In days of yore Celtic would rattle nine goals past the Finnish champions on European Cup duty. That was never going to be on the cards last night but there remains a clear gap in quality between the teams. HJK Helsinki are no better than Hearts, but were clearly sharper.
The tie remains very much in the balance, a ‘Big Dan moment’, similar to what happened away to Sion last season, and the odds would stack heavily against Celtic progressing, and although HJK didn’t impress much, neither did Utrecht, who lost 2-0 at Celtic Park two years ago before wiping the floor with a disorganised Celtic a week later.
I have a few concerns.
Last season it worried me how dependent we had become on Charlie Mulgrew to create goals. His delivery from the left back position, not to mention his runs to the back post, were significant in Celtic overcoming the early season deficit.
Today we are a few central defenders lighter, if not any worse off in that department, but without Charlie galloping down the wing we are immeasurably less potent. Emilio is an able left back, but his performances are several degrees below his Player of the Year form and he is categorically not a goal creator. A double jeopardy is that when Emilio is behind Georgios Samaras on the left, instead of the more defensively minded Joe Ledley, we seem to have a real weak point.
If we are to start with a lone striker and five in the middle next week we’ll need Charlie on the left. This will stiffen up our weak spot and give HJK more to worry about.
The video moment for the players to study must surely be Georgios Samaras cross for the first Celtic goal. In case you missed it, the cross evaded the first defender. In this respect it was quite stunning and contrasted markedly to what was going on across on the right wing for most of the evening.
Early Player of the Year tip: Adam Matthews. Usain Bolt must be relieved our man is not a sprinter almost as much as Victor Wanyama is relieved he’s a footballer.
Our three raffles end at 19:10 TONIGHT! For the sum of only £1 you stand a chance of winning a painting of Henrik Larsson mid goal celebration, Scott Brown inventing the Broony or a print of our manager in his playing days.
It has never been easier or cheaper to contribute to the concept of what our club is all about, go buy a ticket.
Martin Chambers of the Ecuador Trust was in touch this morning. He said, “If you are able to help, the money will be used to fund the Soup Kitchen that we run each day feeding 150 of the poorest children in the shanty town – kids who would otherwise go hungry. Hope to hear from you soon” (he means you).
Feeding kids who would otherwise go hungry. Where have you heard that idea before?
The four beneficiaries are; The Haven, Cancer Respite Centre, Blantyre, Oscar Knox Neuroblastoma Appeal, Martin Chambers Ecuador Trust and Aberdour Primary School Parents Association.
For £1 you can win:
A celebrating Henrik Larsson painting.
A painting of Scott Brown in classic pose.
A Neil Lennon print.
What are you waiting on, do it now, there are only a few hours left! And after you have clicked on ‘buy a ticket’, DON’T FORGET TO PAY, as some people have. Just like social taxes, paying for your raffle ticket is NOT optional!
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Currently watching Celtic v Helsinki on Premier Sports Sky 428 on free to view.
Advertising 2 months subscription for £9.99 including tonight’s Liverpool game and next week’s game in Helsinki. Just subscribed.
embramike on 2 August, 2012 at 18:23 said:
Currently watching Celtic v Helsinki on Premier Sports Sky 428 on free to view.
Advertising 2 months subscription for £9.99 including tonight’s Liverpool game and next week’s game in Helsinki. Just subscribed.
Could you put up a link to the 2 month thing for Premier Sports???
HH
Auld Neil Lennon heid on 2 August, 2012 at 16:16 said:
Sorry have to disagree
I fully understand that some clients have an emotional attachment to football clubs and still try to cling onto the old values and traditions.
However
I subscribe to the fact as outlined in the Celtic Mission statement that Celtic are now first and foremost a business just like UCI and Odeon who put on shows every week for profit
Like it or not you and me are clients now,nothing more nothing less.
Now if a business cannot produce a product that guarantees 100%customer satisfaction it leaves itself open to criticism
If we are brutally honest about it ,it is not product satisfaction that keeps us coming back but brand loyalty and I’m afraid th
Walloper on Snyde blaming Lenny,because he missed the first half!!
HH
Vmhan,
A lot of people are steering clear, it reopens the song debate. The green brigade sang an Irish folk song and the Mansfield corporate section tried to boo them down.
Jeezo,,,quiet on here tonight??
HH
The Unconscious Creation of Scapegoats.
