Celtic played their best football in months last night. Why? Well, the shape of the team was different. Scott Brown was no longer in the anchor role, leaving that in the capable hands of Eboue Kouassi (20 last month). Eboue joined this time last year, but has spent most of the intervening period getting to grips with life at Celtic, as well as overcoming illness. He did just fine and went some way to justifying the significant fee Celtic paid.
Olivier Ntcham, no stranger to a robust challenge, played the advanced role of the middle three, while Brown had the freedom to forage wherever need was greatest. It worked.
You will also notice a nascent partnership emerging between Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard. Both thrived. We were even treated to the sight of Moussa collecting a clearance from Dorus de Vries before releaseing Odsonne inside the Celtic half. The big striker stretched his legs to speed away from the Hearts defence before scoring the opening goal. This worked too.
Brendan may have considered the effects of both wing partnerships being broken up. Kieran Tierney was without Scott Sinclair and James Forrest didn’t have Mikael Lustig, but both flourished.
Moments after coming on, Charly Musonda created a chance with a delicious back-heel. Moussa should have converted what would have been a fitting herald for the new loan signing.
My big takeaway from this game? Teams have had 18 months to figure out how to combat Celtic’s play. We have stuttered, in part, because teams knew what to expect and prepared accordingly. Teams need a second system as much as they need a second strip. We now have ours.
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540 Comments- Pages:
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Pogmathonyahun aka Laird of the Smiles on 1st February 2018 2:58 am
Its the main MO of Celtic PLC
Paul67 buries it nicely these days but it is the main MO of Celtic PLC.
CELTARELLA,
Any Celtic supporter who has paid a penny either directly or indirectly to see the rebirth of this repugnant Scottish cancer is nothing but a total tube!
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Sorry for the delay in replying but I had to go out and get some stuff for the wife’s dinner, seeing I’m her bitch these days.
Quite a sweeping statement! I haven’t been to any games involving sevco since the rankers died nor do I intend to attend any. I’m in the ‘I want them off the face of the Earth camp.’
As regards the MO of Celtic PLC, I am not privy to their inner workings so I can’t comment on that one.
What I will say is that when the rankers were still showing signs of life I wrote to Celtic telling them that I would not be renewing my season tickets whilst they shared the same shirt sponsors as the huns and I was true to my word.
Anyhoos, she’ll be back soon and I can’t be caught talking to any ne’er-do-wells like what inhabit the pages of this blog as another beating might be in order ;-)
hidinfaeahidincsc
I pay my pennies to see Celtic players in Celtic shirts at Celtic Park.
I have no interest in any other team in any other shirts at any other park.
Clearly I’m a tube.
HH
Connaire 12.
I have always been impressed the way young foreign players can speak impeccable English. Charly is another fine example.
I would wager that many of them have a workable knowledge of some other languages.
Imo, It is a failing in our education system that spoken languages are so far down the pecking order. And personally it is something I have always meant to rectify.
Adidos and HH.
Regarding the huns. It is staggering at times how far CQN is out of tune with the wider Celtic support.
Celtic fans who buy ST,s will watch their team play whoever is in the league. It is part of the package ,unless specified .
It does not condone anything about the huns ( new or old ) but to the majority it remains immensely pleasurable when we hump them. That is why failure to do so is so disappointing and raises such emotion.
Check the traffic stats on here after the last draw.
Au revoir and HH.
Tallybhoy
Marine Hotel in Troon is often offerings deals on Groupon.Maybe the Celts made a bulk purchase.
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Possibly!
Daughter has a weekend job there, and it was her who told me.
I’ve asked her to try and get some souvenirs!
——
she might not have a weekend job there much longer
disclosing that type of information will definately be against company policy and probably against the law as well
None of you UK Tims oot yer scratcher yet?
Pog
Some of us are already at work
Dallas
If you have a wee lurk before you head to work your “card” is in your drawer so don’t be hunting for it !
Clumpany – I must be reading your site too often.
Shameless bump from last night…
SUPERSUTTON on 31ST JANUARY 2018 11:15 PM
Did SSN reporter just say “Moreles deal to China will not happen…the player is confused”
(Manual and Basil Fawllty come to mind)
Moreles: But meester Murty. I no understand. Why not I sign for China?
Murty: No Alfred, there is no offer from Chinese team.
Moreles: Yes, there ees. I see it in Sky. I read it in Daily 45s (that’s a record for the younger viewers)
Murty. NO. They are only saying what we want the Bears to believe.
Moreles: Si… Que?
Murty: The reporters are just reproducing whatever we tell them.
Moreles: Si. Ze Club / Company get £8m and Alfredo, he gets £75K for week.
Murty. NO! Listen carefully. I shall say this only once (more). There is no offer for you Alfred. No £8m, no £75K, no Chinese; takeaway, laundry or Great Wall. Nothing, zero, zilch. Konichiwa.
Moreles. Si. … Que? No, Mr Murtee. I want to go to China.
Murty: FFS you daft Spanish waiter. We’ve got a cup game against Fraserburgh tonight. We need all the goals we can get. So forget about transfers. And go out there and … sit on the bench.
