Saints went with the trusty 3-5-2 formation, with both Andy Millen and Kevin McGowne in defence, despite the fact that John Potter and Ian Maxwell are both supposed to be fit again. Billy Mehmet continued up front, whilst Celtic field Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink - who will be called the Big Dutchman for the duration of this report.
When playing the Old Firm, it's usually a good idea to not concede early on. It's especially good when you haven't scored against them for fifteen years. Sadly, Saints didn't heed this sound advice. Lee Naylor crossed, the Big Dutchman knocked down, Kenny Miller flicked and Thomas Gravesen rattled in. Oh dear.
Things did not get better. Aside from forcing Artur Boruc to flap at a few balls, the crossing was fairly woeful in the first half. Our best chance came when Mehmet fired a shot well over from well out. It was that bad.
It wasn't good at the other end either. Celtic had a few free kicks before Neil Lennon did his usual and escaped a booking when he flattened someone.
The second goal arrived after twenty minutes, with Gravesen collecting the ball before strolling all too easily to the edge of the box and slotting past Tony Bullock with the help of a deflection. This was not looking good.
It could have got worse before half time, the Big Dutchman firing just over as the "Ole" chant rang around due to Celtic taking the mickey at the back. There was even time for a penalty claim, although it looked more like Kirk Broadfoot accidentally brought Miller down when he slipped.
Things got so bad that Gus MacPherson took the bold step of replacing McGowne with Alan Reid and moving to a 4-4-2. Quite why McGowne is still playing when the far superior John Potter is fit is anyone's guess.
Things were not looking good at half time, although there was some light relief when Phil the Announcer decided to take things into his own accord and ask Saints fans not to respond to the sectarian songs from the opposition! Chairman Stewart Gilmour later revealed he had not been asked to make the announcement, but felt it was "fair comment." Celtic are apparently going to complain - there's a surprise. My only issue with the announcement is that a similar one wasn't made when we played Rangers.
Anyway, back to the football. Celtic went close to extending their lead when Miller duffed a shot before Boruc got involved. A clearance was beautifully duffed straight to John Sutton, who then fired his shot straight at Boruc. The rebound was hit by Mehmet, but blocked and cleared. Oh well, it's an improvement.
Hugh Murray was then booked for clearly winning the ball (work it out yourselves) before Simon Lappin produced a brilliant cross that Billy Mehmet rattled off of the post. This wasn't the time for rueing missed chances, however, as sixty seconds later Lappin crossed again and this time Sutton headed past the helpless Boruc for his 50th career goal. Game on!
The noise from the home support at this point was incredible, with the so called greatest fans in the world rather silent. As Saints went looking for an equaliser, they were dealt a cruel blow. The linesman judged that a Gravesen cross had taken a deflection off a Saints player on its way out and incorrectly awarded a corner. The excellent Shunsuke Nakamura crossed, Gravesen got his baldy napper to the ball and forced it goalward. It looked like the Saints player on the line had cleared it off the line, however the linesman thought otherwise and handed Celtic the win on a plate - as well as Gravesen his hat trick.
TV pictures later showed the ball was over the line, however both Lappin and Mehmet were booked for protesting.
There wasn't a lot Saints could do after that, aside from hope not to concede again. Sub Maciej Zurawski went close a few times but failed to find the back of the net.
Saints got what they deserved from the game - nothing. They were poor in the first half and, whilst they did well in the second, they didn't do nearly enough to merit even a point.
Hopefully today's performance - especially in defence - will force MacPherson to make a few changes for next week. I can't see where the next win is coming from - can you?