Having been ahead only to be pegged back for the second time in a fortnight against Newco, there was a deflated feel inside Celtic Park at the end of the game yesterday. After taking the lead through a Daizen Maeda – Jota combination, Celtic created enough chances to put the game out of sight. They didn’t.
Newco equalised with the best move of the game and thereafter had a hatful of opportunities to win the game and cut the deficit at the top of the table. They also failed in this objective. Celtic remain six points clear with three games remaining, it is now only a matter of when, not if, they will win back their title.
Just as at Hampden last month, Celtic opened poorly, unable to pass through a man-for-man Newco press. The first chance of the game fell to Ryan Kent, who ghosted past Anthony Ralston but did not make a clean contact on the cross, his effort drifted wide.
Maeda failed to make an impact with his first two crosses from the left but his third was drilled into the six-yard box. TV replays showed Borna Barisic repeatedly check over his shoulder for an attack by Jota, but the Portuguese only had eyes for the cross, which he converted without too much trouble from the Newco left back, who will now be familiar with Celtic wingers running from behind him to score.
Newco took control of the game after the interval until Giorgos Giakoumakis and Nir Bitton replaced Matt O’Riley and Kyogo on the hour. In the minutes that followed, Celtic were on top, but could not solidify their lead. That period ended when Newco strung seven passes together inside the Celtic half that released Sakala with a clear shot at goal inside the box, which he finished well.
With home advantage and a significantly lighter playing schedule, you may have expected Celtic to finish the game the stronger, but the opposite was true. Sakala hit the post and had another great chance as Newco piled forward looking for a goal that would keep their title chances alive.
It was a great game of football but by no means a classic Celtic performance. Still, the result ensured the league title will return to Celtic Park for the 10th time in 11 seasons.
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INIQUITOUSIV on 2ND MAY 2022 10:16 PM
Thanks
St. Tam’s
I don’t know the answer to your question about what Ange would say but do you think he looks or sounds like a guy who suffers fools gladly.
Many on here were sure that John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan were duds, or worse, spies for the board. Yet Ange has worked with them and praised them and has not sought to get rid even though he is now in a powerful enough position to exercise influence.
So either lots of people were wrong about Kennedy and Strachan or Ange is a lying weasel who does and says anything to stay in a job. What do you think?
To manage to get in the head of recruitment to Celtic from the City Group,no matter,his father,is a fantastic bit of business by the club.Ange will be delighted,has worked with him for years.The contacts,knowledge he will have will be invaluable to us in sourcing players.
Of course we will have the Peter Law well haters on bumping their gums,going only by the name,no matter how good a capture it is for us.
To get him from City Group is a major signing.Worldwide contacts .
https://youtu.be/bsYp9q3QNaQ
nite all
INIQUITOUSIV on 2ND MAY 2022 10:29 PM
That article is by James Forrest who I’ve just had an interesting head to head with on that very topic.
I quite like Forrest and agree with a lot of his stuff but he did call Ange our “Pedro Caixinha appointment”…..lest we forget :)
I see the huns new strip partners have gone bust, Sportemongo or something, dodgy dealing again, banter years incoming >:)
Reporting Scotland says huns preparing a dossier on hate crimes at CP😕
If anything like last dossier they produced, it will be laughed out😂😂
@Brian ..Kimona great album… Ron Russ And Earele??
must dig it out of cobwebs lol ….
“james Forrest is seething………”
He’s a passionate Tim, no doubt……and ………………..No harm to the fulla, but…………
:))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
PRESTONPANS BHOYS
For such a significant appointment, and one that gives the appearance of nepotism, it would have been appropriate to at least publish his CV and list of accomplishments. Whose transfers did he previously negotiate successfully? How do we know we are not getting a pig in a poke?
Ange has been such a success that the Board probably thinks, “We’ve won the league, spring it on them now, and nobody will squawk.” They are so transparently dismissive of fans and shareholders, it makes me gag.
The wife is 60 in the next week or so and as a surprise I have bought her a strimer, she liked her hoover and her metal detector, so hopefully the strimer will go down well >:)
Sleep well Timland and rejoice that we are champoines again FFS
INIQUITOUSIV
If you are talking about his CV which he submitted to CP, if he did, then that would be in confidence between applicate and potential employer.
