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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Here’s where we should be going – Amine Gouiri. Plays with Eddy for the French U21s. Contract up at Lyon in July 2020. Bit part player (behind Moussa) but highly rated and looking for a stage to perform. 19 years old…..Go get him…
International career
A youth international for France, Gouiri was the top scorer at the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, scoring 7 goals and was the top scorer in the tournament.[6] After his success in the tournament, Gouiri garnered attention of various European clubs and was rated one the best young talents in the world by The Guardian.[7]
Gouri also represented France at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India,[8] scoring a brace in his debut in the tournament against the New Caledonia U17s.[9] In total, he scored 5 goals in that tournament.
At the 2018 UEFA U-19 Euro, he scored two consecutive braces against Turkey[10] and England[11] in 2nd and the 3rd matches of the group stage.
Dessybhoy
You have missed Kent, pretending to be shooting at Celtic fans, then pointing to his head
Disgusting
This seems to be missing from any reports
Big Wavy @ 1:23
My oul da used to say your only as good as your last game n JF was absolutely shocking yesterday HH
NorrieM
Yes I did sorry, what a scummy mob they are, that even when they win they mimic shooting people in the head slashing necks and their manager head butts a camera, who wanted this again in Scottish Football?
FrannyB67,
Agreed but he wasn’t alone. Our whole system did us no favours yesterday. As I said since, you could have played Ronaldo there and we’d be saying the same.
It is soooooooooo obvious we need reinforcements in January.
But we need players who can actually play. This is not rocket science, but it should be made perfectly clear to those who sign our players.
We have got a massive wage bill for a massive squad on paper.
In reality we have a thread bare team of trusted players.
This is not a blame game , just recognise the problem Celtic and sort it.
HH.
Football players are like your wardrobe.
If you’ve not worn something for a year bin it. I would suggest the same is true for player appearances. Sort it Celtic.
HH.
Yesterday’s match must have provided top entertainment for the neutral observer, goalmouth incidents aplenty, penalty save, hanbags on the sideline with team mentors and add in controversial referee decisions and of course Mr Morelos sent to the sinbin. We had everything.
Sevco Stevie G Sevco Stevie G Sevco ad infinitum absolutely sick already of hearing all about them, every news bulletin, every newspaper, every (non Celtic) website, every sports update its all about Stevie G and how the game’s up for us the imposters, no more ‘easy trophies’ to be won. We’ve got weeks and weeks maybe months of hearing all about Sevco Stevie G Sevco Stevie G Sevco and how they are going to dominate Scottish Football possibly European football from now onwards. The collateral damage could be worse than the actual damage.
Huns statement calling for VAR,and saying Moreloss gesture was common in Colombia, meaning the game is over,really are no words for this shameless shower of shite…
I’ve read a lot of mince written on this blog and on the web via Twitter, etc about how the huns have dominated us in the last four games – total guff.
We won comfortably at Ayebrokes in the first game of the season, we weren’t at the races in the LC final but still took the trophy and to say they dominated us yesterday is complete nonsense.
I was at the game and felt they deserved to win, mainly because they won almost every 50-50 ball and because we were profligate with our passing and we played into their hands tactically.
I’ve just watched the highlights on Sportscene (twice) and not even the BBC editing could make the huns look dominant. In the first half, apart from picking the ball out of the net once big FF had one save to make and that was from Bolingoli. Before the huns scored we had missed a penalty and had a goal bound ball headed off the line by Steven Davis, had either gone in the game would have changed.
In the second half apart from picking the ball out of the net once big FF had no saves to make. We had several chances in the last quarter of the game to equalise including another headed off the line by Steven Davis.
The match stats don’t lie but the only stat that counts is they scored two goals to our one.
The stats, Celtic first:
Possession 57% – 43%
Attempts 11 – 9
Shots on target 5 – 5
Corners 11 – 7
If that’s domination then the word needs to be redefined.
Greenpinata
Is it the trusted players that are at fault or the fact that we are tied to a core set that we can’t question?
How do we move our system on if the trusted players are not a good fit for what we need?
Are we wedded to 1 up front like it seems?
Before we go getting players these things are as important? Do we bin the Callum/Brown axis in midfield? Give up on a project CH after years of nurturing? Play 2 up front, to what expense? Bin the wingers? 3 at the back?
We’ve been sussed but how far can and will we move in the months ahead and how skilled are the management team in making that happen….and quickly?
