Football: LIFE'S A SWITCH AND THEN YOU FLY! SPL Strachan supersubs keeping Celts on cruise control.

Byline: By Keith Jackson 

CELTIC 1

ABERDEEN 0

IT could be that he's very, very lucky - however, recent evidence suggests it's far more likely that Gordon Strachan is just very, very good.

The truth is probably somewhere in between although it's hard to tell for sure and not least because Celtic's manager has a habit of playing down his own importance to the rise and rise of his team.

A few weeks ago he suggested we've all been taken for mugs by those who claim there's a secret science behind the business of picking players and selecting tactics.

Strachan would have us all believe this management lark is all very straight forward. He insists games are won and lost by players, not coaches.

Yet over the last couple of weeks Strachan could not have played a more critical role in Celtic's success had he been 15 years younger and out there in the thick of it all with his boots on.

The decisions he has made in the heat of battle have helped Scotland's champions defeat Manchester United to cement a place in the last 16 of Europe's premier event and secure four precious SPL points in successive domestic struggles against Hibs and, on Saturday, Aberdeen.

Celtic's last three goals have been scored by his substitutes. And, to further cloud the issue, the changes he's made have been about as straightforward and easy to suss out as Einstein's theory of relativity.

Against United Strachan used six different midfield formations in one half in a desperate bid to steady the ship.

At Easter Road, with his team two goals down and in serious bother, he sent for Evander Sno - a defensive specialist - who duly scored his first goal for the club before Strachan's other sub, Aiden McGeady, piled in with an equaliser.

Fast forward six days and Strachan was at it again. Nil-nil at home to Aberdeen. His team is uninspired, lacking direction and heading towards another two dropped points.

The worst of the lot - and by some distance - is Jiri Jarosik, who has played for more than an hour as a second striker, sloping around with all the drive of a teenager trying his damnedest to miss the school bus.

But Strachan has identified something in the Czech that the rest of us have quite clearly missed. So when the time comes to make a change it is Thomas Gravesen, whose all-action style is more akin to that of a Saturday night skinhead trying to get to a fight before the last punch is throw, and not Jarosik who is withdrawn.

Jarosik is told to drop back into midfield with Maciej Zurawski thrown on to partner Kenny Miller in attack.

And what do you know? Within four minutes of this surgery, just as Jarosik has made it back into his new position, Zurawski has scored and three more points are in the bag.

And so the thought occurs again. Is it good luck or good management? With each passing week, the answer becomes clearer. Sure, Strachan might carry some good fortune but the truth is he is earning his breaks.

At a time when his players are clearly struggling to function, it is Strachan's astute work which is seeing them through and forcing them forward on a relentless march towards the title.

No wonder he looked drained again as he sat there fielding questions shortly after the final whistle had sounded on this latest league win.

When asked if he could take pleasure out of his handiwork he said: "Not really. We'd like to win games earlier than that but there are different periods in a season.

"Sometimes things are going right for you but at this moment it seems we just have to shake it up a wee bit now and then."

Strachan went on to admit he was pleased with the discipline of his players and added that Jarosik was close to having a good game which, on the face of it, made about as much sense as the decision to leave him on.

Close in what way exactly? Well, he was in the immediate proximity of Russell Anderson, the game's outstanding player, and perhaps that was close enough.

Jarosik can play - of that there is no doubt. But all too often he looks like he simply can't be bothered. It's like he thinks more quickly than he moves.

But when he did drop back into Gravesen's position, Jarosik began to pick passes and add a creative edge to Celtic's midfield play which had been sorely missed. Strachan had got it right. Again.

Up until that switch Shunsuke Nakamura had been Celtic's most threatening performer in a game which did little to thrill and yet always managed to hold the attention.

Aberdeen were well drilled and stubborn without ever wishing to be adventurous.

Jimmy Calderwood set up his team to stifle the champions and stop them attacking down the flanks. Had his midfield players used the ball more cleverly they might have managed to pick Celtic off on the counter attack, particularly after the break when they had chances to get forward in numbers but made the wrong choices at the wrong times.

