Driving with the brakes on

 

Driving with the brakes on

Watching Celtic deservedly defeat Rangers at Hampden Park in the league cup semi-final at the weekend was as exciting as it was refreshing. The first half saw Celtic move the ball forward faster and the Hoops players were unafraid to turn the Rangers defence with long balls behind their back line. It wasn’t perfect and the team conceded a few chances but it was a refreshing change from Brendan Rodgers’ preferred tactic of keeping the ball away from the opposition. Celtic managed 21 attempts on the Rangers goal with their more direct, aggressive approach and really should have been out of sight in that first 45 minutes. Their energy and aggression forced errors from a Rangers defence that were glad to reach half time just one goal behind.

Brendan Rodgers was a terrific manager for Celtic as his trophy haul testifies, but since the turn of the year, Celtic have been difficult to watch. The recycling of the ball from left to right and back again in some games saw the Celtic centre backs with more touches of the ball than any other players on the field. This reached its nadir in the Scottish cup final with Aberdeen, when Celtic had 82% possession and fashioned just one clear cut chance in 95 minutes of football. O’Neill proved against Rangers that if you are aggressive and risk losing the ball by playing the odd 50-50 pass, then you create more chances and give the fans a much better spectacle to watch.

Watching Celtic this past six months or so reminded me of that classic 1980s Del Amitri song which contains the lyric; ‘When you're driving with the brakes on, when you're swimming with your boots on…’ Celtic under O’Neill looked liberated from that philosophy and played with the sort of freedom and speed the team has been lacking in recent months. The coaching philosophy seems to have changed and the team look the better for it. They weren’t perfect by any means, they gave the opposition the ball more than I would have liked but they were hungry again, eager to get at the Rangers defence. It was much more encouraging than that tepid display at Tynecastle.

One has to wonder at Rodgers team selection for the match at Tynecastle when he played inexperienced, young players in the toughest away venue in the league at the moment. You need experience and dig in those matches and much as I’m all for youngsters getting their chance, it seemed as if the manager was making a point about the threadbare nature of the squad. He had a £6m centre back in the form of Austin Trusty on the bench as well as the seasoned Anthony Ralston, a player who has seldom, if ever, let the team down.

Martin O’Neill is an old fox who knows the game inside out. He spotted immediately Celtic’s lack of physicality and drafted Trusty, Ralston, Kenny and Osmond into the squad. He also let the likes of Reo Hatate know that he’d need to earn his place in midfield with more consistent performances. We all know Celtic’s lack of options in attack have been a source of frustration lately, but the enthusiasm, energy and movement provided by Kenny and Osmond augur well for the future. The two young forwards found the net and could well have scored more. Celtic looked a more aggressive, direct, strong running side and Martin O’Neill’s fingerprints were all over that approach.

Encouraging as the past two matches have been, Celtic now face a very difficult trip to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland. The Danes are currently top of the Europa League having won all three games played so far, including a victory away to Nottingham Forrest. They are no mugs, as those results suggest, and Celtic will need to be on their game to stand any chance of returning home with a decent result. Those European matches will provide an excellent testing ground for the progress Celtic are making and allow the squad to be utilised more fully.

I suspect though, Europe is something of a distraction at the moment as Celtic set their sights on running down Hearts in the SPFL. We are approaching the end of the first quarter of the league season and Derek McInnes will know that the SPFL is a marathon and not a sprint. Celtic will doubtless look to chip away at their lead until they come calling at Celtic Park in December. That game will be a real test of Hearts’ mettle and it remains to be seen if Celtic are still under the guidance of Martin O’Neill or if a new manager is in place. Either way the next couple of months will go a long way to deciding what sort of season Celtic has. The fixtures will come thick and fast and it is noticeable that Celtic will be playing Roma just three days before the League Cup Final with St Mirren. That’s the price of success and we just need to deal with it.

As for Rangers, I think they have a good, young coach who will make them better. It’s up to Celtic to invest wisely, appoint the right coach and stay ahead of them. The lingering hubris of their supporters who yearn for the days when they ruled the roost in Scotland continues to fade as the harsh reality of living within your means hits home. Their predicament reminds me of the phrase "when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." Celtic have the resources to keep ahead of them but need to use them well and not repeat the sort of transfer window we saw in the summer. We should emerge stronger from each window, not weaker.

I enjoyed the league cup semi-final with Rangers. It reminded me of times past when such games were exciting, end to end dramas with goals, incidents and talking points. It was good to see Celtic set free to really go after their opponents. O’Neill has taken the hand brake off and the weeks ahead should be quite a ride.