No hiding the cracks as Celtic stutter

IAN PAUL

12 Nov 1990

THE problem about describing how bad Celtic were is that the implication that Hearts were not so good themselves would detract from what was a gritty, diligent effort by a team at the bottom of the division.

Still, if the Gorgie folk will forgive us, it has to be said that Celtic were poor.

No, on second thoughts, they were not even that good.

Dreadful might be nearer the mark.

Every so often over the last decade or so the Parkhead side have demonstrated the facility to play like a team which has spent the week practising in other people's boots.

Disjointed in their passing, incapable of one-touch control and bereft of creative ideas, they were unrecognisable as the side that can conjure up some of the best football of any club in the country.

How they can be this inept is no doubt as big a puzzle to their manager, Billy McNeill, as it is to their support.

If there was an irony in the fact that their former player, John Colquhoun, scored the goal that gave Hearts their 1-0 win it only served to remind the Glasgow club that good finishing can cover the cracks when a team is struggling to produce form.

Had Joe Miller, when presented with as easy an opportunity as the one taken by Colquhoun, been able to equal the Hearts man's accuracy, there is no telling what the outcome would have been.

And John Collins could have eased the Parkhead embarrassment if he had taken a good chance near the end.

If Aberdeen, at least in my view, could do with a player of the Roy Aitken enthusiasm and influence, Celtic could do worse than bring him back.

The balance of Paul McStay and John Collins in midfield promises much to delight the eye, but, with Peter Grant settled in at full back, the need for a diligent and inspiring foil for the two ball players is clear enough.

There was no lack of effort from McStay, as ever, but the entire Hearts side was committed to restoring the pride lost by the recent run of results.

You could nearly see the gritted teeth from the stand.

Colquhoun described it as a big pressure game for him and his team-mates and reckoned his goal one of the most important in his career.

"We owed that win to the fans after recent results.

Maybe they saw a bit of the old Hearts spirit again."

Colquhoun, who at £40,000 from Celtic in 1985 represents one of the great bargains of that decade, believes that next week's meeting with Dundee United at Tannadice will tell whether Hearts have really turned the corner.

He is doing his bit for the team if you consider three goals in his last three league games as a valid contribution.

In other areas there was plenty to admire in the enthusiasm and willingness of the side, especially when they had

to battle on without Derek Ferguson, who, after having been booked for dissent in the first half, was ordered off following an injudicious tackle on Mike Galloway in the second.

Colquhoun's goal came in 35 minutes, when he took his time to smack the ball past Pat Bonner after a McKinlay cross had been knocked on to him by John Robertson.

There was not much else to get excited about in a match that offered little to please those who look for more than hard work and determination.

As a spectacle it was as subtle as sumo wrestling, and nearly as ugly.

Still, Joe Jordan was entitled to be relieved after the thrashing in Bologna and the sight of his new team stuck at the bottom of the table.

From that position it is not easy to dwell on the greater good of the game as a whole.

"If we can build on that result we can get up the league and into a respectable position.

That's the first objective," he said.

McNeill was simply disgusted with his lot's showing.

Asked if his international players were fit, he looked round as if surprised that there were any in his side.

He was right.

They were not easy to spot.

Taken from the Herald