CorkCelt @ 2:03pm – good stuff.
McNut – cheers for response. We are in agreement that “the game is afoot”.
Hopefully Neil uses the Dubai break as wisely as his predecessor.
A smallish trend springs to mind?
(Could be nonsense)
Sevco (0-2). Expectations generally low. Performance and game management excellent.
Cluj (3-4). Expectations generally high. Performance and game management poor.
Lazio home and away. Expectations generally low. Performance and game management excellent.
Two recent Sevco games. Expectations generally high. Performance and game management poor.
Fix the pre-match psychology rather than second guessing / overthinking selection and positional deployment?
Hail hail
Bada
Well he is not in Columbia, it was a threatening gesture here, he can try that defence in court
Not looking for excuses as we didn’t deserve a win yesterday, but what about the state of the pitch? I thought we had paid an arm and a leg for a new hybrid surface that could cope with the Scottish climate. It looked like a throw back game at times on a surface that made it impossible to move the ball quickly.
Pog,
With respect, forget the highlights. Watching this game live, we were dominated. I have rarely seen such a weak, gutless performance in Paradise against the past or present Huns.
In a pub full of well lubricated good natured Celtic fans in Prague we could hardly raise a cheer.
Yes it was that bad. A really hard watch.
HH.
Whatever else has gone on, we have the opportunity to rectify things. To go on and win this league
We have some time now to reflect and recharge. We also have the resources to do so. More than any (all?) other teams in scotland.
Question is, do we have the desire?
Time for some of our millionaires to earn their millions
DESSYBHOY on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 3:09 PM
NorrieM
Yes I did sorry, what a scummy mob they are, that even when they win they mimic shooting people in the head slashing necks and their manager head butts a camera, who wanted this again in Scottish Football?
______________________________________________________
Dermot Desmond for one, then there was the SPLFL (SFA?) talking about ‘civil unrest’ if there was no rangers, beaten in our own backyard by that mob – words fail me.
Rock Tree Bhoy @ 3:18pm.
You have my sympathy.
I have your solution.
So let’s trade my friend.
Who is old enough to remember the old Tommy Cooper joke that begins ….
“Doctor, my arm hurts when I do this”.
:)
Hail hail
Fraser Aird sacked by the Cove huns Good Riddance HH
I am sick, that we as a Club, have now effectively allowed parity to be achieved with Sevco.
This started with the McGinn saga,and since then a variety of journeymen have been signed as a smokescreen,which has to an extent worked given our Cup win and League position.
However many of these games ,notably the Cup Final,were fortuitous,the win being achieved with 8 functioning players,so what do we do yesterday,we repeat the error,putting in ” might happen ” selections.
Surprised by Christie being quiet,hoped for Johnstone, not suprised by Boli,and predicted on way to game that Forrest would once again fail,despite his 19 major honours CV.
I have for years been critical of JF but have recognised when credit due,and done so on this site when appropriate,however I would humbly suggest I can assess the games he will show for and those he will not fancy,based on precedent,so why cant the Manager.
Yesterday was a game we should have set out at worst to draw,therefore guys with heart and physique required,not lightweight selections.
Having returned from the game,I watched the entire game again,and we were a different team with Bitton and Nchamp in last 30 mins and could have rescued a draw,but to set up a team which MIGHT work is ridiculous.
Surely there should be a pre game operational meeting to discuss all possible aspects and what the plan B is should the initial selection not work,this is basic but yesterday looked seat of pants stuff.
Felt sorry for Brown,McGregor,Frimpong.
We need a McGinn type,ideally him, as AV are going down,PL should eat humble pie and admit he outsmarted himself and lost,I know all the tales about he could have signed had he wanted,forget all that,had we been assertive ,he would be here and he would have won us that game yesterday,providing of course we had another 10 triers.
Forget big Victor,slow now,lets get in some heart.
Still sick.
Big wavy
Ronaldo without out the ball is a hard working hard tackling player. James Forrest without the ball Stands there beside a marker hiding
Neil did not deserve any credit at all for the League Cup win. Not to have learnt from that match raises big questions about him. It was clearly wrong to leave out Ntcham. He has tried to deflect by talking about the team’s psychology in these games. But he’s the one who in the run-up to yesterday’s game said how great our team is, how they don’t get enopugh credit; etc. No wonder they think they only have to turn up and they’ll win.
