Saint Johnstone Stun Celts

Ross H analyses what went wrong in Perth

Ready, set…

Go

Or don’t…

Brendan Rodgers summed up yesterday really well. We were in a home game away from home. 3 stands packed with Celts ready to be entertained on a lovely Sunday afternoon. We start slow, get a big punch in the face, and then take control but struggle to finish.

A bit like my car on Saturday night when my suspension strut broke and dropped clean through my front left tyre. I left the Marks and Spencers car park thinking I’m ready for a nice time, got nice food and some fresh fruit, my kids are staying with my folks and it’s just me and Mrs Hall for the evening. This is going to be lovely.

A few moments later I go over a speed bump, maybe thinking too much about my dinner and not enough about the speed bump, then “POP” and I’m down. I then stutter my car with the help of the AA to the nearest garage with one of those lovely yellow wheels on and blocks in to hold my suspension in place. The car was going but it wasn’t going well and it certainly wasn’t going to get me home in time to really enjoy my dinner. Now it’s sat in the garage and in need of some work.

Stats are…

Using the OPTA data index and some metrics that many analysts use to look at our games says to me that the last league game we started with a real control through the first 15 minutes was back on February 15th at home to Dundee Utd where we won 3-0 with goals from McGregor, Jota and Idah.

Since that game in the league, we are 3 wins and 3 losses. Pretty grim on the face of it.

Wins versus Aberdeen, St.Mirren & Hearts.

Losses to Hibs, Rangers & St.Johnstone.

In all 6 of those games if you look at the first 15 to 20 minutes, we’ve had problems, many of our own creation. Giving up cheap free kicks, cheap opportunities from set plays and really looked like we are still warming up, long after the warm up is done.

Now some people will say, league is won. Well, it’s not, it’s won when it’s won and not a day sooner. You don’t do 99% of the job and down tools and expect the last bit will just take care of itself. I know the chances of us being caught are absolutely tiny, but this is elite sport and elite sportsmen and women know that the joy and rewards come when the job is done. Trophy and medals are in hand and the party can begin. If the players are struggling for motivation while they are stood without this season's trophy in the bag then that’s a concern, one I’m confident Rodgers will address this week.

I said in my preview of the St.Johnstone game that set pieces were something to be careful around and even before St.Johnstone scored a huge clear warning was flashed in and nodded over the bar. A matter of minutes later Trusty does the right thing and forces Makenzie Kirk to turn back and face his own goal, he is contained and we can get in to our shape and control the situation. Then Schlupp for no obvious reason at all hangs a lazy leg in and gives away a cheap free kick in a place that every man and their dog knows that old man Carey would have been skipping up the pitch in glee to take. It’s a great position on a narrow pitch. He executed to perfection. A wicked free kick with a subtle curve that the goalie cannot come for and Hatate (one of our smallest players) on the front post cannot reach.

To my dismay the review of it gets even worse. Nothing can explain how static and lazy we have become at times in recent weeks in bread-and-butter defensive situations. This isn’t the 96th minute of a real barnstorming game in the wind and rain where you are physically and mentally fatigued. This is 3 minutes in and players are asleep.

6ft 2” worth of Daniel Balodis and his buddy have the freedom of the box to go and make a run into the gap between Hatate and Schlupp or Schlupp and AJ. Balodis goes between Hatate and Schlupp and he easily beats Schlupp to get the perfect flick on header to put the Saints 1-0 ahead.

I’m starting to feel like I’m almost attacking Schlupp in recent times and it has been questioned in the Substack chat if we are better with him or better with Taylor and right now, I’m with Taylor. Folk can say he lacks x, y and z and that Schlupp is bigger, stronger and faster. He’s also a guy playing in a role that he hasn’t played in consistently for years, he’s making really poor decisions and my biggest annoyance is he compounds mistakes with more mistakes, or just half-hearted effort at times. One game vs Bayern does not make you a good Celtic player, it does not entitle anyone to think they have the divine right to a single thing, and he’s not the only one falling into that category. The only difference is most of the others have credit in the bank having done well over the season.

If Schlupp wants a contract here next season then, for me, he has to find the on switch and become far more aware of what is expected and see if he can find it but the clock is ticking.

Overall, this goal is just a defensive calamity. No idea who is meant to have eyes on Balodis, but I find it amazing that no one is even close to him. Poor defensive awareness from everyone and if that’s our setup by design on the training pitch then someone needs to wake up those guys as well.

