You get to know those sitting near you at Celtic Park, even if only on nodding terms, but yesterday at Murrayfield, we were mostly sitting among new faces, but despite no previous camaraderie, we found a common bond when we considered Craig Levein’s likely response to his teams heavy defeat.
Hearts were poor, very poor. While Celtic were well below par for half the game, Hearts failed to lay a glove on the champions. Then when Celtic took the lead, the league leaders (for now) could neither muster an attack nor hold a defensive line. Any self-respecting manager would hold his hands up and admit as much, but not our Craig.
“A penalty that never was and we had a good goal chopped off”, was the consensus of how Levein would react, which, turned out to be only partially accurate. How that team are top of the league defies explanation. They were only good at getting in the way of Celtic players and occasionally assaulting them off the ball (pun intended).
Celtic’s indifferent start to the season, and potential for a third consecutive treble, were both on display at Murrayfield. The first half was notable only for its lack of penetrative play. Scott Sinclair, who replaced injured Eboue Kouassi on 26 minutes, produced the only serious attempt at goal during that period. Celtic had lots of the ball but were inhibited going forward.
When Callum McGregor (not best in a wide role) moved to the deep lying playmaker position he is most effective at, in the departure of Eboue Kouassi, Celtic improved. But the real improvement came when Ryan Christie replaced Olivier Ntcham at halftime.
Celtic then had a midfield anchored by McGregor, with Christie, Tom Rogic, James Forrest and Sinclair ahead. Lots of tidy ball-players but without an enforcer. It was a risk, but it worked superbly. We have looked ponderous so often this season. Not every game will be suitable for such an attacking formation, but Celtic were a joy to watch.
Despite playing only 45 minutes, Christie was clear Man of the Match. His dart inside the box 8 minutes after the break won the penalty, then his shot was fumbled by Hearts ‘keeper, Zlamal, to allow James Forrest to make sure, but the third goal, a side foot shot to the top left corner of the goal from 22 yards by Christie, was the highlight of the game.
Celtic could easily have had a penalty in the opening period, when Kieran Tierney was scythed down inside the box after crossing, then Hearts tactic of throwing everything in the way of the ball should have seen another spot kick, when one defender blocked with both arms, but these details were irrelevant as Celtic cut Hearts open at will late in the game. This, despite Craig Levein detecting heavy legs in his opponents.
Well, Craig, we can only wonder what a well-rested Celtic team would do to you.
And it’s Aberdeen in the final again. This is the fifth season they have been the last team to make a contest of leagues and cups against Celtic. They have lost their way this year and the league is weaker as a consequence, but we can take nothing for granted.
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MacJay
That would be a great deal.
Love Big Ben so far in our defence. Looks The Rock. Saint Peter of the team. ?
YNWA
DELANEYS DUNKY on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 9:49 PM
Currently a delicate situation with Leicester , but central defence remains the big challenge.
As others have said , I expect action in the January window.
I don`t think Brendan is too far from having a team which can mount a credible challenge in Europe.
Re Murrayfield yesterday, I know everyone will have had their own experience and have their own view but I loved it and would gladly go back for any semi-final or final in future.
Decent direct train journey through, in queue for Malones at 10:55am, not too long a walk to stadium, plenty of ‘healthy’ food options pre match, skelp the minis 3-0 whilst having a good bet on at minus 2, brilliant walk back into town with thousands of happy Tim’s and we found a great Celtic friendly pub to watch Aberdeen beat Steven Gerard’s Sevco and join us in the final.
All in all a beautiful Sunday and a vastly better experience than a trip to Hampden.
Thanks to Brendan and the Bhoys, especially young Ryan Christie who had 45 minutes of football he will never forget.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 9:35 PM
BGFC 4.46 pm
—-
Hi MACJAY1 – thanks for replying – appreciate it. Yes , I saw Phil’s piece a few days ago – I think someone on here posted about it too.
If that came off – and particularly given the innevitability of Boyata’s departure – then it would be a real coup for Celtic.
Unfortunately, I can’t see it, unless Celtic are prepared to put down a really significant fee and can cover Bencovic’s wages. Given that he’s already – reportedly – a £11M EPL player, I expect he will be on an eye-watering monthly salary. I just don’t see Celtic being able or willing to match what he’s likely to be on at Leicester. I don’t honestly expect or want us to match EPL wages – that’s fatal for us.
Anyway – will be interesting to watch.
Thanks again for replying.
HH
BGFC
Leftclick
You posted pre match that you thought a young squad player would seize his chance and shine. In 45 minutes Ryan Christie did just that. Magical
YNWA
BIG GEORGES FAN CLUB – HAIL, HAIL, WEE OSCAR on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 10:24 PM
I fear that you are probably right.