Midway through the first half last night Emilio Izzaguire instigated a swift Celtic counter attack which took us from our own eighteen yard box to the Helsinki bye line. The move resulted in a corner kick. Initially, as he moved infield from left back a collective groan was audible, only to turn quickly to an expectant roar when he reversed the ball to Samaras with expert timing. Samaras was in fact positioned on the flank that the little Honduran had just emptied, by drawing the opposition towards him. It was fine play all round.
Later, he was caught in possession just outside his own box just in front of me. A small percentage of the stadium could see he was clearly fouled, a larger percentage could not. More groans. When Helsinki got in behind on his side to score, this time he was at fault and the dye was cast. Fans around me decided Izzy can attack but can’t defend, has poor positioninal sense, is unfit and in general is not the same Emilio we know. This view permeates. When a knowledgable and rational commentator such as Paul Brennan reinforces the notion (albeit without being overly critical)and the groupthink goes largely unchallenged, well, that’s a bit tricky. Emilio is still a very popular player but now teams are posted on the blog today for the return leg minus the Honduran, his attributes are queried, mildly critical tones are adopted and the consensus develops. Izzy is now one bad performance form becoming a whipping boy.
This is all very unfortunate because from my vantage point last night, Izzaguire, like the majority of the team played very well. The argument that he can’t defend is itself indefensible . At his best, he is sharp, strong and his timing is excellent. Yesterday was not the Emilio of the league cup final against Killie, nor was he operating at his very best, but he was far closer to the latter than the former. Yes, he vacated his position to support the attack but is that not what we demand of a Celtic full back? Occassionally, he appeared to dwell on the ball in dangerous areas but only to select the correct pass and avoid hopeful, wasteful clearances. I believe that Izzaguire’s talent is so enormous that he should be afforded specialised positioning tuition if that is what is required. It should be noted that Sammy offered him less back up last night than Joe Ledley normally would and Victor had a poor game inside as well. However, slick Vic is the new hero, just as Emilio was in 2010 so Izzy takes the flak. Remember, Tommy Gemmell’s lung bursting raids were only made possible by the cover of the current Celtic kit man, which Izzy does not have.
The last reason why we as fans should be patient with Emilio and avoid the Sammy syndrome of recent seasons, is because he is frankly, gallus. So he tries a Cruyff turn on the bye line and a flick here and there. Surely that is preferable to knocking it up the line and playing percentages? Emilio is different from your steady eddie defender and I for one, think we should embrace that. He’s all pacy overlaps and close control, unpredictability and energetic recklessness. The Green Brigade gave him his own song for a reason and he won POTY for a reason. Granted, the stakes are high at the moment but I don’t think we would be discussing the left back had we won 4-1 yesterday as we should have.
I have both index fingers pointed to the sky in prayerful fashion, hoping we continue to focus on the outstanding ability of this fine player instead of dissecting his occasional errors.
TJ
Advertising 2 months subscription for £9.99 including tonight’s Liverpool game and next week’s game in Helsinki. Just subscribed.
—
Could you put up a link to the 2 month thing for Premier Sports???
—
advertised on banner on their sky channel throughout Celtic game
go to a href=’http://www.premiersports.tv/’ target=’_blank’ >premier sports site subscription form and enter promo code LIVERPOOL.
Independent Commission to look at EBT scandal
ibleedgreenandwhite1 on 2 August, 2012 at 18:25 said:
embramike on 2 August, 2012 at 18:23 said:
Currently watching Celtic v Helsinki on Premier Sports Sky 428 on free to view.
Advertising 2 months subscription for £9.99 including tonight’s Liverpool game and next week’s game in Helsinki. Just subscribed.
Could you put up a link to the 2 month thing for Premier Sports???
—————————-
Iread it that it was £9.99/month with a minimum2 month subscription £19.98
Janefield
Independent commision appointed in EBT’s.
If anyone subscribed to premier sports for last nights game the Liverpool game is on live in 15 minutes.
Anyone got any advice on how to read CQN while babysitting an 18month old bairn??
Never realised this would be so difficult <:(
I suppose the only equivalent would be trying to moderate the Folly Folly site.
Tommy Joad
Agree 100%. Izzy played well. As a big Sami fan, it pains me to admit he turned in a poor perofrmance by his standards.
Canamalar thanks for the reply, what song was it? In case I need to brush up on the lyrics.
Thanks in advance :>)
HH
Vmhan on 2 August, 2012 at 18:47 said:
You going to game on Saturday?
Mind the chair.
Surely Shortbread would have spent our money better showing DU v Dynamo Moscow than the Ramsdens Sovvy Ring Cup involving the huns,they cant help themselves…..
Tommy Joad on 2 August, 2012 at 18:40 said:
The Unconscious Creation of Scapegoats.
———————————————————————–
A very well written piece that certainly made me stop and think. And, having thunk, I conclude that I think you’re bang on!
SPL Press Release
The Scottish Premier League today announced that it has appointed an independent Commission to inquire into alleged EBT payments and arrangements made by Rangers in relation to players during the period from 2000 until 2011.
The Commission will determine whether during that period in relation to alleged EBT payments and arrangements for players, Rangers was in breach of the relevant SPL Rules.
In the event that the independent Commission decides that such breach or breaches occurred the independent Commission will have powers to determine what sanctions, if any, are appropriate.
http://www.scotprem.com/content/default.asp?page=s2&newsid=11543
Mark Guidi is an ignorant choob
Independent commission, another delay tactic
Well done GB,another gold in the Hoy collection.
Foxy_1888 on 2 August, 2012 at 18:53 said:
DontPatmadug on 2 August, 2012 at 18:54 said:
Aye Guidi “they should not lose trophy’s they won them fair and square! What is it with this w@nker?
Vmhan,
Got half the dolphin racking their brain :o)
Don’t expect much :o)
Fortunes Favour Mibbes on 2 August, 2012 at 18:45 said:
Put wean on left knee and laptop on right. Left hand to hold onto wean and right hand to hit the F5 key. Use your nose to post, easy :-)
Big Mike on 2 August, 2012 at 18:44 said:
Independent commision appointed in EBT’s.
……………………………………………..
Independent commissions of Inquiry are usually white-washes done by hand picked safe hands.
Tommy Joad on 2 August, 2012 at 18:40 said:
Great post…and thank you!
Izzy is a great player who is just coming back from a bad, bad injury. Give him time and support and he will get back to his POTY best.
Are we the most critical support in football? I’m beginning to think so.
Hail Hail
oldtim
You see and take good care of Malorbhoy tomorrow. He’s no used to all day drinking sessions.
Can someone point me in the direction of the raffle. Thanks
Why an Independent commission and not the Appellate Tribunal, what is the difference.
I have always said all this carry on with Sevco will break Sally McC and the stripping of titles will add another bit of pressure to his already high blood pressure, strip them titles from the cheats
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 2 August, 2012 at 18:57
it will take all of this season to get this done and dusted. the commission have to make a decision and then the SFA will hear the appeal.
Has nonone told ssb that olco are the guilty party in all of this …..they keep saying ‘if you hadn’t consigned newco to the 3rd Div……..’ ….talk about burying your biased head in the sand………eejits
At the risk of sounding like you know who, do we know who the members of the Independent Commission are? Presumably at least the chair will have legal training and hopefully there will be financial expertise in there too.
When can we expect a guilty verdict?
Big Mike on 2 August, 2012 at 18:58
Guidi’s keeping his powder dry so far tonight. must be speaking through gritted teeth
the pl fan club are out in force then!!!!!!, so why not get on to DD or BO? pl does not dictate celtic’s future that’s DD your thinking about. i have said on more than one occasion if DD wished for us to become a force it would happen, if he wanted to grow the business and brand it would be done. pl is basically doing everything he can with the hand he has been given, while DD lurks in the background.
any business that wishes to grow needs investment, does not matter what your business is, that means finding investors, bank loans or trying to grow the business from the existing income. celtic fall into the 3rd of these options and as such, it takes longer to reach your goals. hang in there lads i am sure we will grow, even if we have a few bumps along the way.
p.s i am all for a fairer distribution of income within the spl and scottish football in general. i would love to say its for the good of the games but the truth is celtic can only benefit from other scottish clubs challenging and having more money to put and keep their teams together. maybe they would be able to win a couple of euro games as well, which again is better for celtic in the long term. i will be happy when celtic and the now defunct rangers are not able to take the bulk of t.v income to maintain the status quo of a two team league.
Foxxy_1888,
what big nan said
Whitewash on the wall brigade are being put in place with the full backing of the Celtic board
prestonpans bhoys
:0)) Cheers amigo. That sound’s realylmfbl;mcxb easilmrlg’mluy