They did not ultimately pay the price for their unremitting effort to push a solar eclipse into a pandemic season.
On the night of a fertile accident in Glasgow, however, there was something fitting about Celtic ‘s last hopes that ten in a row would be washed away in the cold waters of Scotland.
Shadow XI missed an equalizer injured time to Hibs hopelessly out of form feeling, in fact, like the perfect embellishment of the sentiment that has been circulating in Scottish rule – just plain – heroes so far now.
Nisbet scored his 11th goal in the league in just 21 games to leave Celtic 21 points off Rangers leaders
In a season of relentless turmoil, a campaign of bad decisions and unexpected side effects, rope hiring and questionable crisis management, Neil Lennon’s men seem desperate to find new and unusual ways to get their supporters to torment them.
The debate surrounding last night’s game, which went on without Lennon, John Kennedy and 13 members of the first team squad, represented just the latest installment in a litany of suffering for fans. -continued Celtic.
While first-team coach Gavin Strachan has managed to lead a weak but less interesting Celtic XI – a mix of familiar and youthful faces – to a reliable level, few of Hoops’ family will be able to identify the moral impact against all.
Yes, David Turnbull got a peach of a free kick to pull some joy out of the fanbase with less than ten minutes left.
But Kevin Nisbet shook from close range with the 90 minutes over, delivering just the kind of dullness that has been common for Celtic this season.
Hibs was never happy that this game was pushed back by 48 hours to make way for the Celtic position bowler.
They weren’t all excited, either, to face a home squad to no avail to further test everyone involved. Well, you can’t be too careful these days, right?
The fear of Hibs players – and their families – was almost unfounded. They have allayed real concerns about causing collateral damage to a series that, without being too intrusive, is threatening to move Scottish football back to a second lock.
None of them, of course, will even have crossed the minds of those Celtic decision-makers who signed the bankruptcy.
Yes, amid the uproar and horror that accompanied the ruling heroes all the way home from Dubai, a heavy dose of irony surfaced around this mid-season debate.
Because Neil Lennon brought his men to the Middle East in search of a more perfect brand of big club preparation.
Celtic midfielder David Turnbull scored the opening goal of the game in a 1-1 draw with Hibernian
Turnbull won, caught and got a good 20-yard free kick after being fouled by Stephen McGinn
The intention was to sharpen an abusive side. To recharge batteries and replace ideas. Properly updated and ready to resume their false title defense, they would return to Scotland ready to go on the ground.
What could possibly go wrong? Everything. Absolutely everything. And you could forgive Celtic fans for feeling worse than events.
The latest flag unveiled outside of the earth yesterday, this one featuring Peter Lawwell as Comical Ali (look it up, kids), reminded us that Lennon is not the one person is responsible.
And there is no doubt that, in this situation, the Rings must take full responsibility for the latest misfortunes of falling in his season of distant social distance.
Gavin Strachan, Celtic’s first team coach, took over in the absence of Circle manager Neil Lennon
Suffering the break-down idiocy of Boli Bolingoli, they were also hardened when several of their players were sued as a result of international exposure.
And there were more sins against them than sinning when fans broke all social distance guidance at brutal protests outside Celtic Park just last month. Not that some politicians made the difference.
But this? Just keep your hands up and take the flak. And don’t forget to try to hide behind the defense mentioned in a statement yesterday, where it was argued that ‘an issue could have happened if the team had stayed in Scotland. ‘
Didn’t, though? And Celtic themselves are effectively accepting squad members who were forced to communicate with Christopher Jullien during air travel and coaching – both of which would have been avoided if the team had been training at Lennoxtown as usual.
But Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet scored in stoppage time to save a draw.
Luckily for Strachan ‘s standing gaffer, his club’ s strength in depth at least avoided the expectation that we would see – ahead of schedule and at a higher level than expected – a full Celtic ‘colt’ team debate. in a major SPFL tournament.
Five of his starting lineup would probably make a case for being among the strongest XI available in any given position, with Callum McGregor, Ismailia Soro, Jeremie Frimpong, Diego Laxalt and – of course, overall – David Turnbull all governors.
They took a while to settle in, okay, with Kevin Nisbet and Joe Newell both testing Scottish Cup-winning goalkeeper Conor Hazard with crippling strikes. Gradually, however, Celtic began to establish at least some degree of control in midfield – thanks in large part to Soro ‘s efforts.
When Mikey Johnston caught Joe Newell in possession, young Cameron Harper should have squared to one of Tom Rogic or McGregor in the danger zone, rather than shooting from a tight angle into the net. .
Soro and Laxalt then tested Arsenal keeper on loan Matt Macey from distance, the keeper doing well each time, before McGregor pulled a wide effort after a pleasant Turnbull dink over Hibs’ back line.
The visitors introduced Lewis Stevenson or his 500th Hibs appearance at half-time, before adding a Christian Doidge target to the mix shortly afterwards.
Hazard made a brilliant save at the feet of Melker Hallberg just over the hour mark, a beautiful pass by Newell opening the Celtic defense.
But, again, Celtic were always on the lookout for dangerous creative sparks that were able to ignite the game. Turnbull did just that, winning first and then turning a free kick from what the D.
That was the only setting, however, for later drama. More injuries. More disappointment when Stevie Mallan’s free kick was not cleared, allowing poacher Nisbet to jump.