Gerry, thank you.
Welcome to Jack and Scott to Celtic.
Scott’s comments about signing for us were first class.
GREENPINATA
I think it’s a sweeping statement to say that CQN the whole of it is out of tune with the wider support, when many of our best posters are guys and gals who attend the games regularly, would it not be more accurate to say that certain posters are out of touch with the wider support and their daily repeated message is their truth as in they think if they post it every day then it must be true??
It’s always struck me as odd that those who live in the far flung reaches of the Celtic World feel it’s their right or their duty to come on here everyday and tell the support what tubes they are.
I live abroad and CQN is my main contact now to the Celtic Family but it would never enter my mind that I should tell to good people of Planet Celtic back home how they should support the team:((
Free will and personal choice etc etc.
But it seems that some are only happy when coating off the whole Celtic support from afar.
Maybe I will try pretending to be a fairy princess and wear womens clothing for a day or two to see if that influences my thinking!!
HH
7 years today when young Reamonn was taken from us, Gone but not forgotten young man
RIP Reamonn your memory lives on and the Thai Tim’s like Blantyre won’t forget you
☘️☘️☘️
The following video was pinched off Awe_naw’s FB page. It reminds me of Forres and the great delight from (English) Mrs PMTYH when I say that I am being marginalised ;-)
https://www.facebook.com/TheHookOfficial/videos/2273266676072111/
Warning, a couple of sweary words.
BLANTYRETIM IS PRAYING FOR THE KNOX FAMILY
Is that seven years already, seems only like yesterday I was sitting with ma Mammy in her wee hoose when we heard the news…
RIP Raemonn
RIP Reamonn. BT I can’t believe it’s 7 years.
BLANTYRETIM IS PRAYING FOR THE KNOX FAMILY on 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 8:31 AM
7 years today when young Reamonn was taken from us, Gone but not forgotten young man
RIP Reamonn your memory lives on and the Thai Tim’s like Blantyre won’t forget you
☘️☘️☘️
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God bless young Reamonn, prayer said.
celtarella
“So the glorious balance sheet of Celtic is a fallacy? a lie?
CL money, ST money, sales money, sell on money, transfer money, enough money to develop hotel and entertainment complexes but dont have enough money to deal with any of these:
Borussia Dortmund v Atalanta
Nice v Lokomotov
Moscow Copenhagen v Atletico Madrid
Spartak Moscow v Athletic Bilbao etc; etc; ”
I wrote what I wrote. Yes we have money and yes we could have spent more on the squad but that would not have shortened our odds on getting past Zenit, who are a CL class last 16 team this season. To get better quality than the likes of Nir Bitton and Gamboa, who are squad members, you need to be of international quality or a hardened player from a competitive league (such as Compper and the La Liga defenders that TET keeps mentioning to us). To break into the squad you need to be of the quality of Paddy Roberts (£13m) or Charly Musonda (also a double digit million pound player) who is on the fringes of a very talented Belgian National team and with 24 La Liga and 3 EPL appearances behind him. We already have such a player in Odsonne Edouard with an option to buy at just under £10 m and that is seen as a risky rich punt by most of us.
£6m does not buy you a Lennon, Hartson or Sutton anymore. You cannot even buy Brett Assombalonga or Jordan Rhodes for that amount. You could get Gary Madine and impress the gullible fans with our class splashing or you could put your cash back in your pocket and save it for when it will be needed to get you a bargain.
You believe we adopt this model because we want to JUST stay ahead of the ibrox club and there is akernel of truth in that this willl be one of our aims. But I think you diminish the hard-thought considerations that go into keeping as high a profile as you can manage for your club without risking its future. So we remain a well presented club with a squad that conytains some gems surrounded by whole-hearted players who will not frighten a good European squad like Zenit, even if we had paid £5m for a centre half or creative midfielder with wage expectations above our top earners.
I agree with you that the club and many of our fans have gone over the score in welcoming back Sevco so we can once more scratch that itch. I do disagree with the “spend it all now!” shouts which is just plain bad planning. This is not the equivalent of how Davie Hay was stuffed as manager by the Board. It is not even close.
Aff oot to work now
Starry,
You are possibly correct, however I think generally ( myself included ) that many of CQN’ERS think differently from the wider Celtic support.
HH.
” we want to JUST stay ahead of the ibrox club and there is akernel of truth in that this willl be one of our aims.”
A very small kernel. I would say it is more likely that want to stay ahead of ALL opposition in Scotland.
JJ
Not going to lie and say I’ve ever noticed Hendry or know much about him but he’s obviously been a target for a while, as was Bain as far as I understand.
Musonda looks like a fantastic talent (although one who hasn’t made it at Chelsea because of a lack of end product which I believe he’ll have time and coaching to do here).
With Compper in as a replacement for Svietchenko it’s been a successful window by all accounts.
I would like to see us make some permanent signings in the summer though. We need to keep finding VVD’s, not just for the money they bring in when sold but the talent to take us to the next level. Long term loans (can be) great as you get a player for 18 months who you’d likely sell within that period anyway, but rather than make huge profits its costing a lot of money and that can’t keep going on.
