 Monday, August 20, 2007
Celtic win in style at Aberdeen
Kenny Miller's league scoring form in his first season at Celtic should have seen him hold onto any tea chests which came his way in recent months. Now three weeks into the new season he has already scored three times, not enough to make him an automatic first choice, but if a lack of goals suggests he should be on his way, the converse must hold. He would not be the first player to have a great second season after a disappointing first.
After an entertaining win over Falkirk and an enthralling draw in Moscow, Celtic were involved in another really good SPL game at Pittodrie yesterday. The move which led of Aberdeen’s opening goal had a familiar look to it, Craig Brewster was left unaccompanied in front of goal, but the defence were outnumbered by Aberdeen players piling into the penalty box; midfield cover could have been better. Stephen McManus moved left to attack the ball, leaving Gary Caldwell to cover two strikers. Mark Wilson tucked-in from the right, but his starting position was too remote for him to be able to close down Brewster.
If the defence were unprotected at the goal, they would repeat the mistake made at the Falkirk Stadium last week and in Moscow, when they allowed the opposition centre forward, Darren Mackie on this occasion, the freedom of the penalty box midway through the second half. Fortunately the striker headed wide.
A pattern is emerging; an experienced organiser would be on my August shopping list.
Scott McDonald linked well with his midfield, though he blew his chance to open his Celtic scoring account minutes after Aberdeen took the lead, heading wide when he should have found the target.
Donati’s equalising goal was a treat. Aiden McGeady fed Massimo inside the box, allowing the Italian to feign a shot with his left foot, which drew an Aberdeen defender out of the equation, before placing the ball inside the post. It was a moment of calm in a hectic penalty box.
After 84 minutes Nakamura, who earlier hit the crossbar with a free kick, found Donati, who again was calm personified. He rolled the ball in front of Kenny Miller on the six yard line. Miller side-footed his shot past Souter in the Aberdeen goal to give Celtic a deserved lead.
In added time Miller collected 30 yards from goal before scoring with a placed shot from 25 yards, it was the kind of goal Kenny never scored last season. Celtic took a while to get going, but just three weeks into the new season they are showing a considerable improvement on last term. Labels: Match Report
33 Comments:
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Yeeeessss
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and now to read the heading.
hail hail
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one more time!!!
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I think I'll let some others have a go now :-)
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Well done Celtic, 3 excellent away results and game on game improvement. Long way to go but there are lots of encouraging signs.
I particularly like Kenny Miller's new striking style namely stand at the back post and you'll get a few chances. I hope he stays as he is an excellent option to have - on form that is.
Celtic Park awaits further imrovement in the next two games.
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I’m getting that feeling that the midfield are destined to be remembered as part of a great team, get the defence sorted out and we’re on our way to CL participation every season, and x in a row.
Hail hail
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I think the average age of our team will be a considerable advantage late in the season, being less prone to injury etc and having a more quality on the bench will see us edge in front of TFOD around February /March.
I also think we have the edge in true quality, I am thinking about Naka Donati and Brown in particular and hopefully A.N.Other before the deadline.
Great to hear the wee ginger ones name being chanted by the diehards!!
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This could be a short lived thread as the finanical results are out. 75m turnover, profit 15m, debt now 5m.
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Rupert Murdoch gave Jeff Randall an in-depth interview on BBC Radio about 18 months ago. It was what you might call seminal.
Murdoch doesn't care what the medium is. One day it might be a direct feed into a chip implanted in one's heid.
All that matters is content. Media will succeed if they identify an audience, correctly interpret what content that audience wants to consume and deliver the content to them in the right way.
Advertisers will pay to get in front of the audience if it genuinely engages with the content.
That's the equation, and I can tell you it's true because I have to ask myself questions about it every day.
The BBC, to which I have just contributed £135.50, is clearly an anomaly. It's a lot of money, but Radio 3, Radio 4 and Life On Mars almost make it worth it.
I don't pretend to speak for anyone other than myself in what I am going to say next. As part of the audience for Scottish football, I have not been able to engage with any media covering this subject, other than Celtic Quick News and E-Tims, for about two years.
