Brown enjoys seeing Ntcham in driving seat
IT’s fair to suggest that days such as these have not always been Olivier Ntcham’s idea of footballing utopia.
For all the Frenchman’s undoubted class with a ball at his foot, there have been occasions when his appetite for playing in such foul conditions, let alone turning it on, have been legitimately questioned.
No such accusations could be thrown in the midfielder’s direction at Broadwood, though. storm Ciara may have blown corner flags horizontal but Ntcham stood up admirably to the appalling weather as well as the challenge of a gutsy Clyde side.
‘He’s very confident on the ball and he’s always willing to take it in any situation,’ skipper scott Brown said of the scorer of Celtic’s opener.
‘He chips in with goals as well and his finish here was incredible from where he was.
‘He’s managed to take a touch and whip it in and it’s one of those that either goes in at the back post or someone manages to get a touch to take it in.
‘That’s what he brings but he’s also got that drive. He can play wee one-twos and his link-up play with Odsonne (Edouard), Callum (McGregor) and Griff (Leigh Griffiths) recently has been phenomenal.’
On a day for the ducks, Ntcham looked anything but a man who would rather be elsewhere.
It can be said with some certainty that the episode which saw him hovering at the exit door last summer has now been consigned to history.
‘He loves it here,’ added Brown. ‘He’s enjoying playing and he’s showing his quality on the park. Everyone appreciates that.
‘He tracks back, too. That’s what the manager wants. He played a little deeper at Clyde than he normally does, with Callum being out and Ryan (Christie) being in the team, so he got a wee bit
more of the ball.
‘As soon as he gets it, he’s got that drive to go forward. He can go past somebody, he’s got a goal in him and he’s got the vision to see a pass, too.’
Ntcham’s attitude and application typified what Celtic were all about in Cumbernauld. From the minute the Frenchman’s shot whistled past David Mitchell, there seemed little doubt that a 33rd straight victory in domestic cup competitions would be registered.
‘I think we’re used to that sort of weather up at Lennoxtown,’ smiled Brown. ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere and we get that most weeks, to be honest.
‘It was good, a few of the lads got some game time who had not played a lot recently, or been injured and came back. It’s good that the manager managed to chop and change his squad and a few of the lads got rested.
‘The manager’s always been wanting to slowly give people game time but it’s hard to change 11 bodies here and there. There were six changes today, so the manager changed half the team and the lads still performed as well as we possibly could.’
Claimed from a matter of inches, Brown’s fifth goal of the campaign removed any lingering doubt as to the outcome of the tie five minutes from the break.
‘That’s as far as I can kick it these days,’ added the skipper.
‘For us, the main thing was to try to get through here with no injuries and a good performance as well, especially with the wind. The pitch actually played quite well. It’s good astroturf, well looked after and a good wee stadium.’
On and on Celtic go. With the League Cup locked away and the Europa League still to play for, their fight on all fronts continues.
‘We just take it one game at a time and now we’ve got a huge game against Hearts at Celtic Park,’ said Brown. ‘Hopefully, we can get three points and keep kicking on game by game.
‘We don’t look too far ahead, and I know we’ve got st Johnstone in the next round of the cup, but we’ll deal with that when it comes up.
‘We’ve just got to keep going. We’ve got Hearts on Wednesday and they are a good team. They press high up the park and they will cause us problems but, yet again, we’ve got the quality as well.
‘We can cause any team problems on our day and have given a few players a rest today. Hopefully, they will be flying for Wednesday.’