Credit to Newco and Steven Gerrard. They controlled much of yesterday’s game at Celtic Park, took their chances, which on this occasion did not all fall to the wasteful Morelos, and deserved their win. For Celtic, the nature of the defeat asks many questions.
The visitors dominated the opening 30 minutes, which were a carbon copy of the League Cup Final between these sides earlier this month. Celtic played the ball forward early throughout this period but it never stuck. The front four: James Forrest, Ryan Christie, Mikey Johnston and Odsonne Edouard were practically spectators.
Kristoffer Ajer disrupted this pattern when he carried the ball through midfield for the first time in the game. This inhibited Newco, and, for a few minutes, Celtic held possession in the final third. In quick succession following this, Celtic won a corner, a subsequent penalty when Christopher Jullien was fouled inside the box and Ryan Christie saw his spot kick saved. Before Newco could count their blessings, they took the lead when Ryan Kent was given space to shoot from 14 yards. The opening goal came during Celtic’s best period of the match thus far, but it was deserved.
Scott Brown, who despite the result was imperious throughout, and Callum McGregor began to impose themselves after going behind. A shot from the latter deflected off Odsonne Edouard, wrong-footed Allan McGregor and drew Celtic level.
The second half did not provide any comfort for the 59,000 Celtic fans. Newco continued to dominate the game before scoring from a free header at a corner kick. Celtic could not hold the ball for 10 seconds.
Neil Lennon reacted on 68 minutes by hooking both Forrest and Johnston for Ntcham and Bitton, and going three at the back. Celtic finally matched Newco in midfield and were able to dominate possession. They created good chances in the closing minutes but it was too little, too late.
Steve Gerrard won the tactical battle, as he did at Hampden, where Celtic took the trophy but not the lessons.
We’ll have a State of the Club piece up tomorrow.
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Big wavy. Not much return as our no 2 striker
Prob poorest stats since puuki
Strange over 3 years. I thought everyone is saying that he has been a ten tests servant for the club Where is the other 7 or is that even worse lol
Be interesting his stats v them. Scored twice in 20 or so starts
A total chicken of a player
In the games that count in spfl Missing
Substituted 20. Yess twenty times this season.
Obviously been watched over years but scouts must leave as if he is invisible in SPFL then no point buying him for England.
Big Wavy
Those stats look impressive….. until we remember that ALL james` goals and assists were againat Hamilton and St Mirren.
Sydney Tim
Do you think that those of us who rate james Forrest are just imagining his qualities and that his failing are `invisible` to us?
Hot smoked. lol. 100% agreed
Cup final last year. A 16 year old boy had Forrest in his pocket
Ps all this tosh in papers about slippy being a tactic genius. He played same as always. Min of 4 players in middle of park to hunt
If we had played rogic instead of Forrest and ntchamp instead of wee boy Mickey there woyuc have no contest. Better players toe to toe But Neil made a whopper
HOT SMOKED on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 1:37 PM
Big Wavy
Those stats look impressive….. until we remember that ALL james` goals and assists were againat Hamilton and St Mirren.
—–
Must have missed that goal in Rome or the winner against der Hun last season or that one in Rosenburg etc etc…
This week’s scapegoat but sure we are a cheque away from buying a consistently brillant, never has a bad game winger willing to be played out of position.
Blame the system, not the player.
Sydney – Teemu is doing pretty well in the world’s richest league. Probably a £30m striker now.
Popped across to Etims for the first time in a long while.
Dearie me. Who to blame?
Neil Lennon
Complacency
Intimidated
James Forrest
Tactics
More complacency
Manager doesn’t run the team
Manager disinterested
The CEO (well he had to be in there)
Manager lost trust of the players
Yet more complacency
The pitch
The Celtic fans on twitter
The ground staff
Ajer
Boli
Griff
Dermot Desmond AND
Rod Stewart
Ralph – if you are lurking, apologies if I missed anyone.
Hail hail
On balance, I’m a James Forrest supporter. That said, he was totally ineffectual yesterday. As were so many others…..