So unless he’s willing to divulge it, then no chance😵
Iniquitous,
Yep,like asking a guy who was Manger of Barclays bank,if he has a CV for a job in a Post Office.
B,bbbbbut James Forrest is outraged.Yes,the same guy who was outraged by the appointment of Ange.
Forget the name,the father,10 years in charge of recruitment at City Group is a massive coup for the club.
No matter what the St Tams of this world think.
Ange comes across as an honest man. Would an honest man speak so effusively about someone in whom he didn’t believe ?
In Ange we trust?
TURKEYBHOY
This guy might be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but where did you get that he was HEAD of recruitment at City Group? Whose word are we accepting here? Why would the HEAD of recruitment at the City Group be scouting and recruiting for an obscure Japanese team, even if they had business links with them? Would he not delegate that to someone of lower rank in his Department of Recruitment? Was he a one-man operation? Who gets his old job? Have the City Group announced that?
Not trying to make waves here but something doesn’t add up.
TURKEYBHOY:
You know what makes you such a tosser?
You lap up every word that the club puts out and think that makes you a better fan than those who care enough to QUESTION every word that the club puts out.
It’s not that your view is different from mine, it’s that you don’t think any view but your own is valid.
And that’s why you are a tosser.
You see GEEBEE1978?
He and I disagreed, and even if it got a wee bit heated at times we respected the other person’s view.
And that’s what made it a debate. A discussion.
That’s the difference, and it’s why I respect his view and not those of people who want to ram their opinion down other people’s throats and who will play the “my Celtic scarf is longer than yours” card.
I post on this site not at all, and stop in once in a blue moon. Some of the politics chat on here is ghastly, right wing, reactionary and offensive and as in favour of free speech as I am there’s a place for that and this blog shouldn’t be it.
On the other hand, there are a lot of tiresome twats on here who think any criticism of Celtic is heretical and won’t hear any other view.
I am not in the least bit impressed or intimidated by any of these keyboard warriors.
So, let me speak a little in my defence.
On Ange, I’ve taken my medicine and I didn’t even wait for the first results to change my view. I did my homework on the guy before he arrived and asked LEGITIMATE questions about his record. My one mistake, and I’ve owned it, is the Caixhina comparison.
But my doubts about the job were based on facts. Not on touchy-feely opinions based on how he came across on a YouTube interview. I won’t apologise for what was entirely appropriate skepticism. I also broke the story that he didn’t have UEFA license, which I got roundly mocked for … but again, I just did my homework on it.
All I’ve done tonight is suggest that a recruitment process which hires a CEO from within the club’s legal and accountancy department is badly flawed. A recruitment process which has as much to do with a person’s second name as their skillset – the Strachan’s anyone? – is badly flawed.
Maybe it hasn’t dawned on people that this is how organisations rot from the inside. People taking decisions without a proper process, making momentous decisions based on personal relationships and personal loyalties rather than on who the best person for the job might be.
Does he have credentials? Yeah of course he does. Is there a valid case for hiring him? Yes, there is. But the process stinks. The system stinks. We hired Ange on the back of those relationships and we’re all happy – me especially – that it worked out … but it could have been a failure on the Caixiniha level because he came here with ZERO European football experience.
We hired him on the basis of a SINGLE INTERVIEW … some people only care that it worked. The fact of that is incidental to the process, and the process scares the shit out of me.
Those who want to defend it are welcome to do so.
At least credit us who want to question it with the same motives; we care. I don’t question how much YOU care. Stop questioning my commitment to this thing, I spend all day every day 365 days a year on thsi club, and if you DON’T get that I care I can’t talk to you at all.
The Board, particularly Messrs Lawwell, Bankier and Nicholson have been as slippery as eels on the whole Resolution 12/13 saga since 2012. With their duplicitous history, and despicable treatment of thoroughly honest and decent shareholders like Auldheid and BRHT, it is a natural consequence that their actions are questioned by fans.
