Another wintry home game against mediocre SPL opposition awaited, and the fans true to form left it to the last minute to take their seats. Official attendance was quoted at 58,000 but I have my doubts. Most of the pre game mutterings focused on the lack of transfer movement once again from the Celtic board. All speculation and talk of loan deals only, did little to inspire the crowd to even finish You'll Never Walk Alone' at kick off.

Celtic started the game with the slow lacklustre pattern we have been reading so much about in the tabloids of late. Just as the two future Setanta pundits in row BB were discussing Alan Thompson's ineffectiveness in the middle, Martin pulled the exact switch across midfield that on paper gives the team so much more balance. Petrov moved into centre midfield, with Thompson switching to the left and McGeady to the right to link up with McNamara. The bhoys started spraying the ball around with increasing fluency, with one touch passes and flicks reminiscent of the Larsson days.

One such move saw Laursen win the ball on the left and quickly passed into Sutton, who stabbed the ball forward first time into the path of the onrushing Petrov. Stan sped into the space, cut inside the last defender and slid the ball comfortably under the body of Gordon Marshall. 1-0 to the hoops and effectively game over. The young Motherwell team, minus old boy Phil O'Donnell never got into the game, failing to string many passes together.

In fact, it was another loose ball in the second half that gifted Celtic the opportunity to double their lead. McDonald carelessly gave the ball away to Thompson as Motherwell tried to play the ball out of their own half. Sutton was off into space like a shot allowing Thommo to slot a perfect pass into his stride before Chris coolly beat Marshall into the bottom corner.

The remainder of the half was all Celtic, with Petrov running the game in midfield with one touch passes and mouth watering turns. However this dominance could not be converted into more goals, thanks mostly to the assistant referee at the Celtic end, who truly baffled with some bizarre offside and throw in decisions.

Juninho and Camara came off the bench with 15 minutes to go, just in time to get a warm round of applause from the masses of ‘fans' streaming out the exits. Juninho showed some neat touches but emphasised again that he needs more upper body strength before he can become truly effect in his preferred position behind the front two. Camara needs to stop admiring his golden boots so much and pass the ball when team-mates are in better positions. Ulrik Laursen had another accomplished game at left back, Sutton and Thompson also stood out, but my man of the match was Stilian Petrov - where does he get the energy from!?

Martin O'Neill described the game in his post match interview as, "OK, alright, and relatively comfortable". I actually thought we were considerably better than that - maybe he was talking about the fans????

Bring on the singing section for next season!

Joe Rotherham

Douglas 6; Laursen 7, McNamara 7, Varga 6, Balde 6; Lennon 7, Thompson 8, McGeady 6, Petrov 9; Sutton 8, Hartson 6. Subs: Juninho 5, Camara 2