Just as in Bologna on Thursday, Celtic’s passing during the opening exchanges was excellent. They dominated early proceedings and could have scored through a Liam Scales header from a corner before Benjamin Nygren put them ahead with an outstanding free kick.
This period ended after 20 minutes, when a series of Hearts free kicks interrupted the champions rhythm. Once Hearts established a foothold in midfield, Celtic’s passing disintegrated. Unforced errors allowed the home team time to build a way back into the game. Celtic were unable to do anything about this malaise, even when the game was 11 v 11.
Tomas Cvancara made his Celtic debut and started his first game since November. He had a relatively quiet game until he showed us what all the fuss was about just after the hour. A one-two with Daizen Meada allowed him to race down the left wing, drawing Craig Gordon before sliding a perfect ball into the path of Yang to put Celtic 1-2 ahead. This move involved the three fastest players. It offers an interesting template.
With Celtic needing to hold the ball in the middle of the park, I was surprised Reo Hatate was unused. Changes were limited to fitness or an intervention from the officials. Cvancara was replaced minutes after the aforementioned goal, Kieran Terney went off after treatment, and Anthony Ralston replaced Yang to bolster the defence after Auston Trusty was red carded.
The decision of VAR to intervene and suggest an upgrade to Trusty’s yellow card strained the credibility of an obvious error by the referee. You are asked to believe that Celtic’s fastest defender would not have adjusted his trajectory had the Hearts striker got free of Trusty. The decision cost Celtic a win and I was genuinely surprised when it was made.
Critical interventions from Liam Scales and Kasper Schmeichel, both of whom delivered their second outstanding performances of the week, kept Hearts at bay with so much on the line.
The result was celebrated by the home side in a similar way to how Philippe Clement’s team celebrated a 3-3 draw against Celtic two years ago. Then, as now, a home win would have gone a long way to eliminate Celtic from the title race. A draw did not achieve this on either occasion.
Early days, but what we saw from Tomas Cvancara was encouraging. He has pace and links the ball to feet or in front of him. Link-up play with his new team-mates will improve. If we can get his pace working with that of Daizen and Yang, we have an interesting fast counter-attack option. During the game, I was shouting for Celtic to go long. We’ll see how this plays out in the weeks ahead.
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Hola
Any new signings? Bada?
Rumour mill seems to have completely dried up
Fuss?
No balls out, honda civic quips today ?
We’ll see what how the next few weeks pan out, as if we’re mere passengers and have no co trial of our own destiny.
Buy some bloody players so MoN can actually use his 5 subs.
Unless google search = Fuss.
“During the game, I was shouting for Celtic to go long.”
We went long plenty times, almost always to a Hearts player or straight out of play.
Fastest player Dane Murray? New CH, midfielder and winger and possibly another striker required this week. Won’t hold my breath.
You were surprised at the VAR decision. What!?!! Didn’t you know who the VAR was?
Beaton has been cheating Celtic for years but our club meekly accepts it. Follow the example of the Huns and complain. It has worked for them.
DeniaBhoy- not heard anything, last guy i seen us linked with is Crystal Palace winger,even EPL squad players will be on more than we would pay them
Need another strong midfielder who can dominate the ball. A McStay or Collins would do. Holy shit, if Hearts win this League, must be worst footballing team to do so. Huns will finish above Hearts.
Beaton is an out and out Bam , he takes his personal biases onto the park and is not shy at using his influence, he was also the VAR who instructed Robertson to look at Yang’s challenge at Tynecastle when he was red carded. A bad bad official who is blinded by prejudice.
I assume Reo is suspended for Thursday?
If so, surprising (to me) he didn’t get some game time yesterday given he only did 35 minutes on Thursday.
That said, I trust Martin.
If Reo is being taught a lesson by the manager …
… with the short term pain being picked up by everyone …
… as a way of making Reo take more responsibility for the longer term good?
Fine with me.
Brother Beaton gave brother McLean an open goal and he didn’t miss. The Maeda foul against Bologna was far more of a last man red.
2nd will be seen as success for Hearts, that is their target, we need to beat Rangers at least once not lose the other and win every other game, it is a talll order for this squad as it stands.
Dermot on Sky ref watch – ref got it right first time, a yellow card. Player not in control of ball, ball moving away from goal, defender going to cover it.
Utrecht are reported to be in comparable disarray to us.
But it’s very possible we beat them and make it to the knockout rounds in the little vase and getting a decent continental run, while losing our domestic crown to the Lites.
After the ruinous Wilf debacle – I could just about grudgingly accept that. Would hate a currants league win tho.
And while the windae’s squeaking shut soon, the bizo we have done in Araujo and Cvancara looks decent enuff – so, more of the same or better pls suits !
