Last night’s convincing win was exactly what was needed. Hearts were subjugated by three goals and an avalanche of chances, John Guidetti got off the mark and we kept a clean sheet after eight games without one.
We are a lot more potent up front than we were a month ago and the return of Scott Brown in central mid has tightened things up but that defensive record remains a concern. Hearts were utterly outplayed and failed to score, but that wasn’t for the lack of hospitality from their hosts.
It’s not clear what the difference is between last season’s record-breaking run of domestic clean sheets and our current porous look. Jason Denayer is partnering Virgil instead of Efe Ambrose, while Efe has been shunted right to cover for injured Adam Matthews and Mikael Lustig, but this wasn’t the case for some of our European nightmares last month.
Apart from last night’s pass between two statues, Emilio has overcome his early season jitters and Craig Gordon has been impeccable in goal.
It’s more likely that whatever changes have happened to the shape of the team, specifically, what is happening in front of the defence. Emilio’s back-pass last night occurred when he was under pressure and his midfield options were busy looking for a forward pass. Anthony Stokes’ error on Sunday led to Motherwell’s goal, but it happened on the halfway line. Against Motherwell! Who were able to exploit a lack of defensive cover.
Ronny’s Celtic press quickly and high up the field. I like this plan. As he navigates the squad into a position where this is their natural state there will be transitional damage, but the basis of every successful team is keeping the back door shut.
It will be some time before the manager gets a chance to finalise his defence as he awaits the return of Matthews and Lustig, and he decides on whether to partner van Dijk with Ambrose or Denayer (or Lustig), while Emilio could benefit from being pushed on the left by Charlie Mulgrew. In the meantime, Brown and Johansen, together with whoever plays wide, will need to practice their reverse gears.
St Mirren have failed to score in five of their last eight games, so as well as three points, and a clean sheet, we should be looking for whoever plays in goals to have a trouble-free afternoon.
Thanks to everyone who donated to the Great Scottish Run fund in aid of the Celtic Foundation, and to those who signed up for the race to do their bit. I know our gas has been at a peep recently but the flame of why we are Celtic fans burns as brightly as ever.
You can sign up for the race through the Foundation here, or if you’ve misplaced your trainers, you can help me hit my target here.
[calameo code=0003901718cdc4362fa2e? lang=en page=4 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]Many thanks.
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Didnt recognize most of the Hearts players last night apart from Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Clink\o/
The Labour Party is a pan UK party who are interested in promoting and protecting the rights of all UK citizens.
There is not a ‘NATIONALIST’ arm of the official Labour Party so all efforts would be geared to protecting the interests of party members which would mean protecting the union of the countries of the UK.
Personally, I did not need/nor seek the guidance of the party as it was a no brainer of a decision.
1. You cannot have Independence if you don’t control the money.
2. The idea that Scotland would be out of the EU last Friday was simply too stupid to even contemplate.
I.e. vote for Independence where you nearest major competitor sets your banking/interest rules/rates, and for a double whammy remove yourself from trading with the EU.
That’s a suicide note.
Naaaaaa! Don’t you be daft noo WMD. Your just a big silly Bhoy so you is. There is noooooo way they’d cut public funding for Scotland. No way ya big nuke yae. They made that Vow mind. Dae Yae no remember WMD.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4214916.ece
FOOL YEEZ ONCE AYE!
MWD said AYE
“Was more impressed with Hearts last night than Motherwell on Sunday….”
Paddy T & corkcelt.
Agreed.
Last night was only one game and cup game at that but imo hearts were every bit as good as anyone we’ve played domestically this season.
Bochinibhoy @ 1423
Genuinely laughed out loud there :)
Belter.
What’s that look Aw aboot? :)
boring boring boring boring the NO camp.
bored with it all, you won a vote.
your reasons for voting the way you did, doesnt convince a yes person you were in the right
dod anyone see the two well oiled bhoys just before the game on sunday walking behind the celtic end arm in arm, singing this little ditty –
“yoo voted no, you voted no , we can tell by your faces, you voted no”.
it was funny.
Bawsman
do you always misrepresent the facts?
MWD said AYE
Izzy went to the Lee Naylor Crossing Academy. Come to think of it I think he went to the Lee Naylor Defending Academy. Better than Naylsy though at the bits between defence and getting rid of it…
Paul67
Good article .
I agree the problems in defence must stem from format and where once reliable players are making continual mistakes, or being posted missing, It’s not a new phenomena, three months and fourteen competitive games into a season,
The side RD picked was the strongest in his eyes, and the ‘if Joe Bloggs was fit he’d have played instead mantra’ wears very thin. In the case of Mikael Lustig and Adam Matthews , RD, should be prepared for a long wait for these guys and further future unreliability despite them being apparently concencsually regarded as ‘two ‘better players’. He may prefer to plan without especially so in the case of Lustig where he’s been absent for long periods in all of his three seasons, and not a word since his latest injury.