Lawwell no 2 might well turn out great, but it would be nice if fans knew a hell of a lot more about what he brings to the table.
iniquitous
“This guy might be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but where did you get that he was HEAD of recruitment at City Group? Whose word are we accepting here? ”
Well, it is on the guy’s own LinkedIn page. I think someone might have picked up on it if he was lying or someone else had that title. It also appears on all the reports of his appointment. Now many journals don’t check out anything and a fair few are well prepared to promulgate a lie but there aren’t many who are prepared to take Celtic issues at face value.
Kieran Devlin at The Athletic is reporting that this was his position. Now I doubt that the head of recruitment at City Group does all the transfer dealing at Man City AND Yokohama Marinos AND New York City FC, but I think holding the position he did at City Group for 10 years suggest he was , at least, competent enough to keep his job.
James Forrest has concentrated his criticism on the lack of a system for recruitment and the lack of openness in those procedures. He hasn’t said Mark Lawwell is useless but Ange must have worked with him at some stage if he chose to venture such a positive opinion
marspapa
Bingo! The very one. Bertie as the perfect (Mein) host. I’m pretty sure Ronnie is an Arsenal supporter, and am also pretty sure his family lived in and around Dalston in Hackney back in the day, not too far from Highbury as was. Not sure if he played football but he might have done the training at some point. Great even now to see the two together, especially now in fact with Bertie’s passing, and Ronnie back at the top of his game.
A worthy World Champion. Thanks for the effort! Appreciated.
Iniquitous, If you look at various sites like linked in etc it does state that he was Head of CFG Scouting & Recruitment,
Like any new Employee coming to Celtic, I will judge him on his performance, regarding Ange he strikes me as being straight & honest, so when he is backing the move it gives me some confidence,
Ange himself has done well for us so far, but we will be in a better position to pass judgement this time next year.
Anyhow it won’t cost me any sleep.
Goodnight & God Bless All.
SFTB
Well said, totally agree👍
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX:
Well let’s be fair. I did suggest that there was no direct evidence that he had worked in Japan.
If his position was as City Group head of recruitment then he certainly assisted Ange.
I took a peek at the transfer record whilst Ange was at Marinos … I’ll be honest, I know next to nothing about Japanese football so I have no way of being able to say whether the record that they shared was good or bad or indifferent. But I know that Ange has killed with his signings so far, and he obviously knows his stuff. I would have been concerned in a way no matter WHO was hired, because you always risk upsetting a good thing when you change a system that is clearly working.
But then Ange does need help and we need to cast the net wider than Japan. I like that we got Abada from abroad, and that O’Riley was signed from England. Ange will have the final say on players … this guy is CLEARLY qualified to assist him and help him … BUT …
… the process is the problem. The process. The system we work to.
When we lost out on Howe, who were we going for if this guy hadn’t said “There’s a guy at Yokohama …”
Cause I looked into this when Ange was hired; only one other manager (aside from Pepe, who might not have come haha) on City’s list of bosses had ever won a domestic title or had any sort of experience; he was Ronny Deila.
So if Ange hadn’t been available or hadn’t wanted the job, who would we have got? Míchel from Girona? With his extensive managerial experience of three minor Spanish clubs and a 33% win ratio?
Otherwise, this board would have had to think outside the box.
We’re relying on a contacts book here, not on a grand sweeping knowledge of the wider game. That’s inherently dangerous stuff.
James Forrest
Your recollections that ALL your objections to Ange were based on facts is a bit fanciful. If you reproduce the original article you will see that you extrapolated a lot of fanciful predictions from your, ahem, scepticism.
And, if you reconsidered your original opinions about Ange, could you foresee yourself doing the same thing re Mark Lawwell. I must admit that your prediction that the recruitment in Summer 2022 will not be as productive as our recruitment in this season’s two windows. We had such a high hit rate without buying any £6m plus players (I know Jota and CCV will cost this but we haven’t signed them as permanent).
Mark Lawwell might be good at his job but he and Ange and all else involved in recruitment might well have a less stellar recruitment year.