Our chances of securing Bencovic are slim.
I completely agree with your reservations about paying EPL wages.
And that may well be the stumbling block.
Which makes the job of our much maligned CEO such a challenge.
Hi Crc
Did this really happen or was that your take on it
Either way thanks for enlightening me
HH
Phil
BGFC
See you and young G for a beer if our bus gets up early enough to Dundee on Wednesday.
YNWA
Dave King,
“That certainly does not provide me with any comfort in dealing with Sports Direct as a partner. It is solely because of Sports Direct’s refusal or inability to act as expected of a normal commercial partner that Rangers now has no choice but to litigate to secure payments that are due and are long outstanding. “My advice to Sports Direct is that whatever short-term success it might enjoy through its courtroom manoeuvrings will not affect my resolve, nor that of RIFC’s other investors to ensure the best deal for the club and its supporters. We continue to show the resolve we have demonstrated over the last three years in resisting all attempts by Mike Ashley and Sports Direct to take further advantage of our club. “As in previous litigation, Sports Direct’s urgent court injunctions will always be complied with – but will not be the final word.”
——–
Amen to that.
CHAIRBHOY
I’m not going over all this again. BR has the final say on ALL football matters. The board cannot sell or buy a player without his say so, por cierto
DELANEYS DUNKY on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 10:45 PM
BGFC
See you and young G for a beer if our bus gets up early enough to Dundee on Wednesday.
===
That is a plan. Going for a couple of beers post match on Sat before heading off to see Blackberry Smoke at O2 Academy – need to find a Wee BGFC-friendly establishment. West Brewery currently looking favourite – but open to Tim-friendly suggestions.
Here’s the usual one to keep you going – you can see why Wee BGFC (and his Da) loves this band
:-))) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3S6TEj9_YY
Wonder if CRC is travelling through – good opportunity to see his wee lassie. Me and Wee BGFC are detouring to St Andrew’s en-route home to see Miss BGFC.
Long and hopefully happy journey home in store – two wins for the West and East Tims would be good.
HH
BGFC
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 10:32 PM
Re: the CEO – he. like the rest of us, is an imperfect human – neither a God nor a Devil. Too many people want to characterise him in a one-dimensional and a very polarising way.
I prefer to see it as – some things he does I agree with, some things I strongly disagree with or can’t even comprehend the possible reasons for.
As you say, I’m sure it a challenging job, made all the more so in in the environment and circumstances that Celtic operates in – the anti-Celtic sentiment is not far below the surface, if at all.
Nice conversing with you – best wishes.
HH
BGFC
BIG GEORGES FAN CLUB – HAIL, HAIL, WEE OSCAR on 29TH OCTOBER 2018 11:51 PM
Yes.
A balanced view of P.L. is surely ideal.
My problem is very simply this.
Before criticising any individual in any sphere for any perceived negative outcome , I like to know to what degree they are responsible.
Unfounded allegations based on assumption damage Celtic. Particularly our sense of unity.
We have enough media outlets desperate to do that.
Why do our supporters assist them in promoting their anti Celtic agenda ?
Possibly because they have their own ulterior motives.
Thanks.
Enjoyed the chat.
Good Morning CQN,
Is the blog broke ?
No night shift last night ?
Good morning CQN from a dark, damp and cold Garngad
BMCUWP I hope you are well, get yourself back on, I for one miss your early morning posts, oh and all your other posts.
Back to work this morning, to see all the sevcoites little faces (well there is only a couple of them)…. ahh wee gullibille souls.
D. :)
POR CIERTO @ 11:16 PM,
Aye… but if they were sleekit enough they could negotiate with the player, his agent and an interested buying Club despite the Managers wishes…
You can imagine a scenario where the Manager says that players not for sale before we get and bed in a quality replacement… but they try to sell him anyway.
Or say…
When the Manager says we need this ghuy, he’s one of, if not our best player, he’s NOT for sale this window…
However the executive negotiate his departure anyway… allowing the player to talk to the courting Club… sowing disharmony in the ranka and the dressing room to make the Managers position untenable…
Then negotiate the sale “like a bulldog”
But all that’s going to do is harm the team morale, preparations and performance at a crucial time… so who would do that?
Make us a few bob though;)
Hail Hail
any team news or injury updates bhoys and ghirls for our visit to Dundee??
HH
D. :)
morning bhoys from a damp chilly Cheshire.hh.
Morning all.
In this day and age, shouldn’t the Police be tapping MacLean’s shoulder and charging him with sexual assault? That might take the smirk off his face.
