We know what to expect from Aberdeen tonight. They will flood (pardon the pun) central midfield, defend deeply and, let’s be clear, they will score any time we allow them the kind of space they exploited at Celtic Park this month.
Question is, what will Celtic do about it? If Stefan Johansen’s ankle knock keeps him out the central-mid triangle of Johansen, Brown and Biton will be disrupted, and surely Neil Lennon will not revert to a central two after the Scottish Cup lesson. The picture is further complicated by the injury to Emilio Izaguirre, which forced Charlie Mulgrew back at the weekend. Mulgrew would be a suitable direct replacement for Johansen.
In 10 years doing this stuff I’ve probably used no more than a few dozen words to praise emerging young talent; it’s been a rough decade in that respect. Without wanting to go overboard in any way, Darnell Fisher has looked more than comfortable at right back in the absence of Mikael Lustig and Adam Matthews. Darnell’s problem going forward will be that he has two excellent international players ahead of him in the pecking order, but for tonight, I would be tempted to bring Matthews to left back (if he can do it against Barcelona….) and restore Fisher to the right back slot. This would allow Charlie to sit alongside Scott Brown and Nir Biton in central-mid.
Well done to Frank McAvennie, who is jumping out of an aeroplane 15,000 feet in the air. You can play your part in this exercise by supporting the Quarriers run, Chavey Down residential home, in Newton Mearns, which helps young people up to the age of 16.
The need is for sensory equipment, toys and wheelchair-appropriate play areas. To contribute, go to Frank’s JustGiving page, or text FMSD 89 followed by £1, 2, 3, 5, 10 to 70070.
If you would like to read the new CQN Magazine, GO HERE to read properly, and for FREE, the graphic below is just a taster.
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We haven’t been as good in European terms this year as we were last.
Is that an inexorable slide, or a period of rebuilding.
Do we get a year to rebuild and regroup after loosing the spine of the team, or must we do it in a month?
We are totally dominant in the domestic league, but Aberdeen seem to be preparing a credible challenge, though over a full season they will fall short, and will again next season, but if they stick with the plan and can hold together they might pose a threat in the league further down the line. This is a good thing, competition, sport, level playing field.
Loosing in cups is sport, a one off game, acceptable or nor, it is predictable.
It means there is competition, Armageddon my erchie.
Anyhoos, Hiho.
Buy a badge!
cqnbadges@gmail.com
I’ll be putting up foto’s later of the new stylee beanie hats and Polo-shirts(they’re not T-shirts, or so I’m told), they can be procured from our own paddybhoy1888 here……..
patmcg1888@aol.com
medtim,
Watched on Celtic TV early this morning and thought exactly the same thing, Stokes was taken out about four yards from goal but none of our players seemed to have claimed for the obvious penalty.
AR
tinytim
11:05 on 26 February, 2014
Ah, well…..we’ll be alright then….hahahaha
Monte blanco
No doubt we could be doing a wee bit more to drip feed the youths into the side.
It has to be done carefully and after the league has been won.
Throwing too many in at once won’t work.
The other point is that NL and our coaching staff ,must not think that they are good enough.
Dalglish,McGrain,Macari ,Hay,McCluskey,Burns,Aitken,McStay,Nicholas,Crainey,Creaney,Grant,McGeady.
We’re all played at a young age because they were good enough.
I just don’t think that the quality of player is there now.
I feel Lenny would play them if they were up to it.
My criticism of him would be that his signings have been very poor this season in general, and his over insistence on using Sammy and Forrest together at the wrong times.
TT
Doc is Neil Lennon
11:20 on 26 February, 2014
———————————
Doc – are the badges being posted out with the CQTen tickets?
Ta.
If I was the judge on the UTTT I would contact my superiors immediately and wish to be removed from the case. After reading Charlotte’s revelations regarding Jack Irvine and some of the stuff the media get up to in this country I would want nothing to do with it.
The FBI CIA Black ops dept couldn’t hold a candle to some of the stuff our media get up to in this country with Jack Irvine orchestrating the whole thing.
