Celtic outclassed what could simultaneously be both the worst Rangers** team in past 20 years and the best in the next 20 years.
**If they survive.
Goals win games but on so many occasions in the 124 year history of these games brave tackles are equally important and it was an exceptional tackle from Adam Matthews which set this contest alight. Lee Wallace was in possession when Matthews hooked the ball away from him before whipping in a cross which Goian knocked off the toes of Hooper and behind for a corner.
Kris Commons was to have an enormous influence on the game starting with the resultant 17th minute corner. Rangers marked man-to-man but as the Celtic players inside the box moved towards the front post a huge zone was left unmarked at the back post. The ball was inside the box before Charlie Mulgrew but the Celtic defender was flying and dived full-length to head downwards. The bounce left Allan McGregor no chance.
Celtic’s stranglehold on the game was a result of their domination of the key midfield area. Rangers played with Little and Aluko either side of McCulloch up front but Celtic matched up with a risky three in central defence, Loovens, Mulgrew and Wanyama. Such was the gulf in class between Rangers forward players and Celtic’s defenders that the profit Celtic gained in midfield didn’t have a corresponding debit in defence.
Kris Commons scored his first goal of the season on 31 minutes. Gary Hooper collected on the by-line before playing a square pass into space 25 yards from goal. Commons was first to the ball but feigned forward before pulling back and allowing the ball to pass across his body. This fooled Kyle Bartley into lunging for a tackle in a space Commons never ventured into. The deliciously intelligent move unlocked Rangers defences; Commons was clean through with only the keeper to beat, and boy did he beat him.
With McGregor advancing as though the tax man was chasing him, Commons was the personification of cool, carried the ball until 13 yards out and chipped the goalkeeper.
Although Charlie Mulgrew’s crossing was missed, the addition of Emilio Izaguirre, Commons and Adam Matthews into midfield ensured Celtic were always comfortable and threatening in possession. This allowed Scott Brown and Joe Ledley to dominate the central midfield area. Brown played his best game of the season, putting his body between ball and opponent innumerable times, no matter the odds.
By half time, the only question was, how many?
The record books will show a Kris Commons tackle won the ball off Ross McCabe on 54 minutes before Giorgios Samaras passed to Gary Hooper. Hooper’s shot from the 18 yard line rifled into the top corner to complete the scoring.
I said the record books would show this is how the goal happened but another version of events will say that coordinated singing from Celtic fans spooked an inhibited looking Rangers team.
*In administration.
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philcool
Favourite goal against the huns was Henriks shot from an acute angle it put us 3 0 up and it was his 50th of the season
Greenlion2 –
(ahem) I think you’ll find that I too made the dancefloor on at least 3 occasions. And I have pictorial evidence to prove it. Was a fantastic night.
ST STIVS. Any idea how to get to Celtic Park.
MWD
Laffatme Sign Him .HaHa
Well, just finished watching the game again ……..at the game, I was urging the Bhoys to go for the jugular, but watching it with a calm demeanour, NEIL played it just right……..that was the most comprehensive battering they have ever received from ‘the good GHUYS’ and I am so absolutely delighted ….. And our fans were at their usual brilliant best……..
The BIG BONUS is that today is hopefully the last time we will ever have to endure them anywhere near Paradise…..they are not a football cub, not in any way….they existed “to keep down timmie”‘ and they have failed miserably……we now move on, and they move out of the big hoose…..
Only 40 minutes to Sportscene. Can’t wait…
Wonder who they’ll have as the studio guest tonight?
golf with lenny
skip to 17mins
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radioscotland/golf/golf_20120429-1105b.mp3
Fat Sleekit Sally…
One of Scotland leading sportswriters, Glenn
Gibbons, has made a swingeing attack on
Rangers FC manager, Ally McCoist, and hit
out at sections of the media for its coverage
of the crisis which has engulfed the Ibrox
club.
In his weekly column in The Scotsman
yesterday, veteran scribe Gibbons declares:
“For someone who is possibly the oldest
rookie manager in the history of the game,
Ally McCoist this week gave a flawless
impersonation of an impulsive, vengeful and
nasty-minded adolescent.
