Kris Boyd Was Quick To Tell Us Everything Hearts Did Wrong Against Celtic, But Why Was He So Reluctant To Give Martin O’Neill’s Players The Same Attention?

Celtic scored seven goals against Hearts on Sunday. Seven!

A performance full of attacking intent, movement, energy and clinical finishing. The sort of afternoon where you sit back afterwards and expect the discussion to revolve around just how impressive Martin O’Neill’s side had been.

Unless, of course, you’re watching Kris Boyd.

Because listening to the former Rangers striker analysing the match on Sky Sports, you could have been forgiven for thinking Hearts had simply wandered onto the pitch and handed Celtic seven goals as an early Christmas present.

Boyd did also praise Celtic. He even compared aspects of their attacking play to Ange Postecoglou’s team.

Woohoo.

However, what struck me was just how much of his analysis seemed devoted to everything Hearts had done wrong.

Their tactics were wrong. Their approach was wrong. They showed Celtic too little respect.

You almost expected him to start questioning what the Hearts players had eaten for breakfast.

Seven Goals Don’t Score Themselves

Nobody is suggesting Hearts defended particularly well. Conceding seven goals is hardly evidence of a tactical masterclass.

But there’s a difference between identifying the opposition’s weaknesses and allowing those weaknesses to become the entire explanation for a result.

Celtic still had to exploit the space, move the ball quickly, create opportunities and finish them.

Martin O’Neill’s players deserve recognition for doing exactly that.

Football analysis should explain both sides of a performance, particularly when one team delivers such an emphatic victory.

Yet listening to Boyd, I couldn’t escape the feeling that Hearts’ failures interested him considerably more than Celtic’s success.

Perhaps that’s simply how he saw the game.

As a Celtic supporter, though, I found it frustrating.

Sometimes Celtic Deserve The Headlines

Let’s not pretend Celtic have been beyond criticism this season.

European performances have been disappointing, questions remain about consistency, and supporters have been perfectly entitled to demand better.

I’ve certainly not been shy about expressing those frustrations myself.

However, when Celtic produce a performance like Sunday’s, surely we can acknowledge it without spending most of the conversation explaining how terrible the opposition were?

Boyd is entitled to his opinion, and he’s certainly not obliged to shower Celtic with compliments.

Nobody is asking him to turn up wearing a green-and-white scarf.

But if seven goals against Hearts aren’t enough to make Celtic’s attacking performance the main talking point, I do wonder what it would take.

Sometimes, Kris, the opposition aren’t just terrible. Sometimes Celtic are just – simply the best.

And on Sunday, they deserved considerably more attention for it.