An Dun on previous thread ….
Good chat re Kelechi.
Thank you for sharing his performance to date data (450 minutes, 3 goals).
Like you, if Kel is not the answer?
Fine – get that other striker in on loan.
I wasn’t aware of his performance to date.
A goal every 150 minutes ain’t bad.
(I expect Cvancara to do better)
If only Kel could do more minutes on the pitch at the same performance level
(as part of a coherent capacity plan)
🤔🤔🤔🤔
Strengthening the team makes the team stronger?
Wonder if it’ll catch on!
Like the look of the new guy. More of this please, recruitment team
Yep, go long and miss out our crap midfield completely. Would suit Nygren too as his strength is ghosting in from deep and finding space to score.
So, (hypothetically) if Beaton’s intervention is up for review and he has found to have erred?
That will be two glaring, match impacting errors in just two months.
The impacted teams
1. Livingston
2. Celtic
No mention of the obvious beneficiary.
If Collum has teeth, Beaton must be removed from VAR.
PS – please, please, please never forget to remind “Everyone Anyone” (geddit?) that …
“John Beaton LOVES Rangers”
His own words.
https://bornceltic.com/2024/06/27/john-beaton-goes-viral-after-celtic-fans-spot-his-rangers-yearbook-entry/
Repost from end of last thread
Sutton 1888
The rules are really clear here:-
Taken from IFAB website
“A video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official, with independent access to match footage, who may assist the referee only in the event of a ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’ in relation to:
a. Goal/no goal
b. Penalty/no penalty
c. Direct red card (not second yellow card/caution)
d. Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player of the offending team)”
Obviously we are talking about Para. c. here.
The criteria are where the decision relates to a “clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’.
Clearly, McLean didn’t miss the incident ( he gave a yellow) so it’s the clear and obvious error test.
McLean had a decent line of sight to the incident and was sufficiently far away from it to be able to have a decent overview of the other Celtic players ( arguably he was too far away to decide if it was a foul in the first place. That’s a different matter and could have been looked at as a clear or obvious error but it presumably was neither clear nor obvious that no foul had occurred so, rightly , that decision stood).
He decided it was a yellow and so he must have decided , in that instant, that either Scales or Murray , or both, might have been able to prevent a goal , allowing for the speed and direction of the ball. I don’t know whether the Ref factors in , or is allowed to factor in, what he knows or assumes about the respective players pace.
Scales or Murray might or might not ,in the event, have been able to cover but I fail to see how any review could say definitively that they wouldn’t have done so, so that the first decision was a “clear and obvious” error as might be the case if McLean had , as an extreme example , been a little unsighted and on review had realised that one of the Celtic players was in fact a Hearts player.
Long story short – by any objective standard the on-field decision might have been right or might have been wrong but it certainly wasn’t ” a clear and obvious error” and should have stood.
If we could sign 3 players this week, who could make a similar impact to Araujo, then we have a chance. I can’t see it. Sorry to say, the team that’s done us the most harm isn’t Hearts but ourselves.
Nice comparison of home sides 2-2 victory yesterday to the huns’ 3-3 moral victory at Mordor.
Obviously I was wanting to win yesterday, but not losing keeps us in it.
I suspect we won’t recover from the Nancy shot gun to both feet but MoN will give it a real go regardless.
P67
“With Celtic needing to hold the ball in the middle of the park, I was surprised Reo Hatate was unused”
I wasn’t.
He has been shocking at that recently.
The number of times he loses possession by failing to protect the ball and being successfully tackled
is matched only by his number of misplaced passes.
His drop off in form is worse than even Maeda’s.
At his best he should be the most efficient midfielder in the country after Callum but that he is so far off that as to be as good as a man short is bewildering.
“If Collum has teeth, Beaton must be removed from VAR”.
I can’t put my finger on it but I get the impression wee Willie has been neutered.
Sure, we can focus on the sending off and it certainly looked harsh, but we have to look at the real reason we are where we are.
The idea that the officials are to blame for us averaging less than two points a game is pushing it a bit.
Did they prevent us from strengthening the team? Did they force us to appoint Nancy?
Put simply, this season has been an accident waiting to happen. The product of years of lack of ambition. Until such time as that is fixed we will continue to be at the mercy of things outwith our own control.
If Trusty had not been red carded (which he shouldn’t), I still doubt that we would have held out for the win.
But that’s a hypothetical.
The CEO should demand a meeting with the SFA to get answers on the red card fiasco . A decision which could have enormous financial implications for the club . The second prong of attack must be to get it out loud and clear in the media, to saturation point .
The strategy clearly works ……. just ask Sevco.
