IT’S been a nice quiet start to the new league season then.
The 2017/18 Ladbrokes Premiership campaign is barely 90 minutes old and already we are embroiled in slanging matches and right old stooshies. The slights and slurs have flown thick and fast. What on earth do the coming 10 months hold?
The Scottish champions launched the defence of their title with an accomplished showing and comfortable 4-1 victory on Saturday which put them immediately on top of the opening league table.
Brendan Rodgers’s men were, despite midfielder Nir Bitton being fielded at centre half, reliable at the back, dominant and creative in midfield and, thanks in no small part to the return of Leigh Griffiths, deadly up front.
A well-taken Griffiths double and second half strikes by Scott Sinclair and Callum McGregor sewed up their first three points. The late goal they conceded to substitute Isma Goncalves was a minor irritation.
Considering this is a side that is, according to Rodgers at least, short on fitness, was without first team regulars like Dedryck Boyata and Moussa Dembele and didn’t feature Stuart Armstrong and Tom Rogic until they came on as late substitutes, it was highly ominous for their rivals.
But, as is so often the case in our national game, events off-field have dominated, newspaper column inches, radio airwaves and internet messageboards since.
Before a ball had so much as been kicked it had all kicked off. The Parkhead stadium announcer aimed a dig at Rangers chairman Dave King. He emphasised Celtic had won their sixth consecutive Premiership crown, not the second as King had suggested.
Kyle Lafferty, the Hearts striker, showed he has not matured greatly in the five years since he left Scotland by appearing to give those Celtic fans who barracked him as he was substituted the finger in the dugout.
He reappeared after the final whistle, walked antagonistically in front of the main stand and handed his strip to one of the travelling supporters left in the ground. There won’t be a dull minute when the former Rangers man is around this season.
Then there was Jon Daly. It is doubtful there will be a more magnificent rant than the one the man who has been put in temporary charge of the Hearts first team launched into following the final whistle between now and May.
Daly branded comments made by Rodgers about the football structure and recruitment policy at Tynecastle following the sacking of Ian Cathro “disgusting”, “disgraceful”, “unacceptable”, “unsavoury” and “farcical”.
So you thought Brendan overstepped the mark then Jon?
The one-time Dundee United and Rangers forward felt the ex-Swansea City and Liverpool manager had broken an unwritten rule in football not to speak about other clubs and their players in derogatory terms with his pre-match remarks.
He may have a point. But was Rodgers right? The encounter at the weekend suggested the Northern Irishman - who insinuated that director of football Craig Levein and former manager Ian Cathro had not been working in tandem due to the arrival of players, such as Christophe Berra and Lafferty, who didn’t fit into their system – may have.
Daly changed the formation after taking over from Cathro last week and his players appeared far more comfortable with the new set-up. Certainly, they were, despite the defeat they suffered, better than they had been in their loss to part-time League Two opponents Peterhead or their draw with Championship Dunfermline the week before.
Arnaud Djoum, the Hearts midfielder, admitted the change to a more straightforward style of play had suited their strengths.
“When he (Cathro) was there, we tried to give everything and play how he wanted to play,” he said. “But I don’t know if it was the way to play for this league. If he (Daly) wants to play more direct then maybe it is better to get points. We try to get better.
“We tried to play more direct with some organisation. I think it worked well in the first half. I am confident we can get a lot of points with this way of playing.”
Hearts’ next games against Kilmarnock, Rangers and Motherwell away and Aberdeen at home will be a better barometer of whether the brand of football advocated by Cathro or Daly is best for the likes of Berra, Djoum and Lafferty.
There is no such uncertainty at Celtic. Their approach will prove too much for their rivals and will ensure their continued domestic dominance.
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