Did World Cup dreams destroy Aberdeen?
Samaras and McDonald have something to aim for.
3 home wins in a week will please any fan but are there signs that Celtic are picking up a head of steam? The Europa League win over Hapoel Tel Aviv featured some good work from the front two but this was continued against Aberdeen.
Many will say that Aberdeen were not at their best, Rangers fans will say that Aberdeen and/or McGhee had no intention of leaving Celtic Park with anything but it was a good performance by the Hoops.
It is about time the East End of Glasgow club pulled things around but the World Cup draw may have added an extra spring in the step of some of the players. Everyone knows who has qualified for the World Cup but the draw for fixtures makes it all seem a bit more real.
Skippy and Sammy need to impress
Scott McDonald was not included in the latest Australian national team squad so he really needs to grab goals and positive press to force his way back in.
Opening the scoring is one such was to do it and the Aussie hitman was on the end of a great move featuring Marc Crosas and Andy Hinkel. Hinkel himself will be dreaming of a World Cup place and his attacking style is one thing he has in his favour.
Playing for Celtic is the dream of many fans but for the foreign players who come to Scotland to ply their trade, it is only natural that they will be focused on representing their country. If Celtic can get the benefit from increased hard work, then their fans wont mind too much and it will give Hoops fans players to cheer on next summer.
Goals are what strikers are measured in but in the past few games; McDonald has been pulling his weight in all areas of the pitch. There can be a few jokes made about the expanse of the strikers waistline but this sort of performance will go a long way to dampening down the doubters.
And what Skippy could do, Sammy could do better in the second half. A simple header and lobbing finish showcased two different types of finishes the Greek striker has in his locker and the sort of thing that could illuminate the World Cup in South Africa.
With two away games coming up, a true test of the form of the striking duo will be found at Fir Park and Tynecastle. If Skippy and Sammy can earn six points from these two games for their clubs, the mood and optimism at Celtic Park will be sky high.
Hoops fans, which of your players will make the biggest impact in South Africa?
Spot on, if only they could make World Cup draws every week!
The attitude and commitment of the players was great on Saturday. I absent-mindedly thought it was because they were all playing for their Celtic futures until someone reminded me of the small matter of South Africa 2010.
Hopefully this new found commitment and attitude will see us through the rest of the season, though I wouldn’t put my house on it yet!
To be fair, the workrate of Samaras and McDonald was higher on Wednesday v Hapoel as well.
Of course, if you listened to some phone-ins over the weeked, the performance was due to Aberdeen lying down as opposed to Celtic stepping up a gear.
Although fans would love their players to play for the jersey, they days are mainly gone so if Celtic get an extra 10% out of some players in order for them to book their World Cup place, the majority of Celtic fans won’t mind.
N’Gumeo had a good game as well and of course, Madjid Bougherra returned to the starting line-up and made the first goal.
Heart’s Algerian player Bouzid was sent off though so it’s not a complete science.
WeKnowSFA has nothing better to do with its time so we’ll try and keep an eye on the World Cup bound SPL players.
PS. Great name Billy Stark’s wig – back in the days Billy just used to weave around midfielders and defenders
The dsys of my majestic mullet are, alas, but distant memories!
Watching our for SPL players might be one of the few pleasures left to us this summer, apart from becoming honorary Americans, Algerians and Slovenians for a short spell.
Back to Celtic, perhaps the players are playing for their future knowing that January is around the corner.