Ronny Deila has had worse weeks.
Given the unlikeliest of Champions League reprieves a few days ago, the Celtic manager took charge of his team in their first Premiership match of the season in Perth and was gifted three goals.
Two of them were by Saints’ errors, and one from a refereeing blunder.
Steven Anderson was robbed of the ball for Anthony Stokes’ opening goal and Alan Mannus let a Callum McGregor slip through his fingers for the third.
In between times, referee John Beaton bought a Derk Boerrigter dive, sent Dave Mackay off and awarded a penalty which Nir Bitton scored.
The Celtic win was fair enough on a night Saints were below their best, but the visitors certainly got the rub of the green-and-white.
Tommy Wright was true to his pre-match word and freshened up his starting line-up after seeing signs of tiredness in his team towards the end of Sunday’s win over Ross County.
On to the bench went David Wotherspoon, Scott Brown and Frazer Wright, and into the starting line-up came Liam Caddis, Lee Croft and Brian Easton.
The big team news for Celtic was the first appearance in goal for over two years for keeper Craig Gordon.
Another man who has endured more than his share of injury problems, though not to the career-threatening extent of Gordon, is James Forrest. The winger also started last night.
Celtic’s new loan signing from Manchester City, Jason Denayer, was a substitute but neither Charlie Mulgrew nor Leigh Griffiths were in the matchday squad.
It was a slow-burn of an opening to this game, with neither side showing any great urgency to get on the front foot.
There were 11 minutes on the clock before there was anything resembling a chance.
Emilio Izaguirre was released on the over-lap by Forrest and he cut the ball back to Bitton on the edge of the box.
Bitton took far too much time to get his shot away though, and by the time he let fly, Tam Scobbie was in position to charge it down.
Izaguirre got himself into a threatening position down the left again moments later, and delivered a fine cross. There were no Celtic takers to capitalise however.
The visitors were starting to pin Saints back and Kris Commons put Forrest through with a perfectly weighted pass. The winger cut in from the right to shoot but his effort was dragged past Mannus’s left-hand post.
The Perth men’s first shot at goal came on 21 minutes.
A weak Bitton clearance landed at the feet of Steven Maclean 20 yards out and the striker took one touch before shooting.
It came at Gordon at a good height, and he made a comfortable save.
MacLean had another go at beating him on 31 minutes but his speculative volley soared high and wide of the target.
On 34 minutes Mackay was drawn into making a rash challenge on Stokes in a dangerous position 25 yards out. The free-kick was given, Stokes took it himself, and the right-foot curler shaved the far post.
Four minutes before the break McGregor, who has been a shining light for Celtic in early season, didn’t cover himself in glory when he squandered an excellent shooting position by scuffing his shot straight at Mannus.
Saints would have been hoping to make the most of set-pieces, and they got the chance to pour men forward on 42 minutes when they got a free-kick around 40 yards from goal.
Unfortunately Caddis couldn’t deliver the ball on to the head of one of the big men up from the back and it remained goal-less going into the break.
Wright made a half-time change, Wotherspoon coming on for Caddis, and it was certainly a St Johnstone side with greater attacking intent that emerged from the dressing room.
On 50 minutes Croft got beyond Izaguirre for the first time in the match and his cross was just too heavy for MacLean to get his outstretched boot to.
While the striker was busy berating his team-mate, Michael O’Halloran had chased down the loose ball and his delivery into the box cannoned off MacLean, beat Gordon, and nearly squeezed into the far corner of the net.
From almost going in front, Saints went a goal behind five minutes later.
Steven Anderson was caught in possession by Commons and that proved fatal as the ball was swiftly moved on to Stokes, who calmly took it round Mannus and side-footed the ball home from a narrow angle.
Celtic weren’t sitting on their lead, and McGregor was inches away from doubling their advantage when his low shot right-foot just missed the post.
On 58 minutes Forrest was replaced by Boerrigter, and then on the hour mark Adam Morgan made his Saints debut, coming on for O’Halloran.
There was another substitution on 66 minutes Jo Inge Berget for Commons.
Perth skipper Mackay was adamant that Saints should have had a penalty when he went down in the box from a Virgil van Dijk challenge. Referee Beaton wasn’t persuaded of the merits of Mackay’s claim though.
Boerrigter tested Mannus from the best part of 30 yards with a low scorching free-kick. The Northern Irishman didn’t try to be too clever with it, and blocked with his body.
If Mackay was unhappy with the penalty he didn’t get, he would have been enraged by the one that was awarded against him on 75 minutes.
The ball had got away from Boerrigter after he got goal-side of the defender, but the Dutchman went down without Mackay near him.
Not only did the referee point to the spot, he also red carded Mackay.
Bitton was clinical with the penalty, waiting for Mannus to go to ground before rolling the ball the other side of him.
Wright made his last change moments later sending on Gary Miller to fill in for Mackay at full-back and taking McDonald off.
Celtic got their third on 84 minutes when a McGregor shot from distance looked to be a bread-and-butter save for Mannus, only for it to spin out of his grasp and over the line.
St Johnstone Mannus, Mackay, Scobbie, Anderson, Millar, McDonald (Miller 70), MacLean, Caddis (Wotherspoon 45) Croft, Easton, O’Halloran (Morgan 60). Subs not used Banks, Wright, Brown, Kane.
Celtic Gordon, Matthews, Izaguirre, van Dijk, Bitton, Stokes (Kayal 73), Commons (Berget 66), Lustig, Johansen, McGregor, Forrest (Boerrigter 58). Subs not used – Zaluska, Ambrose, Pukki, Denayer.
Referee John Beaton
Attendance 6890