and young side well. Starfelt gets smashed on Celtic forums and while some of it is unfair he does seem to switch off at times - Julien can’t come back quickly enough. Hopefully Celtic get the the three Japanese that have been mooted and at least one more central defender and a decent reserve goalkeeper as well in this upcoming transfer window. They need these five players at a minimum. I still think Rangers have the inside running  for this season but if Celtic give Ange a contract extension he is laying the platform for a very strong challenge for successive seasons after that. I can actually see he is building a side which could make a run deep into the Champions League in two years from now - big call, but there’s room to do it and sides outside of England, Italy, Spain and Germany have done it before.

The short answer is I don’t just love football, I love the intersection of football with politics, history, sociology, philosophy, economics etc. There are some great books on this, such as ‘Football Against the Enemy’. I also love the tactics of football and the game’s tactical evolution, again marked by a good book called ‘Inverting the Pyramid’. And then there’s the tribalism of football, at club and country level, and recently I have read a book focussing on the Celtic and Rangers rivalry, called ‘Inside the divide’. This thread captures al these things, not particularly eloquently but it is raw and passionate and I have learned a lot from it.

Some Huns do display it at times eg Morelos v Antwerp earlier in the year. Who knows. Sutherland Teddy Bear may have some hidden away somewhere.

Care to expand??

🤔 Interesting....

Sportsmanship!

I love this thread!

If the roles were reversed, i guarantee you that we would be playing on the 29th and the 2nd. No one ever backs Rangers until the horse has bolted.

No doubt that this played a major role in the decision. That said, I believe the Governments ruling to only allow 500 fans to attend was a bigger factor. 

If the roles were reversed, I would expect (and complain) that your lot would do something similar. 

It also needs to be noted it wasn't just us, but the major majority who were asking for the winter break to be moved forward. Again, only being allowed 500 fans to attend would have been the major reason behind their decisions. 

Why would he??
I didn't when we only managed to get the draw with them. I was fed up, critical and angry at our lot for failing to take all the points from the  St. Mirren game.

I expect it would be something similar with most of the other lot if they fail to take maximum points.

All the best to you too.

I am looking forward to seeing Shaugnessy kick the crap out of Morelos on Sunday.

The Mhanky mob in Glasgow are your crash barriers. How little you know Timothy.
No nerve struck at all, just wishing you the best of the festive season !

Ah Billy Boy, struck a nerve huh. Keep on following your Manky Mob.

Away and fuck yersel ya soapdodging prick. 

Typical response from a one eyed foul mouth George Square Bear.

Why the fuck would I ? 

Will you say well done to the Buddies in the unlikely event they do the same to you on Boxing day?

You lot pushed for this because of your injuries. Shitebags the lot of them.
Edit : Well done to the St Mirren under 18's.

If the Africa Cup of Nations goes ahead they’ll lose some decent players too, I guess. 

I take that back.... It falls during an International window 🤬

First time in a while that I'm glad the Glasgow Derby has been pushed back a month.

Unfortunate result that. Keep on going. 

SHITE!!! That said, the result has been along time coming 😟😠

We better find a winner in these last few minutes 😖😤

It seems that the winter break will be starting earlier than expected this season with the Boxing Day matches the last before the break. So Celtic vs the Huns now been pushed back a month.

Can someone post a pic of a fist holding a bunch of plastic straws please? hahahahahahahah

Ill keep that in mind if I ever visit, meanwhile there is plenty of soccer in Australia :P hahahah