SANDMAN’S DEFINITIVE RATINGS: CELTIC v ELVIS COMEBACK SPECIAL…
“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” – Robert Doisneau
Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo watches a shoot from Ethan Hamilton of Dundee fly into the top corner of his goal as Hamilton scores to give Dundee a 0-1 lead. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, 7 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock
VINDALOO – 5/10 – Ooh, Vinny looked a bit shaky. Zero chance of saving their goal as it flashed by him high after a freak deflection off Liam’s instep had it behaving like a stone skimmed across a loch by Homelander. But he was unconvincing in his overall play and late in extra-time he was near-suicidal with a pass out to Luke that had us under severe strain as we tried to get it over the line.
07.02.2026 Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup 5th round. Cameron Congreve high boot catches Kieran Tierney on the nose. Photo Kenny Ramsay. IMAGO
KATIE – 6/10 – “Who am I? Who are you? Is Jeffrey Epstein the chairman of Rangers? Is Derek McInnes cloned from a badger? What shape is a ball? Am I a ball? Are you the ball?”. KT’s recovering fine. Almost scored a thumper before facial reconstruction surgery Dundonian-style nearly meant he would have to borrow Davie Dodds’ passport to ever travel out of the country again. Even with the hinderance of decapitation, KT maintained his run of good form even though the side was malfunctioning on a collective level. Lifesaver on the line deep in the game before his own life was nearly taken meant he can take great
satisfaction from a winning contribution.
7th February 2026 Celtic Park, Scottish Cup, Celtic v Dundee .Tony Yogane and Ethan Hamilton of Dundee challenge for the ball with Julian Araujo of Celtic. Photo David Young IMAGO
AZTECO – 5.5/10 – Good strong start then the overall ennui got to him a bit and his errors were more common and his forward momentum stunted by indecision and the lack of consistent tempo or flow.
7th February 2026 Celtic Park, Scottish Cup , Celtic v Dundee Liam Scales of Celtic challenges for the ball with Callum Jones of Dundee. Photo David Young IMAGO
OF JUSTICE – 5.5/10 – Tricky one for the Barndarigg Beckenbauer as they sprung our backline on a number of occasions; with his sidekick involved in a beauty v ginger wildebeest grappling session, Liam’s job was to pick up the pieces and gauge the opposing counter-attacks. Once he did get their measure we appeared more composed and he was able to provide the spring by which we could break their press. However the variable nature of that defensive control did have the stands in a state of angst.
7th February 2026 Celtic Park, Scottish Cup Football, Celtic versus Dundee Scott Wright of Dundee challenges for the ball with Auston Trusty of Celtic Photo David Young IMAGO
CRUSTY THE CLOWN – 6/10 – Like Liam, stoic and purposeful. Rough-housed mad mental Midden-faced Murray when he could easily have shied away from the conflict, and indeed, once might have. But this season’s Trusty is steel, not soap, and he was willing to take the hits as well as dish it.