PFAYR
Am no helping that wee jinx again.(:-)
TT
kitalba
11:00 on 26 February, 2014
But we humans don’t like jags….!!
Tinytim
All true, but plodding along in a procession till the end of the season is a depressing thought. I wouldn’t play too many youngsters in front of the home support for obvious reasons. But away from home, with the crowd right behind them…..would give the fans a lift at least.
TT
Funny enough he suggested similar about you :-))
Doc
You bringing badges to CQten
hen1rik
10:54 on 26 February, 2014
…your point, please..? … :)
TT
Agree with your summary.
However I would wait until next season to judge the current group of players.
The team that overachieved last season was 2 years in the making. Season 1 where we finished second in the league and were punted out of 2 European competitions at first hurdle, then season 2 where we won the league and had a decent EL campaign after being let back in following Sion defeat.
The strengthening over those 2 seasons led us to last season’s successful squad. That squad has now been split up and we are now at the beginning of building the next squad. Will it be better? Will it be as successful? Time will tell, but I would say we need to hold onto VVD for at least another season ( as we did with Victor) to develop and move to the level we were at last season.
Some getting a wee bit carried away wi the Aberdeen performance last night, let’s not be kidding yourselves here, if we where at home and came out for a second half like that against ten men and being 2-0 up, they got lucky, all part of any sport, you all would be doing your nut if we played like that, and by the way the ref. Has previous let’s no be kidding our selves there either, he ha the card out before Paulitt did his first roll, and even now some are saying, aweeeeeeee we Gonny be in trouble in the CL qualifiers, ffs let’s fin. This season first, never met so many feckin doom prophets in all my life, rant over.
Monteblanco 11.28
I share your desire for something fresh and exciting .
I believe that is why we all have a feeling of excitement and hope at every transfer window.
There is a continual need to improve.
When we don’t ,gates go down.
The real attendances at CP don’t lie.
As a whole the away support is much more vocally supportive of the team.
There is a dilemma within that however.
The IRA songs are much more evident.
This can do nothing but harm our club.
There you have it.
I have started a songs debate (:-)
TT
monteblanco
11:28 on 26 February, 2014
Tinytim
All true, but plodding along in a procession till the end of the season is a depressing thought. I wouldn’t play too many youngsters in front of the home support for obvious reasons. But away from home, with the crowd right behind them…..would give the fans a lift at least.
…………,…………..
That remark about our home support is a very sad indictment of them, if true.
I do not get to enough games to comment on it. Would have thought when the title is won our home crowd would be very supportive of any youngster playing.
TinyTim 11:05 on 26 February, 2014
Aberdeen are easily the best team in Scotland after Celtic. But they are a considerable distance behind us. They fully deserved to win the Scottish Cup tie, but they did not deserve to win last night’s game. Considering they had an extra man for 80 minutes they were nothing special. But that was our first league defeat in 31 games, and it’s fair to say we’ve won some of those matches playing poorer than we did last night.
At European level Celtic require a certain degree of luck to compete. Last season we got a few breaks on top of some excellent tactical decisions from the manager. This season game we came up short but we also lacked the breaks – fine margins at that level. Obviously losing three key players didn’t help, but they all wanted to go and that is the reality of where we are as a club. Club’s with fare greater resources than Celtic have also been weaker in Europe this season – Juventus and the three English teams in the last 16 have all been well beaten.
I was sorry to see Joe Ledley leave, I think he is a very good player as well, but like the other three he wanted to go. We did well getting almost £1m for the guy considering his contract was up at the end of the season. It made sense to sell him. I think you have to give Johansen time to settle mate. he guy’s just in the door, and from what he’s shown so far he looks like a decent enough player.
What is success for Celtic? We have a very demanding support, although some people appear to have unrealistic aims judging the comments on here sometimes.
If Celtic qualify for the Champions League and retain the title again for the next three years I will take that. Domestic cups are great to win – well, I don’t really care about the League Cup, but it’s always nice to end the season winning the Scottish Cup.
