Celtic's corner woes are frustrating supporters

By David Walton

February 4, 2019

When Celtic get a corner-kick, it’s difficult to get as excited as you used to be.

That’s mainly because the Hoops don’t ever look threatening from the dead-ball. Seldom do you see a finely whipped cross rifled or headed into the back of the net. It just doesn’t seem to happen at Celtic.

Ryan Christie hasn’t looked threatening enough from the dead ball (Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

It can perhaps sometimes be down to shocking deliveries that don’t beat the first man. It can also be down to nobody directly attacking the ball. Regardless, we don’t look threatening when we have a corner.

It’s fair to say other supporters have noticed it too given some of the recent social media reaction.

https://twitter.com/Aitken63/status/1092161092590227457

Mixing things up?

There doesn’t seem to be too much of a plan when it comes to corners.

On very rare occasions, one man may drop off the pack of players and look to run on to a low cross intended just for him. That’s the only move from the training ground that we’ve seen so far.

But Celtic could perhaps start to mix up their corner-kick takers. Christie, for all of his influence on games and his ability to whip a ball in from free-kicks – he just isn’t good at the corners.

Leigh Griffiths was a threat from corners, but isn’t available (Giannis Alexopoulos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Hoops have the likes of Callum McGregor, Emilio Izaguirre, and Mikael Lustig/Jeremy Toljan available to give it a try. Scott Sinclair has often looked to provide good deliveries in the past, but his floated crosses barely ever look threatening.

Too often, however, Christie is striking the first man with his corners. It was on show once again when Celtic were searching for a breakthrough at St Johnstone. It’s frustrating the life out of supporters, and it would be ideal if the club could sort it out.

Celtic don’t really have any excuses not to make the dead-ball work. They have the height of players such as Kristoffer Ajer, Jozo Simunovic, Oliver Burke, and Mikael Lustig to name a few. Here’s hoping, with so many players over 6ft, we can sort out this annoying frailty in our game.