Scottish Football / John Girvan / 23 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Tony Mowbray has told his Celtic players to improve or leave; it's the kind of threat that could work for or against you says John Girvan, but the Celtic Park club should still record a victory this weekend.

"It’s the kind of threat that could work both ways but surely his side has enough of that quality he speaks of to get a much needed win at Hamilton on Sunday. Then again Accies showed signs of improvement in their 1-1 draw at Tannadice last week and were seconds away from taking all three points."

The Celtic, Dundee United and Rangers multiple was way off last week with two of the three held at home to sides in last years bottom six. Backing Rangers to keep a clean sheet was also a bad move and it would have been worse if it hadn't been for Sasa Papac who managed to fire home a late winner and save a return of stake for Rangers -1 goal.

Profit/Loss: +2.95pts

Celtic travel to New Douglas Park on Sunday for this weekend's live ESPN fixture. Rangers can therefore open up a temporary four point gap with a home win over Hibs on Saturday. Their supporters were humiliated by Tuesday night's emphatic home defeat at the hands of Unirea Urziceni and those same fans will be back fours days later demanding a vast improvement.

Hibernian are just two points behind the league leaders and head to Govan in good recent form with three wins and a draw in their last four league matches. They were fortunate with a penalty decision in last week's narrow home win over Kilmarnock however. Defeats at Hamilton and at home to Celtic also suggest John Hughes' side is short of the finished article.

The visitors will be looking to add to Walter Smith's woes and should play at a high tempo. This could suit Rangers who I don't imagine would relish playing a less creative side that would look to contain and frustrate. The Rangers Clean Sheet market is of interest once more with Hibs [1.79] to score at any time. A home win deflects the pressure off Rangers and onto their city rivals and the [1.46] available in the Match Odds is decent value.

Hearts are currently eighth in the table, eight points behind Hibs, but can kick-start their season with a home win over Falkirk. The Tynecastle outfit has just two wins from their last six but whilst a defeat at St Mirren reads poorly they gave a decent account of themselves in a narrow loss at Celtic Park. Csaba Laszlo's men took a point at Pittodrie last week also and this is a sign that they may have too much for the league's bottom side.

Eddie May won't last much longer as Bairns boss if his side's current form continues. Three 0-0 draws and five defeats is dire and building on this at the weekend looks a big ask when you consider he has a depleted squad in comparison to last season. Hearts have been indifferent this season, struggling to score goals at times, but Andrew Driver is back in the side after injury and this is a big bonus for the home side.

Hearts should oblige in the Match Odds at [1.67] and may be worth backing in the Asian Handicap market where Hearts -1.0 goals should be available at around [2.04] when the market forms.

Improve or leave Celtic - that's the gauntlet manager Tony Mowbray has thrown down to his players. It comes in the wake of their 1-0 Europa League defeat at home to Hamburg on Thursday which marked the clubs third game in succession without a win.

It's the kind of threat that could work both ways but surely his side has enough of that quality he speaks of to get a much needed win at Hamilton on Sunday. Then again Accies showed signs of improvement in their 1-1 draw at Tannadice last week and were seconds away from taking all three points.

On the whole though Billy Reid's men have been sub standard this term and before last weekend they had just one win and one draw from their seven other SPL ties. Celtic have been playing reasonably well, creating chances and keeping a clean sheet in two of the last three league outings.

The visitors are a little short in the match odds at [1.36] but the Celtic clean sheet is worth backing at [2.02]. In this line of thinking it's worth backing Celtic in the Asian Handicap also where Celtic -1.5 goals is available at [2.07].

Recommendations:

Hearts -1.0 goals @ [2.04] (2pts)
Celtic Clean Sheet: "Yes" @ [2.02] (1pt)
Celtic -1.5 goals @ [2.07] (1pt)
Rangers/Celtic/Hearts multiple @ 3.1 (1pt)

Tags: Celtic, Hamilton, Hearts, Rangers, SPL, SPL Betting, Tony Mowbray, Walter Smith