THE margin of victory took Celtic back to the top of the league, but, perhaps more significantly, the manner of their first comprehensively superior performance of the season would help dispel the growing impression that they were suffering from a potentially fatal waning of ambition.
This is no fanciful notion, but a common phenomenon among multiple champions whose appetite has been blunted by over-indulgence. In this respect, it is worth recalling the testimony of Neil Lennon in an interview in The Scotsman during the final seas
on of his playing career.
Reminiscing on his five years under Martin O'Neill at Parkhead, Lennon revealed his conviction that the best of the various teams of that period was the 2003-04 version. This was a season in which only two league matches were lost (both defeats sustained after the title had been secured by an unbeaten run of 32 games), all four Old Firm fixtures were won – by an aggregate of 7-1 – and Celtic finished 17 points clear of their nearest "challengers".
Their fifth victory over Rangers was gained in the Scottish Cup quarter-final, en route to ultimate triumph over Dunfermline at Hampden, while a luckless campaign in the Champions League prevented their reaching the last 16 from a formidable group that included Lyon and Bayern Munich.
In his dissertation, Lennon emphasised the fact that Celtic had finished the previous season without a single trophy, their failures including the Uefa Cup final defeat by Porto in Seville. They were, as a consequence, in the mood for re-establishing the domination they had achieved in O'Neill's first two campaigns.
Of the two possible remedies for a lack of hunger, trophy starvation is clearly the more drastic. Gordon Strachan, like every other manager, surely prefers the alternative, which is to revitalise through the introduction of fresh blood. Against Falkirk, this arrived in the form of Shaun Maloney, who may yet be followed by another one or two recruits before the closing of the transfer window next Monday. Maloney's return to the Celtic Park pitch was precipitated by the injury to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, the Dutch striker coming out of an accidental collision with Lee Bullen with a deeply gashed ankle in the 28th minute. Maloney may not have been single-handedly responsible for Celtic's resurgence of spirit, but it is a fact that they took the lead within three minutes of his arrival.
Stephen McManus's "header" past Robert Olejnik from Shunsuke Nakamura's free kick on the left caused deep resentment among the Falkirk players and their manager, John Hughes, as they were convinced that the Celtic captain had sent the ball into the net with his hand.
From the press box as the incident happened in real time, it appeared to be one of those miscued headers which send the ball down and off the striker's shoulder, from where it bounced high beyond the goalkeeper. Hughes was adamant that McManus had played the ball with his hand.
"I could see from the stand it was a hand ball," said Hughes. "At places like this, these big decisions have to go for you and this one didn't. It was particularly disappointing because, until that first goal, I thought we were playing well enough to take something from the game.
"Our lads got a little jaded after that, but, take nothing away from Celtic, they passed and moved really well. Personally, I'm glad to see wee Shaun back in Scottish football, because he's one of my favourite players. I just wish he'd stayed on the bench a bit longer."
Falkirk had, indeed, performed creditably for the 30 minutes that preceded that opening goal, which would be followed by the second before half-time. Georgios Samaras took the first of his two when he was released on a perfect through ball pass from Maloney, carried the ball wide of the advancing Olejnik to the goalkeeper's right, and rolled it into the unprotected net with his left foot. It was the moment which confirmed Maloney's welcome back to his former club, although he himself credited Samaras with the hard part. "The big man made such a good run that he made the pass easy," said the little forward.
Having appeared generally sluggish and unthreatening before they took the lead – in the process deepening their fans' misgivings over their hunger and determination – Celtic were transformed by the sudden turn of events. Maloney was a lively and mobile presence beside Samaras, while Aiden McGeady and Scott Brown brought constant pressure to the visitors with surging, inventive runs from central midfield and wide on the left. Nakamura provided the flair on the right, maintaining the forward momentum with a series of quick and incisive passes.
That they did not win by a considerably wider margin was attributable entirely to some slipshod finishing by Maloney and Samaras, although the tall Greek did complete his double during a second half of unchallenged supremacy. It was from another Maloney pass that Samaras broke free and sent the low, left-foot shot under the diving Olejnik, the ball squirming past the unfortunate goalkeeper and over the line.
With the first Old Firm collision due on Sunday, Celtic's return to lively aggressiveness seems perfectly timed, although there is likely to be some residual concern among supporters over their slow start to the match.
Higdon: ref 'bottled it' for goal by McManusMICHAEL Higdon, the Falkirk striker, accused the Celtic captain, Stephen McManus, of cheating and referee Iain Brines of cowardice after his team's 3-0 defeat at Parkhead.
The tall Liverpudlian seems certain to be upbraided by the Scottish Football Association for what was an extraordinary outburst.
Higdon's anger was ignited by the goal with which McManus gave the league champions the lead in the 31st minute of the game. He was not only adamant that the defender, meeting a free kick from Shunsuke Nakamura, had sent the ball into the net with his hand, but had owned up to the offence on the field. Higdon added that the referee "bottled it" by not awarding Falkirk a free kick, because he must have seen McManus's illegal action.
"McManus just scooped it in with his hand," said Higdon. "I asked him and even he said he had. You couldn't miss it. Referees do bottle it here because they keep making the same mistakes. I don't know how he (Brines] could have missed McManus's hand ball.
"But I'm really surprised I wasn't at least booked, because I kept having a go at the ref over the incident. At one point, I even kicked the ball away and I still wasn't booked." Higdon's insistence that the goal should have been disallowed was supported by his manager, John Hughes, who said afterwards that he could see from the stand that McManus had used a hand.
Higdon, ironically, revealed that he is a Celtic fan when he was asked to compare the Parkhead side and Rangers in advance of Sunday's meeting of the Glasgow clubs at Parkhead. Falkirk have now played and lost to both.
"I think Celtic are looking a bit better than Rangers," he said, "but maybe I'm saying that because I favour Celtic a bit more."
The full article contains 1210 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
