St. Mirren Preview

By: Matt | August 9th, 2008

Well, Bhoys and Ghirls, the time to laugh at the idea of you realistically possibly being Gabriel Tamas’ agent, who we will (or will not sign), and friendlies with alien formations filled with reserve players is over. Tomorrow afternoon (or early early morning as in my case) the 2007/2008 Champions Flag will be raised by Rosemary Burns. Cheers will go out, songs will be sung, but after that it will be time to put the exciting season of last year into Celtic history and move forward towards the mission of “Four in a Row”. If last season’s motto was “Keep the Faith”, then the motto this year should be “Keep the Flag”. For much of the SPL season last year, Celtic and Rangers gave each the title back and forth with key losses, with Celtic playing consistently enough at the end of the season to take the title. But before the talks of titles and cups begin, there is the whole matter of facing St. Mirren in the league opener tomorrow.

After just barely avoiding relegation their first season in the top flight, the Buddies very much played a pressure free season after the debacle that was Gretna in the SPL, and St. Mirren were able to navigate three consecutive wins at one point during the season. With safety being assured very early on, but St. Mirren still struggling for results, the Buddies mostly played for pride the second half of the season and were able to finish the season in the 10th position of the SPL, an improvement over finishing 11th in the 2006-2007 season. Last season, the Buddies never won against Celtic, lost twice and drew once. The first meeting of the season saw Celtic thump St. Mirren at Love Street 5-1. In December’s doldrums, the return trip to Celtic Park saw the Buddies get a point from Celtic. And Celtic took the last game 1-0, thanks to Shunsuke Nakamura’s late free kick masterpiece at Love Street.

This season will see St. Mirren move from Love Street into their new ground on Greenhill Road during the season. The big transfer move of the offseason for the Buddies were South Americans Francisco Miranda and Antonio Guerae Mayoral. Former MLSer Andy Dorman performed well in his first SPL season and the midfielder netted 5 goals in 23 games last season and will look to improve on that, but a major problem for St. Mirren is their lack of scoring ability. St. Mirren will probably pack the back against Celtic and hope for a draw or a goal stolen on the counter attack.

For Celtic, Captain Stephen McManus will be back in the first team after picking up a knock during a pre-season friendly. Shunsuke Nakamura is more likely to miss the first game as he is still recovering from a groin injury. Gordon Strachan has put forth many candidates to fill in for Nakamura on the wing while he recovers, such as Barry Robson, Paul Caddis, and Paddy McCourt. Robson is not a natural winger and has disappeared from pre-season games when he has played on the wing, as apposed to be an integral part of play on both sides when he is in his natural position in the center of play. Paddy McCourt got his first run out with the first team against Manchester City and looked nervous, but who wouldn’t be during the first game with your boyhood team. Paul Caddis looked good and made good decisions and some good passes on the wing during his play there and might be a good candidate for Naka’s fill-in.

Despite playing a couple of different formations in Celtic’s various pre-season travels, Gordon Strachan has announced that for the most part Celtic will play a 4-4-2 with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald playing up top, including Sunday against St. Mirren. The two scored 50 goals in the SPL season and are looking for another top striking year. Strachan hinted at a possibility of seeing some new formations in Celtic’s Champions League games, but would not commit to anything.

Celtic have never been a team to blow people away on opening day during Gordon Strachan’s reign. Losses to Hearts and draws to Falkirk come to mind and certainly Celtic will want to change that. Look for Celtic to come out attacking and St. Mirren to batten down the hatches in the back. Celtic will win, but on a narrow margin, my guess would be 2-0 with a late second goal to finalize things and start the season off right.