Celtic need to get their zip back if the title is to be buckled down
THE Ladbrokes Premiership is now in its annual winter shutdown after a thrilling opening half of the season. Here, Sportsmail’s Kris Commons casts a critical eye over the 12 top-flight teams and sorts out the star pupils from the dunces.
CELTIC
CeltiC lost the Old Firm match on Sunday but they have improved since last year. they are ten points better off than they were after 20 games 12 months ago. they are still top of the league, they have the league Cup trophy in the cabinet and they made a bit of history by topping their europa league group to reach the last 32.
the cause for concern is that they looked lethargic against Rangers at Celtic Park. they lacked zip and ideas in the final third. they didn’t quite have the answers. James Forrest, Ryan Christie and Odsonne edouard were not quite at the races, so maybe reinforcements are required this month.
For Rangers, Alfredo Morelos chased every ball and battered Celtic’s defenders.
Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer will have woken on Monday feeling a few aches, while Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic would have had their flip flops on and thinking they can’t wait to get to Dubai.
if Celtic can keep edouard fit, then they have every chance of winning the league again.
But i do think it may be worth Neil lennon going out and getting a striker in the mould of a troy Deeney. Or someone with blistering pace who can come off the bench because the substitutes are not making a difference to the dynamic of the Celtic team.
they have also not adequately replaced Mikael lustig or Kieran tierney. if Hatem Abd elhamed was fit, then it would be fine but he is not. Jeremie Frimpong has shown great promise but the pressure of going for nine-in-a-row is a huge ask for a young kid.
Celtic need an experienced leftback ASAP and a big signing — like a Victor Wanyama — would give the club a lift and swing the pendulum back in their favour. STAR MAN: Odsonne edouard.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 1st.
RANGERS
RANGeRS signed off for the last winter shutdown with a victory over Celtic that had them on 42 points from 21 games.
they currently have 50 points from 19 games to sit two points off Celtic with a game in hand. they are also in the last 32 of the europa league. All of that underlines the significant improvement the ibrox side have made under Steven Gerrard.
they’ve played Celtic twice and limited them to set-pieces. And when you consider Rangers have not conceded a goal from a set-piece in the league all season, that shows you they have improved defensively as well.
Borna Barisic has replaced Kieran tierney as the best left-back in the league. Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic have struck up a decent partnership compared to 12 months ago when they looked shaky.
And James tavernier was defensively superb on Sunday, which is a compliment to how hard Rangers have been working on him and his own commitment to improving his game.
But it’s in midfield where Rangers have improved the most. Steven Davis was not quite at the races when he arrived last January but he is now and he controlled the game against Celtic on Sunday.
Alongside him are two absolute players in Ryan Jack and Arsenal target Glen Kamara, who are keeping another terrific midfielder, Scott Arfield, out of the team.
Up front, they’ve also got pace and trickery in Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent, who work well with Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe.
Morelos is a vitally important player and the only question mark is over his discipline.
it looked like he had sorted himself out but, with two red cards in his last two games, he needs to go away and reflect over the winter break.
STAR MAN: Alfredo Morelos. WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 2nd.
MOTHERWELL
PeOPle were talking about Stephen Robinson getting the sack last season when Motherwell were in a relegation battle. So for them to finish the first half of the season in third place is terrific.
they lost the derby at home to Hamilton but they’ve got 37 points and they are sitting above bigger clubs like Aberdeen, Hibs and are way in front of Hearts.
there’s a lot of young kids in the Motherwell team but there’s a nice mix of youth and experience.
they don’t have a star man as such, a player that they need to keep fit like an Alfredo Morelos or an Odsonne edouard.
it’s more of a collective at Fir Park, with Robinson and his winning mentality absolutely key to their success. they are a very good team.
STAR MAN: Stephen Robinson. WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 4th.
ABERDEEN
tHe blistering pace Celtic and Rangers have set — and their budgets — make it impossible for Aberdeen to keep up.
Yes, they have had a few ups and downs this season but they are not far behind Motherwell and the third place that gives you european football. i think the important thing for Derek Mcinnes is that Sam Cosgrove stays fit. His goalscoring tally is phenomenal and it seems remarkable to think that he had such a slow start to his career in Scotland. STAR MAN: Sam Cosgrove.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH: 3rd.
