Plenty of action, but Strachan’s flawed script misses vital points

Hearts 1
Celtic 1

Once upon a very long time ago, the Saturday matinee performance for the Glasgow film aficionado was known as "the minors". The dashing young blades of the area, and I use the term inadvisedly, would congregate at the pictures and create bedlam while a movie of improbable thrills played out in front of them.

There was much about Tynecastle on Saturday morning that revived memories of the packed pits of old where one could never hear a line of dialogue while opposing factions assaulted each other with pithy epithets and frozen drinks. The atmosphere was raucously splendid in the capital and the football was never less than captivating. The synergy between spectators and footballers made for what Gordon Strachan afterwards described as "good fun".

However, the Celtic manager also witnessed the shrivelling, yet again, of a lead for his club in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. The match can be categorised in three acts: the early period when Celtic scored, the middle period where Hearts had the edge and equalised, and the late green period when Celtic could have snatched a winner but did not.
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There was nothing wrong, then, with the action but the script had its flaws for the Celtic support. Strachan, again, chose a team to meet the demands of a tough away fixture. Unfortunately, it was not his best team and his casting was faulty.

He insisted that he had to pick a team to include "flair and height". So after two comfortable, consecutive victories in the league, he dropped Marc Crosas and Shunsuke Nakamura and replaced the latter with that giant, Willo Flood.

Strachan, though, did later pick his best team by bringing on Crosas and Nakamura. By then, though, Hearts had equalised, through a Bruno Aguiar free-kick, spectacularly cancelling out Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's early opener.

Flood, who looked like a minor searching for parental guidance, was back in the foyer and Stephen McManus was using ice to reduce swelling on an ankle rather than pelt somebody in the front row.

Strachan is left to think again.

Hearts are a strong, technical side. Strachan's allusions to their height and physical approach are valid but the Jambos can play football. Aguiar was clever and forceful until he faded, Calum Elliot was resourceful and dangerous, and the Edinburgh side's defence was mainly solid.

With Andrew Driver and David Obua providing pace and technique out wide, the only failure of the day was goalkeeper Janos Balogh who allowed Vennegoor of Hesselink's effort to escape him in the opening minute and then had little of consequence to do until the final reel of an enthralling adventure story when Nakamura, Glenn Loovens and Koki Mizuno missed good chances.

Csaba Laszlo will be happy to leave matters as they are as his side march to a Europa Cup place. Strachan, in contrast, seems to believe he must change personnel to adapt to challenges posed by lesser clubs. This is a case of if it ain't broke then strip the engine, change all the settings and hope that it ticks on.

There are misfiring parts, though. Crosas and Nakamura should have started. McManus should not have been on the park. There was a large question mark over the captain's fitness but no-one at Celtic seems to question his form. His departure at half-time was blamed on the ankle injury that has dogged him recently. But Elliot had given him the most uncomfortable of afternoons and the Celtic captain had already been booked.

Gary Caldwell, competent if hardly creative in midfield, switched to central defence with Loovens and Celtic looked immediately more secure.

Strachan and Celtic are six games away from a fourth consecutive championship but while Strachan fiddles with the midfield there are other parts of the script that need revising as the final act approaches.

Artur Boruc still seems fallible at free-kicks. He has lost goals from this position to Hearts, Dundee United, Aberdeen and Villarreal. He cannot be dropped but maybe somebody at Lennoxtown could advise him on his positioning. McManus can be dropped.

Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald cannot hold the ball up. This causes problems at away grounds.

Shaun Maloney, on the bench on Saturday, will be a welcome option for Strachan. Brown cannot hold possession and his suspension might not be the disaster that everyone predicts, particularly if Crosas is allied with a rejuvenated Paul Hartley or Barry Robson.

This all adds up to an intriguing end for SPL: The Movie. Strachan faces severe critics if it is not Celtic Title IV.

Taken from the Herald