Warm welcome to Scott & Jack, I look forward to see you in the hoops.
You both have a stage, let’s see what you have, with hard work and determination the possibilities are endless.
Best of luck.
Connaire
Big Marvin Commper speaks 6 languages which means in 5 languages he’ll be able to get away with giving refs an honest assessment of their ability without getting a card.
HH
Tradionalist88, they’ll just book him on the balance of probability?
GREENPINATA on 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 5:44 AM
” Regarding the huns. It is staggering at times how far CQN is out of tune with the wider Celtic support.”
What are the two tunes being sung? eg CQN hates them but the the wider support likes them?
“Celtic fans who buy ST,s will watch their team play whoever is in the league. It is part of the package ,unless specified .”
Generally speaking that is true but it does not mean that `Celtic fans` like the Huns being one of those teams.
” It does not condone anything about the huns ( new or old ) but to the majority it remains immensely pleasurable when we hump them. That is why failure to do so is so disappointing and raises such emotion.”
I agree.
” Check the traffic stats on here after the last draw.”
I would say that reflects dislike of THEM rather than any support for their being in the league under the guise of the old Rangers.
Overall, I would guess that the wider support would also like to see Sevco go out of business ( It is not just a handful who sing with gusto that `The Huns are going bust`.)
Those among our support who still read the Record and the Sun and who listen to Scottish radio etc are, I believe , the same ones who like having `Rangers` in the League. Whether that is `the wider support` or not remains open for debate.
JJ
Not seen enough of Hendry or Compper to know if they are the answer to the defensive issues but its reassuring to know that the manager acted on the urgent need to bolster our often jittery defence, who get away with a lot domestically (which doesnt make it alright!) and can have an unsettling effect on team cohesion.
HH
One of our better transfer windows. We went on requiring an experienced centre half, preferably left sided, and a playmaker. We kept our whole first team squad.
Compper ticked the experienced, left sided centre half box, Musonda the playmaker. Gordon’s injury accelerated the need for a new keeper and Bain is the best of the younger Scottish keepers around. 4 months working for Stevie Woods and he’ll be ready to sign permanently if wanted.
The signings of young Scottish talent should be a no brainier every window. Low cost, low risk and if one out of three or four works out great. For that reason Hendry (with Jozo and Dedryck’s futures beyond the summer undecided) and Morgan are no loss signings who could turn out good value.
A few non contributors out the door as well is a bonus.
GLASGOWBHOY on 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 9:36 AM
Nah I’m sure he’ll be too smart for them – he’ll just tell them nicely ;)
HH
Glasgowbhoy @ 9:36
Nice one !
JJ
Aye, welcome Jack and Scott. For those complaining it could have been worse – it might have been Jack and Victor.
In case it was missed.
………………………..
POGMATHONYAHUN AKA LAIRD OF THE SMILES on 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 2:54 AM
CELTARELLA,
Do you celebrate when we beat sevco? I know I do. I celebrate every Celtic victory and mourn every defeat.
The vehicle that carried hunnism did in fact die, it was burnt like their bus. Unfortunately, the purveyors of hunnism have leased a new vehicle. There’s not much Celtic can do about that apart from trying to flatten the tyres. Also the lease company (FTSFA) are not particularly diligent when it comes to taking care of their fleet of vehicles.
Until we can find a new road, preferably a highway, to drive on we just need to accept that they travel down our road.
Word of The Day
Recalcitrate. [ri-kal-si-treyt]
verb, recalcitrated, recalcitrating.
1. to resist or oppose; show strong objection or repugnance.
Word origin and history
1615-25; < Latin recalcitrātus, past participle of recalcitrāre; see recalcitrant, -ate1
Related forms
recalcitration, noun
KTF
“Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace……………..”
gotta be a hun.
:0
A few posts have indicated that `foreigners` put us to shame with their command of English as a second language.
In defense, I would suggest that if the main language of much of the world was, say, German, then many more of us would speak German whilst the Germans would speak only their own language.
In all non-English speaking countries,the choice of language to learn is obvious: English. Footballing Swedes, Frenchmen, Spaniards and Germans will communicate with each other in English. There would be no point in us learning Spanish then going to live in Italy !
I rest my case.
ClarenceDarrowCSC
WHITEDOGHUNCH .
Drinking in Padova — from Mrs S of T via some relatives in Padova “who aren’t old enough to be getting a pension “.
Hendrix Cocktail Bar –Piazza Del Signori
Bar Amsterdam –Via Vincenza
Taverna Del Porto –Via Armistizio —— (a beer place ! )
Bar Portello –Via Giambattista Belzoni — old style drinking den with billiard tables etc . Opens at 7 shuts at 2 . Vino from the barrel -1 Euro a glass
Welcome to Scott and Jack – liked seeing Scott turning up at Celtic still in his Hibs gear, a man in a hurry to sign up.
Only problem I can see is if him and SB are both playing and Madmitch is writing about them.
Art of War
We had that problem fro Neg with KT and KT at LB and CB :-))
JJ