CELTS ARE REAL DEAL
CELTIC ........... 2 ROSS COUNTY ........... 0
FAKE crowd noise filled the air being channelled out through the PA system. There was also the rather strange sight of a sociallydistanced huddle prior to kick-off.
But Celtic’s sharpness and hunger remains authentic.
And if Neil Lennon wanted comfort in the fact his team can play with intensity out of possession and at a decent tempo in attack in front of empty seats when the real stuff starts against Hamilton on Sunday, he got that signal.
Of course pre-season friendlies often reveal little about how things will turn out over the course of a competitive campaign.
But if the 50,000 fans tuned in at home could take anything from what they saw, it’s that their team can operate with typical thrust, energy and application when they can’t be there to back them.
It wasn’t so much the new normal as just normal for a game at Celtic
Park. Domination of possession, game control and, most importantly, players showing themselves to be in form. They were the usual suspects. Callum McGregor ran affairs, James Forrest and Jeremie Frimpong worked well down the right, Scott Brown strolled and Mohamed Elyounoussi made it on to the scoresheet again.
Lennon will be disappointed at the one he hasn’t got from Southampton in Fraser Forster but the Norwegian may just provide 10-in-a-row impetus from England’s south coast in his own right.
Elyounoussi’s strike on top of a Coll Donaldson own goal inside the first 15 minutes was the full extent of the scoring. But, for Celtic, it wasn’t really about the eventual totals. It was about returning home and being able to handle an empty.
And the signs were largely positive. A short injury scare over Greg Taylor apart, it went smoothly enough for Lennon.
Most of his big-name players got a full 90 minutes and the remainder will get their chance today against Hibs.
Given the clash against Jack Ross’ men there was some conjecture over the strength of the side Lennon would send out against County.
But it looked, barring new arrivals, pretty close to the one that may tackle the Premiership curtain-raiser.
It was also back to the 4-2-3-1 system deployed so successfully for the opening half of last campaign. With Leigh Griffiths’ recent lack of condition taking a 3-5-2 off the manager’s table, it will likely be this set-up for Accies. That is unless the Scotland star’s renewed fitness work pays off rapidly in the next six days, the boss signs a striker or fancies Patryk Klimala to partner Odsonne Edouard.
CRAIG SWAN AT CELTIC PARK
County shuffled their pack, having faced Livingston the previous afternoon, and manager Stuart Kettlewell got more valuable game time into other legs as his players build up for their opener against Motherwell a week tonight.
It wouldn’t have been much fun chasing bodies around but they won’t face players of this quality every week and the gaffer will see the benefits.
Their keeper, named on the teamsheet