Hearts may have leapt to the top of the table above Rangers yesterday after a comprehensive 4-0 victory over their Edinburgh rivals Hibernian, but Gordon Strachan finally appears to be winning his battle for hearts and minds in Glasgow's East End.
If the critical element of his club's support are in need of a little more persuasion about the talents of their new manager, they should look no further than the prolific John Hartson. The 30-year-old forward scored his fifth goal in a week as Celtic overcame a stubborn Dundee United side at Parkhead on Saturday.
Neil Lennon, club captain, offered a strong defence of his new manager after Tuesday night's 4-0 win over Artmedia Bratislava and Hartson kept up that support following Saturday's match and offered an insight into the differences between Strachan's and Martin O'Neill's training regimes.
"Gordon is more of a training-ground manager than Martin was and he's always trying out new formations with us," said Hartson. "The training last week was great especially after the 4-0 win. It just shows what a difference a win can make to the atmosphere. If we can keep up with Rangers, a team who have supposedly got the title wrapped up already despite having pipped us by the narrowest of margins last season, then we'll be doing well."
Hartson opened the scoring after 36 minutes, latching on to a through-ball from Mo Camara to slide the ball under Derek Stillie in the United goal.While Hartson's words of support for Strachan are significant, so too is the form of the Welsh international, who many people felt was past his best last season. Strachan pinpointed Hartson as his key striker for this campaign and has not been let down. "I feel a lot fitter under Gordon and have had a good pre-season which is helping my all-round game," Hartson added.
Bemused journalists gazed awkwardly at the floor during a Parkhead press conference 10 days ago as Strachan spoke of his desire to emulate the free-flowing football which characterised the recent Arsenal v Porto pre-season match.
Yet Celtic's new style is already eminently more pleasing on the eye than under O'Neill and in Shunsuke Nakamura Strachan appears to have unearthed the Scottish game's finest entertainer since Lubo Moravcik. The 27-year-old enjoyed "as good a debut as I've seen for a long, long time," said his new manager.
Shaun Maloney, who again impressed during his short stint on the field, curled a beautifully executed cross into the path of Craig Beattie, who volleyed Celtic's second goal.
Rangers were 1-0 winners at Inverness on Saturday when captain Barry Ferguson nudged in the second-half winner after a header from Croatian striker Dado Prso.
