The manager got the big calls right. Moussa Dembele’s form has shaded recently, while Leigh Griffiths has been scoring freely, so the latter was the form horse. Not only did Moussa score the equaliser, Newco found it impossible to deal with him throughout.
His circumference of control with the ball at his feet is considerable. I’m not going to burden him with the ‘new Dalglish’ tag, but that ability to shield the ball in tight areas takes me back to my early days watching Celtic. Kenny did this to great effect, creating space for others as he used his strength and close-control to create havoc.
Kenny Millar’s opening goal had been in the post from the first minute as Newco pressurised Celtic off their game. They were the team forcing mistakes of nervous looking defenders (I’m looking at you, Erik). Celtic just didn’t get going early on as the home team controlled midfield with Barrie McKay in particular causing problems.
The turning point came around the time Scott Brown picked up his yellow card (deservedly). It was a typically-calculated Brown intervention.
Moussa’s goal was quite unbelievable. The corner came from a breakaway chance when Scott Sinclair seemed to lose the opportunity by standing on the ball, but recovered to run at the Newco defence before firing a shot which was deflected onto the inside of the post before being knocked behind by a defender for a corner.
Dembele was standing 8 yards out when a high corner fell to his feet. Unchallenged. The ball bounced head-height but Moussa still had time to wait on it falling before finishing into the top corner.
Danny Wilson was marking him when the corner was taken but for reasons all too evident to those who have followed the player’s recent form, he left Celtic’s striker to challenge players already marked. It was an unfathomable mistake.
From that moment on, there was only going to be one result. Celtic should have gone ahead three times in the opening nine minutes of the second half. Their passing was now crisp and fast. Sinclair and Armstrong’s movement made defenders look statuesque.
One stat I’d like to see is the number of touches we had inside the opposition box. We spent a lot of time in there, pinging tight passes, which opened up the home defence. Dembele, Forrest, Sinclair and Armstrong should all have added to the score but Foderingham made himself big throughout and stopped the result from being as embarrassing as the performance.
Forrest made way for Patrick Roberts, who, at his first involvement, released Armstrong with a reverse pass into the box. Celtic had been in this position many times in the minutes beforehand. Their format was to cut the ball back, which is what we were all expecting Armstrong to do, but he released the ball a fraction of a second early across the face of goal for Sinclair to side-foot into the net at the far post.
Craig Gordon had a few comfortable saves, which he dealt with assuredly. Sviatchenko made up for two early poor touches by making the tackle of the game to deny Forrester. Emilio Izaguirre put in his best 45 minutes of the season in the second half; he looked like the player who arrived six years ago.
Mikael Lustig sprinted 40 yards across field to cut-out a breakaway inside the box. Big Jozo Simunovic must be wondering when kick-off is, he didn’t break sweat.
Off-piste mention to Leigh Griffiths, who was warming up behind the goal when the guy who kept him out the team picked himself up off the turf after a fruitless effort. Leigh stepped forward and patted his team-competitor on the back three times while shouting encouragement.
Great team-mates make great teams.
Have a Happy New Year, everyone.
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GENE on 1ST JANUARY 2017 6:01 PM
Tontine / vfr800
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Xr5MAt_AE
*In England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland it is usually sung to the traditional tune Sawston; in the U.S. the tune St Catherine by Henri Hemy is more commonly used. Bing’s obviously is the latter.
Mrs TT was telling me that when she was at Notre Dame or Mass in St Michaels the PP Father Magauran used tae tell the sisters and/or pass keepers’ tae open the doors and windaes wide so the good people of Brucehill could hear it.
He did the same when PP out in St Kessogs in Balloch.
I liked the timely Celtic statement in praise of our magnificent supporters, which completely headed off the pre prepared behavioural nonsense and minutes silence inevitability, for the scandalously treated Rangers supporters that tragically lost their lives all those years ago.
Watching the game over, the only thing that was curiously close was the scoreline, the two breakaway chances in the second half with Miller and Forrester were the result of our domination in attack and consistent failure to convert a better rate of chances.
Miller was born to miss, and it was a definition of his career. Sevco have no strikers of note, no midfielders of note and most importantly no defenders either. Barry McKay looks like a very good junior, playing in the SPL, but they are all varying classes below Celtic.
We really should have left with a better score.
James Forrest didn’t get the ball much, but Paddy Roberts introduction was another defining moment for the diagonal to Stuart Armstrong who although man of the match should have scored from at least one of his four chances.
