Celtic fan protest delays start as perfunctory cup win banks another cash bonanza for the rich
Partick put to the sword as Celtic ease into semi-finals
Chuck another half a million quid on the top of Celtic’s ever-growing mountain of cash.
Two days after the club’s financial figures revealed they now have £77million in the bank and made a pre-tax profit of £33million, Brendan Rodgers’ side enjoyed a leisurely Sunday stroll in the sunshine as they coasted past Partick Thistle in this one-sided quarter-final tie.
Their reward is a last four meeting against Rangers at the start of November and an estimated £500,000 from prize and television money and their share of the two semi-final gates. Money goes to money right enough.
It is the club’s reluctance to release more of those funds to support the product on the pitch, however, that continues to anger their supporters, although Celtic had no need for reinforcements here as they clinically despatched Thistle thanks to goals from Hyun-Jun Yang, Liam Scales, Sebastian Tounekti and Luke McCowan.
The level of difficulty goes up significantly now with a midweek trip to play Red Star Belgrade in their opening Europa League match, the competition that could expose the lack of depth in their squad more than any domestic challenger likely will.
It wouldn’t be a Celtic match these days without the now customary protests against the board. The visiting fans were given the entire Jackie Husband stand at Firhill and on every seat was a poster calling for the removal of the club’s hierarchy including Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Dermot Desmond. Those were raised as the teams walked out before being scrunched into balls and thrown onto the pitch, briefly holding up kick-off. There was a further demonstration at the start of the second half when banners were held up bearing the names of those clubs to have knocked out Celtic in failed European qualifying campaigns.
Perfunctory victory
With the transfer window closed until January and little prospect of significant boardroom change any time soon, this may be a protest that won’t deliver the desired outcome until much further down the line – if at all – but the Celtic support evidently are not discouraged as they continue to make their feelings known. Expect more of the same in the weeks and months ahead.
That discontent about off-field matters stands in stark contrast with the relative contentment with how things are going on it, domestically at least. This was as perfunctory a cup win over a lower division rival as could have been hoped for as Celtic, after a slow start, extended their trophy defence with comparative ease.
Thistle, going well at the start of the Championship season, had made bold noises in the build-up about going toe-to-toe with their city rivals but never really looked like causing an upset in their quest for a first victory in this fixture for more than 30 years.
Celtic’s first two goals arrived just three minutes apart midway through the first half and had the effect of terminating any possibility of a shock. The Thistle supporters had held up a banner before the match to commemorate the club’s famous 4-1 League Cup final triumph over Celtic in 1971, a famous day in the club’s history but also a reminder of how rarely these upsets come around.
They were given occasional encouragement from a couple of defensive mix-ups between Vilijami Sinisalo – making a rare start in goal for Celtic – and Cameron Carter-Vickers but beyond that the outcome was all but settled once the visitors had moved two in front.
Thistle held firm for 25 largely inconsequential minutes only to then concede in somewhat odd circumstances. Tounekti – a lively, dynamic presence all afternoon – shovelled a pass to the overlapping Benjamin Nygren whose deep cross was headed goalwards by Yang. A deflection off defender Paddy Reading gave the initial impression to many that Yang had headed into the side netting, the Celtic fans only celebrating when they saw their players do so.
Celtic pressed forward looking to add to their lead and only a spectacular save from Lewis Budinauckas kept out Tounetki’s effort. A second goal, however, would not be long in arriving.
Nygren’s cross from a short corner was attacked by Scales at the near post, his header spiralling up and in at the near post, embarrassing Budinauckas in the process. Thistle shoulders sagged and a third Celtic goal in the first minute of the second half added to their misery.
It was a first in Celtic colours for Tounekti who worked a 1-2 with Kelechi Iheanacho then flashed in a low shot, before substitute Luke McCowan showed similar composure as he rolled in number four.
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