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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Saint Stivs 15:01 on 25 September, 2014
I’ll be very surprised if ukip win any seats at the election.
Oops. Ger57
folly folly – I have a feeling membership of the EU is not as unpopular as some think.
Dave’s popularity peaked when he briefly stood up to the EU over funding.
Most voters aren’t hugely concerned about the EU, though that’s slowly changing – even the trade unions are becoming more eurosceptic. Voters who do care about the EU mostly want us out. (thumbsup)
Bawsman
14:57 on
25 September, 2014
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 the countries i and you have listed who have monetary controls from a central European bank independent countries or not ? this is your statement below
1. You cannot have Independence if you don’t control the money.
Labour will IMHO, win the next General Election, so I don’t really care what the Tory’s do.
Well i’m not that worried either economically as the republican socialist Labour party have committed themselves to Gideon Osbornes austerity cuts, so not much of a difference between the two parties
I would worry about ole Ed who has the lowest popularity ratings of any potential labour Prime minister, plus when the MSM turn their fire on him instead of the YES campaign, i can’t see Ed Balls and Ed Miliband surviving the heat, the results from Labour heartlands in central Scotland may be a shock to come! we will see, och im sure a good republican socialist labour man like yourself will convince Glasgow and Dundee to vote Labour………….
Steinreigned,
Probably highly unlikely you will ever get your hands on it but you should hear mcleods commentary from the game a few seasons back when we got a pumping from Utrecht.
Orgasmic squeals that were almost only audible to canines is an understatement.
Favorit midweek game v’s Hertz at CP
was in the early 80’s april fools day as it
turned out.
We skelped Hertz 6-0(I think?) and, after
each goal the Jungle serenaded the Hertz
players and fans with the “April fools” chant.
Brilliant, just brilliant.
Bring Back The Jungle – CSC
Anyway……..bye.
Of course had the country stupidly voted yes we would still be in the EC,as until march 2016 we would still be part of the UK,then we would have been a new country(not a very good one)am
and would then have to negotiate entry ,this would take years and years as it took for many new and we would be at the bottom of the queue with other countries who are already in the process of applying like Turkey,
that,s two heavy defeats for the fat bigot Salmond in the space of a week
lawwellsacountant – you sound a lot like Darwin/Dawkins.
Do you consort with pediatricians? (thumbsup)
philvisreturns
15:07 on
25 September, 2014
lionroars67 – Ed wasn’t sure if they were Protestant Sikhs or Catholic Sikhs. (thumbsup)
Just covering both sects clever, and keeping the Vanguard mob onside as well
A wee union fleg would have topped it
Philvis, my old pal.
I’m tempted to say: Whit?
Would you mind pointing me in the direction of any opinion I have ever shared on here, vis-à-vis my feelings about membership of the EU …
FF
Geordie Munro 15:18 on 25 September, 2014
That does not surprise me at all.
It’s not just the stats thing either. He was coming out with stuff like ‘Celtic are really under the cosh here’ when Hearts hadn’t even had a shot on target.
Anyone would think he had an agenda.
Bawsman
Go on. Tell your readers which FACT you have misrepresented today ( in a BT Scaremongering worlds going to end and it’s still flat fashion).
The Celtic Way
Wee raw nerve there diddums. Truth hurts eh! Especially when you have been FOOLED! But dinny worry. We understand.
MWD said AYE
Davie Hay wisnae a bad RB before he became ‘the quiet (midfield) assassin.’
HH!!
For any music heads who may be on today I can recommend the Honeyblood album.
Two lassies from Glasgow, guitarist and drummer. They make quite a racket.
Hope to see them live soon.
Josimar
13:34 on
25 September, 2014
I would personally try to keep 3 out of the 4 defenders at the back leaving one full back to attack depending on which side of the park we’re on.
that would leave us with enough going forward and enough cover to cope with most teams that we play against
*that’s the way Jock set up his defence…….the only time that plan was not carried out was ironically when both full backs attacked in the 2nd half in Lisbon…..don’t think that was the Big Mhan’s choice either.
Moonbeams WD.
15:23 on
25 September, 2014
======================
Only you know what you are talking about.
Moonbeams WD. Wee Oscar’s our Bhoy and Kano’s our mhan. The Vow – Critically Rebuked by 45% of this fine nation.
15:23 on 25 September, 2014
I hope I’m wrong, but you appear to be having a nervous breakdown.
Apart from an improved performance by our team, a feature of last night’s game must have been the poor quality of the officials. Willy Colum must be the poorest referee in Europe.At least his poor decisions didn’t cost us the game as they did Partick Thistle the other night. His assistants don’t seem to know the offside rule. I would give them 2 out of 10 for their decisions. No wonder there were no Scottish referees at the World Cup.
P.S.I notice that our manager denies saying that he looked forward to a RANKERS game. I hope he is learning about the mendacity of the Scottish media. I would advise him to follow Martin O’Neill’s examplle and be minimalist in his comments to them.
Re.the talk earlier about the Hearts Right Back. I thought he was a ringer for Charlie Chaplin.
JJ
I am led to believe that Rome wasn’t built in a day, well rumour has it anyway.