Your criticisms of process are fine but, unless you are privy to information that suggests Mark Lawwell was the only one headhunted, the only one interviewed and the only one considered, then you cannot assert that the lack of information you have on this equates to it not existing at all.
JAMES FORREST on 2ND MAY 2022 11:34 PM
In relation to Ange’s recruitment, I did read that he works closely with an agent that helps him identify players too. His name escapes me and I wonder if anybody on here can confirm or refute…
BTW- Pedro Caixiha won the Copa MX and the Supercopa MX with Cruz Azul after he left Sevco. Like Ronny Deila at New York City- these guys proved to have some abilities in this tough market despite the low opinion many had about them.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX:
Well there are two things there.
My skepticism on Ange was based on three things.
1) His lack of experience in European football.
2) His record. He had spent a long time in Australian football, time in their international setup and had four years in Japan with one league title sandwiched, I think between finishing 9th and finishing 12th. He had won things, of course he had, but I considered the level of opposition and the standard of football.
3) The process that hired him, which brings us back to the point. It reeked – and it still reeks – of an appointment made less on merit than based on pure panic.
4) Neil Lennon. I will not trust the board on ANY significant appointment who thought that was a good idea or so cynically used a great day in our history to sell it to us.
It was easy to imagine it being a disaster. I was not alone in believing that it could be. A lot of folk, and I don’t want to criticise people, had the same doubts but kept their heads down. That’s not me :)
As to the Mark Lawwell appointment, your point is to ask for evidence, but then my point is to ask for evidence. We don’t know what this guy’s record actually is … a handful of the clubs in the City Group are successful and the rest barely function. If he was the head of recruitment for the whole organisation it’s important to look at his record overall with them … not just his relationship with Ange.
Now, you CAN extrapolate looking at certain things.
First, the flagship club has been playing for two years without a central striker. Are there no central strikers in world football? I am not saying that’s Lawwell’s fault, but it’s part of his job description. Yokohama have signed a truckload of players; what’s their record of late?
Well in the last dozen years they’ve got one first place – thank you Ange – and two second place finishes. The rest is a patchwork between finishing 4th and 12th (also under Ange.) So what does the data tell you? Something? Or nothing at all?
He came from a big organisation and an important job; but how well did he do that job? You’re asking me to prove he can’t do it … it’s surely more legitimate for me to ask if he can?
One last thing; all I ask is that people think this stuff through.
if the Ibrox club had hired a head of recruitment who was related to their former CEO we would have laughed our arses off. We’d have called it cronyism, nepotism and all the rest of it and no matter his credentials if they had tried to say that a global search had coincidentally landed at his door we’d have laughed even harder … and we’d have been right to.
Four things, not three things haha. Apologies.
One thing Hames Forrest is correct about.
Is his opinion of the Turkey
James even!!!
‘AGAINST THE ODDS’ – great documentary on Kasper Schmeichel….well worth a watch!!!
Geebee1978
“James Forrest is seething on Twitter”
Plus ca change !
Maybe one of the reasons DD was at the game yesterday…….
dearie me, that was some read back.
whem did it not occur on everyone that near 30 years on, we swopped original famility dynasties, kelly, whites and grants, for desmonds, lawwelS and tranyors ?
!!BADA BING!! on 3RD MAY 2022 12:17 AM
Maybe one of the reasons DD was at the game yesterday……
——–
exactly right,
there was board business that needed him in person in the room to give the nod, at the sametime as the rest of them.
People who hate other people will always hate everything they do and say. They will also hate their families and friends.
People who hate other people will do and say anything that will back-up that hate.
I feel sorry for people who hate because hate has caused many problems in the world and solved none – and it never will.
It gives me great pleasure that Celtic take no notice of people like Mr Forrest….long may it continue.
I don’t hate Mr Forrest, I am just so pleased that in terms of Celtic, he is non-entity….long may that continue too!!!
Ange is very complementary of Mark Lawwell. If we take Ange’s words at face value then this can only be seen as a positive for the team, the club and Ange himself.
As for claims of nepotism ; Would the same accusation be made if we had signed Jack McGinn’s grandson.
Look beyond the surname and evaluate merit.
HH.