“Notoriety attached itself to the former
striker with the suddenness and potential
devastation of a pernicious virus the
moment he demanded the release of the
names of the three-man independent review
panel which imposed sanctions on Rangers
in accordance with the seriousness of the
Ibrox club’s breaches of football’s
regulations.
“The suspicion that his disturbingly sinister
outburst – ‘I want to know who these people
are, Rangers supporters want to know who
these people are’ – was a prime example of
premeditated mischief-making did not take
long to harden into certainty.
“It came with the revelation of an SFA
spokesperson that the supposedly bemused
manager would undoubtedly already have
known the identities of the judges, since
Rangers had a representative attend the
entire judicial proceedings.”
Gibbons goes on: “At a stroke, McCoist’s
long-established image as an ebullient and
irrepressible charmer was transformed into
a hideous representation of spiteful
retribution.
“Nor did the damage inflicted on his own
reputation come anywhere near to being
undone by his declaration the following day
that he was ‘disgusted’ by the thought of
any Rangers fan visiting abuse on the panel
members and issuing threats against them
and their families so distressing that the
police began investigations with a view to
criminal charges.”
Gibbons quotes McCoist as saying: “I would
not for one moment want anyone to
interpret my remarks as a signal to engage
in any form of threatening behaviour.”
Comments Gibbons: “The picture of a stable
door being bolted while, in the background,
a horse at the gallop disappears over the
horizon springs to mind.
“It was noticeable, too, that McCoist’s
attempt at a ‘rescue’ did not even hint at the
possibility of culpability on his part, far less
an apology to the panellists and their
distraught families.
“He may be relatively inexperienced in his
present post, but he has been in
professional football for 33 years, all but a
handful of them in association with Rangers.
“In the circumstances, he would,
unquestionably, be perfectly aware of the
potential for appalling behaviour among
certain followers of the club.
“If nothing else, he ought surely to have
been familiar with the regularly-documented
and legally-pursued instances of assaults,
abuses, threats and attempts on the life of
his rival at Celtic, Neil Lennon.
“But McCoist’s injudiciousness simply
chimes with the general transformation of
Rangers over the past two decades from a
trophy-gathering phenomenon into a magnet
for bad management.
“The series of saboteurs ranges from David
Murray, whose ego-driven excesses should
be recognised as the single most significant
factor in Rangers’ present predicament,
through the questionable motives and
actions of his successor, Craig Whyte, to the
representatives of Duff & Phelps, now widely
regarded as the most incompetent
administrators ever to be charged with
righting a listing football club.
“Astoundingly, Murray seems still to
command the loyalty of a reliable band of
apologists, among whom his former
manager, Walter Smith, may be
understandably – and even forgivably –
numbered.
“But the attempts in certain quarters of the
media to present a revisionist view of
history – one in which Murray is totally
exculpated in the matter of Rangers’
potentially fatal wounding – have been
utterly shameless.
“It is as though the former owner/chairman,
who is officially dead where football is
concerned, continues to exert an influence
on his former lapdogs from beyond the
grave.
“Smith’s recent exercise in condemning
Whyte was such an example of
unadulterated propaganda, complete with
see-through inaccuracies, that it was easy to
wonder if we were playing the old time
machine game, returning to the Murray
heyday.”
Initially, a number of daily newspapers
refrained from naming the three members of
the SFA tribunal.
However, the Daily Record did name them –
one of whom is former freelance journalist,
Alistair Murning, who worked with BBC
Scotland in the past.
The Media Scotland tabloid quoted Murning
as saying: “Being a former journalist, I know
how these things work and I knew we were
involved in making a major decision.
But I never envisaged that, as a result of
agreeing to take part in this judicial process,
I would end up being briefed by the police
over security measures they deem
necessary for the safety of me and my
family.
“It’s a shocking situation for us all.”
Tommy Joad, D&P seem prepared to brass it out until the end.
Hector’s Bhoy, no probs.
