BROWN SAYS DEBUT STRIKE WILL BE THE FIRST OF MANY FOR AJETI
Parkhead skipper Brown certain that quiet man Ajeti’s debut strike will be first of many for new club
THE extra nudge, the added ounce of effort, that willingness — and ability — to go above and beyond the other guy. These are the moments that make a campaign.
You put enough of them together and the title is yours. Celtic, of all teams, have a fairly firm grasp on the formula.
On Saturday evening at Tannadice, against a Dundee United team set up quite brilliantly by home coach Micky Mellon, the reigning champions might easily have stumbled and dropped points.
That they emerged with a victory, courtesy of Albian Ajeti’s first Celtic goal just seven minutes from time, was a source of relief to all in Hoops. But a surprise to no one.
Grabbing a late breakthrough against domestic opposition hardly counts as a shock to those who have watched Neil Lennon’s men in relentless action.
And the identity of the matchwinner was certainly no source of astonishment to new team-mates more than happy to have Ajeti among their number.
The £5million signing, still a couple of weeks short of fighting fitness and form according to Lennon, is already a hit in a squad capable of forming swift — and merciless — impressions of any new recruit.
‘He will score goals for us,’ said Celtic skipper Scott Brown, putting the former West Ham forward’s value in simple terms.
‘That is what we’ve been looking for, that penalty-box striker who will score those tap-ins. He took that goal really, really well.
‘The good thing is strikers will always get chances here. We create a lot of chances in most games; today was a little bit different.
‘But he’s had a great attitude and he’s worked hard after having four weeks off.
‘So for him to come back in, do a wee mini pre-season, play a game three or four days after coming in, then play a bit of the game against United, it shows you his attitude is spot-on.
‘He’s very quiet, he’s very modest — and he’s happy to be here. Those are the people you want around.
‘You want people who want to be here, who want to put the hard work in — and who can score you goals.
‘He’s one of those guys, a nice guy around the changing room. Here’s hoping there’s a lot more goals to come from him.’
Ajeti did brilliantly, initially, just to put the ball back in play after another Ryan Christie piledriver had been met with yet another spectacular save by Benji Siegrist.
The Swiss international’s clever back-flick of a header on the dropping ball gave strike partner Odsonne Edouard the chance to spin and shoot.
When his effort was blocked, well, there was almost an inevitability about Ajeti pouncing to drill a low effort into goal through a tangle of flailing limbs. A typical striker’s goal, really.
Brown, seeking to explain what makes natural goalscorers a breed apart, said: ‘It’s just that little bit of movement in the box.
‘I get up there and I don’t know what to do; there’s a few people like that!
‘But these boys have this natural knack. Him, Odsonne, Griff (Leigh Griffiths), they just know how to get the ball into the back of the net. It’s great to have those players.
‘I think it’s perfect, the way he wants to play. He’s a strong boy who wants to turn people. But he also wants to get in the box and score goals.
‘He’s shown his quality in training, he’s shown it in games now. We have a lot to thank him for because we couldn’t get the ball in the net against a very well-organised Dundee United team.’
Celtic certainly found the going tough against hosts, who forced them to go around all sorts of tank traps and cleverly-aligned pitfalls on the night.
It would have been all so different, of course, had Edouard scored instead of hitting the outside of the post from about 12 yards just over ten minutes into the game.
But that was a rare sight of goal actually inside the penalty box for the visitors, who were mainly restricted to shots from distance.
Big Christopher Jullien did not look comfortable when being pressed by United’s front three, a fact that disrupted Celtic’s attempts to build from the back at times. Too
often they were forced to play long balls out to the flanks, meaning markers had plenty of time to close down receivers.
And, even when they did break through the first line of United’s pressing, the seemingly inevitable lightning counter always seemed to be held up by someone in a tangerine shirt doing something effective to delay progress.
Still, Lennon could be pleased with the overall performance of his team, who dominated possession and rarely looked in serious trouble at the back.
If the starting XI weren’t quite able to get the job done, the impact of subs like Ajeti and James Forrest — plus the switch to a 3-5-2 when Kris Ajer was introduced for Greg Taylor — gave Celtic what the head coach described as ‘a bit more oomph’.
Lennon accepts that his team are not quite operating at peak levels just yet, with the shutdown having dulled some of the very sharpest instincts that players need to excel.
But they’re showing attitude and hunger aplenty, with — naturally — Brown leading the way on that front.
One of the joys of these closeddoors games is being able to hear every holler and howl from players and coaches.
Which means listening to plenty of chatter from ‘Broony’ as he looks to keep standards high.
The former Scotland star laughed when asked about his running dialogue, saying: ‘You don’t usually hear that, do you? Get the fans back, eh? ‘Everyone knows the standards the gaffer and his staff set in training. It’s about how we react to that. ‘They give us everything possible in training. They show us how the other team is going to play and how we need to build up.
‘You’ve got Callum McGregor, who talks all the way through the game. Nir (Bitton) does as well. We’ve got guys like that all through the team.
‘I think we played really well against United. It means a lot to us to score late on, as well, because it shows how fit we are and we pride ourselves on that.
‘It was a good battle — and you’ve got to be up for those battles. At the end of the season, those are the games you want to have won.’
DUNDEE UNITED (4-1-4-1): Siegrist 7; Neilson (Freeman 59), Connolly 8, Reynolds 7, Robson 7; Butcher 6; Bolton 6 (McMullan 72), Harkes 7, Pawlett 6, Chalmers 6 (Sporle 64); Clark 6 (Appere 72). Subs not used: Deniz, Powers, Smith, King, Glass. Booked: Butcher, Freeman. CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Barkas 6; Frimpong 6, Jullien 6, Bitton 6, Taylor 7 (Ajeti 72); Brown 6, McGregor 7; Christie 6, Ntcham 6 (Ajer 72), Elyounoussi 6 (Forrest 62); Edouard 6 (Klimala 86). Subs not used: Bain, Soro, Elhamed, Harper, McInroy. Booked: McGregor, Brown. Man of the match: Mark Connolly. Referee: Andrew Dallas.