At this moment in time on every level getting into the CL and winning the title is what matters most for our club. In the grand scheme of things domestic trebles are not important in comparison right now.
HH
K33-agree,a more attacking style of play is required.The MF is too defensive and inflexible ,particularly in domestic games.
Observations from recent games, can anyone explain to me the point/reason in putting a substitute on -usually a forward-Balde/Pukki with 5 minutes to go. The lack of movement off the ball when we have possesion is frightening. Hail Hail Hebcelt
AntipodeanRed,
I know what you mean about a lack of claim from the players.
However,at the later handball incident,5 Celtic players all raised their arms to claim and it still wasn’t awarded.
Can see your point about making a claim though.After all,didn’t the ref give Hearts a late pen v. Celtic in the cup semi recently then admitted he didn’t see it but reacted to the claim by the Hearts players
If the ref didn’t see it (mmmm) then it would have been hard for the assistant to miss it as he was right in line.
For me there were 4 “key” incidents last night
1.VVD sending off.I can see why he gave a red card
2.Stokes pen.Wrong decision given against Celtic
3.Handball by Reynolds.Wrong decision given against Celtic
4.Not one incident,but the ref allowing Flood and Robson in particular to go unpunished for numerous offence while carding Celtic players.Wrong decisions against Celtic.
IF refs were unbiased but merely incompetent,you would expect their poor decisions to roughly even out between the sides.
How often have we seen really poor decisions but the “big” ones going against Celtic?
That doesn’t smack of only incompetence to me,it smacks of bias and Thompson (and many of his colleagues) have plenty of previous in this regard
hebcelt
11:41 on 26 February, 2014
Observations from recent games, can anyone explain to me the point/reason in putting a substitute on -usually a forward-Balde/Pukki with 5 minutes to go. The lack of movement off the ball when we have possesion is frightening. Hail Hail Hebcelt
—
Our movement when we humped hearts and killie was what stood out most in those games and it worked a treat.
Passing and movement was excellant .. This will always open up more options. Meaning more goals
Tonydonnelly67
I admire your always positive stance on all things Celtic,but you are not willing to look at any reasonable criticism of the team or club.
We don’t have to finish the season to establish that Celtic have there work cut out in CL qualifiers.
We were 2-0 down to Karagany ,and were it not for s fortuitous bounce if the bar at Parkhead ,we would have gone out.
Yes we won through against the lowest seeded side in that round in the end ,but my concerns are based on fact.
There is not doubt in my mind that you consider my view ( expressed on here ) prior to the Aberdeen cup tie ,that defeat was a strong possibility as doom and gloom.
I see it as realism.
There in lies the difference in my eyes between a mineshafter and a happy clapper .
Realism before blind optimism.
TT
Leaving aside that I have long though that the last defender/denying a goal scoring chance rule is a nonsense I have only one crib about last night’s result.
That is. Why is NL still including in his squad a player who time at Celtic is apparently up and his presence in no way enhances the future of the club?
I thought wee Leigh Griffiths worked his socks off last night.
Take note Anthony Stokes and Kris Commons. ( Both of whom I have a liking for
TT
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hebcelt
11:41 on 26 February, 2014
Observations from recent games, can anyone explain to me the point/reason in putting a substitute on -usually a forward-Balde/Pukki with 5 minutes to go. The lack of movement off the ball when we have possesion is frightening. Hail Hail Hebcelt
——————————————————————–
I asked that question last game against Aberdeen. I just don’t see the point in giving Amido 2 minutes or whatever. Only reason I could think of was so that the plays who come on late get a medal – having taken part in eough of the games to “merit” it?
tonydonnelly67
11:34 on 26 February, 2014
You were not ranting….you are spot on..!!
Last nyts game
I dont have much of an argument on the red card, most refs would have gave it. We have to choose our battles wisely
I enjoyed the game, biton had good game again. Stokes and griffiths will score load of goals for us.