Erik Sviatchenko saved his best till last with an excellent tackle and the BR system exposes Lustig’s old legs at times.
I think we need to spend for the CL place that we’ve already won , and I’m all eyes on what Brendan does in the first window that we really don’t need to buy to be successful in the league.
Happy New Year to all Celtic fans on CQN.
Hail Hail
Tontine
we don’t sing it often enough
Many thanks to all those who replied to my previous question regarding consecutive wins against Rangers/The Rangers/Power Rangers etc. It would appear that BR is the first Celtic Manager to win his first three games against them. (Unless I’ve missed something) Doesn’t change anything just kinda interesting. http://www.fitbastats.com/celtic/manager_list.php
In season 1992/93 deidco went on a run of 29 games unbeaten, 4 of those were tied including 2 against a club who were eventually relegated and that bader would put to the wall several years later by seizing some of their revenue in lieu of funds owed to another of his companies.
However in an effort tae maintain their manufactured superiority wee sleekit peat who was the Diamonds chairman was tuped over tae stenhousemuir and by God really repaid his grand master when he achieved the SFA presidency.
So in the midst of their great run they faced us at Parkheid the day after St Joseph’s Day, we fielded a side with the exception of Paul McStay, Tom Boyd and John Collins was full of journeymen, competent but not great, oh and the second coming of Macca.
They on the other hand had the likes of former tax free Monaco striker hhhhately, newly reacquired Marseilles midfielder who cost them a then Scottish record fee of £2.4m which was actually less than half the £5.5m they had received for him a year previously (and they had the cheek tae call Marseilles cheats), the flying pork chop, the mullet and the greatest player ever to be carried piggy back off the field by a physio thereby ruining his career, as well as chauncey the gardener.
Despite honest mistakes including kicking off while our players were still celebrating, being denied a clear penalty and the player that played for the stadium being allowed to kick our players with impunity goals from JC and Andy Paton gave us the victory in one of our poorest seasons, knocked out of both the LC and SC as well as Europe in the 4th round and finishing 3rd in the League winning only 24 out of 44 games played and finishing 13 points behind deidco (2 points for a win then).
They on the other hand won the treble and in their eyes got tae the semis of the EC. Incidentally, the team that they beat in the “battle of britain” finished 2 points above the relegation zone that season in the newly formed Premier League, knocked out of the FA Cup in round 4 and the League Cup in round 3.
A wee bit different from the side we faced 12 years earlier when with new record signing Alan Clarke they defeated Man City in the Charity Shield match, runners up in the League and beaten finalists in the FA Cup after a replay pummeling the Bovver Boys in the 1st game.
So it looks like the 5th round of the SC, hopefully against big Mark’s side at Parkheid, when we can surpass deidco’s domestic record
in the lead up to yesterdays game.
“Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed he prepared his team to play with 10 men ahead of the clash against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.
The Hoops boss was left fearing that premonition could come true when skipper Scott Brown was given an early booking by referee Steven McLean for a foul on Rangers defender James Tavernier.
But Rodgers praised his captain after he refused to be sucked in by the powder-keg atmosphere during Celtic’s 2-1 win.
Rodgers said: “We did an exercise on this the other day because in these games you need to stay calm.
“We had a few bookings but the last thing you need to do in a derby game is go down to 10 men.
“You have to play with responsibility but Scott was again outstanding.”
Goals from Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair handed the undefeated leaders a 15th straight league win after Kenny Miller had given the home side an early lead.
Sinclair has had a great start to his Celtic career, scoring 12 goals since Rodgers signed him in August.
The winger was delighted to end the first half of the domestic campaign undefeated, particularly as Celtic won eight Premiership games and earned a 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Champions League in a run of nine matches in 29 days through December.
“The main thing was to win the game and finish off 2016 on a high. Hopefully we can keep doing the same in 2017,” Sinclair said.
“It’s been great working here. As soon as I signed I hit the ground running, and I just want to keep doing what I’ve been doing on a personal level and contributing to the team.
“It’s great when the manager knows you as well as Brendan knows me. Over the past couple of years I’ve had some tough times, in and out of teams, but when a manager believes in you, you can see the confidence in my game. I couldn’t ask for more.”
The rags will try and get Brendan into bother re the training with 10 men
That pic of Scott Brown standing on the hoarding…
I think the Huns around them are singing ‘We’re gonny sign Scott Brown’ lead by Derek Johnston bottom left of pic.