Celtic Mac, indeed.
blantyretim, you’re best friend was in good form last night.
prestonpans bhoys on 29 April, 2012 at 21:06 said:
Stupid, stupid huns!!!!
HH
CRC
67 heaven
is there any way you can post it?
cheers
hh
MWD
Ye I walked passed that sign today and had a wee laugh to myself!!
Great stuff Celtic. A team full of outstanding young players waving goodbye to a bunch of misfits and hasbeens moving rapidly in the other direction.
Exciting times
pedrocaravanachio67
He is getting married in a RC church, I heard that could have been part of the fall out with sally.
I doubt his NI mates will be too happy about going to the church then :>)
……………………….
Kayal33
The pic is everywhere, all over facebook and the hun blogs.
Vic said it was photoshoped.
Kayal
Ref the pic
You can see that Victor’s hands were originally round the shoulders of young fans, and it has been photoshopped. Not fair to take advantage of his willingness to pose for photos like this. In future he will be less willing to pose with fans.
Paul/Mod in view of Victor’s tweet “Not me and don’t want any trouble.” etc
can we just delete the pic?
HH
Jobo Baldie on 29 April, 2012 at 21:18 said:
At least you did not try to say you were more handsome,younger or thinner than me
Evening all. Just back home and what a day. Three specific people to thank for that:
1. Neil Lennon for picking that side and sending them onto the pitch with that mindset.
2. The Green Brigade. Absolutely magnificent today and all season long.
3. The ground d.j. “Don’t look back in anger” followed by “When will I see you again” as the Huns trooped out. Genius.
Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Death bed memories were made today.
HH
Today has been a great day, result, performance and the fans contribution were all immense. I’ve waited years for A day like today, total dominance against a club with hatred in their heart. I hope this day never ends..
Greenlion 2
after all these years of weather forecasting are you now implying that our Jobo looks like a Hun
Paul as discussed last night….This is what they have leading them taken from pieandbovril..
GreenOak_Ton, on Jul 31 2007, 17:50, said:
Jardine fell to the ground clutching his face when no morton player was within 5 yards.The ref just picked on the nearest player,Bobby Thompson, and sent him packing.Thompson refused to leave the park and ended up being manhandled off by Morton officials and police.Jardine was crucified by a top journalist,Ian Archer.
This didnt go down too well with the OldFirm media at the time nor with other referees.Archer didnt last too long after that nor did Thompson.After he had served his massive suspension he would be sent off/booked if he as much as farted near another player.Thompson had to move down south to Middlesboro just to escape the sycophantic referees up here who pandered to Rangers.
People talk about how that team was made special by the enigmatic Andy Ritchie,but it was Thompson who worked for Ritchie.Once Thompson went then Ritchie lost his golden touch and Morton crashed.The rest as they say is history,but it was that lowlife,scum,b*st*rd Jardine who triggered the collapse with the worst piece of cheating ive seen anywhere on the planet.To this day i doubt Jardine could come to greenock and expect to leave in one piece such is the hatred held for him here.
Thats me said my piece.Ah i feel better to get that off my chest. :lol:
All correct. Thomson got a 6 match ban and didn’t feature in a game against the huns again, and the whole incident (along with the “goal that never should have been” incident which came at, surprise, surprise – Parkhead) contributed entirely to Morton falling from top spot in the Premier and ending up 6th.
Oh – the game ended 1-0 to the huns (late fatboy winner <_< ) and was our first home defeat of the season.
Jardine reappeared at Scapa as a sub for Hearts in 1987, was booed on and got "cheat cheat" shouted with every touch.
I don't know how he sleeps at night.
right going in late to work tomorrow, where’s that bottle of Shiraz….
the long wait…
hahahaha! sure ye cant beat a mature woman
Quick read of Rich List again during adverts in Hawaii Five 0, still can’t find Craig ‘off the radar wealth’ Whyte on it. Mmmm
Greenlion2 –
some things are so obvious that words simply aren’t required. ;-)
dannysbeard on 29 April, 2012 at 21:31 said
I did not utter a word the man himself said it….well implied it
Did they not give Audie Murphy at least 20 minutes, to get out of town?
