It was hardly a classic performance from Celtic as they huffed and puffed to put the ball into the net all day. But ultimately, it was Luke McCowan who came off the bench to find the breakthrough and score a 87th-minute winner, It was a dream scenario for the midfielder, but clearly, there is a lot of work to be done at Parkhead.
With all the negativity around the transfer activity this summer, Celtic needed a statement performance on Flag Day. This was the farthest thing from that.
Ultimately, they were the right winners on the day. But it was a narrow result, and they could have so easily dropped points on another day, just like the Rangers did against Motherwell yeaterday.
Of course, Chris Sutton did not mix his words when describing Celtic's performance and believes that it was obvious that more quality and creativity was needed in this team up top. We could not agree more.
Luke McCowan time and time again comes up trumps for Celtic. Deserved win but credit to St Mirren who were so gutsy and nearly hung on for a point. I think it’s fair to say it’s glaringly obvious Celtic need more creativity and quality in the frontline… interesting few weeks…
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 3, 2025
'Glaringly obvious' - Chris Sutton's immediate reaction to Celtic win
Let's just say that the frontline looks a lot weaker now than the one we had at the mid-point of last season. Kyogo has left, Jota is out injured for the foreseeable future, Nicolas Kuhn is also away, Adam Idah just does not seem good enough to be the regular starter up top and there is no guarantee that Daizen Maeda will be able to recreate his numbers from the previous campaign.
Celtic need more in that area of the pitch. That is very clear. But they do need more options in other positions across the pitch as well.
In many ways, this was the result Celtic needed. Yes, they got the three points but at the same time, it also showed the weaknesses in the team and the need for signings. Hope the board were watching.