Celtic are yet to find consistency in their performances so far this season.
Despite moments of positivity and brilliance, Brendan Rodgers’ side haven’t been able to put a run of wins together yet.
Given the instability within the playing squad, this is understandable. Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah were both allowed to leave with immediately forthcoming replacements.
This has left fans unhappy, adding to the instability. In Saturday’s match, the Celtic Fans Collective took silent action in the first 12 minutes of the match due to a lack of sufficient communication from the club’s board.
But one stat, revealed by a pundit, has highlighted an undesirable new pattern in the Hoops’ on-field performances… or it would have, if it was true.
Andy Halliday’s invented Celtic stat
Celtic’s Champions League qualifying defeat to Kairat Almaty was an unexpected disaster which saw the club miss out on a wad of cash – as if they didn’t already have enough.
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But the frustrations haven’t just come in Europe – the Hoops now sit second in the Scottish Premiership behind Hearts, after goalless draws against Hibs and Rangers.
But one stat, brought by a pundit with very obvious allegiances, makes for particularly interesting reading.
Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard, he said: “When I’ve watched Celtic at times this year, I don’t think they’ve hit their stride in terms of their tempo and how fluid they can be on the ball.
“I actually thought that was better again at the weekend. They played with much more tempo, they were a lot more fluid. But how many times have we said about Celtic that they just blow teams out of the water in the first 20-30-minutes?
“They’ve not scored one goal in the first half this season. So that is certainly not what we’re accustomed to with this Celtic side.”
It’s the kind of stat which doesn’t sound true, until you check and find out that it isn’t.
The Hoops scored in the first half three times this season – twice in the Premier Sports Cup against Falkirk and Partick Thistle, and once in the league against Aberdeen.
Element of truth in Andy Halliday’s comments
Few Celtic fans would deny that performances have lacked something this campaign, and often that something has been goals.
Rodgers furiously said that the team had “wasted a half” in their opening leg against Kairat, bemoaning a lack of positivity.
In Saturday’s match, the side created enough opportunities to win two games. It was not an issue of creation, but of conversion.
So the next time that Halliday criticises the Hoops, he may want to check his notes.
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