Changes Need To Be Made. Solve The Miku And Mulgrew Conundrum.

I Love You. But Only At Center Back

When was the last time a league cup quarter-final in a more than half empty stadium had such importance? Well, this Tuesday’s game against St. Johnstone is very important to Celtic, as we try to get and back on track after the weekend’s dire performance against Killie.

You could say that it was inevitable that there would be a drop in performance against Killie after the exertions against Barcelona, but I don’t think anyone felt Celtic would perform so badly against a Killie team containing three teenagers.

The most disappointing performer was probably Miku, who came to Celtic with a big reputation but hasn’t really done much in the starts he has had. He doesn’t seem suited to Celtic’s play somehow. It wouldn’t surprise me if he returned to Spain in January.

Efe Ambrose also played poorly in comparison to his heroics against Barca and James Forrest continued his routine of not playing after he doesn’t get a goal. He did put in a good ball that Hooper should have buried though.

Kayal and Ledley were passengers too, although Ledley did miss a sitter in the first half.

However, the main problem that seemed to affect the team yesterday was Neil Lennon’s instance on shoehorning Charlie Mulgrew into the team when it doesn’t suit. He played in centre midfield yesterday and it just didn’t work. He should play in his best position – centre-half – and not at all.

It will be interesting to see if Lennon reverts to his ‘best side’ on Tuesday, for a game which is not quite important to Celtic’s season.

Sadly, I have to go back to the article lordofthewing referenced on this site recently to deal with the acceptance of poor performances. In the past, a home defeat to a team like Killie would lead to fury. Now it’s a shrug of the shoulders, because we’re going to win the league easily, right?

It seems that the fans and players find the run of the mill fixtures hard to motivate themselves for, and a malaise could start to creep in. It’s important that this in nipped in the bud with a good win on Tuesday.