With regard to format I remain completely unconvinced and unimpressed, and if Hearts had been a Motherwell they’d have cashed in, on the gaping holes in Celtic’s defence, like most clubs we’ve played this season from above and below our present supposed level here, and in Europe.
Brown with Johannsen and our two sitting players literally sitting on the bench, might fit with RD’s attacking philosophy, might win admiration but won’t win many trophies, IMHO.
We still have no creative midfielder only drivers, and forwards converted to widemen playing a wide game, with very little degree of consistency. The latest is Stokes now partnering Izzaguirre, which was surely a needs must to fit RD’s plan, as Wakaso is more of his ideal winger.
The role of Izaguirre and his burden has become onerous and he is virtually the winger playing most of the game running on from Stokes,(for example) who is naturally incapable of getting to the by line and crossing on his left foot.
The situation is identical for less able Ambrose running on from McGregor who is also only really capable when turning inside onto his shooting left side. I don’t think RD has the squad to play, what is not matter what way you dress it up, is two lightweight midfielders, and the rest forwards, and reckon we’ll struggle again maybe even as soon as Paisley.
RD is a lot more consistent than he’s given credit for, he changes the side but sticks rigidly to his game plan, that may or may not prevail but will lose goals ad infinitum.
Moonbeams WD. Wee Oscar’s our Bhoy and Kano’s our mhan. The Vow – Critically Rebuked by 45% of this fine nation.
14:33 on
25 September, 2014
Bawsman
do you always misrepresent the facts?
===================================
Naw, I leave that to you, you’re better at it.
MWD The Bonnie Langford of CQN….
SKWEAM SKWEAM SKWEAM and I`ll KEEP ON SKWEAMING till I get MY way.
Do yourself (and us) a favour, and let it go. It`s over. finished. done. We know how you voted. You lost.
MWD say BYE
Bawsman
14:24 on
25 September, 2014
Personally, I did not need/nor seek the guidance of the party as it was a no brainer of a decision.
1. You cannot have Independence if you don’t control the money.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/interest-rate
France no more, Germany no more, Spain no more, Italy no more…………
2. The idea that Scotland would be out of the EU last Friday was simply too stupid to even contemplate.
You voted No in an alliance with a political party who will hold a referendum to take the UK out of Europe and have a very large eurosceptic section
yep no brains
The fact that WGS rated Paul Telfer so highly tells you all you need to know. I watched him many a time running down the wing just below where I am in the North upper getting abused by the numerous fools who reckon that screaming abuse at our players will help the team. Paul didn’t flinch but just stuck to his gameplan. He was a great professional and remember much to his own amazement he was in the defence when we beat Manchester United.
“Telfer is frank that his move to Celtic has exceeded his expectations. At £200,000, he seemed like a low budget stopgap, but has developed into more than that. “I never envisaged myself at Celtic Park beating Manchester United in the Champions League. It’s beyond my imagination,” says Telfer
Taken from the Celtic Wiki
http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Paul+Telfer+-+Interview+-+%22Fond+Farewell%22+2006-12-03
The celtic way,
Funny enough we had Violet Elizabeth on here the other night :)
Politics news – Ed Miliband’s goes undercover at a Sikh temple. They don’t suspect a thing!
http://i.imgur.com/JCZ9EUL.jpg (thumbsup)
Johannsen is not up to it another cheap signing to replace the much better Ledley and cut the wage bill
Oh Lordy, Had been enjoying the football chit chat, but the politicos are bustling in. I’m off ooot.
Some interesting figures on the assists front. Main conclusion is that Commons & Stokes always have made and scored a lot for Celtic.
This year’s SPFL assists:-
McGregor 2
Ambrose 2
Matthews 1
Stokes 1
Commons 1
2013/14
Stokes 11
Commons 10
Izzaguire 9
Griffiths 7
Samaras 6
Matthews 5
Ledley 5
Mulgrew 4
Brown 4
Forrest 3
2012/13
Commons 11
Matthews 8
Izzaguire 7
Mulgrew 7
Stokes 6
Hooper 6
Brown 5
Samaras 4
Lustig 4
Nouinoui 3
2011-12
Commons 12
Stokes 10
Sammi 8
Hooper 8
Forrest 6
Mulgrew 6
Ki 6
Ledley 4
Wanyama 4
philvisreturns
14:53 on
25 September, 2014
Politics news – Ed Miliband’s goes undercover at a Sikh temple. They don’t suspect a thing!
http://i.imgur.com/JCZ9EUL.jpg (thumbsup)
That looks like an orange sash Ed’s wearing…………………………….
Paul Telfer’s got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan. He speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom.
Geordie Munro
14:51 on
25 September, 2014
The celtic way,
Funny enough we had Violet Elizabeth on here the other night :)
———————————————————————-
Was she SKWEAMING? Or just purring?
lionroars67
14:43 on
25 September, 2014
Bawsman
14:24 on
25 September, 2014
Personally, I did not need/nor seek the guidance of the party as it was a no brainer of a decision.
