Booed Off
Second successive draw sees the Celts booed off at Parkhead

SPFL Premiership
Celtic Park
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
CELTIC - 0
DUNDEE - 0


Tonight saw Charlie Mulgrew make his 200th Celtic appearance, unfortunately it was an occasion to forget for the 29 year old. Celtic failed to find the net and were frustrated by 5th placed Dundee.

A man making his first appearance for Celtic was Manchester City loanee Patrick Roberts, the £12m highly rated youngster. At just 19, he looks to have a bright future in the game and sees Celtic as a great place to get the experience needed before making the step up to Man City's first team.

Roberts provided a few moments where his ability was on show but he too was unable to help the Hoops find a way to goal.

Elsewhere in the league, Aberdeen defeated North East rivals Dundee United, closing Celtic's gap at the top to just four points. Such is the lack of faith in the current squad and management, many fans have a genuine fear of Aberdeen pipping the Hoops to the league title. While this would be a monumental achievement for the Dons, it would be humiliation for Celtic.

Celtic are the most successful living club in Scotland and their budget dwarves that of every other club in the country. No team outside of Glasgow has won Scotland's premier competition since the Aberdeen side of 1985. Celtic fans have often bemoaned a lack of competition from clubs outside of Glasgow in the league, however the budget available to Celtic should dictate that we should be performing much better in the league.

It may come across as a slight contradiction that Celtic fans state the club should be much further ahead of Aberdeen in the league, yet still want competition. However, the supporters want competition in the form of other teams improving, not watching their beloved Hoops decline.

The word 'decline' seems like a bit of a euphemism at the moment. Perhaps disintegrate is more appropriate. It's staggering to believe that this is the same club that re-established its reputation as a club that could compete in Europe in the last decade, even reaching a European final in 2003.

Fortress Parkhead has become a free house for teams seeking a result. Tonight, Dundee showed they are no pushovers and this result, preceeded by the pitiful draw at Hamilton, yet again raises calls for Deila's sacking.

The internet is awash wish debate as to where the blame lies, is it Deila? Is it the failure of the board to properly invest? Is it a lack of effort from the players? We as fans can only speculate but the majority of the fingers are pointed towards Ronny Deila and his backroom staff.

The opening 15 minutes of tonight's match saw a flutter of chances for Celtic as Dundee appeared to be compact and subdued. Roberts weaving his way into the box only to see his shot blocked and out for a corner. Griffiths had a couple of shots shortly after, but one went over and the effort from outside of the box went wide.

On 20 minutes, Charlie Mulgrew whipped a free kick towards goal only for Dundee's Bain to force the shot wide. This was the hardest the Dundee goalkeeper had to work until this point.

Griffiths had to go off to the sidelines during the first half, fearing an injury, but he returned to the field and had another chance at goal that resulted in a corner.

The second half saw Stuart Armstrong replaced by James Forrest, who was brought on to help the Celts create more goal opportunities. Unfortunately, Dundee continued to frustrate Celtic so Deila brough Kazim-Richards on for Rogic.

Roberts managed to cut a ball back for Charlie Mulgrew, who forced the Dundee goalkeeper into a save, keeping the game goaless as full time approached.

In a final effort to get the goal that would secure the three points, Commons was brought on to replace Lustig. Commons impact on the game was minimal and Celtic were fortunate that Dundee's Kostadin Gadzhalov's header from six yards went wide towards the end of the match.

The match ended and the fans who had came out to support the team voiced their disapproval. Celtic are a team who are struggling and something has to change. Whether that be the manager, we as fans will have to wait and see.


CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Gordon; Lustig (Commons 80), Boyata, Sviatchenko, Tierney; Brown, Mulgrew; Roberts, Rogic (Kazim-Richards 61), Armstrong (Forrest 46); Griffiths.


Not used: Bailly, Allan, Ambrose, McGregor


DUNDEE (4-1-3-2) Bain; McGinn, Etxabeguren, Gadzhalov, Holt; Ross; Low (Harkins 70), McGowan, Kerr; Wighton (Stewart 76), Loy (Hemmings 68).


Not used: Mitchell, Meggatt, Arturo, Black


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