Celtic progressed to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup on Sunday afternoon courtesy of a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over St. Mirren. The Bhoys made it eight wins out of a possible nine as goals from Japanese duo Kyogo and Daizen Maeda made sure of the victory.
The run the Hoops are currently on is formidable, at least in terms of results. Performances could be better but manager Brendan Rodgers is having to deal with several injuries to key assets.
Numerous players who don’t have vast experience at the top level are continually playing and amid recent criticism, pundit and current Queen of the South boss Marvin Bartley has praised the Scottish champions.
He understands they aren’t winning in the manner supporters would prefer, but he defended the players: “Listen, good teams can’t play perfectly all the time”, he said (live on air on BBC Sportscene).
“The important thing is that you do keep turning out results and Celtic getting through today for example.
“Yes, it isn’t the Celtic way, they (the fans) want to see it week in and week out but the players are not robots. It is just important to keep grinding those results out and showing a different side to your game.”
The best teams know how to win regardless of performance and for the majority of the past few weeks, Celtic have done just that. Displays will get better as players such as Reo Hatate and Cameron Carter-Vickers return, and the fixture run gets lighter, though.
Bartley has been around the block several times with teams like Burnley, Hibernian, and Livingston. He understands how arduous football can get which only increases his admiration for the run Celtic are currently on.
