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Trivia
- Celtic recover after debacle in Europe with biggest win of the season for Celtic.
- Lots of big scores this weekend including Hibs winnging their game 6-0.
- Celtic are 3rd 3pts behind Hearts (who lost to Sevco), Hibs are second.
- Forrest is the biggest star scoring 4 goals in the first half! Rogic is the unsung hero who set up the goals. So respect to both.
- Note: Forrest had been sent off in Europe (wrongly) a few days ago so this has been one hell of a week and what a way to turn it around.
- First time a Celt has scored 4 goals in a game since Zurawski around ten years ago. Big game for him.
- Internationals next weekend which is annoying.
- Rodgers has been said that he is not interested in Aston Villa vacant role. However, reports both in Scotland & outside saying differently and that his comments are not clear. Aston Villa are in second tier in England.
- Brendan Rodgers has admitted his squad is too big. The club plan to offload fringe players in the January transfer window. The Northern Irishman noted the squad is “bloated” and “way too big”. (BT Sport)
Review
St J did two things that helped us. One is that they didn't make their pitch unplayable ? The other is that they set out to attack us from kick off. I understand they felt they sat in and gave us too respect in the LC game. I guess watching us getting outclassed by RB Salzburg must have given the impression that we were there for the taking.
Been wondering if and when a team would open up against us domestically, and finally it happened. Unfortunately, it might be a while before anyone else tries it. However, it will give the team some much needed confidence. Forrest and McGregor will be here for the rest of their careers. Others will come and go, but we need mainstays like them.
Teams
St Johnstone
- 1Clark
- 19FosterSubstituted forAndersonat 45+1'minutesBooked at 77mins
- 15Kerr
- 5Shaughnessy
- 3Tanser
- 7Wright
- 4Alston
- 28Callachan
- 10WotherspoonBooked at 75minsSubstituted forCraigat 78'minutes
- 11SwansonBooked at 48mins' Red Card
- 16McMillanSubstituted forKaneat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Anderson
- 9Kane
- 17Nydam
- 26Craig
- 30Hurst
- 32Watt
- 33Kennedy
Celtic
- 1Gordon
- 23Lustig
- 20Boyata
- 32BenkovicSubstituted forSimunovicat 61'minutes
- 63Tierney
- 21Ntcham
- 18RogicSubstituted forMorganat 69'minutes
- 49Forrest
- 22Edouard
- 42McGregor
- 9GriffithsSubstituted forSinclairat 61'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Izaguirre
- 5Simunovic
- 11Sinclair
- 16Morgan
- 17Christie
- 27Mulumbu
- 29Bain
- Forrest (15' minutes, 30' minutes, 38' minutes, 45' minutes), Edouard (22' minutes), McGregor (84' minutes)
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Articles
St Johnstone 0-6 Celtic: James Forrest fires Hoops to emphatic win
Following the blizzard of bad vibes that seems to have buffeted Celtic this season, the avalanche of goals they produced in Perth on Sunday will surely be considered the most effective means to change the climate around the club.
James Forrest may have appeared a one-man weather vane with a remarkable 30-minute four-goal first-half haul that handed Brendan Rodgers the biggest win of his two-and-a-half year tenure.
The winger demonstrated ruthless running power and finishing to condemn Tommy Wright to the heaviest loss of his six years at the St Johnstone helm.
However, as Celtic claimed as many goals in 90 minutes yesterday as they had in their previous seven games, the visitors could count on a flurry of forward players to bury opponents who simply froze in the face of such an onslaught. Forrest was to the fore in every respect, transforming his fortunes just days after receiving a straight red card and conceding a penalty as Celtic lost 3-1 to Salzburg in the Europa League.
“After Thursday night it was disappointing for everyone, especially me personally,” Forrest said.
“We wanted another game quickly to get over it, so there is no better way to do that than scoring six goals and keeping a clean sheet.
“That’s the first time I have scored four goals for Celtic so it’s great. The manager has been wanting us to become more ruthless again and I think you saw that hunger from us from start to finish.
“We couldn’t have done much better – a result like that has been coming. We have been playing okay but not taking the chances, but we did that today and the score reflects it.
