CELTIC: Schmeichel, Araujo, Trusty, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Hatate, Nygren, Yang, Adamu, Maeda.
Subs: Sinisalo, Cvancara, McCowan, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tounekti, Saracchi, Murray, Forrest, Donovan

 

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Sunday Service resumes today as Celtic travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock in another must win away day. Celtic are in a 3 horse race now with the rangers and Hearts but Motherwell proved on Wednesday night that they may not be in a title race but they are the team that is capable of taking points off any of the top three especially at home.

Motherwell played Celtic off the park in Wilfried Nancy’s last away game during his 33 days at Celtic but under Martin O’Neill Celtic are a different animal. Performances have not been great under O’Neill but he seems to be able to get the results and with some new recruits in during the transfer window including a potential match winner in Alex Oxlade Chamberlain if he can get match fit and stay fit. Things are looking brighter in the East End of Glasgow.

Celtic have scored so many late goals this season and the last time we played at Rugby Park, Brendan Rodgers was the manager and Kelechi Iheanacho scored a last minute penalty to announce himself to the Celtic fans. Who will lead the line upfront for Celtic on the plastic pitch. Will it be Junior Adamu one of the hero’s of the Scottish Cup win over Dundee or will O’Neill stick with Tomáš Čvančara?.

Neil McCann is now in charge at Kilmarnock and they sit second from bottom in the SPFL table. The Celtic game kicks off at 2pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on Celtic TV for subscribers outside Ireland and the UK.

Duncan Nicolson is the ref. Scott Anderson and Alastair Taylor are the lines men. Greg Aitken is on VAR duties with Chris Graham.

Elsewhere the rangers take on Hearts at Ibrox and someone is dropping points or maybe both of them. That game kicks off at 4:30pm and is live on Sky Sports.

The Bhoys Ultras brought some of the noise back to Celtic Park  last night in their little corner of the ground. Talks are on going between Celtic supporters and the Celtic board. Let us hope that when we visit Celtic Park next Thursday night for the Stuttgart game that the Green Brigade are back in the North Curve corner of Celtic Park. Not much beats a full Paradise on big European Nights.

Getting all Celtic fans back into the stadium won’t be the answer to all Celtic’s current woes but it will be a step in the right direction at a time when Martin O’Neill and the Celtic players need us united in the stands supporting them home and away.

Last night Celtic should have had the game wrapped up at half time but were so wasteful in front of goal missing chance after chance before Saracchi opened the scoring for Celtic with a cracker of a goal.

Livingston forced Kasper into making a one handed save in the first half but apart from that it was one way traffic. The half time chat over a cup of hot Bovril was of how many chances Celtic had missed. Giving away a penalty which was converted added to the frustration in the second half as Livingston defended with every one of their players camped deep in their own box as Celtic tried to break them down and get the vital win.

As the minutes ticked by super sub Alex Oxlade Chamberlain showed his class with a superb goal. His cameo role and goal got him the sponsors man of the match award I guess they wanted to meet the new bhoy and congratulate him.

There was more drama to come in the bar at Celtic Park after the final whistle when they switched over to the Motherwell v the rangers game. Motherwell down to 10 men were 1-0 down to the visitors before Celtic loanee Stephen Welsh scored the equaliser to become the toast of Celtic Park.

Celtic remain third in the league a point behind the rangers with a game in hand and 6 points behind Hearts. Next up is the plastic pitch of Rugby Park when Celtic travel to take on Kilmarnock for a 2pm kick off on Sunday. Another win is vital if Celtic are to keep up our title dreams.

Hopefully we are celebrating a win and then all eyes will be on the rangers v Hearts game which kicks off at 4:30pm. Points are being dropped by someone or maybe both of them. The Ox and Welsh were the heroes last night and now we look forward to Sunday as the games come thick and fast.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

Martin O’Neill and Liam Scales faced the media yesterday ahead of tonights game against Livingston under the lights at Paradise. Both of them were asked about the arrival of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and all the news is positive.

O’Neill would not be drawn into whether Chamberlain would start tonight or not. Reading between the lines I think he will play some part and like so many other Celtic fans I am looking forward to seeing a player of his pedigree in a Celtic shirt.

