SHADOW SQUAD
Bren faces his toughest test to revive team that’s become unrecognisable
RUGBY PARK was united in tribute to Tommy Burns and it was fitting the punters witnessed an afternoon packed with twists and turns.
First, the facts. Kilmarnock came from behind to silence Celtic. Stuart Findlay steered a header into the far corner with the last touch of the ball after Chris Burke had cancelled out Leigh Griffiths’s first-half opener.
Steve Clarke’s side made it two wins on the spin against Celts in Ayrshire and four unbeaten going back to last season.
But there are even more worrying facts for Celtic and their manager. The worst league start since Dr Jo Venglos was in charge in 1998. Eight points spilled in just six games.
To put it in context, Brendan Rodgers’s side dropped just eight points in the entire Invincible campaign.
The Parkhead club are twisting right now and from being an unstoppable force they have turned into a stumbling shadow of their former selves.
This was no one-off dud display from the champions. It’s becoming increasingly more like the norm.
Just as Rodgers did when his side lost at Tynecastle, he made a raft of changes and the replacements were not up to the job.
That only three of them were his signings yet again highlighted the recruitment process of the last 18 months.
Killie boss Clarke has the hoodoo over the Hoops but it’s not just the Rugby Park side who are giving Celtic grief these days.
In fairness the Ayrshire outfit superbly refused to bow to reputation and went after the visitors right from the off. They went behind but never lost heart. Burke brilliantly levelled and then fired over the corner for Findlay’s last-gasp winner.
And it piled the problems on to Celtic in the process, leaving Rodgers facing the toughest test of his time in Glasgow.
The Hoops made six changes with Ryan Christie, Youssouf Mulumbu, Mikey Johnston, Scott Sinclair and Griffiths coming in but the original plan was only for five.
Jack Hendry was quickly conscripted when Filip Benkovic broke down in the warm-up – or perhaps took one look at the surface and called a taxi. New faces but same old story.
It was just as well the new-look Celtic side had names on the back of their jerseys though as they started like they’d just been introduced at an afternoon of speed dating.
There was a whiff of disorganisation and Kilmarnock filled their nostrils. The early howls for Dedryck Boyata to be sent off were ignored by Craig Thomson though.
The whistler was probably right. The Belgian hauled back Jordan Jones but it was a bit of a stretch to suggest it was a clear goalscoring opportunity when he was 30 yards from goal and had a fair few luminous yellow shirts around him.
But hang on a second. It was Thomson who gave Mikey Devlin an early crack at the team bath – funnily enough against Killie – a few weeks ago for something not too dissimilar. At least the inconsistency is consistent.
Eamonn Brophy’s free-kick sailed over but Celtic sailed close to the wind soon after when Aaron Tshibola’s header from Greg Stewart’s corner was pawed out by Craig Gordon.
There was an autumnal nip in the air and it certainly took Celtic a while to warm up.
They forced a couple of corners and had a cry for a penalty ignored after Boyata was wrestled to the ground by Kirk Broadfoot.
It wasn’t the first or last time Killie’s former Rangers man was embroiled in some meaty encounters.
The skipper cemented Christie before the pair ended up grappling on the ground midway through the
first half, while Griffiths forced Jamie MacDonald to scoop away his bouncing bomb from the resulting free-kick.
That was Celtic’s first real effort on goal.
Killie were keen not to allow them to make a habit of it though and Scotland international Stephen O’Donnell carved open the defending champions down the right to tee up Jones but his header under pressure drifted wide.
Everything was going swell for the Ayrshiremen until a Kieran Tierney cross left them upside down and a goal behind 10 minutes before the break.
Kilmarnock captain Broadfoot had a swing and a miss, team-mate Greg Taylor’s wild slash then spun back off his own post and Griffiths reacted quickest as he hurled himself in where it hurts to head home the opener from close range.
The goal energised Rodgers’s Celtic. MacDonald’s stunning Gordon Banks impression stopped Boyata making it two and Griffiths almost sneaked in the back door to meet another Tierney assist.
There might have been unity from the four stands when they stood to salute Burns in 51 minutes but on the pitch the bad blood continued to simmer.
It boiled over soon after as Mulumbu clashed with Tshibola – and Celtic’s former Kilmarnock midfielder was perhaps lucky to escape with just a yellow card from Thomson after losing the rag.
He survived – but Celtic’s lead didn’t.
The congested midfield battleground all of a sudden became a wasteland, Burke was allowed to roam free before letting fly from 25 yards to send the ball creeping into Gordon’s bottom-right corner. Celtic were stunned but almost hit back. MacDonald shoved Christie’s drive wide and sub Lewis Morgan dragged a side-footed effort just past the post. But it was Killie who produced the final twist. Burke whipped in the corner and ex- Celtic youth Findlay – who was struggling with injury all week – became the hero. It’s Rodgers who now needs to turn the Hoops around.