“Getting the goal early helps, after that we were pressing high up the park and creating chances. The goals were unbelievable, there is nothing better for your confidence than scoring.
“Sometimes you play well and don’t score, so that isn’t always remembered.”
Celtic looked more like their double-treble winning selves at McDiarmid than at any point in the previous two months, but Forrest was reluctant to draw parallels, instead opting to slap down talk of any dressing room discord.
“We have heard people say that but since the manager came in the changing room has been very solid. It’s easy to say there is a split in the changing room when you get a few bad results.
“But you can see we are getting there, there is definitely no split,” he insisted.“You can’t keep talking about the last two seasons, they are in the past now. It is a new one, the league is tougher because teams have improved.
“It’s getting harder every year and we have to make sure we keep putting in more performances like that. Slowly but surely we are getting there.”
Chances were exchanged between the two sides before Forrest set the ball rolling with a fine strike on the quarter hour mark. A slip by Scott Tanser allowed the winger to bore into the box, where he fed Tom Rogic, who then slipped it to Odsonne Edouard. The striker’s effort was saved by Zander Clark, but Forrest was on hand to steer the ball home despite the ‘keeper getting a hand to it.
Wright admitted afterwards his side could have lost ten but for the half-dozen stops made by Clark. He also accepted that Celtic’s biggest ever win away to St Johnstone owed everything to Forrest proving unplayable in the first period.
After Edouard had made it 2-0 with a big backlift that allowed him to plant a low effort in the far corner 22 minutes in, the Scotland winger took ownership of the encounter.
His hat-trick took just over 20 minutes to complete. A scintillating move started when Edouard found him as he accelerated through the middle of a non-existent backline was followed by him playing a one-two with Rogic before stroking the ball into the bottom corner from just inside the box for his second.
That made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark. By the 38th minute Forrest had his third, pouncing on a loose ball midway inside the St Johnstone half and striding forward before coolly slotting it under Clark.
Seconds before the interval he became the first Celtic player to score four goals in an away match since Maciej Zurawski when Rogic released him on the run and he tucked the ball in the far corner without breaking stride.
Fears over what further damage might be inflicted on a bedraggled Perth side intensified when Danny Swanson brutally wiped out Forrest to earn a straight red only three minutes into the second period.
The surprise was that it took Celtic until the 85th minute to add a sixth, Callum McGregor guiding in from a Mikael Lustig cut-back.
St Johnstone: Clark; Foster (Anderson 45), Shaughnessy, Kerr, Tanser; Wright, Wotherspoon (Craig 78), Callachan, Alston, Swanson, McMillan (Kane 64). Subs: Hurst, Nydam, Watt, Kennedy.
Celtic: Gordon; Lustig, Boyata, Benkovic (Simunovic 60), Tierney; Forrest, Rogic (Morgan 70), McGregor, Ntcham, Edouard; Griffiths (Sinclair 60). Subs: Christie, Izaguirre, Bain, Mulumbu.
Referee: Kevin Clancy.
Winger Forrest started the rout in 15 minutes and completed his treble in 38.
The last Celtic player to score four in an away game was Maciej Zurawski against Dunfermline in February 2006.
Odsonne Edouard also scored in the first half, and Callum McGregor late on, with Danny Swanson sent off for St Johnstone just after the break.
It was Celtic's second win at McDiarmid Park in 11 days, but was much more emphatic than the laboured League Cup win as they inflicted a first home league defeat of the season on Tommy Wright's men.
With Hearts losing to Rangers at Ibrox, it moves Brendan Rodgers' champions to within three points of the league leaders.
Forrest cuts down St Johnstone
For the first five minutes of this game, St Johnstone looked capable of causing an upset – for the remaining 85, they were completely blown away by a Celtic side back to their irresistible best.
Rodgers has identified tempo, or a lack of it, as one of the reasons for his side's stuttering start to the season, but in the driving Perthshire rain it returned, and the goals returned with it.
Forrest – who was sent off in the Europa League defeat in Salzburg on Thursday – tormented and terrorised Scott Tanser and was as deadly in-front of goal as he's ever been in any 90 minutes of football.
