By Mark Atkinson

Copyright scotsman

Most teams would wince at the thought of not playing a game at home for more than a month. For Celtic’s hierarchy, a 35-day spell away from the Parkhead masses has probably been welcomed. When Celtic defeated Livingston 3-0 in relative perfunctory fashion on August 23, there were already chants against major shareholder Dermot Desmond, chairman Peter Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson and how the club was performing in the transfer window. A lot of water has run under the bridge since then. Celtic exited the Champions League three days later in Kazakhstan, losing to Kairat Almaty on penalties. There was an unconvincing goalless draw at Ibrox in the first Old Firm game of the season and an even less convincing end to the transfer window when Celtic missed out on striker Kasper Dolberg before dipping into the free agent market for Kelechi Iheanacho. Throw in a member of Celtic’s inner circle briefing against manager Brendan Rodgers, who has voiced his unhappiness at the way recruitment has been conducted, a board statement on transfers that went down like a fart in a lift with most supporters, and fan protests at recent matches, then this isn’t a stream meandering along. It is a river rapid of discontent and anger. Celtic’s board are set to get it in the neck this Saturday when they take their seats for the visit of Hibs on Premiership duty. Some supporters are demanding change, the rolling of heads. More protests are planned, whether they are of the silent variety or a loud and clear message. To Rodgers’ credit, he has managed to steady what was a listing ship in recent weeks – on the field at least. One summer signing was Sebastian Tounekti, a fast and direct winger who has already caught the eye. He shone on his debut in a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock in which Iheanacho netted a last-gasp penalty on his first appearance. Partick Thistle were swept aside last weekend 4-0 in the Premier Sports Cup and Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League was a solid start to that competition. Celtic now have three home games in eight days – Hibs, Sturm Graz and Motherwell before the next international break. Ample opportunity for the dissenters to make their feelings to their masters loud and clear. Rodgers has tried recently to lighten the mood. He is right when he points out that Celtic are a stronger club when united, and has leapt to the defence of some of the “good guys” in the boardroom, such as Nicholson and finance officer Christopher McKay. That is unlikely to stop the placards with their faces within red circles with a line through them. Whichever Glasgow printing merchant who specialises in such protest material must be doing a roaring trade, given Rangers supporters are turning against chief executive Patrick Stewart and head coach Russell Martin. Yet unlike Rangers, Celtic still look like a cohesive team. Their star man from last season, Daizen Maeda, may be a pale shadow of the goal-hungry forward we are so accustomed to seeing, but Tounekti and Iheanacho have added a bit of spice to the attack. They may well be licking their lips at the visit of Hibs. David Gray’s men have been bearing gifts to all comers, having already shipped nine goals in five Premiership matches. Even poor old Rangers were the benefactors in the cup last weekend. The Easter Road side has developed a damaging habit of conceding right at the end of the first half. Leading 2-0 at Falkirk on Tuesday, Ross MacIver’s effort two minutes into stoppage time fuelled a second-half comeback and forced a draw. Hibs are undefeated in the league this season, but out of five outings, four have been drawn with Kilmarnock, St Mirren, Dundee United and the Bairns. The opening-day win over Dundee feels like a long time ago. Gray was unable to take anything from four visits to Celtic Park last season (two league, two cup) and his team enters a crucial week. After this visit to the east end of Glasgow, they head to the west end of Edinburgh to face city rivals Hearts, who are currently the only team able to keep pace with Celtic on 13 points. Nobody should be panicking at Hibs, although mild signs of discontent were visible in the away end at Falkirk. The fans booed their performance and it appears to be taking the players a little longer than is wished to recover from the pain of coming so close to reaching the Conference League when Legia Warsaw pipped them last month. Losing their next two matches could leave Hibs already adrift of the leading pack. A win at either venue could act as a mini-catalyst. Gray and his players recovered from a dreadful start last season to finish third but the league feels more competitive this time around, with Hearts notable improvers. Can they take advantage of any mutiny from within Celtic Park? Or indeed fatigue from a tough trip to Serbia? Some would argue this is quite a good time to face the champions – even if Hibs have not won at Parkhead since January 27, 2010, when Danny Galbraith scored a late goal in a 2-1 win. For Celtic, beating Hibs will not satisfy the masses. Even winning all three home matches coming up is unlikely to silence the criticism of the board. For them, we may be at a point of no return, but for Rodgers, keeping the foot to the floor as Rangers flounder and Hearts thrive is vital in his quest to keep his players on the straight and narrow.