Celtic 2 - 1 Queens Park: Queen's Park earn plaudits as Celtic toil to cup victory

IT IS both unfortunate and inevitable that the type of admirable performance produced by Queen's Park on Saturday should be overshadowed by the increasing doubts surrounding Celtic's condition both on and off the pitch.

The Scottish champions stumbled unconvincingly into the last eight of the Homecoming Scottish Cup with a slender victory over the Second Division amateurs who richly deserve all the plaudits which can be bestowed upon them for a display which would certainly have merited a Hampden replay.

But while Gardner Speirs and his young squad left Celtic Park with their heads high, Gordon Strachan was left scratching his head after another 90 minutes from his players which lacked both cohesion and conviction.

There is perhaps nothing wrong with Celtic that a victory in next Sunday's Old Firm fixture would not cure, but there is an overwhelming impression that their difficulties run a little deeper than a simple blip in form.

Last Thursday's training ground fracas between Artur Boruc and Aiden McGeady, confirmed by Strachan, who dismissed its significance and stated he had dealt with it swiftly, would not in isolation be a source of great concern for Celtic. As the manager observed, such incidents are fairly commonplace at every club. The Polish goalkeeper and Republic of Ireland winger both played on Saturday, although their handshake before Celtic's traditional pre-match huddle looked anything but heartfelt. The worry for Celtic supporters would be whether their spat is symptomatic of wider disunity in the dressing room.

Shaun Maloney, back in the side for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury against Hearts in December on the occasion of McGeady's infamous verbal attack on Strachan, was typically frank afterwards in admitting to uncertainty and disquiet over Celtic's present state.

"All clubs seem to have these kind of things in training between players," said Maloney, "but I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I hope there won't be any more of it.

"I don't think there are problems (in the dressing room), everyone seems to get on pretty well. You would need to ask them. It is a contact sport and things happen in training, but you don't want to see it too often.

"No disrespect to Queen's Park, who played their hearts out and should be proud, but we are not happy with the way we played. That can't happen against Rangers next week, there is a not a choice for us in that respect."

Celtic lacked vibrancy and guile on Saturday, not all of which could be put down to Strachan's decision to rest both Scott Brown and Shunsuke Nakamura. There was a general flatness to their play which possibly stemmed from subconscious complacency against the 20-1 underdogs.

Their 2-0 half-time lead was flattering and a harsh reflection of the contribution made by Queen's Park, who were undone by defensive weakness in the air. Gary Caldwell headed Celtic in front in the 19th minute after Darren O'Dea had nodded Lee Naylor's free-kick back across goal. Another Naylor delivery in first-half stoppage time saw Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink rise to create the chance which Scott McDonald headed in from close range.

Rather than provide the platform for Celtic to move through the gears and emphasise their superiority after the break, however, the second half largely belonged to Queen's Park, who were rewarded for their commitment to passing football and a positive 4-4-2 formation which few SPL clubs would consider employing at Parkhead.

Stevie Nicholas, the former Motherwell and East Fife striker, led the line superbly for Queen's Park and was unfortunate not to score when diverting a difficult chance just wide of Boruc's left- hand post. "No-one gets paid at Queen's, but we all just want to play football," said the 27-year-old. "I fell out with football after Motherwell went into administration, it affected me badly, but I'm enjoying it again now.

"I thought we pushed Celtic all the way today. We are gutted at the result but we did ourselves proud."

The goal Queen's richly deserved arrived in the 66th minute when, after fine work on the right from the excellent Ryan Holms, substitute Adam Coakley netted from close range after Boruc had failed to hold his first attempt.

It was a joyful moment for Coakley, a boyhood Celtic supporter, and the 1,200-strong travelling support. Sadly, referee Willie Collum failed to appreciate it, issuing a fateful yellow card to Coakley for celebrations in front of the Queen's fans which were hardly excessive.

Even the Celtic fans jeered Collum's soulless decision, but such is the rising star of Scottish refereeing's blinkered devotion to the letter of the law. When Coakley tangled with Naylor in the 80th minute, Collum administered a second yellow and effectively crushed Queens' hopes of forcing a replay.

"Obviously you need to get booked when you celebrate like that because it's in the rules," said Coakley, "but I think the referee should have maybe given me the benefit of the doubt for the second one. It was only my first tackle and there was no intent there. Even Gordon Strachan said to me it was a joke and that it was never a sending-off."

Strachan, who saw midfielder Marc Crosas suffer an ankle injury which may rule him out of the Old Firm game, spared only Darren O'Dea and Paul Hartley from a withering critique of a performance which he felt shamed the traditions of the club. "It wasn't very good, it was disappointing," he said. "You hope that you set standards over the years, and the teams that have played here before have set standards.

"Players who have played here before would not have been proud of that performance and we are not proud of it.

"It's not a good standard to set for anybody to come after us. So I think most of the praise has to go to Queen's Park."