Glorious day for the Celtic where the fans and the side showed that they
are a superior entity.
From the moment the top secret GB banner was unfurled this work of art did the trick
and stunned the Ragers support into a silence from which they never recovered other than for them, muted sectarian bile.
Celtic swept forward, and literally played Ragers off the park with elegant passing football in the Celtic way., not one single off form player and everybody contributed, in the mauling.
The walk along the Gallowgate to Merchant City was a joyous memorable occasion of celebrating fans that laughed and floated away into the afternoon.
RIP Tommy Barbour died 17/04/12, – that was for you, I’ll miss you next season and know you were looking down on your beloved Paradise today.
One team in town.
Hail Hail
Bholoy83
depends what your playin at!
are any of you Bhoys coming to Norwich?
Took my 13 year old nephew to his first (and last?) OF game today. He loved it and said he’d never forget it.
Brilliant performance by the Celtic team and fans. The atmosphere was tremendous and the banners, songs and chants from our fans were so funny. The Green Brigade are a wonder to behold – they are Celtic’s heartbeat. I also loved the display of banners in the Celtic End at the start of the second half – Au Revoir, Arrivaderci, Buy, Bye, Cheerio etc. A truly great day.
Every Celtic player was a hero today. No one avoided tackles. Everybody had a great game. Fraser had little to do. The team grew slowly into the game. I thought Kris Commons and Scott Brown were immense. So many Celtic players showed off fancy, nimble footwork and dribbled their way past 3 or 4 RFC players. The passing was great and the goals were out of this world. Our two Welsh Bhoys were wonderful, Big Vic and Glen Loovens and Charlie too and isn’t it great to see Emilio slowly but surely getting back to his best. I’ve said on here before that Gary Hooper is a favourite of mine and I thought he gave 100% today. He relly tested that Rangers defence. Sammi kept up his great run of performances winning so many balls and generally causing them severe problems.
I’m a happy, happy bunny tonight and I’m going to spend some time reading back today’s posts.
Too happy about Celtic’s success to say anything negative about Thems or their situation.
Hail! Hail!
share on F’book or Twitter
The Loving Cup ceremony 2012
Spectacularly funny.
http://youtu.be/-dJpf3zOXd4
TJ
good night bhoys & ghirls
A fantastic day ,a day full of tomorrows memories.
So today tell those close to you how much they mean to you, its days like this i miss the old man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-pKY0g9NXk
The Celtic family is a gift.
HAIL HAIL
What a day Celtic!
Thanks to everyone involved. The management, the team, the supporters, the ghuys on here who posted the updates.
My Dad was a big Celtic man. He used to “lift me over” into the old main stand in the 50’s and 60’s. He was a season ticket holder and his book if my memory serves me well was, laterly, about 7 quid.
He passed away 10 years ago this month.
I really don’t know what he would have thought about the sou’ siders troubles, but suspect there would be an element of sympathy too!
He would have loved the game today.
Still miss him.
Good night, Dad.
yes !!
2-1 for lille v psg, 10mins to go
this is good for my 33-1 “Ligue 1” shot, montpellier
haha
Heard the Grotto chapel at Carfin was severly damaged last night. Emdae hear anything abt it?
What a great day, thanks to Lenny, the players and the fans for making sure they die in defeat.
They deserve it, and I have no sympathy for them, because, in the end, they just didn’t show enough love.
I watched and listened to them today, the only original thing they have brought to Scottish Football is hatred. They copied The Huddle, they copied Green and White Army, they sang not one song about their players…..they are nothing and I will not grieve for them. They mean nothing to me.
Philbhoy
Lovely words mate.
Happy. Off to scratcher, a bit p*shed, knowing these things:
I love the greatest football club in the world.
The most odious and obnoxious football club in the world will soon, like the Dodo, be extinct.
The air will soon be breatheable. Me and my daughters might even think of coming back to Scotland to live.
Crawl away and die, Huns. Scotland needs the 21st century.
A great day today made all the better by the fantastic seat I had – right in front of Neil Lennon. Hope I’m on the telly.