Strachan's men signal their intent

CELTIC 5
Berra 9 (og); Donati 22; Brown 60; Vennegoor 62; Nakamura 78

HEARTS 0

GORDON STRACHAN wouldn't have been short of folk to engage with around his technical area yesterday. If the Celtic manager or any of his coaching staff had taken to communicating the score in sign language when the rout reached five, the home supporters nearby would have reached out and high-fived. For high-fives were warranted among those of a Celtic disposition on an afternoon when the Scottish champions produced their best display since they overwhelmed Benfica in the Champions League last October.

The return to that sort of irresistible form could hardly be more timely, with Spartak Moscow the visitors to Celtic Park on Wednesday for the return leg of the club's third-round Champions League qualifier. In Scott Brown and Massimo Donati, Celtic have players displaying the effervescence and imagination to tip the trickiest encounter in their club's favour. They were the men, ably abetted by Shunsuke Nakamura and Scott McDonald, who laid the groundwork for an almighty cuffing of visitors Hearts.

"It was a terrific game," Strachan said afterwards, while revealing that the hamstring injury that prevented Kenny Miller's participation would keep him out or a "wee while". "I remember Stilian Petrov put in a ten out of ten performance against Motherwell here. I think we had nine out of ten with Scott but there were four or five up there with him."

For all that Strachan's side excelled, there was something desperately sad about watching Hearts shamble around. On paper, the Tynecastle side look like a collection of names thrown together. On the pitch, they do so also. Through all this, assistant head coach Stephen Frail seems more a media buffer than an influential coaching figure in a set-up operating under the management of Ukrainian sport director Anatoly Korobochka and Bulgarian head coach Angel Chervenkov.

Yesterday Frail was unfairly asked to explain the decision to use all three substitutes at half-time - a move that led to the visitors completing the game with only ten men after Neil McCann was removed on a stretcher late on with a suspected broken angle. It was beyond him.

"We have zero complaints. We were outclassed, outfought and outplayed," he said. "This is as difficult as I've found it. We are all accountable for a performance like that but you can only do so much. I am putting responsibility back in to the players' court in terms of getting some spirit."

Hearts were brushed aside with disdainful ease, in a relaxed atmosphere yesterday. The talent drain (or asset stripping) has left them with a group of players who remain only because no other club covets them. Moreover, it has destroyed any notion of them being formidable opponents in the eyes of the players and supports of rivals.

Maybe all of that underplays the spit and polish that allowed Strachan's side to dazzle. In recent weeks, there have been signs that the potent mix of mobility and menace with which new arrivals Donati, Brown and McDonald have fuelled the champions' forward thrust would leave opponents trailing in their wake. In playing only in bursts, Celtic proved too slick for Falkirk and Aberdeen in recent weeks. Against the Gorgie men, they began as they had ended those games.

McDonald has looked entirely at home since his £750,000 move from Motherwell, his motion married to an intelligence that allows him to bring others into play in dangerous areas. That was the back-story to the opening goal in nine minutes. After beavering down the left channel, he had the awareness to look up before picking out Shunsuke Nakamura unmarked at the back post. The Japanese player's lashed-in a shot careered off Christophe Berra and flew into the net.

With Celtic attacking in waves, it was a surprise it took them another 13 minutes to double their lead. Donati carved his way into the box down the right after a slip from Michael Stewart, slaloming past the midfielder and then Berra before shaping a low effort into the far corner. The only real moment of note for Hearts during the opening period was when Laryea Kingston drove forward and from 22 yards unleashed a howitzer that shuddered the upright with Artur Boruc beaten.

Alert goalkeeping from Steve Banks and goal-line clearances were required to deprive McDonald of the goal he deserved as the half ended with Celtic as rampant as they had been at the start.

Celtic stepped it up again after the break and Hearts became utterly bereft once more. A header across goal from Vennegoor of Hesselink, which followed a pinpoint cross from McGeady, allowed Brown to force the ball in for the third goal on the hour mark. A minute later, Nakamura bedazzled Berra with a delightful piece of skill and was tugged down by the Hearts captain to pave the way for Vennegoor of Hesselink to make it 4-0 from the spot. Twelve minutes from time, Brown rampaged through the Hearts defences before laying the ball off for Nakamura to apply the finish for No.5.

The Brown show brought the most effusive praise from team-mate Gary Caldwell, the former Hibs duo re-united following the midfielder's £4.4m move from Leith in the summer. "That fee will be a bargain in years to come," the defender said. "He has everything. When I played with him at Hibs he had weaknesses to work on. But he has done that and is the complete midfielder. He will become better still and must be hard to play against."

Taken from the Scotsman