CELTIC are being stretched from pillar to first marker post of the season as Gordon Strachan tries to spread his challenge domestically and in Europe.
CELTIC are being stretched from pillar to first marker post of the season as Gordon Strachan tries to spread his challenge domestically and in Europe.
The strain has shown on a squad depleted by injuries. But, after the first cycle of games in the SPL, and with two-thirds of their Champions League Group campaign concluded, the Parkhead club are still very much in there fighting.
Broon blends power and guileX-FACTORSCOTT BROWN has risen to the challenge of proving he is indeed worth every penny of the £4.4million Celtic paid Hibs for him in the summer of 2007. The effect of personal problems last season should not be underestimated, and the 23-year-old has now stepped out from the shadows they cast over him. The energy he has always shown has been harnessed more effectively, while the aggression which has often been his downfall has been channelled towards winning personal battles in a manner acceptable to officials. The addition of goals to his game has made Brown even more valuable to the team. And, even though Gary Caldwell has found a level of consistency which makes him a first-pick every week, it is the emergence of Brown as a true modern-day midfielder which has impressed this season. |
They top the league table, their only defeat coming in the first Old Firm game of the season. They now face a game in Aalborg where the winner claims a Uefa Cup spot, at least.
And tucked way for the New Year is a Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final spot, placing Gordon Strachan's side just 180 minutes away from their first silverware of the season.
All of this has been achieved on the back of more attacking football, and, domestically at least, goals, goals, goals, despite the fact key strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras have been among the injury victims.
Here the story so far is revealed.
EFFECTIVENESS
ONE glance at the SPL table answers that one. The nine victories have been earned on the back of attacking football which has yielded 29 goals scored by a plethora of players.
The way they have bounced back from the debilitating defeat at home to Rangers has been very impressive, and this form has been reproduced in the Co-operative Insurance Cup.
The defensive frailties which afflicted them in the early part of the season have been eradicated, and the rotation system deployed further up the pitch has ensured freshness and a competition for places - even with so many big players out - which has delivered winning performances.
However, the step up to Champions League level has proved more difficult to make where effort alone is not enough to cover for signficant absentees.
ENTERTAINMENT
THE major criticism from Celtic fans during the three championship-winning seasons has been the lack of flair.
However, that has been laid to rest this time around, and some of the passing moves leading to goals scored would grace any team in any league in the world.
The skill mantle carried by Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady has been boosted now that Shaun Maloney is back in the fold.
Without an end product, this would go for nowt. But there is clear evidence the technique - allied to passing and work-rate - is now a definite conduit to results.
The solid platform for Celtic's flair players to strut their stuff is provided by the grafters such as Paul Hartley, Scott Brown and Barry Robson.
All in all, a potent and pleasing-on-the-eye mixture.
LEADERSHIP
STRACHAN would have been entitled to walk away from the Parkhead hot seat with his head held high after becoming only the third Celtic manager in history to lift three championships in a row.
However, he elected to stick around and accept the renewed challenge thrown down from across the city and try to emulate the achievement of leading the team to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Though the European dream now looks to be beyond him this time around, there is a growing appreciation of what Strachan is building at this club and a belief he is laying the foundations for a team that can develop into an effective and attractive outfit for years to come.
On the field, Stephen McManus is his lieutenant. But the central defender has had to work hard to regain his own form this season, and the added responsibility of the captaincy appeared to be a weight he could have done without.
However, Mick has turned things around to confirm the very character which encouraged Strachan to give him the armband.
DISAPPOINTMENT
ASIDE from the Old Firm defeat and the goalless draw at home to Aalborg, there have been few disappointments for the team this term.
However, on an individual basis, three of the main players have so far failed to reproduce the form which made them vital cogs in the green machine last season.
Player of the Year Aiden McGeady has flitted in and out of the side, and is only beginning to re-discover the cutting edge which he had added to his game.
The man who preceded him as the Spl's top performer, Shunsuke Nakamura, has also struggled to add to those very special moments he has etched on to the Celtic story for three years.
But the biggest disappointment this season has been goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who it has now emerged has been struggling with a knee problem The fans' favourite has also fallen foul of the Celtic manager, the Polish national team boss and the SFA for his discipline.
The keeper should be grateful Strachan has stood by him through some troubled times rather than to dump him from the team.
Only one man can get Boruc back to his best through his post-op recovery, and that is the keeper himself.