MWD
Have just come off a hectic two-week tour with my wee daughter – well, not so wee now, she’s 11 – tearing up and down the country visiting rellies and friends with her.
Just handed her back to her mother and am in an airport hotel, feeling Tom Waits-lonely, before flight back to Oslo and work. Gah, I hate leaving her.
But got to say – we came though that ridiculous December fixtures pile-up with a 100% win record. I think that is bloody amazing, really I do.
And yesterday’s repeated thumping with a rolled-up newspaper on the muzzle of the toxic, rabid puppy of Scottish football gladdened my old heart.
I wish they did not exist in any form because they are an expression of everything I try to teach my daughter that’s wrong in the world – cheating, bullying, lying, intolerance, slyness, bigotry, arrogance, entitlement.
I hate that we have to play them. It sullies everyone. And I pray that we never have to do so again, although I know we will.
Anyway, just thought I would log in and say happy Hoopy New Year, and to add that I have seldom been happier or more proud to be a Tim than I am now.
Well done the Bhoys, and this is only the start.
By the way Paul, is a ‘circumference of control’ in any way related to a ‘generation of dominance’? :)
Great picture of the Huddle
Mikael Lustig knows how it feels
Here’s what is making me laugh –
This gushing praise for how well they supposedly played.
Motherwell gave Celtic FAR more problems the other week and Celtic looked really down and out at 2-0 and then they came back to lead again at 3-2. They looked dangerous every time they attacked.
Moult has scored more for them than any strikers at Ibrox.
In recent weeks Celtic have not played as well primarily because of squad rotation and number of games that needed to be played in the last month. You could argue that Partick Thistle gave Celtic a lot of problems (certainly far more at Celtic park than the team from Ibrox did).
Because they tried hard and attacked as opposed to sit in their own half this is the sign of some sort of resurrection.
Total nonsense.
They put their entire season into that match and put Celtic under pressure for 30 minutes. After they lost the goal to Moussa you could see them physically wilting and I would say psychologically they knew that would be that.
Even when they were winning Celtic were still in the game and the offside calls alone show you that.
In truth their keeper saved them from another hiding and if you watch the movement of our players inter-changing passes and running off the ball it really is a level above.
Celtic were unlucky not to be much further in front by the time Miller hit the post. Anything can happen in a one off game and if you don’t take your chances it can come back to bite you but any suggestion that they have improved from day one for me is fanciful.
This is a team who cannot win away from home against the top 4, who are lowest scorers in the top 4 with the worst goal difference and not many more goals scored than St Johnstone or Ross County with massive advantages over the teams currently sitting below them and yet it took them to December to win 4 matches in a row.
At home they will collect points more often than not in the top flight but they’ll struggle more often than not.
Celtic will continue to build and improve while they drift from one decent result to a bad one all season long.
It’s good to be a Celt.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE
Our Hero, sorely missed:))
notthebus
Your post at 7:37pm yesterday is correct ,although you may have added that the Bobby Sands shout ……further……broke the silence. It was plainly heard by everybody roundabout me and definitely came from some drunken eejit.
BIGSHUGGIE
Aye, I spent about 4 weeks in a “confused” state. (Didn’t know who I was, where I was, why I was there). It was pressure on the brain, caused by swelling, bleeding and infection. I had a shunt inserted, which drew fluid away, and fairly quickly after that, I had most of my memory back, and knew who all these people (not peepil) that were visiting me were.
Recovery can be difficult. As I say, if he, or his family, needs any support or advice, I would be happy to help.
Greenbinginoslo 6.49pm
Safe trip and like you I also feel it’s good to be a Tim these days (not that there is ever a bad time :-)
Just watched the 2 Irish canoers (sic) on Graham Norton show and the Thai Tims singing a song for them resplendent in the hoops
Raemon Gormley…… You might be gone but you will never be forgotten your legacy is still growing and will be here long after any of us posting or lurking are about
SNAKE
Yeah – Ian Croker and sky did his best to keep Sevco in it, ‘for the viewers’ with inane comments
like ‘what will happen next’ when Celtic when the only inevitability was Celtic clearly going to score.
This from the same liar babbling about coke snorting rioters in Dundee.
Old Pulteney 21 yr?
Might as well.
Any excuse I suppose.