Stupid question, I know but worth asking; has anybody come across an smsm article which looks at Stevie gobshite’s record in detail – 2 draws, 2 losses, the best goal difference in the prem but are in fifth; a loss to the dons when they were all over them and a couple of wins in europe. I want to see when the penny drops or the smsm change their tune!
Haven’t heard from OldTim in a while. Hope he’s ok.
Not to mention, the bizarre reaction to the loss to Aberdeen – wield the axe – is King going to lend him a fiver ?
Chairbhoy
“When the Manager says we need this ghuy, he’s one of, if not our best player, he’s NOT for sale this window…
However the executive negotiate his departure anyway… allowing the player to talk to the courting Club… sowing disharmony in the ranka and the dressing room to make the Managers position untenable…
Then negotiate the sale “like a bulldog
But all that’s going to do is harm the team morale, preparations and performance at a crucial time… so who would do that?
Make us a few bob though;)”
———————————————–
Seems to me that there were, at least, 3 points of transfer tension in the recruitment and retention department. Without inside knowledge it is difficult to discern blame or responsibility in each.
1) Failure to land Players: The Sporting Lisbon RB and John McGinn are the alleged “failures” here though there may be others, as yet unidentified , undiscussed and, therefore, not subjected yet to partisan blame-shifting.
The ones we know about are Cristiano Puccini who left SL for Valencia for £7.2 m and McGinn left Hibs for Villa for over £3m. In both cases, the allegation is that PL’s dithering left them open to us being gazumped by other clubs. The alternative possible explanation, i.e. that, like most players, their selling club and the player’s agent did not commit to the first acceptable bid (even if it is from Celtic) and waited out the window to see what alternatives came in, does not get much consideration. It seems both players and clubs can be happy that a form of the latter strategy may have been pursued. Sporting got a higher transfer fee, possibly than we were willing to pay, and the player gets a top La Liga club rather than a sideways or downwards move ( from Sporting to Celtic). McGinn gets a much higher weekly salary to a big English club with a solid prospect of getting back to the Premiership; that is a fair compensation for not getting to the club you support; as a potential Bosman he could have exercised his right to turn down Villa’s generous offer and go to Celtic for less.
2) The Dembele sale- It is interesting that a player who forced through his own last minute transfer did not hit out at PL for his treatment (maybe, that is a form of support for the argument that PL was helping him get sold) but instead hinted that it was unfair to restrict his chances of a dream move whilst the manager had been planning his own move away from Celtic and was wishing to take Moussa with him to his new club. It’s only rumour, I know but so is the view that PL was actively assisting the sale and, at least this rumour came from one of the participants.
3) The Boyata non-sale. The allegation appears to be that, in letting Boyata speak to Fulham, PL was going against the wishes of the manager that he be allowed to leave. Whatever truth there was in this version of actuality, the outcome does not support the narrative that the CEO can sell players from out beneath the feet of the manager.
Boyata stayed. As a Bosman he can walk for nothing in the summer or we can get less money for him in January and he can probably do better than Fulham.
That begs the question who won this alleged” battle. It is hard to argue that it was PL the money-grabbing CEO as the transfer was not forced through.
Was it BR who insisted Boyata stay and if so, why did Dedryk not do a Dembele and make himself eminently sellable?
Or are we seeing a cordial agreement between player, manager and club representative, PL, that, in our current defensive injury crisis, it suits all parties to keep Dedryk for a part or the whole of his final year even though the money grabber takes a bath on what could have been £9m for the heated driveway fund.
Certainly, Dedryk’s subsequent playing performance suggests he is happy with the outcome and we, as a club, have a right to be so too.
I suppose we have to find a reason to square the circle between the differeing outcomes in the Dembele and Boyata situations. I find it hard to discern the evidence for a view that sees PL undermining the managers wishes as pound signs over-ride all other considerations. If that were true, Boyata would be gone by now (and we would have seen the selling on of peripheral figures like Hayes, Allen and, until the weekend, Christie and Kouassi).
We have to explain it all and it all has to hang together. Any view that sees PL as all bad and BR as all good, or vice versa, does not fit the observable facts.
Others may have more inside knowledge. I can just try to negotiate my head around what the runes (the observed outcomes) might possibly mean. They do not all fit the narrative of an all powerful CEO who over-rides the manager’s wishes.
That does not mean there is no tension between the 2 of them. It just means it cannot be as black and white as some (not yourself) would like to believe.
Starting work now- will catch replies later.