LIVINGSTON
GARY HOlt has done a great job in West lothian. Again, people had livvy down as relegation favourites alongside Hamilton and St Mirren but here they are sitting pretty in the top six.
Steven lawless is an integral part of that team with his goals and his assists. livingston don’t score a huge amount of goals, so he is a player they really need to keep fit. they are a match for anyone at home, with the highlight beating Celtic in October. But i think they will just fall short of a top-six finish. STAR MAN: Steven lawless.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH: 7th.
HIBERNIAN
HiBS have done okay. they have salvaged their season a little under Jack Ross and i think they have the players to kick on now that Martin Boyle and Darren McGregor are back fit and David Gray is on his way
back, too. I think that will make them better, especially Boyle. He’s the sort of player Neil Lennon wouldn’t mind at Celtic to come off the bench with his pace.
Ross has got off to a decent start but Hibs need to invest in their midfield. If you look back 18 months, they had John McGinn, Dylan McGeouch and Scott Allan. Allan can’t do it all on his own. STAR MAN: Christian Doidge.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 5th.
KILMARNOCK
JuSt when things looked to be going well, Killie sacked their manager, Angelo Alessio, and now they’ve got no wins in seven matches and they’ve not scored a goal in their last six.
Eamonn Brophy is their Alfredo Morelos figure.
He puts himself about for the team but his return this season of three league goals has been pretty abysmal.
He needs to rediscover the form that saw Killie at the top of the table not that long ago.
the Rugby Park side will hope the appointment of Alex Dyer as manager until the end of the season will give the club a lift. STAR MAN: Eamonn Brophy.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 6th.
ROSS COUNTY
tHE Dingwall side have conceded more goals than any other team in the Premiership this season. I saw them recently against Celtic and defensively they were shocking.
I think a new goalkeeper is paramount for them in January. they’ve lost too many bread and butter goals but up front Ross Stewart is a big plus.
He has done well with seven league goals and 11 for the season in total but they need solid foundations in place behind him.
STAR MAN: Ross Stewart. WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 9th.
ST JOHNSTONE
It’S not too long ago there was fan unrest aimed at getting tommy Wright out. But there’s nobody who knows the McDiarmid Park club like tommy does. He’s been through the rough and the smooth with Saints over the years.
they are a couple of wins away from their aim of the top six. But if they are to finish in the bottom six, they would be a team nobody would want to face. And with Wright in charge, you would back them to stay up. He’s their key man. STAR MAN: tommy Wright.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 8th.
ST MIRREN
St MIRREN don’t concede too many goals but they don’t score too many, either. up front, Jon Obika is 29 years old, he’s experienced and he leads the line really well.
It will be key if Obika can step up and provide a few more goals because more often than not Saints are still in the contest going into the last half an hour of the match. But I think they will end up in the play-offs again.
STAR MAN: Jon Obika. WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 11th.
HAMILTON
HAMILtON may be in 11th place but if you look at the table they are exactly where you would expect them to be. the Accies’ plastic pitch is not a place people fancy going to play in January and February in the cold weather but Brian Rice really needs his players to stand up and take advantage of that.
they definitely need more from George Oakley. He is their main striker but he’s not scored in his last nine matches. I have a feeling my old Derby County team-mate Steve Davies could be key if he gets a chance as Hamilton’s main striker because he would score more goals. But I do suspect Hamilton will go down.
STAR MAN: Steve Davies. WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 12th.
HEARTS
tHE departure of Craig Levein was handled in shambolic fashion and Daniel Stendel is a very strange appointment. these are worrying times for Hearts, who sit at the foot of the table, five points behind the play-offs.
uche Ikpeazu is their main striker but he has scored fewer league goals (two) than Aberdeen defender Andrew Considine (three). that tells you Hearts are in serious bother.
the most damning thing is they’ve played 11 home games this term and won only eight points. tynecastle used to be a real fortress but not anymore. Hearts currently have the worst home record in the league.
they have no main players right now but the Hearts fans need to get the place bouncing again and make it a hostile environment once more. But I do think they will survive. STAR MAN: the tynecastle fans.
WHERE WILL THEY FINISH? 10th.