The team looks stale if not tired because some players are playing too many games. Gerrard rotates his midfield. We don’t have many options, though Bitton could be used more. We have a huge squad of players, many are just not good enough and of course we have the permanently unfit Rogic and a number of genuinely invisible players like Kouassi and Shved. We need another central defender, a defensive midfielder and a striker.
so there you have it , us wee soft good bhoys lost to the big hard billy boys .
you can start with our wee soft good bhoys with our tallest centre backs on the park and our excuse of a left back , still seething at our lying down performance.
Excathedra44. Yes agree about Forrest. A lot of us who watch his lack of fight knew he would play like that. Why did Neil think he would change
As for Christie. Outnumbered in midfield. Up against 2 or 3 players
A symptom of playing two useless wide players is your better midfield players get swamped
we’re is kouassi when his style was required in midfield, oh I forgot , he is not fancied by somebody at training
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 3:31 PM
Yeah he was some man, funnily enough when I think of TC its always the …’man walked into a bar….Ouch…it was an iron bar’…joke that comes immediately to mind, we’re going to need our sense of humour in 2020!
EXCATHEDRA @ 15:38
I said twice to my son-in-law during the first half – “imagine John McGinn out there”………just imagine.
Afternoon fholks,
One thing no one has mentioned is how easy OE is to mark. He always comes short meaning we have no out ball in behind. He also doesn’t work hard enough. Nowhere near hard enough.
The thug, for them, on the other hand, fights for every inch of the pitch and never stops running. He also gives them an out ball as he runs channels and runs in behind. He never stops running.
As technically gifted as OE is, he needs to put himself about a lot more. Either that, or we go 3 5 2 and let a new, ( badly needed ) striker do the running in behind.
In Jan, we need a new spine, we need a Wanyama type bully in centre mid, a new CH and definitely a new striker of real quality.
We also need to get rid of Boli. He is a really, really poor player. Really poor.
Spend serious cash on quality, real quality, in Jan or that lot will win the league.
I have little faith the board will react in correct manner.
HH
Roccobhoy
‘A Wanyama type bully’. Why?
I’m with Paul on this one, Scott Brown stood head and shoulders above everyone else on that pitch yesterday.
I also thought McGregor played pretty well too.
The issue in central midfield stemmed from the 4 passengers up top.
Any analysis of the game yesterday needs to start from at least 12 months ago. Gerrard has largely but not entirely, got the better of us, even with ten men last March they caused us huge problems. But for a last ditch Ajer challenge, that game would have finished 2-2 with us having an extra man at home for an hour !
I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely convinced we’ve got the answers here – past performances would indicate they’ll get the better of us come March 15th at Ibrox.
We’ve had a year, if we don’t get the answers within the next few months then the 9 is gone.
In fact I think you could have put in Roy Keane and Patrick Viera in their pomp and the result would have been the same.
sevco managing director Stewart Robertson trying to cheer us up with his explanation of Alfredos throat cut gesture …
“Even Alfredo’s gesture as he left the pitch is now being portrayed in some quarters as something sinister when, in fact, it is a gesture used commonly throughout South America to indicate quite simply that something – in this case, the match – is finished.”
think maybe jim traynor has helped him with that..
MCNUT on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 4:02 PM
EXCATHEDRA @ 15:38
I said twice to my son-in-law during the first half – “imagine John McGinn out there”………just imagine.
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A blunder of significant proportions,the enormity now evident,as that was succession planning for SB.
Peter Lawell blew this,no question.
Rock Tree Bhoy – Lol. Literally.
So the Afraido Morelos gesture was just a cultural thing from back home says the so called nice guy of the operation?
Seem to recall El Hadji Diouf trying that one on after spitting at Celtic fans.
The judge saw through it.
Hail hail
ROCK TREE BHOY on 30TH DECEMBER 2019 4:15 PM
OK , Stewart so this is a commonly used gesture in South America.
So common that I , having watched Latino football over the years , have never seen it .
The last time the jubilant hun insulted us and our support , Dermot responded in the way we would expect a supporter to react.
Bet he won`t ignore the hun insult s and triumphalism so evident yesterday
Get in there , Mr Desmond.
John Mc Ginn would have made all the difference.
Like he did with Hibs ?
Delusional.
Just another wee PL bashing exercise .
And in Liverpool beating your girlfriend is a cultural expression of love while beating up a DJ with your mates is just a boys night out.