Big night of football tomorrow in Scotland, wins for Celtic, Hibs and Livingston and no result for the huns could see them start to drift off the bottom of the leaders in the league a la mid table duffers Saints and The Sheep:))
I wonder if the SMSM will be so gushing if Steve Clarkes Killie get a result there tomorrow!
Mon The Hoops!
SFTB,
As I previously discussed, who has the power to allow players agents to find a new club, I note you offer that Boyatta was allowed to negotiate with Fulham, are you saying BR gave the go ahead then changed his mind?
I doubt even the manager is allowed to tell players agents to find another club, I expect only the chief of player procurement is allowed to make that decision whilst the manager may offer his opinion and make recommendations I doubt very muck procurement and negotiations are part of his remit.
Much even
Good morning all from Shields Road. The vistas over Kinning Park are breathtaking.
Hibs tomorrow night and Celtic Park at the weekend?
Be afraid Gorgay Goolie men, be VERY afraid!
SFTB @ 8.53
You have to align a multitude of moons for your analysis to stand up.
PL has history:
He has gone cheap and pliable on multiple occasions.
He has mucked about with a number of transfers in the past.
He has let local talent go south before.
He has been very faithful to individual agents — to a ridiculous degree in one instance.
He has an astroturf cohort who will repeat his excuses at the drop of a hat.
He has emptied the LL Upper.
BR also has some history:
He has managed to get us playing some decent football.
He has motivated the squad to a degree that is nearly 50% of the sainted BC — herd of cows on a wet day.
He has found a couple of gems and got them to play well with the potential to be CL Last 16 standard this season or next.
He has got the support onside and revved up.
He has filled the LL Upper / Free Pie Seats / …
Consequently with that background in plain view — this summer’s shambles is a PL production.
You can speculate as much as you want but what we know — from years gone past — means he is culpable for our current predicament.
Getting rid of PL generates two positives:
1) We can get in someone who can deliver on a growth agenda.
2) BR can do his stuff in full view with no distractions — new players / no squad fillers / better wage value.
My thoughts on the start of the season and the issues it raised …
Everybody in the squad can go if the price s right.
When the numbers came back it was KT not MD in pole position / wearing the yellow jersey.
That complicated matters somewhat and things never recovered.
No big sale was made so no big buys were sanctioned before the caravan had moved on.
OE = VvD windfall plus change from the year before.
Other elements — SA vs TR as the undercard.
TR took the contract on offer and SA was waived out the door.
DB was always the wild card as his extended WC made things more difficult.
However for him to go someone had to come in — nobody was lined up so he stayed.
MD took a strop in the second half of August and things went downhill from there.
Called out the manager in full view of the squad / media / support so had to go — pity.
Consequently in a bit of a hole come the 31st August.
However we are making progress out but we still have issues.
SB / Captain — succession planning.
RB — starter required.
Injuries — very poor situation.
LG — Needs a boot up the erse, no make that two.
CB — Need to start planning for 2019.
U20 — Total revamp,
We cannot have players leaving at 20/21/22 who can’t get a regular game in the bottom half of the SPL.
They either were not good enough at 16/17 or our coaching is poor.
Macjay1 @ 1:13 :
” Before criticising any individual in any sphere for any perceived negative outcome , I like to know to what degree they are responsible.
Unfounded allegations based on assumption damage Celtic. Particularly our sense of unity.
We have enough media outlets desperate to do that.
Why do our supporters assist them in promoting their anti Celtic agenda ?”
Pretty much my view as well. It is obviously not shared by everyone on here !!
JJ
Wiki level data …
4 U20 / U21 transfers out in the summer.
All four go to SCh sides not even SPL.
Something badly wrong somewhere.
MADMITCH on 30TH OCTOBER 2018 10:25 AM
Do you have a single indisputable fact to back up your opinion piece about P.L. ?
If so , please share .
HOT SMOKED on 30TH OCTOBER 2018 10:49 AM
:-)
Gimme Some Truth.
Courtesy John Lennon.
Circa `71
Kip time in the old Anti Podes.
Yes — multiple examples.
From the 2006 push for Youth — 3 names came in average age 28 1/4.
Through to the RD Years.
Regarding current issues — games were getting played this summer.
We have all the stuff that made it into the public domain and we have the gaps where things didn’t make sense.
PL has a charge sheet as long as your arm.
He emptied the LL Upper — that you cannot deny.
He has an astro turf cohort on here who repeat his excuses ad nauseam.
We have went backwards this season.
Things are bottoming out and there is hope going forward.
MADMITCH on 30TH OCTOBER 2018 11:03 AM
Sorry , my fellow Tim.
Tempted to give you the Herod hand washing speech :-)
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury .
How say you ?