DUNFERMILNE manager James McPake has experienced the challenge of attempting to stop Celtic firsthand, and it has left him in awe of their talent.
He recalls a game last season where his team tried to press the Premiership champions and ended up losing 6–0.
Despite his own aversion to sitting back and playing defensively, he admits that trying to work out a strategy to stop them leaves his head spinning.
He notes that even if his team can last 20 minutes of trying to press them, they can often be three goals down before they know it, and the only thing to do is to try and limit the damage and sit behind the ball.Â
McPake, the former Dundee manager, said: [Daily Record]
“They are frightening. I can go back to last season and trying to manage against them, and now when I watch Celtic I think about how I would set up and what would I do.
“I need to turn the TV off because my head just fries. I go back to my playing career and I have played against them where we have just sat in and I hated it, against Rangers as well at a point they were really good.
“You might get through 20 minutes but there could be 20 minutes to go and you are 5-0 down. We lost 6-0 and we tried to high press them.
“But the pressing only lasts for a wee while and you are three goals down anyway, then it’s damage limitation. He says they never stop and they are so good.”
Teams try to stop Celtic from playing football, and sit with all their players behind the ball, looking to frustrate Celtic.
St Mirren has tried to play a game of football, and pressed Celtic at Parkhead. They did cause Celtic some problems and gave them a good match, but in the end, Celtic’s quality shone through.
McPake has secured promotion to the Championship with Dunfermline, with Celtic B star Ewan Otoo on loan at the League 1 side.