It’s very early days for our new manager and a good number of players, and after all they are professionals unlike us on CQN. So, I have come to the only conclusion I can, and that is we have to give this manager and his team a good bit of time.
Celtic were hugely better last night, some may argue that was because Hearts were bad, but by my reckoning that was not the case.Hearts played reasonably well and pressed us a bit early on but once we got into our stride we DID play some good stuff and made me think that if we continue in this way, we will have nothing to worry about.
My biggest concern was the very poor attendance which in turn resulted in the tame atmosphere.
Anyway, all in the garden is getting rosier by the day.
Come on Ye Celts.
KINGLuBO
agree with several of the posters who say that part of the problem is that RD is persisting on playing a style and set up for which we dont have the players.
Mind you, we seem to moving in that direction. As set out in the article I posted yesterday about RB Salzburg’s 4-2-4, it requires a whole lot of fitness, a very strong and mobile front 4 (including pacy wingers who can get up and down the wing), and two strong central mids.
With the guys that have been brought in (Wakaso, plus the two new strikers) we have guys who are strong, and pacey. Add in Forrest on the right, and the basics are there of guys who could play that system.
The problem is getting today’s pros to buy into a system which requires a lot of work., and is more team focussed than ‘me ‘ focussed.
Another problem is it means the two central mids have to be strong, good with a pass and good going forward. As, I think it was BSR suggested, this is a problem area for us. Brown checks a few boxes, but his passing is poor (1 sublime pass, followed by several honkers). Johansen is in the team because he knows and plays the way RD wants. The problem is he is often the only one who has bought into it … so he goes charging, expecting someone else to go with him (it is like a watered down version of the Barca ‘hunt in pack ‘approach), but nobody else is making the run with him …. whcih makes him look foolish, but the problem really is that the rest of his teammates aren’t backing him up. As a result, his confidence seems to have dipped.
I think Biton – who seems a bit laconic – if pushed forward and had a bit more confidence – would excel in this position and system. For now, SB could be the engine that drives it (if he can start hitting his great passes a bit more often)
But, the key is that all of the players need to learn and adopt a system. This will take time, but I see glimpses of improvement. Yesterday with Guiddettil prowling the front line, for the first time, I could sort of see what RD hopes to do starting to take shape.
The problem is that, for now, our most effective player – Commons – doesn’t really fit into this system as he doesn’t have the fitness for it, and he has become a shoot first pass player (which, of late has been good, because we have been otherwise shot shy). But, he will need to work hard if he is going to maintain his place in the team that is shaping up.
for now I would revert to a 4-4-2 as needed – with Brown, Biton and Johansen, supported by one ‘wide’ midfileder…. and then either the two big men up front, or one of them supported by Commons in the hole.
There, … sorted …. easy peasy.
Ernie
after you sir
MWD said AYE
Bawsman
Go on tell your readers about that EU statement you made up earlier.
MWD said AYE
lionroars67 – Ed smells the Vanguard bears:
http://media.tumblr.com/355a4ffb9afc2d83c61b188e7ee1fed6/tumblr_inline_nc9489CSV41s10c6t.jpg (thumbsup)
Shieldmuir Celtic ” notice that our manager denies saying that he looked forward to a RANKERS game.”
Who said that he had said it and where does Ronny `deny` it? I heard the RD interview and he most certainly did NOT say that he looked forward to it. The MSSM in matters concerning Celtic really are dreadful.
JJ
Shieldmuir Celtic 15:36 on 25 September, 2014
The media must have been delighted with the League Cup draw last night.
They got what they wanted – a Glasgow derby between two clubs with distinguished history.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s newest club were given a glamour tie against Scottish Cup holders St Johnstone.
Jungle Jim
Do you mean Paterson the 1970’s adult entertainment chappy.
MWD said AYE
folly folly – Sorry, I meant bawsman. (thumbsup)
steinreignedsupreme @15:29
good band … hadn’t heard them before. thanks.
Can I reciprocate?…. Julia and the Doogans….there is more melody in one of her songs than most artists will write in a career.
Here is a link to a few of their songs ….Collide is a personal favourite.
http://www.reverbnation.com/juliaandthedoogans
Kinglubo
Rome was not built in a day but when you look around that town on 7 hills you can fair tell it had some master craftsment.
MWD said AYE
Johansen was being touted as the best player in Norway.
Rogic was being touted as the best player in Australia.
I might take my boots with me on Sunday.
philbhoy – Peter Grant was the best player in Coatbridge. (thumbsup)
philvisreturns
……and that was so obvious!
……hello……hello…..
Some of those Commonwealth Games Team Scotland boys and girls and bowlers will be needing patches on knees of their trackies soon, they’re wearing them that often.
Just read Wee Jay’s interview on The Official Site, I dare any of ye to read it and not shed a tear.
mike in toronto 15:45 on 25 September, 2014
Thanks, I’ll check them out later when I get back from work, just about to clock out.
If you are in Canada you may know of a band called Alv Vays. I bought their new album too on the same day. Female singer as well, but more poppy. Very good though.
corkcelt
Read it earlier,
What is your favourite Celtic moment?
“Every morning I wake up is my favourite Celtic moment ”
http://www.celticfc.net/news/6742