A late goal by Kilmarnock substitute Dieter van Tornhout was enough to overcome Celtic in the Scottish Communities League Cup Final at Hampden this afternoon. Celtic’s record in League Cup finals since 1970 has been dismal, they have reached 21 finals in that time, winning only seven, and have contrived to lose to rank outsiders, including Partick Thistle, Hibs, Dundee, Aberdeen and Raith Rovers, but few victors will have gone into the final with form as indifferent as Killie’s.
Neil Lennon changed the Celtic formula, brining Kelvin Wilson into central defence and pushing Victor Wanyama into midfield but they never managed to dictate play for a sustained period. Both teams had great chances, Kilmarnock keeper, Cammy Bell, won man of the match, while his opposite number, Fraser Forster, was Celtic’s best performer.
Gary Hooper had a miserable day but was most culpable after intercepting a risky pass by Mahamadou Sissoko across the Kilmarnock box but, unmarked, with the ball at his feet 18 yards from goal, he snatched at his shot and Bell saved.
Kilmarnock looked nervous early on but after Dean Sheils’ shot went narrowly past 20 minutes in they settled and looked the equal of the favourites.
Scott Brown crossed well from the right for Stokes to head from 13 yards but Bell was there to end the danger again. Brown then had a fine shot tipped over by Bell.
Paul Heffernan then brought the best out of Fraser Forster as the Celtic keeper kept his team level.
Sheils looked sure to put Kilmarnock ahead minutes after the break when he fought free inside the box but with the goal opening before him he seemed to panic and could not connect properly with his shot. Sissoko threatened again with a header. The warning signs were there for Celtic.
Neil Lennon realised his formation was not working and decided to hook Thomas Rogne, who was playing well, but the tactical switch allowed Ki to move into midfield while Wanyama dropped back. Ki immediately brought a degree of composure to Celtic’s play but Kilmarnock were no less threatening.
Gary Hooper was eventually subbed for Geogrios Samaras as Celtic again changed the recipe. Samaras played left and James Forrest was asked to play behind Anthony Stokes but the change didn’t have the desired effect.
With seven minutes of the game remaining Lee Johnson got behind the Celtic defence on the left to cross while van Tornout drove towards the back post where he headed into the net to give Kilmarnock the lead.
Celtic chased an equaliser and Bell made an excellent double save to deny Samaras and Kris Commons. Anthony Stokes had a last minute claim for a penalty denied and was booked for his efforts.
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436 Comments- Pages:
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Still Celtic..
Roll on Sunday H.H
One Neil Lennon. Can’t believe some people now having a go at him following one poor display.
mickbhoy1888
Sorry for sounding a bit sharp, emotions running high atm!
HH
A bad day just got a wee bit better – A podium :-) Every cloud has a green and white lining
Saint Patrick Gallagher on 18 March, 2012 at 21:01 said:
twists n turns on 18 March, 2012 at 20:57 said:
You know what, I’m glad Liam Kelly’s father saw him win the cup today. There will be more cups for us to win.
**************
Thats what a true Celtic man should say, hail hail.
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No.7 on 18 March, 2012 at 21:01 said:
RIP Mr Kelly im glad u got the chance to see ur son win the cup. Thoughts and prayers to the Kelly family.
canamalar
I would actually agree with almost all of that but it does not excuse you referring to our manager in such a way.
We’re not going to agree so let’s move on mate.
Awe Naw
Well said
I hadn’t even considered those points. Sometimes the blinkers need to come off.
Obvious, isn’t it…..
So the same players & management who put together one of the best unbeaten runs in football are now duds, failures, tactically nieve blah blah blah. Fast forward to next week if we beat the huns, it will be all Neil Francis this that & the next thing.
Get a grip guys.
I haven’t seen the game yet but I have seen the Tony Stokes incident and for me, he looked like he took too long, it looked like he knew it and it looked like he dived. Now that is my honest opinion, nothing more.
I’ve never ever used the term ‘Treble’, I can’t explain why but for me there is something ‘glory grabbing’ at the expense of all others, something just a wee bit hunish about the word.
On days like this I get more pleasure from reading huns laughing at us than I do reading Celtic Supporters falling out over semantics and emotional expectations.
A lot has happened over the last few years, events have taken their toll on many and there are many different ways people adopt to carry their respective burdens and the failure of their emotinal investments.
Silence can often be the most dignified.
Kilmarnock won a cup, well done to them. Celtic have bigger fish to toast.
Sad sad news for the Kelly family. RIP.
Lenny deserves to be criticised today as do his underperforming players…..
if we can lavish praise then we can criticise…..
Regardless of today’s result i still back Lenny 100%,we have some great young player’s,and exciting times are ahead of us!