The rest of the game can be summed up in a few words.

Lots of high numbers across the data, but limited quality in the final execution and to be honest I can’t paint a better picture with any detailed descriptions of the chances than this data does.

80% possession.

26 shots / 9 on target.

Over 500 more passes than the Saints.

Our xG of 2.3 vs Saints 0.52: The majority of ours was made up from substitutes with Idah, Forrest and McCowan having the highest value chances, many of which were fired towards the centre of the goal.

19 shots from inside the box for us and 5 for the Saints.

We had positive numbers in almost every metric you’d want to see bar the most important one. The scoreline.

One thing I will say on St.Johnstone is the goalkeeper Andrew Fisher rightly got Man of The Match, but at the same time I’m struggling to think of a save we forced out of him that was one that made me think wow. He was safe, secure and never let anything come off of him. It was a good solid goalkeeping performance in amongst a relatively well-structured St.Johnstone setup. For my money the team who wanted it more won and I have no gripes with the result at all.

Saints Conker Cushion

I’m not angry at the result. We can lose games, that happens and we have no divine right to win. I’m bothered and concerned about the approach from the players and performance levels we have seen recently because there are still things to play for. The league still needs to be won, and there is a Scottish Cup to play for. The inconsistent form from so many players is resulting in us giving up chances that we know other teams view as their best opportunity to get something out of us. Cheap free kicks, lazy marking and poor defensive structures, sloppy turnovers and allowing teams easy outs under minimal pressure. Then in attack, just really hit and miss. Only Maeda of late has looked like he’s got the killer instinct. Next week could have been a lovely way to seal the title. Home to Killie, weather forecast looking good and potential for a real nice day out. Now there is a chance we could be sat watching them to find out if it’s won, or the Super computer might hand us a trip away. Yesterday was a real chance missed.

Now, back to Celtic and the remainder of the season….

This season has had some really wonderful high points. The European games, amazing. Loved it. Parts of the domestic season, really good, but let’s not end it by limping over the line.

I’m delighted Rodgers called out the players and acknowledged he and his team have to take responsibility for this run that has seen us enter games like we’ve just got out of bed.

The questions is… what is he going to do about it?

To start with he posed a very public question for his players when he questioned mentality and ambition… Will players step up a gear in training and vs Killie to try and respond to that.

He also has to answer questions before he picks his next starting line-up, and again, I’m glad he openly said he needs to look at what he and his staff are doing and areas like motivation and demands of players in training. It might well be that in the summer that is an area we need to look at. A fresh face or two in the staff just to change the dynamics?

I don’t envy Rodgers right now, but he has a week to find a group of 11 players that he believes will start and play a game in the way he expects. With speed, with controlled aggression and a sharpness in the final third. There is a real opportunity for some players to play themselves into the semi final and potentially the cup final.

Summer Promo

Last but not least… I’m going for the cheeky promo here and linking back to this: 16th of June, 1st of July and the 1st of September: Transfer Window Party

This summer is huge for us. We went through the last 2 windows and struggled. Even when we spend big, we are doing it late, so no pre-season with us for Engels, Trusty or Idah who were the biggest purchases of last summer. In the winter we signed Jota and Schlupp who combined over the previous 18 months had played less minutes than most of our players play in a domestic season. This needs to be better. Even if you don’t trust Rodgers recruitment, or the recruitment staff, or Dr. Football… whatever he does. The process of how we ID and go about securing players needs to be much better and much faster.

If you’ve read bits from me before then you know what’s coming because it’s me and I have a high horse that I like to get on in this area… The Academy system also needs to have players who are able to push for the first team. The players need to take responsibility to be better prepared, and the club needs to do a better job of helping them get to that point. I’m hoping one or two make a strong enough case to get in amongst it in the final few games, but I’m not holding my breath.

As always, my thanks for reading, engaging and being part of CU. Hopefully catch you all in the comments or Substack chat. It can get a bit racy, but never oversteps the mark, well unless you tell Eddie he’s not a real Celtic Da. In which case prepare for demands of pics of your best Celtic merch and evidence of how many pairs of green Adidas trainers you own. He owns 4 and a half, he lost 1 shoe to an email scam…(don’t ask.)

G52 3NQ