BHOYS ARE NOT OUT OF TROUBLE YET
Win stems the tide but bigger tests ahead for Celtic
AFTER a serene start to the campaign on all fronts, choppy waters are now lapping at Celtic’s ankles. The full-blown crisis which an unthinkable home defeat to Dunfermline would certainly have seen the club arrive at, may have been narrowly averted on Saturday.
But nor did a laborious victory against a hitherto winless Championship side enable those who witnessed it to compartmentalise the midweek defeat to CFR Cluj as merely one of those nights.
In certain respects, a low-key cup tie of this nature on home turf was probably the last thing Neil Lennon and his charges needed following a desperately disappointing European exit. An assignment against one of the Premiership’s leading lights would have provided a greater edge to the occasion.
But the fact that the Northern Irishman’s side not only failed to dish out the timehonoured thrashing with a European hangover but briefly looked in danger of exiting the competition altogether will have done nothing to end the angst and anger that has gripped the club over the past six days.
Truthfully, even had Lennon’s side seen off the Pars with something to spare, it would have cut little ice with a large rump of the support.
For many, the midweek loss to Cluj was a watershed moment in terms of the way they believe their club is being run and you suspect that their opinion is now non-negotiable.
While it would be wrong to assume that the Green Brigade speak for all on any given matter, the unfurling of a banner accusing the board of ‘downsizing’ and ‘gambling 10-in-row’ was hardly shouted down. It’s not just the small matter of AIK in the Europa League play-off this week, Hearts and Rangers that will define so much of Celtic’s narrative going forward over the course of the coming fortnight.
Provided Lennon belatedly gets the backing he requires, and the injection of quality the side so clearly needs duly arrives, it is conceivable that this affair will eventually be pigeon-holed with the countless others down the years where progression was much more important than the performance.
To be clear, as excellent as Stevie Crawford’s side were and as deserving as they were of becoming the first Scottish side in 28 attempts to take Celtic the distance in a domestic cup tie, Lennon’s men, for all their shortcomings, were deserving victors. Largely, it was their profligacy and Dunfermline’s defensive diligence that left the outcome in doubt for longer than most had anticipated.
Sensing his players had not enjoyed a great day at the office, the Celtic manager’s words of praise rather than criticism in the aftermath were understandable but privately he will be concerned that his side have gone off the boil at just the wrong moment.
Christopher Jullien, the £7million central defender signed over the summer, improved the longer this game wore on but he was second best to Kevin Nisbet for long enough, his early lapse gifting the Dunfermline striker a gilt-edged chance.
Boli Bolingoli, the £3m Belgian left-back who also joined the Parkhead side last month, looks physically more attuned to the task than the Frenchman but often appears spooked by his new environment.
The new boys were not alone in finding the going tough. Odsonne Edouard’s touch and appetite for the fight were not what they might have been throughout 120 minutes, while Callum McGregor uncharacteristically made several elementary errors despite being redeployed in central midfield.
With Celtic often reverting to the sluggish build-up that Lennon has tried to take them away from, and the atmosphere predictably flat, Dunfermline began to relish the task of taking them the distance.
‘I thought they defended well and made it hard for us,’ conceded Parkhead winger Mikey Johnston. ‘It was a frustrating sort of afternoon, particularly after the midweek result as well.
‘It was tough for the fans after Tuesday and they were not going to be happy. We had to show our character and make sure we bounced back from it.’
If Celtic do retain the trophy they’ve lifted for the past three seasons come December 8, Johnston’s sublime opener ten minutes after the break will have played no little part.
Picking up the ball way left of goal and 25 yards out, the winger found the far corner of Ryan Scully’s goal with a sumptuous strike.
‘I keep telling people I was going for the top
corner,’ smiled the 20-year-old. ‘I saw Griff (Leigh Griffiths) making a run and tried to hit him so I got a bit of luck. It was just what we needed at the time.’
What mettle Dunfermline showed thereafter, though. Not only did they refuse to capitulate, they levelled with a sweeping counter-attack which ended with Tom Beadling guiding Andy Ryan’s cross beyond Craig Gordon
If they were rather fortunate to see Nir Bitton head against the bar and Jullien nod a header of his own wide in the closing moments of the regulation 90, they had earned those breaks.
Celtic were significantly sharper in extratime, though, the greater tempo which Lennon had demanded dragging the Pars this way and that.
Still, it took them until six minutes from the end of the additional period for James Forrest — who else? — to prevent the drama of penalties being required with a strike which took a deflection before beating the excellent Scully at his far post.
‘James just does the business week in, week out and he has come up with another big goal,’ added Johnston.
‘He has been here for ten years now and is on his way to becoming a legend for the club. He is someone all the academy boys look up to.’
Forrest has long been someone Lennon can rely on. Increasingly, the same can be said of Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ajer.
But ahead of a defining fortnight, the Celtic manager needs many more safe bets and far greater quality at his disposal.
For now, there is just relief that a troubling week did not prove to be a whole lot worse.
‘It wasn’t the greatest performance but I think that it could have been a lot more,’ continued Johnston.
‘It was just a case of making sure we reached the next round, to get the job done.
‘You have to give credit to Dunfermline as they made it really hard for us.’