Why Jota ‘went mental’ at Celtic teammates during St Johnstone defeat
Jota hit the ground running when he made his Celtic return in January.
From crying happy tears vs Motherwell to adding another handful of goals to his tally, the Portuguese has looked at home after making the comeback to Glasgow.
In Celtic’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone, however, the wide player looked as irritated as the rest of his teammates as Saints deservedly took all three points at McDiarmid Park on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers hauled two stars off at half-time in Nicolas Kuhn and Jeffrey Schlupp but he could have subbed more of them with the lethargic sideways passing cutting down attack time.
That, says Paul Slane, was a mark of frustration for Jota who “went mental” at Auston Trusty and the defence at one stage for refusing to release the ball sooner.
Jota ‘went mental’ at Celtic defence for passing too slowly
And he seemingly mirrored Adam Idah who was also furious at a teammate during the game.
“One thing about Jota, I seen him at one stage going mental at Trusty,” Slane said on Open Goal.
“Going mental at the back-four for not giving him it quicker. And when he was getting it he was trying to commit someone.
“He did a wee bit of magic in the first-half and beat two and had a shot. To me he’s looking to do things whereas with Kuhn and Yang the first thought is to pass it back.
“I know there’s not a lot of space and there’s a lot of players behind the ball but that to me is when you’ve got to try and beat your man. Try and create something, because passing that ball back is just easy to defend against.”
Celtic’s summer transfer option considered and debated
Saints beat the Hoops thanks to a header from Daniels Balodis when his run was not properly marked by Jeffrey Schlupp at the back.
That error from the Ghana international threw up questions about Schlupp’s permanent Celtic chances and had pundits debating whether or not the Hoops should consider it.
The Crystal Palace loanee is on a hefty wage which might also prevent Celts from doing permanent business.
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