Dundee manager Mark McGhee has stated that Celtic play “blinding football” ahead of his first game in charge of the Dee at Parkhead.
McGhee was surprisingly announced as Dundee’s new manager late last week. Unfortunately for him, he won’t be in the dugout as he still has a suspension to serve. This means he’ll need to take in the game this afternoon from the stands.
Dundee are coming off a 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Peterhead last week whilst Celtic are looking to bounce back from Thursday night’s 3-1 home loss to Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League. It’s fair to say there’s a bit of a wounded animal feel to the Hoops today.
It could very well be the case that Dundee find themselves on the end of a blistering response from the Hoops. And as he spoke ahead of his return to managerial action today, McGhee was full of praise for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
As quoted by the Courier, McGhee said: “I relish the game. I have seen Celtic a few times recently and I have seen them play some blinding football. Some of the play was old-school because there was such freedom to it, with the speed, movement and goals they scored.
“We know we are going at a time when they are flying. If you don’t want to go to Parkhead and manage, what is the point? I will be managing my team in front of 60,000 fans at Parkhead. Last Sunday I was watching the television eating croissants, with my feet up. I definitely know which one I prefer.
“I am hoping I will be in the press box where I might get some type of monitor. We will be mic-ed to Simon and Dave. I will have my phone as a backup as well. I really don’t see any issues.”
Mark McGhee in for a gruelling Dundee debut as Celtic look for rapid response
McGhee, a former Celtic striker between 1985 and ’89, has been out of work as a number one since a short period with Barnet back in 2017/18. However, his last substantial role was his second stint at Motherwell – a position he held for 16 months.
It’s a surprise to see him back in Scottish football so quickly and out of the blue. His positive relationship with technical director Gordon Strachan, of course, was likely a contributing factor. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see whether he can kick on and keep the Dens Park side above the drop zone.
In the meantime, he shouldn’t expect much in his debut match this afternoon. Not against a Celtic side hurting and desperate to provide a response to Thursday night’s European humbling.
Everything points to an absolute blitz at Celtic Park this afternoon. Every time questions have been asked of this Celtic team’s character this season, they’ve come out and answered them emphatically. You can see exactly why Postecoglou is so relaxed after the rare setbacks we’ve endured this season.
It’s vitally important that 3 points are picked up today in order to press ahead with our title charge. A failure to do so would feel catastrophic to the morale levels at the football club.
But Celtic have constantly responded to adversity with a big performance this season. Dundee at Celtic Park paints the perfect stage for us to do so again.
In other news, International coach has watched every one of Matt O’Riley’s Celtic games
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