1. You cannot have Independence if you don’t control the money.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/interest-rate
France no more, Germany no more, Spain no more, Italy no more…………
Ask the Greeks, the Portugese, the Spanish, the Irish how good life is when you don’t control your finances and they are dictated to from Brussels.
Are you happy the Labour Party (Gordon Brown) decided we were not joining the Euro? Or did you prefer the SNP (Alex Salmond’s) option to join?
2. The idea that Scotland would be out of the EU last Friday was simply too stupid to even contemplate.
You voted No in an alliance with a political party who will hold a referendum to take the UK out of Europe and have a very large eurosceptic section
Labour will IMHO, win the next General Election, so I don’t really care what the Tory’s do. Many will be surprised how many people will vote to stay in the EU, people are not daft when the really big stuff is on the line, the 18th proved that. I had no vote, I wasn’t allowed, I live in England at the moment.
yep no brains
3/10
Try harder
Labour wont win a Goldfish at the fair.
England is more fragmented than Scotland.
My bet is on a UKIP & Tory administration next.
thats how daft it is.
Saint Stivs
15:01 on 25 September, 2014
Labour wont win a Goldfish at the fair.
———————————————–
Those games are rigged anyway – the coconuts are screwed onto the stand…
BocchiniBhoy
Nice one. I noticed the jambo defender with the curly hair and moustache. Charles Rennie Mackintosh right enough.
He he!
lionroars67 – Ed wasn’t sure if they were Protestant Sikhs or Catholic Sikhs. (thumbsup)
saint stivs – “My bet is on a UKIP & Tory administration next.”
Never happen. (thumbsup)
ger57
I turned to my wife and said he looks like he’s auditioning for a film about WW1. All he needed was a swagger stick (or trench foot).
bournesouprecipe
I am worried we will have to watch Guidetti and Scepovic making great runs while our midfield blindly charge around, I’m even tired already of saying we need a passer in the team, water carriers are all well and good but you got to get the drink on the table sooner or later..
I posted this morning and this is only my idea from watching Celtic TV of course could Efe do the sitting job on his own with Brown on the right? And for all that the Big Chap gets pelters he was part of a very successful centre pairing last year??
More??thananswersCSC
By the way, if anyone on here is ever in doubt over a negative Celtic statistic, drop Liam MacLeod an email at the BBC.
This guy trots out every bad result Celtic has had at the drop of a hat. It seems under the terms of his BBC contract he is obliged to mention two Celtic defeats within 10 seconds of the game kicking-off, and then just select another eight or nine bad results during the match.
This has been going on for some time now with this character. I wouldn’t mind so much if he was consistent, regardless of what matches he covers, but he isn’t. MacLeaod only does this when he is covering Celtic games.
Saint Stivs
15:01 on
25 September, 2014
Labour wont win a Goldfish at the fair.
England is more fragmented than Scotland.
My bet is on a UKIP & Tory administration next.
thats how daft it is.
=====================================
Disagree,
UKIP will win a few seats off the Tory’s, the Tory’s will lose regardless as the whole country sees how split they are on Europe.
I have a feeling membership of the EU is not as unpopular as some think.
The Lib Dem support will either not vote or switch to Labour.
All to play for.
From the outset, I’d say that while last night’s scoreline reads well, the performance was rather unconvincing.
It might sound odd to suggest that the biggest issue for us at the moment is confidence. Especially, when one considers the number of goal scoring opportunities we’re creating.
But I think that’s the case: for a variety of reasons, we lack confidence.
Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting there aren’t some ‘quality’ or ‘technical’ issues to do with a number of players in (and out of) the side, but I do think that if we can string together a series of good scorelines (irrespective of the performances), then we could see the team transform itself into a half-decent side.
I’m also encouraged by RD’s apparent acknowledgement that there have been too many changes in personnel from week to week.
FF
The Singing Detective Demands The Resignation Of Campbell Ogilvie
00:35 on 25 September, 2014
________________________
Agreed 100% mate.
Thanks again.
Hail Hail tae awe the flags on the
ole Jungle roof.
i meant UKIP, Tory, Zombie , Unionist , Loyalist, and new Labour alliance.
surely the Better Together ist, can all form just one party now.
they told us whats good for the scotch.
so why do we need all these parties anyways.
thumbs up
ger57
15:06 on 25 September, 2014
BocchiniBhoy
Nice one. I noticed the jambo defender with the curly hair and moustache. Charles Rennie Mackintosh right enough.
He he!
———————————————————-
Calumn Paterson? I thought he looked more like a young Rolf Harris…
and the Dem Libs
and George, respect.
Paul Telfer is – imho – the best RB that we’ve had since Danny.
cavansam\o/
I wonder what his nickname is in the dressing room. Takes a bit of guts to walk about like that.
Ger67 & cavansam,
My mate asked if he was Aramis or Porthos.
Charles R M is a cracker though