Scott brown
I get what he brings to the team and i like him… Bit of a character aswel as a driving force and will put it about aswel.
But in footballing terms.. Sometimes i wonder if he’s worth the big wage. His passing is worful and his first touch and shooting are poor. Starting to think his wages could be spent better to be honest… Just keep an eye on his passing and touch over nxt few games.
I think barry robson might be a better footballer than him and also has similar bite as brown.. Anyone think the same ?
Sorry for all my typos.
Fat fingers and iPhone ,don’t go well together ,whilst trying to concentrate on posting and working at the same time.
TT
tinytim
11:46 on 26 February, 2014
So correct….
tinytim
11:49 on 26 February, 2014
My excuse is that I haven’t put my glasses on yet…left them up the stair….hehe
67Heaven:
:-)
only WEE lassies are scared of jabs. But hey, some peanut took control of my car today, he didn’t mean to take control of my car, he meant to take control of the Ford Ranger beside me, but I crashed and killed a kid.
I did law on the side in the states. One class we took was about a hub cap that came off a ford car and decapitated a child. Who do the parents sue?
The answer… everybody, Ford, the garage that did the last service on the vehicle, the manufacturer of the hub cap, the driver, the designer of the car….etc. etc.
Pure pish eh.
Until a woman in a supermarket in Scotland sues a man for giving her a fright by having an epileptic fit, and she wins and the sufferer has to pay out. Where was and Edinburgh Jury when you needed one.
Quonno 11.45
Strangely enough I thought he looked quite keen when he came on. He wasn’t on long enough for me to be certain but I thought that his team mates looked less than keen to involve him. That would be significant if true. What I am certain about is that we lost a lot of forward momentum after his coming on and like you I wouldn’t field him.
proudbhoy take your point on these two games but overall we seem to be too static . In fact these two games sort of prove the point,good off the ball movement good result-usually Hail Hail Hebcelt
Hey I thought you spat the dummy with Setanta a few months back and said you’d never watch them again. I thought your Klingon in Sydney did likewise???
SRS 11.38
I agree with all of that as a minimum standard.
TT
It’s hard to blood youngsters and new players when every defeat is treated like a disaster.
Neil Lennon needs to get this league wrapped up and let some of them loose and try different things out.
Last night Aberdeen got the luck that is required at times to win football matches. They got a red card decision which was debateable. They got a wonder goal that could easily have flew miles over the bar or out for a shy and they rode a lot of luck in the 2nd half. It happens.
I didn’t see the game until this morning. Myself and Mrs LB listened to the game on the radio.
Chick Young was amazed that Peralta for Sevco was not sent off for his first challenge. He then made another and he was also amazed that a red card wasnt given. The guy wasn’t even booked! This is Chick Young we are talking about so the tackles must have been horrific!
I also noted that Willie Miller was on the open all mics for the Celtic match. I said to my wife at the red card. No way was that a red card. She asked how I could tell. Willie Miller at no point said it was a red card during commentary. He maybe did later and I could tell from the reaction he thought it was harsh.
There you have it. Luck? Honest mistakes?
We have had decades of this nonsense. We know how to deal with it now. Be better than the other team and when you get the chance to kill them off do it and don’t stop doing it!
I think we need a couple of battlers in the squad. Maybe the youngsters will do that for us.
LB
Medtim 1101…totally agree….missed by most on here could infer that
a) bloggers are bad refs
b) blinkered fans….or
c) nae telly
TonyD…..if only!
BBB
Didn’t see the game last night but caught the highlights this morning – all of five minutes.
Difficult to make a judgment on that basis.
The unbeaten run has gone, so let’s move on.
The title will be won in the next few weeks, and we can then look forward to(?!) the CL qualifiers. Hopefully, FF and Virgil will still be here as well as a couple of new additions to the squad – and I dont mean just Tony Watt and Callum McGregor who I look forward to returning to the fold. I believe that both these bhoys have a future with us.
HH!!