‘Celtic’s Big Guns’ made the difference – John McGlynn

The Celtic Star

·23 de septiembre de 2024

‘Celtic’s Big Guns’ made the difference – John McGlynn

Falkirk boss John McGlynn admits that dealing with Celtic’s firepower was always going to be an uphill battle despite the Bairns spirited performance…

Brendan Rodgers was able to flex his squad depth on the hour mark and despite Falkirk leading for majority of the match, hanging on to a famous cup shock was never going to happen. Celtic struggled to find the equaliser in the second-half and did not pose any threat to Nicky Hogarth’s goal.

That was until the inspired duo of Nicholas Kuhn and Adam Idah who combined twice in two minutes to put Celtic ahead in the game for the first time.

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Celtic v Falkirk – Premier Sports Cup – Quarter-Final – Yang, Nicolas Kuhn and Paulo Bernardo after the Premier Sports Cup, quarter-final match at Celtic Park on Sunday September 22, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

There was no looking back for the Hoops whose technical quality shined through and Falkirk who are currently on a 43 league game unbeaten run could not find a way at stopping the relentless pressure in the final twenty minutes.

Falkirk manager John McGlynn recognised that Celtic’s substitutions changed the course of the game, “we gave Celtic a real run for their money today. We have got to 60 minutes before Celtic bring on their big guns and that makes a difference bringing that level of player on and our guys are just feeling it a little bit. Then as the minutes go on, we are feeling that little bit tired, because we have had to run all over that park today. They [Falkirk] done as well as any Premiership team would have done.”

McGlynn, who worked under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic between 2016-2018 as opposition analyst continued, “when you are bringing on that calibre of player, it would have been a miracle to survive.”

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Nicolas Kuhn celebrates scoring to give Celtic a 4-2 lead. Celtic v Falkirk, Premier Sports Cup, Quarter Final, Celtic Park, 22 September 2024 Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

Celtic’s opponents return to league action next Saturday with an away fixture to struggling Raith Rovers. The belief from facing Premiership opposition this season is that a title charge is on and a top-flight return in 15 seasons could be in sight.

Conor Spence