And just when it seemed they were good for a point, Lee Naylor was allowed to advance down Celtic's left and produce another of his trademark killer crosses.

Naylor, who was constantly pressed back by Barry Nicholson, had been kept quiet up until the 72nd minute when he hurled a terrific ball into the danger area.

Even then it really ought to have been dealt with but, fatally, 19-year-old defender Andrew Considine switched off for the first time all afternoon to allow the ball to slip through to Zurawski.

The Polish striker had only just come on to the field but he was alert enough to poke the ball home from 10 yards.

That should have been that but Calderwood responded by making two changes and shoving three players up front.

And this bold sign of intent - if a little late in the day - came within a piece of goalkeeping expertise of snatching a draw right at the death when Anderson connected with a Nicholson free kick to power a header towards the top left corner of Artur Boruc's net.

It was a stunning effort from Anderson, who may even have deserved a goal so commanding was his performance at the back, but somehow Boruc soared to his right to claw the ball out from under the bar and pull off a quite miraculous save.

As Strachan himself might say, that's what good players do. Good managers, on the other hand, are not always quite so easy to spot.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Russell Anderson (Aberdeen)

MATCH STATS

POSSESSION

60% 40%

SHOTS ON TARGET

7 3

SHOTS OFF TARGET

5 3

CORNERS

3 2

FOULS CONCEDED

6 6

OFFSIDES 

2 0

CELTIC

MAN BY MAN

Artur Boruc: One save from Clark before half-time then nothing to do until last-minute heroics to deny Anderson. 7

Paul Telfer: Not at his best. Offered little down flank although untroubled at back. 5

Bobo Balde: Defending - solid. Distribution - dreadful. 5

Stephen McManus: Usual reliable self. Could have got Celtic off mark with a thudding early header. 6

Lee Naylor: Quiet by his standards but forced fine save out of Langfield before break and set up Zurawski's winner. 6

Shunsuke Nakamura: Side's best bet throughout. Always lively and available. 7

Thomas Gravesen: Full of energy and drive. Passed ball well, too. 7

Neil Lennon: Never quite got up to speed. 6

Aiden McGeady: Floated in and out. 6

Jiri Jarosik: One of those days when everything seemed like too much effort. 5

Kenny Miller: Worked hard and ran fast but missed one chance that came his way. 6

Subs: Maciej Zurawksi - scored within four minutes of replacing Gravesen, 6. Stephen Pearson - on for Miller with three minutes left, 2.

ABERDEEN

MAN BY MAN

Jamie Langfield: Made string of decent first-half saves without ever being really stretched. No chance with winner. 7

Michael Hart: Dealt with McGeady fairly comfortably. 6

Russell Anderson: Mainly up against Jarosik. The words, "no contest" spring to mind. Almost sneaked equaliser. 8

Andrew Considine: Had harder task looking after Miller but coped well until slip-up at goal. 6

Richard Foster: Stuck to task against Nakamura and got forward when he could. 6

Barry Nicholson: Stopped Naylor providing his usual barrage of crosses - well, for 71 minutes any way. 6

Scott Severin: Put in beast of a shift in midfield but didn't get forward enough. 6

Gary Dempsey: Another happy to do dirty work but lacked guile in last third. 5

Chris Clark: Ran tail off trying to support attack but never really got into game. 5

Darren Mackie: Full of running but could still be playing without sniff of goal. 6

Lee Miller: Threw weight around but had thankless and lonely task. 6

Subs: Jamie Smith - on for Dempsey after goal as Dons rang changes, 2. Stevie Lovell - replaced Foster to make up three-man attack. 3

MOMENT THAT CHANGED THE GAME:

Strachan's decision to throw on Zurawski at just the right time.

CAPTION(S):

POLES APART: Maciej Zurawski, main, celebrates his winner for Celtic after another piece of coaching excellence from boss Gordon Strachan, top, whose decision to send the striker on paid off, middle, before Artur Boruc's superb last-minute save to deny Russell Anderson, above, ensured the Dons got nothing