Fc Basel 0 Celtic Glasgow 1

New season, new setanta coverage same old Scott “I’M JVoH best pal ye know” Booth inane ramblings. Wie Davie Hay in the studio giving his ying to Scott’s yang then surely we can hope for a more balanced view i thought but as it turned oot i didnae need to worry as Mr Booth was kind to us, well he had no reason no to be.

So the Celtic tour kicked off in the less than splendid surroundings of what looked like Glebe Park in January after tattie howking season. The hoops, lead oot by Elvis, contained another two ex-gers in the line up, and to tell you the truth, two oot of the three i widnae be too fussed if they got a joe le max oot of the club, but hey ho.

The team started as Brown, Naylor, Elvis, JFK, Wilson, McGeady, Donati, Grav, Barney, Miller and Magic. Numerous subs, too many for me to list ensured that 18 players were used, including Jaro and Balde, and all that played would walk into any team in the SPL. Canny read anything into formations and subs as it’s only a sharpening up exercise at this time.

Due to 5 a side commitments i only saw the 1st 10 mins and the last half hour but here is ma impressions

0-10 mins- The game starts off like any pre-season game, misplaced passes and players struggling to find the pace. Good interplay, after 53 seconds, between Barney and Wilson leads to a quality baw in the box where Magic connected on the half volley and crashes a shot of the crossbar.

From the start Donati patrols the deep midfield and takes up the regista role. He plays a number of forward but wayward passes. At least they go forward.

The Grav also starts off not to bad, first few touches and passes find their targets. McGeady looks to be struggling wie the park....but Wilson looks comfortable.

64mins to 90mins- By this time the fact Basel are two weeks and a game ahead of the Hoops was beginning to tell. But it was the hoops that created the mair clear cut chance.

The lean mean blonde streaked Virgo getting a run oot at RB swung in a Beckhamesq cross which was meet by Skippy. The keeper made a decent save but the heider didnae have enough power to trouble really.

Minutes later Balde falls asleep and losses his man, he is caught, again, wie a through ball in behind and the big man turns as slow as a ship in the Clyde. Only poor finishing prevents an equaliser.

It’s noticeable that everything guid aboot Celtic in this period is coming via Scott Broon. He drives the team up the park 20 yards every time he wins or receives position. Something we have been missing since Stan P left.

One such 30 yard run leads to him being brought doon at the edge of the box. Deek who is doing ok, decides to try and hit the guys from the Saltmarket bus wie the baw from the resultant free kick.

Lack of match practise means we hang on, withoot really being in danger at any point. We struggle to hold onto the ball in the final third but that should come.

Summary- Guid run oot wie all getting some leg time. The fact is this pre-season is already better than last, wie a goal and a victory.

Now the goal, i saw the highlights, Barney intercepted a shoddy pass, drove on, beat a man and slipped a baw that reeked of natural ability thru to Kenny Miller who still had a lot to do. His finish was also natural or unnatural for oor Kenny wie a wee dink over the on rushing goalie.

The kind of goal we expect the hoops to score. A goal created by creative thinking in the midfield. Something we want to see more off.

The Hoops will be sore this morning and tomorrow’s match will probably see more heavy legs towards the end of the game. Again we shouldnae read too much into the result, formation and performance but last night i think we saw enough to hope the hoops will be more dynamic next season.

Forza The Hoops.