Broadcast media offering coverage of games are an exception, but their days are numbered too, and if I ever have the opportunity, I take that option of having the sound of the crowd without some appalling commentator telling us how many hours it is since somebody wearing red boots took a corner from a particular side of the stadium on a Tuesday. Utter drivel.
No newspaper, no phone-in programme, no news update, no columnist, no Scotsman comment debate, no post-match analysis by people with very little vocabulary and even less imagination come remotely close to passing my two tests.
The first is 'Who gives a fig?' In other words, what Gordon Strachan says about Celtic's performance is of immense interest, but what James Traynor et al made of it is competely irrelevant.
The second is that immortal line at the end of the Rumour Mill: 'Tell us something we DON'T know, braggards'. They all offer 'wisdom' after the event, by which time, who gives a fig?
Some words have been changed to protect the innocent.
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Paul
He did score a similar goal at ICT in the cup. I take your point though.
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Killerheels :- If you don't mind me asking, what is the average age of the Celtic forst team squad, in this I mean those who can reasonably expect to play more than a few games a year and not counting the young fringe players who sometimes get a run out. Despite many people thinking Rangers have an old squad the average age is 27, not really that old. Your point about a young squad helping when it comes to injury is a good one, I'm not sure though whether the gap between Rangers and Celtic is big enough for it to make a difference.
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BlantyreKev:
In your defence of ….
It’ll never come to it: they haven’t got the bottle.
Should the powers that be, deem it wise in their, stupidity, to ban Gordon Strachan to the stand: then in a colossal show of empathy and in solidarity with the manager of our great club, in parallel support of our ethos; a unique and jaw dropping, show of dissent, must be our protest
Looks like our manager is in trouble again. Justified? Make your own mind up.
Irrespective do you honestly believe his conduct under duress merits a ten match ban to the stands. Is there any precedence for such a sentence as insidiously promoted through literal innuendo in, ‘The Scotsman’?
Would you back him and if so what would you do?
I don’t know what we could do… that would be so visibly and audibly striking… as to incite others to ask the question… WHY? Why are they doing that?
Maybe as the huddle forms if the crowd were to face away from the pitch and a crescendo of booing could greet the world. Believe me; real time pictures are beamed around the world and into homes devoid of bias. Curiosity of the paradox, that would be the huddle apparently booed; and the Celtic support showing their collective back to authority, would raise authentic searching, questions in, impartial countries.
Around the globe the questions asked would demand to be answered. If greeted with ignorant silence, then those responsible would be held by the global football fraternity, in total contempt and considered ridicule.
In England, in Ireland; in the USA, in Canada, in Wales; in Australia; in Spain; in Japan; in China; the Middle East; the Far East; South America too: all around this news hungry globe.
Questions would demand… an answer and silence would demand… an explanation.
Bring the Hypocrisy to the eyes and ears of the world in the simplest, extrovert, show of solidarity, the football world has ever seen. We are, after all, talking about the power of the Green Machine that is the world’s greatest supporters.
Let our home grown commentators explain to the world that it is not in fact the huddle that is being booed but instead the administrative powers, that govern our league that are being called to task and booed in despairing judgement. Our contempt is our refusal to acknowledge your presence. Our collective booing would be our collective indictment of your bias.
You wouldn’t have to be a lover of Gordon Strachan to justify your participation. Your credentials as a Celtic supporter, would implore your inclusion, in a class act conviction of the truly guilty.
Could you imagine the impact of photos that would be syndicated around the world; if for their novelty factor alone?
The pictures would be both stunning and intimidating in equal measures.
Could you imagine how together the players in the huddle would feel?
Can you imagine how intimidating the sight and sound would be to opposition players and officials too?
Let them deal with that.
Or we could simply turn the other cheek and meekly in silence, like poor lost souls, accept our punishment in a non-show of weak, impotent and pathetic obedience.
Oh! That my father, never see the day, I disgraced myself in my indifference.
I shamed myself and what I believe in because I couldn’t climb the mountain of my very own lethargy. My silence is my defence in adversity.
Obedience is the plea of your soul to admit your beliefs and morally and actively defend them.