Does not mean that mistakes were not made today though by Lenny, because they were,mistakes that led to our team losing the game!!
All i have offered is constructive criticism,Lenny is the man to take us forward,i firmly believe that but he is not above criticism!!
Hail hail
I’m just happy that I’m a celtic fan. Things don’t always go to plan. Was very hard to take that today tho. Not sure why George didn’t start although they were better in the middle mostly. Dave made a difference. Week off then win the league. Thanks Neil. HH.
Patrick 27,
With respect mate,we have been blowing hot and cold for weeks.
Sneaking over the line with single goal victories against dire teams.Ok, we secured the points in games but to be honest I’ve something coming like this for a while and 15 minutes into the game I knew it was coming
BT
Completely agree but I don’t think calling him a ‘prick’ is suitable mate.
The bould Hector’s bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 March, 2012 at 21:07 said:
Who me?
……there’s nothing else matters.
We hang by a thread……
HH.
Reading some of the comments on here is so fecking funny!
I wonder how many people saying how wrong Lenny was to leave Sammi out, were the same people who wanted him gone ages ago.
All the comments about never good enough for a shirt, dont want to see him in a Celtic shirt again, GTF, coward, would be better in a different league, blah blah blah.
And dont bother telling me ‘I never said……’. Those who did, know who the comments are aimed at. But they are also for the ones having a right good go at other players AND Neil. I would have our management team ahead of ANYONE else, especially anyone whos best tactic is to come on and say ‘I told you so’ The biggest sign of arrogance ever.
I congratulate Neil Lennon, his coaching staff and the players on getting to a cup final, winning the league comfortably, (even without the 10 point penalty), and at least a Scottish Cup semi final. People say they dont win the ‘important’ matches, but thats a joke. If they lost the semi, they wouldnt be in the final…. Similarly, the league, ‘important’ matches dont exist, every single one is important, the 1-0 on a wet wednesday that you forget about, or a 2-1 on they sunday after a hard euro match, they all count, and they are all worth the same points!
I would love to see Neil here, leading Celtic for as long as possible. Is he perfect, no. Is anyone? Anyone who has anything nasty to say about him, and you know what you have written or said, is basically doing the job of the hun for them, and is no better than those who attack him physically at a match, or cowardly sends bullets or bombs in the post!! And I really mean that, your not Celtic class, if you want to call Neil Lennon names.
Of course you can say he got the team selection wrong. Feel free to discuss that here, and if you still feel so strongly about it, write him a letter. I am sure he would listen to some constructive criticism. But the amount of ‘world class managers’ who come on here, with how their team would have won, is so unbelievable. I wonder, would your tactics still legislate for an easy miss in the first few mins, or a stone wall penalty not being given?? What am I saying, you would be 5-0 up by half time because you changed 1 or 2 players!! lol
As I said, gutted, but more disappointed in the comments here than anything else! Head up Neil, onwards and upwards, bring us the league home in style and have a go at the double. Very much looking forward to next season already!
The bould Hector’s bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 March, 2012 at 21:07 said:
Jinky statue next home game ya walloper
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Wit! Is this CQN?
Quick post before I go off to start night shift. Well done Killie. Poor from Celtic. Only FF Broonie and Rogne get pass marks from me. Wanyama had a bad day as did JF. Hoops and Ledley. Probably was a penalty but let us not dwell. We don’t need no stinking Rangers.
HH
SIALF
Jelly & Ice cream overload….party time starts again next week.
Really disappointed with game, but days like today, make the winning all the more sweeter.
HH
CRC
HT
agree, plus it should be deleted for language….
Hard hat on BUT am I the only one that thinks that it wasnt a penalty. The fact that Collum wouldn’t have given it even if it was a stonewaller doesn’t change my opinion – no penalty.
For all Stokes and Hooper were poor the worst miss of them all for me was Ledley’s.
In any event , I’m not a happy clapper but I don’t feel too downhearted tonight. This is too monumental a season for our club , both in terms of what we’re doing ourselves and what other have inflicted upon themselves that I think that missing out on a treble will seem utterly irrelevant.
Did NL make errors in selections and substitutions today? Absolutely – but which manager , which young manager doesn’t?
We lost today because of complacency, off the park and on it.
In the context of everything that has happened this season while that isn’t acceptable the fact that it’s crept in is understandable.
Has any Celtic team ever played a cup final in mid march with the league already sewn up? I doubt it.
Let’s see if the management and players learn from this. Complacency next week would be utterly unacceptable.
I don’t believe that will happen.
Awe Naw
Tenthed (or so)..
There are many Celtic Supporters of many views but they are still all entitled to call themselves Celtic Supporters. If, however, Celtic Supporters really are different from other teams` supporters, it is in the ability to accept defeat. It is in doing a lot more than paying lip service to ,” We don`t care if we win, lose or draw.”