The focus should be on the Livingston game but as expected they were both asked about the quarter final of the Scottish Cup against the rangers at Ibrox. O’Neill hopes that Celtic fans are given a full allocation for that one. It would be a massive lift for the players to run out to a full Green and White Broomloan end at Ibrox. It would be just like old times.

But before all that there is plenty of football to be played. Livingston have a new manager in Marvin Bartley with David Martindale moving upstairs to take on the role of sporting director but all our thoughts will be on Martin O’Neill and his impressive unbeaten domestic record during his two stints in the Celtic hotseat.

The game kicks off at 19:45. Celtic TV are streaming the game live to subscribers outside Ireland and the UK but it can be purchased for £12.99 (£9.99 for Ireland & UK Subscribers). Highlights of the game will be shown on Sportscene BBC Scotland at 22:40.

As always I am looking forward to meeting fellow Celtic fans traveling to the game and in and around Celtic Park.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

 

 

5:30pm kick offs on a Saturday may not be for everyone but for those of us travelling from Dublin Airport and lucky enough to live within a short drive or bus journey from the airport it was ideal.

The later than usual kick off gave us the option of flying out later in the morning or for me at 13:50 and we had very little time for hanging around Glasgow to get the 22:30 flight home. No red eye flights is always a bonus.

Celtic Park was quieter than usual as I walked up Paradise Way. The fans boycott of the game impacted that but it was not until I got to my seat just before kick off did I really see how much support there was for the boycott. The stadium was half empty.

 

I was asked why we did not boycott the game. Some of the More than 90 Minutes crew attended the game some others chose not to attend the game. Big shout out to Michael Pringle who was boycotting the game but still made the time to pick me up and drop me at Celtic Park before he went to watch the game on TV.

From a personal point of view I think it would be dishonest of me to report on the impact of the boycott from the comfort of my sitting room watching the game on TV. Yes you can write a match report from watching on TV but you can not write about the fan experience if you are not at the game.

Last weekend due to work commitments I was unable to attend the Falkirk game and watched on TV. I was asked why I did not write about the fans chants of Sack the Board. The answer was simple I was not there to report on it.

 

When the game kicked off yesterday pockets of Celtic fans tried their best to get the songs going but it was not sustained without the drums and colour of Green Brigade and the Bhoys the only noise you could hear was coming from the Dundee Fans in the away section. Chants of what a Shite home support and keep the board could be heard but when they sang the Billy Boys it was drowned out by Celtic fans boos.

Celtic continued their unbeaten run since the return of Martin O’Neill. The team always seems to find a way to win and on an evening of late drama in Glasgow it was no different. It was all even at half time as we sipped our Bovril and scoffed our steak pies.

Dundee had proved hard to breakdown in the first half and scored a cracking to goal to put them ahead early in the second half. As the game wore on the moans and groans of Celtic fans got loader until a late goal brought Celtic back from the dead as seconds ticked down on a Scottish Cup exit.

 

With the clock ticking down 3 or 4 Celtic fans sitting in front of the Celtic directors turned their attention to the Celtic board shouting at them to just go! 

What a debut from second half sub Adamu his back heel sent us into wild celebrations. Tounekti another second half sub done brilliant with his assist and in extra time he scored the winner.

The officials in charge had another poor day allowing Dundee to run the clock down and while Celtic were not allowed when the tide turned . Then there was the penalty claim inside or outside the box. Video shows inside those on VAR saw it with orange tinted specs.

 

Kieran Tierney sustained a head injury in extra time and lay still on the ground. Always worrying to see. His replacement was Saracchi. He returned from injury and he was a joy to watch. His pass selection is impressive and he can be an important player for Celtic if he stays fit.  The arrival of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when match fit could also be a game changer.

The Celtic board will finally start to talk to Celtic Supporters representatives during the week although as I write to my knowledge they have not extended the invitation to the Celtic Collective or the Celtic Trust. If the relationship between the Celtic board and the Celtic Support is to be mended talks should be all inclusive and transparent.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast