It’s about time I got a Good win at Celtic Park
Jim Goodwin spent five years as a player at St Mirren trying to get a point at Celtic Park.
So after leaving there with all three yesterday as Buddies gaffer, he wants to savour the club’s first victory at Parkhead in 31 years.
Goodwin reckons Saints are now starting to believe they can finish in the top six.
This win followed a 5-1 thumping of Dundee United at Tannadice in midweek.
He said: “We came here to have a go and we definitely did that, which got us the win.
“Confidence was high after Dundee United.
“I had to make some changes because we had one or two players who were really fatigued on Wednesday night.
“No doubt, one or two people will have been scratching their heads at the starting line-up.
“But I had great faith in us. I believed that if the players bought into the change of system that we could cause Celtic problems. It was clear for everyone to see that we did that.
“I don’t think it was a case of Celtic not being at it. I wouldn’t say they weren’t trying.
“You could see they were desperate to get on the ball and make things happen.
“My players deserve all the credit. Sometimes it’s all about how bad Celtic or Rangers are after these results and the opposition don’t get any credit. But I hope my players get it today.
“Their work rate and effort was unbelievable and we played some really good football, especially in the first half. It’s our first win here in 31 years. I came here for five years as a player with St Mirren and I don’t think I took a point.
“Now I’ve got all three so we’ll enjoy this result.
“It’s difficult to get those types of performances every week. We’re a team that is trying to build something so it’s never going to be perfect all the time.
“We’ll have ups and downs but the lads are buying into what we’re trying to do.
“And they’re now starting to believe that they’re capable of it, in terms of that top-half league finish.
“We’re there to be shot at it with bold statements like that.
“But I want us to be ambitious and for everyone to really believe we can do it.
“With performances like this one, you can see it. But we have eight games next month and a lot of things can still happen.
“We can either kick on and climb the table or get nasty defeats and slide the wrong way.
“So we’ll keep our feet on the ground and remember why we’re getting these results.”
Kristian Dennis, who got the Buddies’ opener, said: “We didn’t come here fearing Celtic.
“They’re not in the best situation at the minute so we came here looking to get a result and it’s great that we managed to do that.
“We just saw today as a free hit as nobody expected us to get a point let alone three. All the lads are buzzing.”