I haven`t read all the posts but ANYONE who is criticising Neil Lennon overall simply because of today`s defeat is , quite simply, not a part of the Celtic I support..
” Whatever part of Celtic`s support that cannot accept defeat, is a part I want nothing to do with.”
JJ
Not a good day for us
No Cup Final Joy For Celtic
But there’s a double still to be won
Kitalba
Well said but you’d be better frying the old fish!
Dont see what the problem is with Lenny taking some criticism???
Hail hail
…count to 10 Bhoys….
actually 9 -in-a-row (legally) should suffice…….
now.
G’dnight all…
Jobo
the long wait is over on 18 March, 2012 at 21:14 said:
From the video posted earlier, it looks like Stokes dithered too long and dived. Would like to see it agan from another angle, but currently no pen IMO
HH
CRC
never good to lose a cup final, but we were very poor and did not, over the course of the game, deserve a victory, killie did.
last night i wrote that we spend about 7/8 million a year on fringe players and they need to go so we can get a couple of quality players in. today proved to me that we need a pacey, power striker who knows the way to goal.
we have the makings of a very good team, but we are still short right now, we may have 40 players but we are oinly a couple of injuries/ suspensions away from dropping in quality and results.
what result does prove: clubs have more of a chance to win things, if rangers die, chances only increase. i bet killie get at least 12,000 fans at their next home games because thats what happens when teams win.
a period of success for any of hearts, hibs, aberdeen, dundee united could transform the landscape of scottish football and a more balanced share of domestic and european t.v money could see a more competitive and attractive league for all. even if rangers survive i would still take said actions as i am sure the television companies and fans would offer more money attend more games if the product was better i.e. teams outside celtic and rangers could afford better wages, players, transfer fees
Just in from the Queens Park Cafe where I drowned sorrows after the game. I have read nothing but this thread on CQN but I will catch up sometime.
My own view was that was a fair game of football, played openly with good chances for both sides. None of our players were useless but most failed to bring their best game. In contrast, more of the Killie players played nearer their best levels and their goalie was, rightly, MOTM.
Now, if you see the manager as a puppet master of the players, you will blame him for the failure of our players to produce their best. I see the manager in a less omnipotent light and I feel his players let him down today by being off their best, not useless, but certainly not good enough.
We’ve lost a treble. The diddy cup has gone. I’ll dry my eyes and head for Ibrox hoping for better.
Oh! and well done Kilmarnock and Kenny Sheils. Being prepared to take us on at football is a credit to you and your team. For that reason alone, I do not grudge you this success.
Paul67: Kelvin Wilson in central midfield? No wonder we lost.. sack Lenny now ;)
Oh dear….Neil getting hammered by a few posters tonight…
I would have bit your hand off at the start of the season for the position Celtic are in at the moment…
God bless Neil, his backroom staff and ALL the players
Tricoloured Ribbon on 18 March, 2012 at 21:09 said:
Patrick 27,
With respect mate,we have been blowing hot and cold for weeks.
Sneaking over the line with single goal victories against dire teams.Ok, we secured the points in games but to be honest I’ve something coming like this for a while and 15 minutes into the game I knew it was coming
True, true, certainly March we’ve not been brilliant but December, January and February a lot of games to win them all was remarkable. However, I could tell as soon as Hooper missed in the first minute it might just be one of those days, to be fair we haven’t had too many this season and long may that continue!
Hh
kitalba on 18 March, 2012 at 21:06 said:
I wanted the treble, but only because I thought it would give Neil a unique place in our history. I hope he can go on to that now, win the league, hope for Hampden in the Sun. We weren’t great today, but Killie had a goalie who played very well, we were the better team and could have won with a bit more clinical finishing.
We can win the league in the next two games, at the beginning of the season I’d take that.
Neil Lennon Abbot of Clonmacnois on 18 March, 2012 at 11:54 said:
Bullet, parcel bomb, John Wilson, Edinburgh jury, McCoist’s zero class in defeat at Parkhead, government summit, “old firm shame”, “he brings it on himself”, SFA ridiculous ban, George Peat, Dougie McDonald, referee strike, all Celtic’s fault…
And here we are… after “open season” (copyright George Galloway) he has worked and worked to get his young team to the edge of a magnificent season.
Neil Lennon. A backbone of oak. Our team’s manager. Hero.
I don’t post often but I liked this one from ‘Neil Lennon Abbot of Clonmacnois’ from earlier today….Neil Lennon is a strong Celtic man…he is big enough to take any stick…but some of the stick on here tonight is way out of order….I stand with Neil Lennon…..