Anyway, it probably won’t come to that. But for an hour or so I had the most fanciful of protests, stunningly simple bloodless revolts playing through my minds eye.
It was a fearsome picture at that. 60,000 as 1 in defence of 1 against many.
Numbers like that… for sure… it was just a dream. Nice one though.
If however, their stupidity rules the day. All of the above I would reinvoke.
For every week he spends in the stands, is a week our team is denied a level playing field, for which all our oppositions would surely be grateful.
For every week he spends in the stands, is a week we as a support are denied the immediate influence of our manager.
For every week he spends in the stands, it would be just one more slap in the face and a public display of contempt for us and our great club by those who mean us most harm.
Gordon Strahan might flippantly shrug it off. Inside he will be raging. Celtic as a club might keep a gentlemanly silence. But I hope, they finally show the courage of all our convictions, and come hell or high water, they stand by their appointed and my, if not your, anointed manager.
He is one of us. He might not have been three years ago but any fool can see… he is now… one of us. He publicly delights in his position of Celtic manager.
I can’t speak for anybody else but I was born into the Celtic Family, I was confirmed into the Celtic Family with over forty years of resolute support I’ve earned my anorak.
And I extend my personal acceptance of Gordon Strachan, warts an’ aw, as one us. Whether it means ought, to anybody else, or not. I would gladly stand in a bar and argue, debate, talk Celtic with the wee man, any day of the week.
I saw the intensity on his face every time the cameras panned onto him.
I saw the pain and hurt on his face every time something obviously didn’t go right.
I saw the passion for our club animated in smiles of joy and scowls of animosity.
He is Scott Brown only twenty odd years his senior.
I saw the affection he has for his players, his staff, and the clubs supporters.
I saw a man with integrity, devoid of pretence or self-serving chameleonic acts, go to the support of one of his staff, to deny an agitated sheep dip sniffer monopoly in abuse.
I saw a man who cared every bit as Martin O’Neil cared and he didn’t come pre-ordained. His affection is DIY and home grown but it is transparently sincere for all that. It is not, is not an act.
The stresses are ageing him daily.
Yet still some say he is not one of us… Well… if that is the case you losers… neither am I.
What price a friend who’ll shake my hand and clasp my shoulder when adversity is at my door?
That, my friend, is my friend.
Not false of promise and loud of mouth.
Simple in a demonstration of kinship and acceptance..
I’d shake your hand Gordon Strachan.
I’d shake your hand before I’d shake many another’s hand.
In case some of you haven’t noticed. Gordon Strachan does not wear the suit of non allegiance that so many charlatan managers of other clubs do.
No… in case you haven’t noticed, he chooses to wear our clubs crest on his chest, in a very public display of where his heart now lies. That crest and all its tribulations are so painfully, obviously, reflected in his face. He is carrying a lot of weight.
Are you the charlatan supporter? The good guy die for Celtic kinda guy?
Go on, take a look at yourself in the mirror… go on... put the strip on… look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself this question.
Do I care as much as he cares?
If I saw a Celtic supporter in trouble, any Celtic supporter, I’d hope and pray that I would have the courage and grace to go to his aid. I sincerely hope I’d do so.
Being a supporter means a lot more than being a mouth in my eyes.
But then it won’t come to that. They’ll see sense. Won’t they?
Me I’ve had enough of them.
If it comes to pass then I want to do something. I’ve had too many years of turning the other cheek.
If it comes to pass then I want to do something in protest. Apathy… I’ll leave to others. I’m not very good at dispassion.
But then as I said, I’m a wee bit paranoid and I’m as usual over reacting to the presupposed. They haven’t got the bottle to make it happen. Probably the stupidity, that is quite apparent, but not the bottle.
Just ask yourself two last questions…
If the worst happens, will I be bothered?
If the worst happens, will I be counted among the support of my club? Or will just be one of the talkers?
But then I over react to the presupposed.
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Edward,
I am not sure exactly what the average age of the entire squad is but WGS has been mentioning averages of between 24 -26 of recent teams, which I found really encouraging.