But using him as the Wider escape goat actually masks the far wider – and worrying – strategic errors that we’ve now seen in successive matches against thems
HH jg
Hot smoked. Don’t get to a lot of games
A few mates say his work rate is amazing
I spent a lot of the hibs and Aberdeen games watching him
He is actually worse than I thought
He stands around when team mates backtrack
The worst thing is is one of the few players that seems to actually follow is market around
Never runs into space Give him the ball and it’s straight back to them ( Peter grant springs to mind). Does not support the full Backs at anytime
Miles away from being a team player. A player you can rely on Everthing you don’t want in a Celtic player v them
Bench him
@ BIG WAVY on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 1:46 PM
I’m a big fan of JF, but he does go missing a lot against Sevco, much like Naka. This doesn’t make him a bad player or worthless to the team- as you highlight he has been excellent in Europe- but something to take into consideration when playing them.
Another thing about JF, when he is not at the races, he is completely anonymous. MJ was poor yesterday but still turned their RB a few times and got some corners, JF didn’t manage anything of substance.
Big wavy. 8 goals 4 in 1 st two weeks
Was rubbish at Celtic and not good enough
Winner by JF against them. You remember the game. They outnumbered and outfought us in midfield. A certain JF gave a similar performance. Then set up for sitter in last minute
This JF thing is not recent. He will play one good game in 5. Not good enough
Jamesgang
Well put fella. JF had a stinker yesterday but some of the stuff about him (and Neil) in the last 24 hours is just ridiculous. There’s been no balance on either.
As a club we have some soul searching to do in the next few weeks and we are under pressure. Looking for simple answers to a complex problem is just nuts.
HH
When James Forrest does not score he is invisible Does not support striker , does not battle in midfield for the ball ( stop laughing at back there ) does not support full back
Remember the derry pele. All
Those failings that he had , JF has
Why does JF get away with it
BigWavy
🙏 HH
Fellas if you want to take JF in isolation, I think he needs a) a challenge to his position a la Paddy Roberts b) played in a system that gets the best out of him and c) like any winger, confidence and perhaps d) he’s probably knackered….
The JF against the Huns conundrum is just a symptom of a wider tactical battle they are winning – they negated Ryan Christie, crowded out Odsonne, muscled out Mikey (who wouldn’t have started if Moi was fit) and overwhelmed Callum and Broonie.
As I say, this is more a systems failure than people. If you’d thrown Ronaldo on that wing yesterday he’d have fared no better.
Remember, most of us would have picked that team yesterday i.e. everyone in their ‘proper’ positions.
Whilst we fretted for weeks about ‘square pegs in round holes’, most of us didn’t realise the ‘pegs’ had dramatically lost form. Although tactics and formation were very poor, the front 4 were abysmal and should never again play as a collective.
Putting on my armchair manager’s hat, I’d like to see Nitcham playing in a midfield 3 and I would also like to see Tom Rogic back in the team playing behind Eddy and another dependable striker. Messrs Forrest, Christie and Johnson should be used sparingly from the subs bench.
Well the blog has been re-energised with a lot of missing posters back.
Every true Celtic Supporter is deeply disappointed today. and it is natural for people to hit out at any target be it Lenny, Lawell , Christie, Johnson or Forrest.
Football is fickle the Huns dominated us more in Hampden then yesterday, but Forster won us the Cup. yesterday we had 2 cleared off the line and missed a penalty, & we have gone from ecstasy to agony,
Likewise Lenny & Christie have gone from hero to zero overnight.
Reality is we had been playing super stuff beating Lazio twice but we have gone into a bit of a slump.
Hampden and the last couple of League games before yesterday we weren’t at our best.
We now have a break, we also have a transfer window. We need a centre half, a defensive midfielder & a Striker.
We need them regardless of whether we win this year’s Title or not.
Contrary to the general feeling, The World will not end if the Huns win this years League. We might lose some Supporters but to be honest anyone who stops Supporting Celtic coz we blew the 9 in a row are not my type of Supporters.
I still believe we will win this League but I accept it’s by no means certain, but win or lose if God spares me I will still be here next season but in the meantime there is a huge amount to play for over the next few months a tight Title Race, Europa Cup & Scottish Cup. I can’t wait, Bring it on.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 12:39 PM
ONENIGHTINLISBON on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 12:20 PM
Lennie ” the cheap option ” who got chucked in at the deep end last season and produced a flawless season of RESULTS.
_______________________________
When Rodgers absconded it was by no means certain that Celtic would win the league. Maybe, that’s why he was so insistent in abandoning ship at the earliest possible opportunity.
At the time I wasn’t too keen on the succession but to date, Neil’s record is more than impressive.