Indeed, the Scotland winger has never scored more than eight league goals in a season, but somehow managed to net four in half an hour in Perth.
St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark kept out powerful efforts from Forrest, McGregor and Leigh Griffiths, but was beaten when Forrest converted the rebound after Edouard's effort was saved.
Twice Forrest linked up superbly with Tom Rogic to slot low past Clark, before travelling 50 yards with the goal, cutting inside, and sending a left-foot shot inside the near post.
Edouard got the other goal in a five goal first period – the Frenchman's control, swivel and first time shot was a joy to watch.
It was a sensational first half for the visitors, but St Johnstone were absolutely all over the place.
Celtic came out from their break like a side who never wanted one in the first place. The slick one-touch football continued and a frustrated Swanson lunged into a flying Forrest with an awful challenge that was followed by a straight red card.
Like it so often does, the sending off gave the disadvantaged side extra focus and St Johnstone held Celtic at bay until near the end. They could do nothing to stop the sixth though.
Once again the silky one-touch play sliced the blue wall wide open and McGregor slotted in from close range.
Are Celtic back? – analysis
Does this result and performance prove a side who have struggled will now start their charge back up a table?
The Celtic fans have complete faith in Rodgers and all he has asked for is patience. He will be coy about those questions publicly, but will now demand this level of performance for the rest of the campaign. He knows this group are capable, now they have shown him they are once again willing.
Rodgers will hope the international break won't extinguish the fire that has been reignited in the belly of his players. Despite the push from Rangers, Hearts and Hibs, the Celtic boss knows if they can carry this form on to the rest of the campaign, they will mostly likely retain their title.
The performance, in the first half in particular, was a signal of intent that has been sent out by the champions. What a mouth watering season we have unfolding in Scotland's top flight.
'We didn't make a tackle' – reaction
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "We started nice and bright, but then the game totally flipped. After that we didn't make a tackle until Steven Anderson came on.
"The players need to be braver on the ball, because they are good enough. There were too many cheap turnovers."
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "We're getting better step by step and getting more fluency into our performance. Today was an outstanding team performance. It starts with our pressing. If you press well, you pass well. Too many times this season we've not pressed well enough. "It was great for James and it marked off a challenging week for him. He's shown, not just in Scotland, his quality and ability and his finishing. It was an outstanding individual performance.
Full Time
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Second Half
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Kick Off
ST JOHNSTONE 0 CELTIC 6
Keith Jackson at McDiarmid Park
His side scored six goals without reply – but the talking point after the game was all about Brendan Rodgers and where his future lies next season.
James Forrest's four goal haul may well see him follow his boss to China or Birmingham, but nobody really knows what is happening after the post-match interview given by the current Parkhead gaffer caused utter confusion and unrest.
Only Celtic could turn an emphatic victory into a stampede for their manager's signature – but make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening over in Glasgow's east end after Odsonne Edouard and Callum McGregor added to Forrest's tally.
Yes, the goals reigned in for Rodgers but his time at the helm over at the place they call Paradise is surely coming to and end.
With Aston Villa circling as menacingly as Alfredo Morelos in the six-yard box, Rodgers has many questions to answer, not least which is the best airline to travel to China with. Over the next few days the current Celts boss will soul-search like never before as he draws up a list of which of the current hoops team to pack onto the 'plane with him.
With one of those garbled sentences he is fond of, the Irishman threw his current club into crisis by saying he was perfectly happy in his role and didn't want to go anywhere else. Blarney has rarely been illustrated so perfectly as by Rodgers, who was likely texting the Villa board at the same time with his wage demands and hotel rider.
Each of the six goals scored in Perth must have felt like a dagger through the heart of every away supporter as they knew every time the net bulged so did the salary package that will be offered by Manchester United after Jose Mourinho departs later this month. Rodgers is a cunning as a Scott Arfield through ball, and the long-suffering Celtic support know it.
Steven Gerrard's Rangers, meanwhile, emphatically set down a marker and a gauntlet for the next hoops boss as they dismantled Hearts at Ibrox. Whether it is Manchester, Midlands or Madrid for Rodgers, it's farewell, me old China for sure.
MOTM – Morelos (Rangers)