St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson shares what ‘people don’t see’ about Celtic after suffering 3-0 defeat

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It wasn’t an easy afternoon for St Mirren up against reigning Scottish Premiership champions Celtic.

The Bhoys were on top form throughout the 90 minutes in Paisley, securing a 3-0 victory thanks to fine finishes from Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Alistair Johnston.

Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the performance and pundit Chris Sutton, on co-commentary duties, lauded it too.

For Buddies boss Stephen Robinson there was no joy to take from Celtic’s performance but he did acknowledge that the Bhoys deserved full credit for the win and the way they approached the match.

Robinson says Celtic did ‘the dirty bits’ well vs St Mirren

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I think credit to Celtic. It was a horrible day, they came and did the dirty bits. Their players were all shouting to pick up second balls. That’s what people maybe don’t see about good teams – they do the simple things well, the free stuff.

“We didn’t do that. We didn’t pick up second balls, we didn’t land on the ball or pass it. Credit to Celtic. Were we at our best? Not at all. We have to be better than that.

“We certainly didn’t carry out the gameplan, that’s for sure. We didn’t implement it anywhere near what we wanted to.”

Celtic have quality and grit right now

Celtic’s attacking ability was on full display today and that will capture the headlines. However, Robinson is right to point out the team ethic and togetherness that the Bhoys are showing right now.

They’re getting stuck into these early-season matches. They know there are physical tests and it requires a bit of dig and grit to come out on top. You can’t just swan through the 90 minutes and expect victory.

That’s what is so pleasing about this group. There’s an aggressiveness and intensity to the way Celtic play off the ball and it sets the team up well for taking the game to opponents. Long may it continue.