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 2:01 PM
So, you’d drop 3 players who’ve scored 37 of our 100 goals to date with Ollie (5 goals) and Tam Rogic (2 goals), both with their own perilous track records of inconsistency (only the type without the goalscoring).
Gulp…
Well said Corky fella….
The huns have predicted Timplosion after our first setback of the season – they weren’t wrong it seems going by some here.
Everyone in the stadium knew how rangers would set up so for me Lennon blew it big time. His poor tactics and team selection led to that result. He allowed the midfield to be swamped in blue whilst forrest, christie and johnstone stood in areas were they could not effect the flow of the game.
We dropped back time and again, we were so deep at times it was unreal. We should have been pushing up as a team to make them play more in their own half but we did not. we were outnumbered in the middle of the pitch and made it easy for them to play around us with our front 4 cut off from the game.
Players hung out to dry because the manager flunked it. The players were screwed by a manager who refused to change his tactics despite the evidence in front of his face.
It’s time for Lennon to earn his money he has till the end of the season to show his worth or like all managers he will be out of a job.
HH
BIG WAVY on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 2:10 PM
Well said Corky fella….
The huns have predicted Timplosion after our first setback of the season – they weren’t wrong it seems going by some here.
……………
It’s not the first setback it’s the second time in a couple of week out manager has been outfoxed and has shown a complete inability to change his tactics in game time. Cluj result may have led to a decent europa league winning group but that was also a rather large setback
Not in the mood for the season of goodwill I am in the mood for our very well rewarded manager to do the job he is paid to do which is to win games.
According to something posted on Kerrydalestreet we have 5 of the 6 footballers in Europe who have played most games this season.
Only Morelos, who was rested in the game before yesterday’s makes the top ten out of their squad and Aribo and Golson, who both looked fresh and full of energy make the top 20
Stephboy67
To be fair to the manager he did WIN the first.
Yep, we’ve lost a game, it’s thrown up some systems failures around the club and I want to see us respond appropriately.
BUT
I would take a bit of a redener at throwing the people who have brought us trebles, won us the first trophy of the year and an historic EL table topper, beating a very good Lazio twice in the process, under the bus.
That’s a pendulum swing of epic bipolar proportions….
What’s that old phrase, he who will not learn from history is condemned to repeat it?
Our coaching staff obviously learned nothing from the League Cup final, taking refuge in the old cliche that the only statistic that matters is the final score. A good coach knows that’s a fallacy. Hopefully they learned something yesterday.
In Lenny’s defence, all the voices outside Celtic Park yesterday before kickoff were calling for Mikey Johnston to start.
Here is an old cliché, very much relevant to James Forrest :
Horses for courses.
To those that write him off completely, as some sort of dud. Well evidence suggests that this isn’t true.
What is true of James however, is that he rarely relishes a physical battle.
And I am afraid to say, each and every time we play Sevco now, there will be a need for our players to win their individual battle. Particularly first 30mins or so. You have to earn the right to play.
The same can be said of J.F when we play Livi away from home. He shirks the physical contest.
BACK TO BASICS @ 12:56
It was not my intention to devalue what we have done – I DON’T( for emphasis, not shouting) devalue what we have done.
Of course we won everything fair & square, whereas the the debt-ridden Ibrox club committed suicide – it is to our great credit that we come out the other side financially stronger.
Notwithstanding, I stand by all I said – what matters now is we acknowledge that things have changed and react accordingly.
We’ve had eight years of plenty, we are very firmly still in the game. We must now respond to different circumstances, but, it must happen now. It must be decisive, purposeful and targeted – no ‘sticking plasters’ and warm ‘family’ words – as Holmes would say ,”the game is afoot”
Big Wavy – yes, I would.
All 3 were embarrassingly light-weight yesterday and not up to the job.
I’m not sure the reaction to a loss and the first serious challenge we’ve had in a long time is a particularly good look.
The reaction from the stands yesterday said a lot.
We’re up against a well-coached and well-organized team with a manager who seems to know how to get the most out of some limited players.
It was going to happen sooner or later.
How we react as a support to the challenge will have a big bearing on the outcome of the title.
I see a few claiming Tom Rogic should be playing
Many not paying attention to how Tom has been these past 12 months
Very talented lhad when on form, hugely talented
Too slow and not enough energy or work for the team though ( Christie was poor, but workrate yesterday would put a Tom Rogic to shame)
For me
Tom is in same category as Leigh Griffiths, will not be a first team regular again
So
Should we looking to move them on ????
