PARTICK THISTLE 0 CELTIC 4: It's Firhill for ill will and cheap thrills as fans make their feelings known... but at least bargain Bhoys look the part

The bitter fallout from Celtic’s dealings in the summer transfer window continue to colour events on and off the pitch over these early weeks of the new season.

The anger and contempt felt by the majority of supporters towards the club’s hierarchy will not subside on the basis of two victories since the window closed, over Kilmarnock and now Partick Thistle.

As was the case at Rugby Park last weekend, there were protests among the Celtic fans who had made the short trip to Firhill for this Premier Sports Cup quarter-final clash.

That Brendan Rodgers’ side ran out comfortable winners felt like it mattered little in the grand scheme of things. An Old Firm semi-final tie against Rangers? That can wait for now.

With a significant section of supporters continuing their open revolt against the club’s board, this was an afternoon when the major talking points were once again on matters off the pitch.

Especially just a couple of days after Celtic’s latest annual accounts showed cash reserves of £77.3million sitting in the bank, and an annual profit of £33.9m.

However, the tie was also a timely reminder of the quality Celtic possess. For all the focus has been on players they didn’t sign and money they didn’t spend in the summer, they also made some solid acquisitions.

In particular, the £2m signing of Benjamin Nygren from FC Nordsjaelland and the £5.2m capture of Sebastian Tounekti from Hammarby. Both look to be very smart pieces of business.

Nygren was the best player in Celtic’s midfield yesterday, outshining both Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate, and laying on two assists for the opening two goals in the first half.

Tounekti was terrific on the left side of the front three and thoroughly deserved his goal shortly after half-time as a dominant Celtic display booked their semi-final spot at Hampden.

The fans’ mutinous outpourings will, of course, continue until such time as meaningful change is made behind the scenes.

Packing out the entire Jackie Husband Stand at Firhill, the Celtic supporters made their feelings known about a shambolic summer transfer window.

Following on from a large section of fans boycotting the first 12 minutes of last weekend’s match at Kilmarnock, there were more banners yesterday bearing the faces of senior club officials.

Among them were Dermot Desmond, Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay. The window may have closed but it’s clear the issue is not going to simply fade away any time soon.

‘Sack the board,’ chanted the supporters in unison as they held up banners prior to kick-off. Those chants would not dissipate much over the course of the 90 minutes.

Rodgers made four changes to his starting line-up from the win over Killie seven days previously. After netting the late winner at Rugby Park, Kelechi Iheanacho got the nod to make his first start up front.

Viljami Sinisalo, Kieran Tierney and Hyun-jun Yang also came into the team, with Daizen Maeda, Kasper Schmeichel, Marcelo Saracchi and Michel-Ange Balikwisha all dropping to the bench.

Thistle have enjoyed a decent start to the new season under Mark Wilson. The Jags came into this on the back of four straight wins.

Their only blemish so far in the new campaign came on the opening day, a 5-1 defeat to a St Johnstone side who already look like they could run away with the Championship title.

Thistle were under the pump in the early stages and were having to defend deep while remaining as compact as possible.

For all they were under pressure, the home side still looked like they could carry a decent enough threat going forward.

Tony Watt was causing problems for Liam Scales and the Celtic centre-back was booked for a late challenge on the veteran Thistle striker.

Watt is no longer the young firebrand who scored one of the most famous goals in Celtic’s history against Barcelona 13 years ago, but his hold-up play was savvy and intelligent.

To be given the runaround by a 31-year-old striker in the twilight of his career was not a good look for Scales, who continues to be picked ahead of Auston Trusty even when the American international is fit.

But, at the other end of the park, Scales played a pivotal role as Celtic scored twice in the space of 90 seconds to take a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.

First, Yang ghosted in at the back post to head home from a Nygren cross, the ball cannoning off Thistle defender Paddy Reading on its way into the net.

There was a bizarre, delayed response from the Celtic support. Their view was hampered by the sunshine, but the ball looked like it had hit the side netting rather than gone in.

Then, after Tounekti had worked a short corner with Nygren, the ball was swung in for Scales to glance a header beyond Lewis Budinauckas.

The Thistle keeper really ought to have done better with his efforts to keep it out. Now two goals down seemingly in the blink of an eye, the home side were in a hole.

Reo Hatate squandered a great chance to make it 3-0 shortly before half-time when he shot over the bar following some slick play from Yang on the right wing.

Coming into this quarter-final, it had been 30 years since Thistle last tasted victory over Celtic. Faced with a significant deficit as the teams went in at half-time, there was no realistic prospect of them changing that statistic.

With Celtic threatening to run riot in the Firhill sunshine, the second half largely became an exercise in damage limitation for the Jags.

Especially when the excellent Tounekti made it 3-0 within 60 seconds of the restart. A lively presence on the left side of Celtic’s attack all afternoon, the Tunisian winger richly deserved his goal.

After playing a one-two with Iheanacho, Tounekti showed good composure before drilling a low shot into the far corner to open his account for his new club.

Ben Stanway flashed a decent effort just over the bar as Thistle tried to rally, but it was always going to be a long way back against a Celtic side who had another couple of gears if they really needed them.

Stanway was giving a good account of himself in the Thistle midfield and went close again when a glancing header forced Celtic keeper Sinisalo into a sprawling save.

Rodgers rung the changes in the second half and substitute Luke McCowan rounded off the scoring by making it 4-0 on 79 minutes.

It was a comfortable afternoon for the Celtic boss and his players. While the aggro continues off the pitch, they now head to Serbia with renewed confidence for a Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade.