SANDMAN’S DEFINITIVE RATINGS: CELTIC v DEEK’S DIETS…
“And it all breaks down at the first rehearsal…” – ‘Nancy Bhoy’ by Placebo.
Oisin McEntee of Hearts beats Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel with a header and scores to give Hearts a 0-2 lead. Celtic v Hearts, Scottish Premiership, Football, Celtic Park, 07 December 2025. IMAGO Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock
THE FRIENDLY GHOST – 6.5/10 – No calamity from Kasper as he was exposed like Jamesy’s third leg for both goals. Did his thing when he was counted on to defy them and provided the Celtic highlight of the day when he Panenka-ed the entire stadium with a perfect dinked clearance that triggered a few overly-sensitive souls’ anxiety complexes.
Kieran Tierney and Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy are seen during the Premier League match between Celtic and Heart of Midlothian at Celtic Park on December 07, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
KATIE – 6/10 – Well, KT passed the isolation test, finding no problem playing in a back three and was solid enough, also providing the goal nobody in advanced positions could be bothered to…
Liam Scales of Celtic. Photo David Young (IMAGO)
OF JUSTICE – 5.5/10 – Liam was quiet, mainly because his big American cohort wouldn’t let him have a kick. When he did have it, his often precise passing failed to manifest and we never got the sweeping, forward changes of momentum he can bring. Did cope reasonably with Hearts’ skill-merchants.
Auston Trusty of Celtic is seen at full time during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Hearts at Celtic Park on December 07, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
CRUSTY THE CLOWN – 7/10 MOTM – “It’s ma ball and you’ll only get a shot of it when I decide…” For the majority of the game – certainly the opening 45 – it felt like Austin v Celtic v Hearts. He had more touches than Prince Andrew at a high school prom and seemed our only, if not main, distribution channel. Both Man of the Match and flaw in the system – too easy to isolate and too far from his wide-man to guarantee igniting attacks with perfectly accurate balls every time; thus he had to take a few strides which gave them a chance to reset and cover. For a lefty in such a solo, specialised role, he did pretty well, though.
Frankly, I thought your marks were
generous, to put it mildly. Trusty was good, yes, but totally exposed. Game should have been over in twenty minutes but, again, the finishing was dire. Feels like back to square one. And as for that child’s toy, the manager had, is that a joke?
You could see that Wilfried ‘s previous experience was with an under-14 Girl’s team ; so yesterday’s display by Celtic should have given him glorious bouts of ,” Deja- vue” where he could hark-back to days gone-by :-
Second-best in almost every challenge , Hearts won almost every second ball , no running off the ball , players like:- Hetate , Negran and Engels having no stomach for the conditions . Players pulling-out of the challenge making Devlin of Hearts look like a “World-class player” . Yes, Wilfried you were back to watching your under-14 girls .
I hope that I am wrong but I can’t help but think that the chant by Christmas may be , ” Nancy , Nancy get to F*** ” and take your toy Tactics-board with you . Again , I hope I am wrong and yesterday’s conditions were more suited to ” Hammer-throwers ” than football players . Let’s hope on Thursday he puts men on the field rather than 14 year -old girls .