Several Celtic players have had no qualms about offering themselves as hostages to fortune by claiming they can complete a clean sweep of domestic trophies without losing a game this season. Yet Alan Archibald, the Partick Thistle manager, believes that they have made a rod for their own backs by having gone public with those ambitions, and says that they have created unnecessary stress for themselves.
It may be whistling in the dark on behalf of the Firhill club, who lie at the foot of the table and whose last win at Celtic Park came in September 1992 — two goals by George Shaw earned John Lambie’s side a 2-1 win — but Archibald hopes that the pressure of maintaining their 20-game unbeaten domestic sequence under Brendan Rodgers could backfire on them.
“If you keep it close, what with them going for a record as well, maybe that will bring a bit of nervousness,” said the Thistle manager. “They’re desperate to go unbeaten, without a doubt, and that will bring a bit of strain as well. Do they go and keep on battering teams as they used to do or do they hold off and keep things tight? I don’t think you can turn the crowd because I think Brendan has got them all behind him; if anything it just goes a little bit quiet. As long as you stay in the game I think you can get at every team and set-plays are a big part of that.”
As a result of having won the League Cup and played in the Champions League, Celtic’s players have had to contend with more matches than their Premiership rivals and their last two fixtures produced only single-goal margin home wins over Hamilton Academical and Dundee.
“I watched their game with Dundee and they [Dundee] frustrated them,” said Archibald. “You need to ride your luck and also defend really well. We had a great second-half performance in our 1-1 draw against Hearts at the weekend and that will give the players confidence. We really turned it around. It’s tough to come back from a goal down at Tynecastle but there were a lot of positives for us after the break.”
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The winger Christie Elliott argues that Celtic’s expansive approach leaves them vulnerable at the back and he hopes to exploit any gaps they may leave. “Celtic have been brilliant this season but teams have created chances against them,” he said. “They can be got at it. Teams have created against them. It’s just a matter of taking those chances and trying to hold on.
“They [Celtic] have been better than in previous years. I’ve enjoyed watching them. They have a new style under Rodgers and they have been more consistent. They attack more. Their confidence is high. Celtic are great going forward and it will be hard but, if we can keep it tight for, then hopefully we can cause problems.
“The first 15 minutes is always important at Celtic Park, as you know they will come out really quickly. But if we can get past that spell at 0-0, hopefully we can start to create. There will be chances at both ends: we know that. Motherwell scored three against them and still lost. Do we need to score four to get a point? Maybe.”