I didn't realise you had an average age of just 27, I assumed it was quite a bit older, if you drop Weir it would probably be about 16.
Maybe I will have to review my prediction if we base it on squad age but based on quality I remain confident.
Credit where credit is due, so far it looks like the Loyal Cardigan has bought well for the Domestic scene although I think you have yet to come up against a real test in the SPL. I think Europe made you look very ordinary.
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Just seen the results - it says debt is £4.99m "net of cash"
What does that mean?
On another note, has anyone seen the plans for the new main stand at Tynecastle?
Very impressive, but why only take capacity to 23,000? Why not 30,000 - then the extra revenue could pay off debt faster!
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I think it was the Spartak Moscow manager who opined that Celtic don't panic when they go behind in their domestic games, except against Rangers, as they know that they will win in the end.
I'm feeling that way about the SPL Championship already!
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Edward,
I'm glad that you felt the need to challenge ONLY on the basis of average age. I suspect the quality argument that KH raised was a no-brainer really :)
By the way Edward, as a long time lurker of the site I have to say the way you conduct yourself and contribute on here is top drawer and part of the attraction of the content on here. Keep it up.....
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Edward, average age of Celtic's "First 22" for the coming season is 23.8; if you add Pressley, Balde, Graveson and Jarosik to that, it would go up to 24.9, but I reckon 2 or 3 of those will be off by August 31st.
Regardless, you're still talking a 2 or 3 year age difference and I reckon that will be significant enough to tell come the end of a long hard season: I really reckon fitness will have a big part to play in the league outcome this year and Celtic are looking very good on this front.
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Kitalba.
FROM THE LAST THREAD.
As someone who sits in front of Tinytim at Celtic Park, I, like BlantyreKev and TMC, think he is a good guy and a diehard tim.
I hope that we can all meet up for a few beers if you manage to come over.We will all have more in common than first appears.
jonnybhoy
jonnybhoy
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kitalba.
Very impressed with that post,I would love the support to show solidarity with the WEE MAN,and your sugestion of some kind of demonstration,In fact the one you hinted at, would be the one I'd go for,I'd do it before the start of the CL game against Sparta,the Worlds eyes would be there,to see the protest.
As you say, the Worlds Media would want to know the reason for the protest.
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Kitalba
I'm with you all the way on this, time to bury any internal differences of opinion we may have on the strengths and weaknesses of our manager, GS is the new Neil Lennon, they are trying to demonise him, we should give the man nothing less than he deserves in his battle with the usual suspects, that is 100% fully committed support.
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tinytim.
Received your mail, and thanks for the info.
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Paul67
Interesting post. Has there been a change of heart regarding KM. To all intents you previously indicated that he was for the off this month.
There may be parallels with The manager's first season when SHaun Maloney looked to be heading out the door but then some games proved hi value to the team and ended up a double player of the year winner. KM may not do the latter but he has proved his value to the team over the last two league games.
Also you say KM did not score a similar goal last season. I thought his winner against ICT in the Cup was an absolute screamer, if not quite as far out.
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John:
I have no doubt whatsoever that he is indeed a good guy.
I will be home on the weekend of the 8th, 9th of September all being well.
I’ll happily ask TinyTim and whomever,
Why the angst against our manager?
What exactly is your agenda?
Do you have an agenda?
Oh and by the way make mines a large one.
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Kitalba Sir it would be my honour to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in such circumstances.
CB
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Well said Kitalba.
What other ideas can we float for the basis of a protest against "the authorities"?
We could bhoycott away grounds, and thus hit the other clubs' coffers, but that would deny us the pleasure of watching our heroes in action. And it would potentially be detrimental to their chances of success, as they would be without support in situ.
We could bhoycott Scotland international matches, which would make a point to the SFA, but would probably also achieve SFA, as I suspect any vacant seats would be filled by the bottoms of our foes.
Or perhaps, conversely, we could attend Scotland home international matches en masse, wearing our beloved hoops and bearing banners of protest. This would awaken the SFA to the fact that we do exist, and are a part of the Scottish football. A highly significant part.