Why no Greg Taylor yesterday? Left side weak defensively and johnny Hayes not 100% fit but on bench.
Does NL not rate him, is he injured or is there another problem?
Hasn’t played badly when he has featured.
Supersutton………..Like yourself i did not think Rangers controlled the the whole match and Celtic certainly had chances. Julien had two goal bound headers cleared off the line by a strategically placed defender – Gerrard had learned his lesson about the threat posed by Julien. In fairness to Gerrard he has succeeded in moulding a band of journeymen pros and pick-ups into a fairly decent football team.
Let’s not kid ourselves they repeated yesterday what they have shown in Europe, that suffocating high press and some nice quick one touch football which caused us a lot of problems. Young Ager was caught out badly for that goal land we had no defender standing on the goaline and Kent was once again a thorn in our side. I thought Scott Brown, Calmac and Julien were our best players.
With four of the next five games away from home Celtic have to rise to the hungry Sevco challenge.
NorrieM
We should move on. We need to pick a fitter, faster, bulkier model and stick to that system. Play 2 up front, stick Ajer in CM and buy a CH, not a converted project. We are now predictable.
Griffiths trying that ridiculous FK from an impossible angle late in the game showed up his focus when it cried out for a cross to the 6 yard box (the 2 big CHs were up). Loan him out to Hibs from January.
Love Tom Rogic but he’d have made no difference yesterday.
Outs in January are important. We carry too many resources.
Unfortunately, Gerrard doesn’t need to be a tactical genius to get a result against us. That’s where we are now.
He has achieved some good results in Europe as well and it would be churlish to suggest otherwise.
Remarkably, he could win this league and go further In the Europa league than us. They have an easier draw.
How quickly things have changed.
In the last two games against sevco we have decisions go in our favour that would normally have gone against us. We rode our luck. Don’t expect this to continue.
GaryGillespiesHamstring
I think Neil has an enormous soft spot for Hayes. A Mr Versatile where he is neither a recognisable LB or a terribly good LW but works hard. The very definition of mediocre. We have a core of those it seems which I’m never sure is very healthy – Bitton is another.
This league season reminds me of 2010/11 season, Lennon’s 1st full season as manager. We lost the 1st derby at metic park 1-3 to them. We then went to Ibrox 1 point ahead on Jan 2nd 2011 but with whole load of key players missing, Scott Brown, Hooper etc. We won 2-0 against the original Huns to go 4 points clear. I remember thinking Huns were there for the taking that season and Lennon had Smith & McCoists number, but we couldn’t do it that season. A draw against Hamilton if I remember correctly in February and despite being ours for the taking, we threw it away against ICT 3-2 in early May. Lesson being, titles are hard fought and won. The Zombies may have easier fixtures on paper between Jan – March with more ‘soft’ home games but winning the league requires huge mental & physical strength, something we we don’t yet know if Zombies have within themselves yet to complete. Of course too, it will depend of Celtic’s response, from current players, incoming signings & management upping their tactical game too. There is still 6 points to play for between us and them and both of us will likely drop points outside them the derby games too. My prediction…..we will win the league in 2020 but within the narrowest of point gaps since 2011. Within 3 points but maybe less. Tighten your seat belts!
metric = Celtic park!
Sevco immediately after a win out with a demand for VAR to be introduced as they have had 3 decisions go against them, well the penalty missed yesterday would have been retaken due to the keeper being off his line before any checks for encroachment, the 2nd goal was not a corner neither was the penalty claim from a corner that proceeded the corner they scored from, I also think criminal charges must be brought against Morelos for Breach of Peace as a minimum , for his neck slashing gestures that are not being taken seriously.
Big Wavy
I agree
Would a basic 4,4,2 work better for us ? Or 4,4,1,1
Christie, Johnson, McGregor and to a certain extent Forrest can all play off a striker
We need a powerhouse in midfield though.
( could this be Kris Ajer ?)
We need pace, mobility and physicality in any new signings
I would have preferred Taylor to Bolingoli yesterday, actually would have preferred Hayes ( who is not 100% fit)
But too small and lacks physicality, so understand Bolingoli
But
We should be biting bullet and look to move Bolingoli on as well, he is poor in my opinion