O'Neill's fairytale ending still on thanks to grit over guile

[BBC]

As Martin O'Neill dissected Celtic's recent results on the interview gantry at Hampden following the late semi-final goal blitz against St Mirren, he paused.

Midway through addressing the awful defeat to Dundee United as the only time he questioned his players, he remembered who he was speaking to. Beside him in the main stand, part of the presentation panel, was United manager Jim Goodwin.

"Why didn't you water the pitch?" O'Neill joked.

Sharp as a tack, a grinning Goodwin immediately fired back: "I won't show you the text message I sent my groundsman."

It reminded me Celtic's tumble at Tannadice could be seen as an outlier in more ways than one.

Even by their much-diminished standards this season, the performance was poor. Shipping two second-half goals in a tight title race prompted O'Neill openly to wonder about his side's fight and mentality.

It is, however, the only match Celtic have lost in their past nine. A stretch of fixtures in which they've been to Stuttgart, Pittodrie, Ibrox (twice) and Dens Park and emerged unscathed if not always victorious.

Coming from two goals down to Rangers would be viewed as a point gained. Knocking their fierce rivals out of the Scottish Cup on penalties paved the way to a 62nd final.

Any wins at Aberdeen and Dundee, regardless of the quality of the display, tick the right box in a fraught three-way battle to the finish line.

Throwing away a two-goal half-time lead in a semi-final to a team struggling to avoid the relegation play-off spot is hardly the mark of champions. Scoring four in six minutes thereafter, however, isn't to be sniffed at.

So, what on earth to make of this current Celtic side with six 'cup finals' to be played between now and 23 May? I won't be the only one scratching my head.

As he contemplates welcoming a deflated Falkirk to Celtic Park on Saturday, O'Neill and his coaching staff will be similarly perplexed.

How to draw out a sustained 90-minute performance, given the side has often started games well before fading? How to encourage the kind of scoring spree witnessed at the national stadium but which has been all too rare this term?

Or are results, especially at this stage of the season, the be all and end all? Is the defeat at Tannadice just a blip in an otherwise impressive sequence under the redoubtable Northern Irishman?