Perhaps though, your suggestion of a mass booing with backs turned, is probably the best idea. But allied to appropriate banners, which would inevitably be glimpsed on TV coverage. A kind of Catalan Barcelonese protest, as it were.
The players can do their own bit to shove it right up the authorities... by winning the SPL year after year after year after year... ad infinitum.
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Ohh....and if KM scores a similar goal to Shaun's against Ran666ers then he may well be on his way to POTY.
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It seems to me that Gordon is being punished for Gary Pendry's stupidity.
Someone needs to tell Gary that making gestures to wind up opposing fans is not clever and leads to the sort of response that resulted in Gordon intervening and being, wrongly in my view, sent off.
There is a whiff of hypocrisy around here today. If Smith, McCoist, Jefferies, Brown, Calderwood, Nichol or any other opposing figure disliked by us turned round and made a 2-1 gesture to us at Celtic Park after coming back from 1-0 down there would be a riot with droves running to Stewards.
Mr Pendry's behaviour has taken a little of the shine off yesterday's great win.
Correct me if I'm wrong. Was it not Gary Pendry who got involved with the Hearts management last season. Gordon intervened and got himself sent off.
No more Mr P. how about stepping forward and taking the rap for Gordon this time. Of the two I know who is more important to have in the dugout.
FJ
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x
Maybe just maybe Pendry is standing up to the abuse his friend and boss takes, relentlessly.
Maybe Pendry is just being a mate.
Oh and you haven't forgotten the mock huddle so soon have you?
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EdwardUrsus
You seem to have taken umbrage at my off the cuff remark last week. I apologise if any offence was taken.
I`ve been trawling through the weeks posts, and see that you guys have been referred to as swamp creatures, GA(a reference to Satan I beleive),Weeds (Darnel)etc. and I`m thinking, are you picking on me? :-)
By the way, your reference to We are the people, would not cause me offence on a personal level, as I do not come from the community/race that the statement was alluding superiority over.
Still, I agree with a lot of what you say on the singing debate, as I`m quite thickskinned(except when I`m not).
9thlegion
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new article posted.
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We should avoid the "Nobody likes us and we don't care' stuff. It doesn't become us.
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Paul67.
I watched the game on C67 and was very happy with the result,I said pre match that Celtic would win, but it would probably be an ugly win,but I was surprised how entertaining the game was.
Aberdeen,in the first half missed one or two sitters, but Celtic, also had their chances in the first half and JVOH could have scored inside the first 5 mins.
Celtic were a bit lethargic during the game,but that was to be expected after their gruelling encounter in Moscow, and the long trip back home.
The Celtic goals were taken with the skill you expect from Celtic,and it was good to see Maximo,with his new image hair- cut, scoring so soon into his Celtic career.
The enigma, that is Kenny of last season may soon disappear, if he keeps popping them in at the rate he's doing so now,3 goals in two games,could be heading for 30 odd goals this year.
Naka,what can be said,thats not already been said, by the many on here, and elsewhere.
It's been said that PL plans to see Naka around November,December time,to discuss an extension to his current deal,My advice to Peter is get him in a locked room now, and throw away the key until you get him to sign a new deal now,immediately.
Naka is the supreme footballer,the English have their Beckham,not a bad player,but we have Nakasan,a superstar in his own country,He must be helping the Scottish economy with all the Japanese supporters who travel over from Japan to watch him play.
Get another 5 years out of him Peter, please.
Lee's needing to be given a rest,I've never seen a player whose been kicked so much as him,and I think he maybe hide any injury he gets, in the fear of losing his place in the team,I think he loves playing for Celtic,but Gordon should make the decision,and rest him,he needs,and deserves one.
I was very impressed with Garry Caldwell,he won every ball in the air,which we have'nt been doing lately,there was a bit missing in his passing, but I'd put that down to being a bit rusty,he has'nt played many games lately,so if he gets a run in the team he'll improve greatly.
Overall a good result for us,and looking forward to the next game,a good result against Hearts will set us up nicely for the big one,a week on Wednesday.
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kenny millers second was like his goal against ict in the cup last year from what i can remember whilst hanging onto the bar rail in the parlour bar with one eye shut the other half open and blurred
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