It's awfully nice of Celtic to think about maybe turning up tomorrow. They couldn't be bothered playing us at the start of the season because their youngsters had a crucial money spinning friendly against Liverpool, then they cancelled the rescheduled game to move it to the weekend of the League Cup semi-finals. They must be running scared. I suppose we should be thankful they haven't tried ducking out of this one a they've called off next week's home game against Kilmarnock so they can have a wee rest by jaunting half way around the world for another friendly. Utterly ridiculous rules that were only put there to help two clubs - one of whom isn't even around to take advantage of them any more.
Whisper it, but our record against Celtic in 2013 was actually pretty good. We beat them once, lost to them once and drew with them once. The draw was the only one of the three matches that was a league game so we can legitimately claim we went through the whole of 2013 without losing to them in the SPL/SPFL. Not bad, although the time we beat them was far more memorable as it saw us dump Celtic out of the League Cup, end their treble hopes and set up our day of days against Hearts a few months later. That was the first time we'd even scored against them since we'd gubbed them 4-0 in 2010 and that remains the last league game we've won against them. Can we end that run in the league tomorrow?
Unfortunately, we don't go into the game on the best of form. Just over a week ago we raised the mood with a demolition of Dundee United. Since then we struggled to a draw with Hearts before suffering a late defeat to Kilmarnock. From the a high to a low in the space of a week - it is the St Mirren way after all! With that in mind we could really do with a win tomorrow, regardless of who we're playing, as we're in danger of throwing away all the good work from our decent run of form in October and November.
It was a bit of a surprise to see Adam Campbell start against Kilmarnock on Thursday as we rarely go with two strikers from the off these days. However, the move worked as he scored within 20 minutes and seemed to have a decent game. Whether or not we go with the same system tomorrow remains to be seen - although with Jim Goodwin still suspended we have no one who can come into the holding midfield role, so we might as well go with an attacking team. The midfield could be a bit light as Kenny McLean is still struggling ahead of a knee op, although he may still be risked, and John Goodwin picked up a knock in Thursday's defeat.
Making things worse is the fact this could be the last game for two of our other midfielders - and we've just lost Gary Harkins on loan to reduce the numbers even further. Conor Newton's loan has yet to be extended, while Paul McGowan has a nervous wait until his court case comes to an end on Wednesday. If this is to be their last games for a while (for rather differing reasons) hopefully they can go out in style and inspire us to a victory. It's also not out of the question we could change things at the back as we've had a busy festive period and Danny Lennon may opt to give youngsters Sean Kelly and Jason Naismith a rest and bring in the experience of David van Zanten and Lee Mair.
Celtic will almost certainly take their third title in a row with relative ease this season, but does that make Neil Lennon a good manager? They have pretty much no competition and seemed to stumble to the championship last season, taking the crown with the lowest number of points for a title winning side since the SPL moved to 12 teams. They have improved this season and have yet to lose in the league, the title looking little more than a formality. However, their European performances this season have been awful, while they've been amusingly dumped out of the League Cup for the second year running. OK, Lennon did well in the Champions League last season but I remain to be convinced he's the managerial genius some of their fans think he is.
It could be argued that the Champions League exit was partly caused by Celtic are currently in a period of transition. After Lennon took over from Tony Mowbray in 2010 Celtic aimed to buy up cheap, talented players with a view to selling them on for big profits. Over the summer they flogged Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama so the process has had to be started again. Their signings have potential but are far from the finished article - although that argument loses a bit of weight when you consider most of them are already full internationalists! Quite why Lennon's making noises about signing folk in January is a mystery to me as this is surely the opportunity to bring some youngsters into the team and give them six months or so of experience.
Virgil van Dijk is one Celtic player I do like the look of. At the risk of trotting out a familiar line once again, I had him in Football Manager and he was sensational and, so far, he looks as if he'll live up to that hype. How long Celtic are able to keep hold of him remains to be scene as he looks great at the back and a threat at set pieces, while he enjoys a foray forward during open play as well. His goal against St Johnstone the other week reminded me a bit of Kirk Broadfoot rampaging forward for us. If he stays fit it's only a matter of time until other clubs come calling. The same goes for keeper Fraser Forster, who is having another good season and surely deserves to be England's number one instead of Joe Hart. Of course, as far as I and most readers will be concerned, the longer they leave him out of the team the better! The rest of the defence is fairly handy, although Efe Ambrose is prone to the odd moment of madness along with Emilio Izaguirre, who isn't the same player after his injury woes and is often caught ball watching. However, he's still preferred at leftback to Charlie Mulgrew - who is used in the centre of defence or in midfield. With Mikael Lustig injured, Adam Matthews is likely to line up on the opposite side of defence.
Celtic managed the fairly impressive feat of beating Hearts 7-0 in the Scottish Cup without any of their strikers scoring. OK, Kris Commons is often used in a more forward area and grabbed a hat-trick, but there were no goals for Anthony Stokes and Georgios Samaras. The pair have managed a decent number of goals between them so far this season, with Stokes getting more game time now that Gary Hooper has been sold, but the problems up front were rather exposed in the Champions League. Yes, Samaras is capable of turning games in an instant and isn't quite as patchy as he used to be, but the pair weren't clinical enough in Europe and Stokes was often on the bench. Things could be about to get even more worrying with Samaras' contract expiring in the summer and the Greek striker wanting away, with clubs looking to sign him this month. Holmbert Fridjonsson has been brought in and will be hoping to get off to a quick start, while Teemu Pukki and Amido Balde have only managed a few goals so far.
For the last few years I've felt Scott Brown was over-rated and hyped up the way only an average Old Firm player can be. However, my opinion of him has changed recently, partly because of how well he's done for Scotland. He's still a pseudo hardman and acts like a wee nyaff on the park, but he is a terrific player and a key part of the Celtic machine. He is comfortably their best midfielder, although Joe Ledley isn't too far behind him. The Welshman can play pretty much anywhere in the middle of the park and also chips in with a fair number of goals although he, like Samaras, supposedly plans to do one back to England in the near future. James Forrest looks like being the current over-rated Old Firm youngster, capable of flashes of brilliance one day and shockers the next - although no real surprise considering he is still young and has had a few injury problems. Derk Boerrigter should be a good player when he gets up to speed with Scottish football, while I haven't seen enough of Tom Rogic or Nir Biton to work out whether they're good or flops. Beram Kayal is currently out injured.
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