Celtic's Narrow Win Over St Johnstone Raises Questions

Martin O’Neill left Perth with three points and a furrowed brow.

Celtic’s perfect Premiership record remains intact – six wins from six – but this narrow win over St Johnstone raised as many questions as it answered for a manager trying to reshape his champions on the fly.

A night of experiments and unease

O’Neill did not just rotate. He ripped up the template.

Sam Johnstone, on loan from Wolves, came in for his debut in goal. Oliver Sorensen was handed his first Celtic start in midfield. Dane Murray stepped into central defence. Sebastian Tounekti and Kasper Hogh returned to the front line. Five changes, all told, on a night the manager had insisted was crucial to their title defence.

He wanted clarity on his new-look squad as he, in his own words, “juggles” players and positions during a brutal run of fixtures.

He did not get it.

Mika Baur’s first goal for the club eventually separated the sides, but O’Neill’s reaction afterwards told the story. “I’m not sure what to make of it, really,” he admitted to BBC Sport Scotland, before telling Sky Sports that Celtic are “still well short of it”.

With Ferencvaros visiting in the Europa League on Thursday and a double-header with Rangers – Premier Sports Cup on Sunday, league the following week – looming large, this was supposed to be the controlled performance that settled nerves.

Instead, it underlined the work still to be done.

The Duran dilemma

The biggest surprise came an hour before kick-off.

No Camilo Duran.

The Colombian has exploded into life in a Celtic shirt, yet he was dropped to the bench as O’Neill shuffled his pack. Pre-match debate had focused on whether Duran would play alongside Hogh or be pushed wide. Almost nobody contemplated him not starting at all.

It is hard to see that happening again any time soon.

“Our main man only came on in the last 10 or 15 minutes, so it gives you food for thought,” O’Neill said after Celtic failed to build on Baur’s early second-half strike despite a late surge.

Duran’s impact this season has been obvious. His manager knows exactly why. “[Duran’s] just been class. He looked tired in the game on Saturday, but I’m not surprised for the amount of things he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it.

“He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So, I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not.”

The message is clear. Celtic may not want to become as reliant on Duran as they once were on Maeda, now gone, but right now the team looks a different animal when he is not on the pitch.

Hogh starved, Tounekti safe

If Duran is the livewire, Hogh is the poacher. On this evidence, he needs far better service.

With the wide players misfiring, the Dane endured a grim evening. He touched the ball just twice in the box before half-time, cutting an increasingly exasperated figure as runs went unnoticed and crosses never came.

O’Neill did not absolve him of responsibility. “You just can’t put the ball on a plate for people,” he told Sky Sports. “They have to make room for themselves in the penalty box to try and score a goal.”

On the right flank, the absence of Yang Hyun-jun – so electric at the start of the season – was glaring. The drop-off to Tounekti was brutal.

James McFadden did not sugar-coat it on Sky Sports, labelling the winger’s display and decision-making “safe” at half-time. He highlighted Tounekti’s tendency to receive the ball in the defender’s eyeline, to drift inside without ever committing to the more daring option on the outside.

“He likes to come inside, that's pretty positive until the last part,” McFadden said, before pointing to a player who is “frustrating to watch” because, despite his pace and sharp feet, he “never wants to take the risk of going down the outside”.

Time and again in that first half, Hogh peeled away, pointed, demanded. Time and again, the ball never came.

Celtic looked exactly what they were: a team with five changes, still learning each other’s movements, rhythm and roles.

St Johnstone’s own reshuffle

St Johnstone hardly stood still either. They made four changes, including a first start for Joe Cotterill and a debut for on-loan Hibs midfielder Josh Campbell.

Cotterill came closest for the hosts, forcing Johnstone into a superb save that justified the keeper’s selection. For the most part, though, the home side could not sustain pressure long enough to truly test a Celtic back line still bedding in.

Sorensen, the great unknown in O’Neill’s line-up, did little to change that narrative. The manager had admitted before kick-off that he “had no idea” what the midfielder could offer. After a game that seemed to drift past the Dane, he may still be wondering.

The bolder call, though, was leaving both Duran and Benjamin Nygren on the bench. Nygren, another significant goal threat, only entered the fray with just over 20 minutes remaining as Sorensen made way.

The gamble, just about, worked. Celtic banked the win. Duran and Nygren banked a few extra minutes of rest before Rangers.

A perfect record, imperfect performances

Six wins from six looks emphatic on paper. O’Neill’s tone suggests he sees something different.

“I know the results have been fine, really fine, but when we get players up to speed, that'll be great,” he said. “I think that'll take a few weeks for players. In the meantime, the most important thing is to try and keep your head above water.”

For now, Celtic are doing more than that. They sit top, they keep winning, and they head into a season-defining week with momentum intact.

But as the stakes rise – Ferencvaros under the lights, Rangers twice in quick succession – O’Neill knows he cannot rely on scraping by and late cameos from his “main man”.

The experiments in Perth bought him answers, a warning, and just enough breathing space. How long that lasts will be decided in the next seven days.