I watched Celtic beat St Mirren and noted an ominous warning from a flawed squad amid major killjoy

Celtic extended their perfect start to their Premiership defence as they came from behind to defeat St Mirren and win their fifth league match of the season. Goals from Liam Scales and Hyunjun Yang cancelled out Nikolas Agrafiotis’ first-half penalty and settled a compelling and often frenetic clash under the Saturday night lights in Paisley. Here are three talking points from the match:

Celtic still aren’t fully firing but already look like they could run away with the title

Martin O’Neill mentioned after this victory that there had been a 10 to 15-minute spell in the first half when his team had been “well and truly second best”. There was also a period towards the end of the contest when St Mirren blitzed them in attack and did everything but score. Craig McLeish’s side probably could and should have earned a draw.

Celtic's Hyunjun Yang scores to make it 2-1 over St Mirren at The Marbill Coaches Stadium. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group) | SNS Group

But they didn’t and instead it is Celtic who are making the early running, sending a warning to any would-be title challengers that they will again be the team to beat this year. Hearts could reduce the gap to three points with a win over Dundee this afternoon but there is something about Celtic’s flawless start, with their flawed squad, that already looks quite ominous for the others.

Unlike last year’s tumultuous season, they have rediscovered that canny knack of winning domestic games even when they are not at their best. And if the team as a collective is still to properly click as their 10 summer recruits take time to bed in, then they have a long list of individuals capable of propelling their team to victory by sheer will and determination alone.

Camilo Duran, who provided the assist for the winning goal, has made an instant impact, Yang was a constant threat down one wing and Haissem Hassan down the other. Kasper Hogh will return soon from injury to add goals and a physical threat. St Mirren battled valiantly and defended well for the most part but still couldn’t prevent Celtic from prevailing. They will not be the last team to endure that fate this season.

VAR sucking the joy out of more big moments

The chances of seeing Martin O’Neill springing six feet high in the air to celebrate a goal these days are fairly slim. One, because he’s not the young-ish man he was when he took charge of Celtic the first time a quarter of a century ago. And secondly because VAR has had the effect of curtailing displays of instantaneous joy and replacing them with moments, sometimes minutes, of joy-sucking tension.

Saturday’s game was filled with such incidents. There was the long wait before the production of unclear and unconvincing lines to prove Camilo Duran was offside when he touched in Yang’s goalward effort and then no lines at all to help referee Ryan Lee decide with the naked eye that Shim Mheuka had also gone a fraction early as Celtic chased a third goal. Both were probably correct decisions but the length of time it often takes to get there is an undoubted ongoing frustration for those on the pitch, in the stands and on the touchline.

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill gives instructions during the win over St Mirren. | SNS Group

“You just cannot celebrate,” admitted O’Neill. “It's the first thing you think. That goes for every manager, every coaching staff. You just can't do it until it's finally decided.”

Are St Mirren the real deal?

There wasn’t exactly a joyous ticker-tape reception through the streets of Paisley this summer when Craig McLeish was appointed as permanent St Mirren manager. The former youth coach’s interim spell had been unconvincing, with the team avoiding relegation only by the skin of their teeth.

The club, though, identified McLeish as the ideal figure to front a behind-the-scenes revolution involving a new scouting and recruitment set-up amid a drive to make the squad younger and more dynamic. Gone is the Stephen Robinson style of getting the ball into the opposition final third as quickly as possible, replaced by a patient and progressive passing approach.

So far it seems to be working. Yes, this loss was another bump in the road to go with the Premier Sports Cup mauling by Rangers but overall the early signs are encouraging. Only poor finishing – they created 19 shots against Celtic but scored only through a penalty – and some slack passing in midfield are letting them down. Wednesday’s return to Ibrox will give another indicator of how ready they are to at least push for a top six finish this season.