What a dram btw.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 1ST JANUARY 2017 6:29 PM
I think you are spot on about buying for the CL
We already have an embarrassment of riches for dealing with domestic football and any business we do in this window will be with an eye to building a competitive CL team.
Always assuming that it can be done, of course.
GENE on 1ST JANUARY 2017 6:30 PM
Tontine we don’t sing it often enough
*we should sing it in the broomloan stand, that would drive them nuts especially since the composer Faber’s family was of Huguenot descent, and Calvinist beliefs were strongly held by them and is also sung in many protestant churches and hymnals. How can anyone class this as being sectarian.
Over to you GB.
Tictaewin 7.10
Enjoy your Pulteney
It’s 1st January so you might have to drink it all year :-)
Gerryfaethebrig
Thank you, much appreciated.
I saw the Thai Tims on the Graham Norton show last night in the hoops – was delighted to explain to my English hosts the story behind why they were wearing them.
All the weans here were googling them – sending video clips of the Samaras song to all their mates.
A little bit of good goes a long way.
First time on since the game.. Happy with result and 2nd half performance but was worried with our opening 20mins showing .. team showed guts to compose themselves and our class showed.
Anyone who was at the game ..how did minute silence go ?
seemed to go perfect from what I could here on tv.
Came across this while looking for highlights.
Listen at 10 min48 sec. Tell me what you hear, are my ears decieving me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ikK8QBNZIk
Thank you Gerryfae…
I opened it to howls of derision there from the family ‘I thought you were keeping it…’ etc
So nice to get a wee bit of support……
HH
MICKBHOY1888 on 1ST JANUARY 2017 6:58 PM
notthebus
Your post at 7:37pm yesterday is correct ,although you may have added that the Bobby Sands shout ……further……broke the silence. It was plainly heard by everybody roundabout me and definitely came from some drunken eejit.
—–
No it didn’t. The shout that broke the silence came from them.
Greenbingleyinoslo
Celtic is far more than a game of football, growing up we were hit with the “paranoia” card, even now Hun referees are reffing our games, I know for a fact if I was a red I would give Celtic everything, I think it’s called human nature, even if you try not your sub-conscious would decide even more so (as that mob have more hatred in their sub-conscious :-)
Tictaewin 7.43pm
Just blame me :-)
By the way I have always liked your moniker
HT 7.44pm
Hope when the Minx makes a honest man out of you one of the wedding vows should be
“On Cqn I shall not bite”
:-)
I was disappointed with Graham Norton not setting the context of who the Thai Tims are and a bit about them
HAMILTONTIM on 1ST JANUARY 2017 7:44 PM
MICKBHOY1888 on 1ST JANUARY 2017 6:58 PM
notthebus
Your post at 7:37pm yesterday is correct ,although you may have added that the Bobby Sands shout ……further……broke the silence. It was plainly heard by everybody roundabout me and definitely came from some drunken eejit.
—–
No it didn’t. The shout that broke the silence came from them.
___________________
Listen at 10 min 48 sec that will tell you who broke the silence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ikK8QBNZIk
Gerry
Ha that vow has been made way before the marriage! :-)
just watched OAE on i player – very poor given the gift that is the glib and shameless liar not even being mentioned – missed an open goal
Had to smile watching Sunday supplement on sky with the hacks moaning about China offering silly money for players. Pot and kettle
They are y trying to make capital out of the silence thing. It was being set up all week in the rags with the stuff about celtic supporters respecting the silence. Even Bertie Auld got dragged in. They were hoping our support would break it to distract from their sectarian chanting.
The irony is that the previous club playing out of ibrox were described as negligent in the enquiry into the disaster. This was outlined in an article “Falling Masonry” in the Foul football magazine.
They are not so keen to remind everyone of that.
Having said that, everyone present should have honoured the memory of the people who lost their lives.
Fess19
Believe me there were several shouts before the Bobby Sands shout, quite a bit before it, that haven’t been picked up in the audio. I’ve several witnesses who’ll vouch for this.
Perhaps when we play at ipox in september we ask for a minutes silence for the prince of goalkeepers
And one of the hacks was suggesting Brendan for Swansea
HT 7.55
The vow might have been made but stuff sticking too it…..
Hope 2017 brings you and all of your mob good things, loving your posts about you and young Miss HT going to the games….. All you need now is a seat on the board :-)
I still like Mr Lawell, and think he is a pretty decent CEO, but as I have said before I just wish the whole board stood up for the fans more, that’s my 2017 wish