ANGE’S BHOYS ARE SHAKEN BY SAINTS
Selection gamble by Aussie boss backfires as super Saints bring a halt to unbeaten run
AYEAR after they lost their last game in the Premiership, Celtic will spend this morning reacquainting themselves with the bitter regrets of defeat.
A 1-0 loss to Livingston on September 19 last year triggered a 38-game unbeaten run in the league and, after a blistering start to the season, it’s hard to believe they will turn in another performance as woeful as this any time soon.
A weekend which began with talk of a potential Rangers crisis turned to discussion of an Ibrox title revival with lightning speed. Celtic’s last defeat in Paisley was the 4-0 thrashing that cost Tony Mowbray his job as manager in March 2010 and, while the repercussions will be less costly for Ange Postecoglou, questions will be asked of the manager’s decision to make six changes to his starting line-up after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Nine changes in a recent romp over Ross County had no ill effect. The same can’t be said of the last game before the international break when so many changes seemed unnecessary and valuable momentum was lost. The importance of absent first-choice central defenders Cameron CarterVickers and Carl Starfelt was reinforced on a day when makeshift duo of Stephen Welsh and Moritz Jenz struggled with the physicality of St Mirren’s attackers Jonah Ayunga and Curtis Main.
Beaten 3-0 by St Johnstone in their last outing, this was a different tempo from a Paisley side who gave Stephen Robinson his first win over Celtic as a manager.
Working feverishly to close down the space and take advantage of Celtic’s lack of zip in every area of the pitch, the reward was a fourth win in five games.
Mark O’Hara’s back-post header before half-time carved out a lead and forced Postecoglou to introduce Reo Hatate and Jota at half-time.
By the time further reinforcements arrived, St Mirren were 2-0 ahead, Ayunga’s close-range header — accompanied by suspicions of a shove on the back of Welsh — took advantage of some awful defending from a long throw-in.
Despite late headed chances for Giorgos Giakoumakis and Jota, the Parkhead side were nowhere near the levels which won their opening six games by an aggregate of 25 goals to one.
Speaking after the game, Postecoglou expressed sympathy for Celtic’s travelling support. Across the UK at large, sympathy for those same fans might be a little harder to find. For many, the final result will feel more like schadenfreude.
Before the Champions League draw in neutral Poland, a group of away fans embarrassed the Scottish champions with offensive banners. Yesterday, they ramped up their anti-establishment defiance by spending a minute’s applause chanting: ‘If you hate the Royal Family clap your hands’ while holding aloft a banner bearing the same message.
In Scotland, Republican sentiment is not restricted to one club. Last week, fans of Hearts called out during a minute’s silence. On Saturday, followers of Dundee United indulged in boorish chants during a minute’s silence at Ibrox. Supporters of Hibs did the same during a minute’s applause before their win over Aberdeen. For those unable — or unwilling — to separate the institution of monarchy from the woman who served it for 70 years, respect for the dead comes second to defiance.
Celtic players did their bit by standing around the centre circle applauding before kick-off. The unusually passive way in which they started the game extended to showing too much respect for their opponents.
Jota, Matt O’Riley, Hatate and Sead Haksabanovic dropped to the bench. Pre-match rumours of a muscle tear for key defender Carter-Vickers were confirmed when both he and Josip Juranovic missed out completely.
Welsh forged an untried partnership with Jenz in central defence, with Anthony Ralston returning at right-back and Aaron Mooy starting his first game in midfield. In truth, the changes drained Celtic of their pace and intensity.
The possession stats for the champions showed 81 per cent in the first half. When St Mirren opened the scoring two minutes before half-time, however, it was strangely unsurprising. Ryan Strain hung up a cross from the right touchline for O’Hara to ghost in at the back post completely unchallenged and bullet a header through the hands of Joe Hart.
St Mirren had won just one of their last 27 league meetings with Celtic, that a 2-1 victory at Parkhead in January 2021.
Unexpectedly, the champions were now staring down the barrel of a gun at half-time and it was a fair return for their poorest, most sluggish 45 minutes of the season.
The introduction of Jota and Hatate for Maeda and Mooy was unsurprising. More surprising was Celtic’s complete inability to get a foothold in the game. In a performance of brilliant industry and concentration, St Mirren refused to give them one.
Any expectation of a Celtic revival was short-lived. Eight minutes into the second half, shambolic defending of a long throw saw Main defy shouts of offside to outjump Jenz and muscle the ball across the six-yard box for strike partner Ayunga to nod in for 2-0. TV pictures showed the striker had two hands on the back of Welsh and VAR might have cut short St Mirren’s glee.
Without the £10m duo of Carter-Vickers and Starfelt, however, Celtic looked weak and vulnerable. Suddenly, admiration of their deep resources looked overplayed.
To be clear, they were hardly down to the bare bones. And, more often than not, defensive frailty will be overcome by attacking flair. While the introductions of Giakoumakis, Haksabanovic and O’Riley were inevitable, however, they did little to raise the level of Celtic’s woeful performance. Or pierce St Mirren’s tactical excellence and relentless concentration.
It took 61 minutes for the Parkhead side to muster a weak Hatate effort on goal — their first effort on target. A minute later, St Mirren missed a glorious opportunity to finish it when O’Hara glanced a header wide of the far post.
Celtic huffed and puffed in a quest to find a way back. Had Giakoumakis done better with a fine Haksabanovic cross after 66 minutes than head into the arms of Trevor Carson they might just have made a fist of things.
By the time Jota flicked a header past the upright in the final minutes, St Mirren fans were finding their voice. The home team don’t have days like this often and milked the celebrations to the full at time-up. They’d earned it.
ST MIRREN (3-5-2): Carson 6; Fraser 7, Gallagher 8, Dunne 7; Strain 8 (Gogic 72), Baccus 7, Erhahon 7, O’Hara 8, Tanser 7 (Tait 67); Ayunga 7 (Kiltie 79), Main 7. Subs not used: Urminsky, Flynn, Brophy, Shaughnessy, Henderson, Greive. Booked: Gallagher, O’Hara. CELTIC (4-3-3): Hart 4; Ralston 5, Welsh 4, Jenz 5, Taylor 5 (O’Riley 74); McGregor, Mooy 3 (Hatate 45), Turnbull 4 (Giakoumakis 57); Abada 3 (Haksabanovic 57), Maeda 3 (Jota 45), Furuhashi 5. Booked: Ralston, Haksabanovic. Subs not used: Siegrist, Bernabei, Forrest, Abildgaard. Man of the match: Ryan Strain. Referee: Don Robertson. Att: 6,331.