Sandman’s Definitive Ratings – Celtic at Fir Parking | OneFootball

SANDMAN’S DEFINITIVE RATINGS: CELTIC @ Fir Parking

Kasper Schmeichel. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

THE FRIENDLY GHOST – 6.5/10 – Feet up, vape out, and yet… Only used his hands to fish one out the net; but still alert as we toiled to kill them off. Learned the meaning of the Scottish word, ‘shoogly’ as his defence wobbled for a bit. Moment of the day was his utilisation of moobs to take down a long ball from their keeper and play it from halfway. Wunderbra wunderbar…

Greg Taylor. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

GREGGS THE BAKER – 7/10 – Sharp as his baker’s lame, or bench scraper, doughbhoy Greggs was instrumental early on in setting the pace and pinning them in. Baked they were, though not steak-bake baked – he was still required to match his first-half endeavours later on to boost our somewhat laggard midfield. One abberant pass in his best game for a while.

Anthony Ralston. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

TONY THE TIGER – 7.5/10 – Tigerball! First involvement, first delivery – a stunner to assist the opener. Thereafter, a more than able deputy for AJ. Though not on the same frequency as Kuhn, his support play and tough combative interactions with some sleekit opponents had us in total control of the right flank.

Cameron Carter-Vickers. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

GET CARTER – 6.5/10 – Fouled at their equaliser? Takes a lot to knock this beefsteak off the ball. But maybe he was under it a bit; ensured the same situation didn’t arise again as he played a conservative 90, wary of a sucker-punch.

Auston Trusty. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

CRUSTY THE CLOWN – 6/10 – Thought he appeared leggy after his CL trials midweek. With his athleticism dulled somewhat, he still managed a solid defensive effort throughout, after being a bit static at their goal.

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Luke McCowan. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

HIGHLAND TOFFEE – 5.5/10 – Not the Luke we expected today. This game was made for him to exploit, but he remained slightly out of synch and tme, despite one fine move lacking a finish; which summed up his day – just off the rhythm.

Callum McGregor Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

CALMAC – 5.5/10 – Rest this bhoy! This HERO. This Captain 500. Half-a-thousand games in The Hoops, and it looked like he’d played them all back-to-back… Evident that it took a while to get Calmac going today and some respite – Wednesday? – is really needed to allow him to refresh and reset. Still managed to rouse his troops for a dominant second half where he found space to call the shots. Give him the week off.

Reo Hatate. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

HAKUNA HATATE – 6/10 – Another beautiful shimmy announced Reo into the game mid-first period and expected he may be instrumental in settling things early. But, nope. Fatigued as much as any of the other CL participants, and with that lull comes loss of defining edge; in his case a match-winning one, although his commitment remained full-throttle.

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Daizen Maeda. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

LORD KATSUMOTO – 8/10 MOTM – Of course! Rest Daizen – however obligatory it was – and you get the samurai blade back sharper than ever it was. That many-folded steel sliced them apart incessantly throughout he opening spell, also guiding in a rare but excellently-taken header. Maybe thought he’d faded somewhat through the second 45, but Daizen does not sleep; Daizen waits… And up he popped again with an assist to frame that almost-inevitable dramatic finale.

Adam Idah.. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

DUNCAN IDAHO – 7.5/10 – With great confidence comes great involvement – a player who does not thrive on just ‘playing well’, but who is reliant on goalscoring to ignite his footballing instincts. So, cometh the goals, cometh the mhan – suddenly he’s a handful with a workrate; physically imposing, hustling, linking, making smart runs, battering down their gates, punishing. May have had a hat-trick, but kept the scoring run going. One you DO NOT rest until he hits a duck. And currently, on this rampage, he’d probably eat it, feathers and all.

Nicolas Kuhn . Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

TAKINTE – 6/10 – With his partner in crime absent Nick wasn’t at his usual match-winner optimum best we’ve come to adore. He seemed unusually subdued until finding more space after the interval to cause trouble, and have a Pele peach of a goal ruled out.

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SUBS –

Jota is emotional after he scores his first after rejoining Celtic, Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

NOTEBOOK – 7/10 – Pure theatre: Hair by Bowie in Labyrinth, stepovers by CR7, weaving by Jinky, and the timing of Connolly* – boom! He’s back and he’s Jota on the wing all over again; just like he never left. Prepare for thrills and spills.

*Not James. Billy…

Yang. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

YING – 6/10 – Good to see a kid not bother with how poor he was midweek and give it his best for 15 minutes. Well involved too, might have scored or created one.

Paulo Bernardo with Jota. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

SAINT BERNARDO – N/A – On to double the Portuguese talent.

Liam Scales.Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

OF JUSTICE – N/A – The Ginger Jota on the wing. Linked well.

Arne Engels. .Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

THE TERMINATOR – 6/10 – An artisan with time to pick a pass – 30 yard ball of the day for idah to fluff, corners pitch-perfect.

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Brendan Rodgers. .Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

THE NOTAPRODDYGAL – 7/10 – No need to overthink this one. A pretty straighforward task was made easier by a minute-one strike. Though, he had some thinking to do as we laboured to finish them off – thus, like the French ruggers he threw on the whole bench and the grandstand finish was achieved. Tricky selection conundrum is Wednesday’s with a view to Saturday’s cup-tie and the sausage eaters* on the way in a week.

*Not what you’re thinking, Jamesy.

VAR lines

Referee Calum Scott. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

MIBBERY – 6/10  – Basically. Johnny B wih the retro-run Etch-A-Sketch line-drawing to make a confusing offside call even more confusing as we struggled to finish the contest and they edged themselves into delirium when the return of Tavpen almost redecorated the VAR room in off-white. But the resurrection of George Michael soon reverted them to the impotent goat-abusers that they are.

Jota is emotional after he scores his first after rejoining Celtic, Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

OVERALL – 7.5/10 – I’m a sucker for football melodrama and we got the mother lode at Motherwell. Cheers and tears, a returning hero, and breathtaking, captivating moments from the first to last. Lovely trolling of the Zombies to score on 55 seconds as we hunt down Celtic’s 55th title. Then Peter Grant on Celtic TV co-comms out-rambled Tom Weir – had just managed to finish analysing Daizen’s opener – until that Jota mic-drop, curtain-crash climax.

A satisfactory day at the damned – mandatory win to maintain the gap as the games tick away, and a rejuvenated lost bhoy back with a point to prove. Some interesting times at hand to see us through the winter.

Go Away Now

Sandman

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