A strange Flag Day yesterday at Celtic Park but it was business as usual in front of empty stands for the Celtic players picking up where they left off last season. There would be no shock win for the visiting Accies of Hamilton and the league table would be looking familiar come fulltime. 5-1 to the Champions.
Headline grabbing Edouard hit a hattrick without breaking sweat. His quality in front of goal will no doubt have the tabloid hacks linking him with a move away from Celtic once again on a daily basis but Peter Lawell will need to show the Celtic support that until mission 10IAR is completed there can be no talk of him leaving the East End of Glasgow as the vultures continue to circle Paradise.
It was a familiar starting 11 when the players took the knee in support of the BLM movement with Scott Bain keeping the goalkeepers jersey with new bhoy, Barkas having to be content with a place on the bench. I watched the game with some of the bhoys from St. Margaret’s CSC. It was great to catch up with the Bhoys and sink a few beers with them watching football for the first time since Celtic beat St. Mirren in Glasgow back in March.
No-one could have imaged what was to follow with Covid 19 restrictions so it was great to see so many mates and Celtic fans meeting up throughout the World to cheer on the bhoys on TV from the Brazenhead to Boston, from little villages in Ireland to Australian cities. Thoughts are with the Celtic Fans in Melbourne who are once again in lockdown, a strong reminder that we still need to be aware of the dangers of the virus and the uncertainty ahead until a safe vaccine is available.
Pre-match we got together for a bite it eat as pubs are not open in Ireland just for pints and it gave us amateur football pundits a chance to discuss the Celtic starting 11. Frimpong justified his selection with a goal and is the player who’s starting 11 place ahead of ElHamed was one of the main topics of conversation alongside Kilmalas place on the bench ahead of Griffiths again, Neil Lennon’s selection proved correct with the late Polish substitute scoring the final goal of the game.
A wee singsong after the game and a few more pints before heading home and going to bed happy that the 10IAR season is off to a great start, there will be tougher games ahead as we dream of returning to Paradise, for now we look forward to Kilmarnock away next Sunday and the prospect of watching at home or in a restaurant with the Bhoys.
Andrew Milne started More than 90 Minutes in 2001. He has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic. He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Malone’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.
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