Also do everything possible to ensure that Beaton is nowhere near any of our games in future . McLean too if possible ….he could and should have stuck with his on field decision but it was obviously a two-man sting .
TLWIO @12:28
Aha said Beaton….Stevie get to the monitor and pretend to look busy….that’s a red all day long.See you later old chum….oh by the way must meet up soon.
The team that has done us the most harm sits in the directors’ box.
I watched the huns midweek in an awful game vs Ludorogets(sic).
My impression was that they favour a solid back four with a combative and physically imposing midfield. Creative play comes from wingers if they play and set pieces.
Very boring but get narrow wins.
Hearts have a decent mix in the team but not top talents. Belief and energy drive them on. A good pumping could burst that bubble
Celtic have been several versions of a team style this season and none has impressed. A very physically weak midfield and lack of a first choice striker have have had to be dealt with.
1. Rodgers – possession football with McGregor sitting deep. Very few forward passes. No sum game which allowed set pieces to tip the balance against us in some games.
2. Nancy – his formation and tactics rammed up the chances created stats by flooding the midfield area and high tempo. No no9 meant that we missed most of those chances, players tired and the big gaps were exposed. Calamity
3. O’Neill – has tried to tighten up at the back more like Brendan and is going for earlier passes to the front line to avoid the ‘weak on the ball’ midfield. Worked well in a few games but we need our new no9 to be key here and the midfield to pick up second balls better. I believe they can.
Hearts will play the same way until May
Huns will have more attacking options after the window is the new winger is good, but similar style
It is up to Celtic to improve the personnel in the next few days and to get injured players back. If we sign no-one else, some basics in training need to be worked on and horses for courses in games.
Need to be more on the front foot at home and learn how to defend set pieces away. I believe we can do it but a setback for the Huns is need soon. On a great run
Mon the Hoops
An Dún on 26th January 2026 12:32 pm
I suspect we won’t recover from the Nancy shot gun to both feet but MoN will give it a real go regardless.
—–
In time, maybe sooner than we’d like, anyone connected with Celtic will ask
What had the biggest negative impact on our season – the loss to Kairat or the appointment of Nancy?
While the latter might well never have happened without the former it’s hard to stomach that both happened in the one season. Either one on its own would scupper most seasons. If we win the league this year (cough) it will be right up there with any I can think of and probably the greatest I can recall in terms of an escape act.
(This all ignores ,of course, any argument that ultimately the board carry the can for both , and a lot more)
“If we can get his pace working with that of Daizen and Yang,”
That would be a great idea except Maeda wants to leave and the club want to sell Yang.
Maeda’s lack of link up play yesterday was atrocious, his first time lay offs constantly going to a Hearts player.
Indeed, the game followed a similar template to what we’ve watched in the past. A good start where we put the opposition under pressure with an energetic aggressive high press while confidently playing the ball through theirs. We went long occasionally, gave them the ball when we were under pressure, tried to play in their half and it made them look uneasy. It was a sensible plan – Gordon can’t pass the ball to a team mate, they don’t have the players at the back to play through us.
A tactical tweak from them changed it again. They went long to take out our press, played for second balls and turned into a midfield battle. I felt we were comfortable, the crowd was quiet, we still looked confident until Trustys error, the crowd got behind them and the momentum changed. You could see McInnes telling them to go long straight away, “first time.”
They started playing the game in our half, there was very little quality in their play but the relentlessness of the pressure looked like it was going to bring a goal. That we were able to withstand it until half time says a lot for our resilience, but once McInnes had his half time team talk the pressure grew even more. It was basic stuff, win free kicks anywhere in our half and corners, throw the ball in, be aggressive in midfield and win the ball or a foul, fall over when challenged. Chaosball, agricultural but effective against this Celtic team.
McInnes looks like he’s channeling Walter’s Huns. He was very aggressive towards us before during and after the game, encouraging his team to be the same, winding up the crowd. A big aggressive, limited team that looks for fouls and tries to score from set-pieces.
We still looked unable to adapt to the change in tactics but Tom looks like he could help with a coherent plan. Between him and Kele we have two more technical centre forwards with a bit of pace. If we can’t find a solution in the remaining games against both Hun teams we wont win the league. Three huge games.
Yesterday was a pretty unique challenge and one we won’t have to face again- we won’t have to deal with the atmosphere like Tyncastle again this season, the relentless pressure that brought both goals.
Hearts have a game at Ibrox and a derby in the next 3 weeks. Two games at against their cousins, one at Parkhead between now and the end of the season. They moved out to third favourites today with the bookies, with us still first. The bookies obviously thought they’d blown their chance, lets hope they’re right.
I still think we’ll win the league.
I see our title rivals are both away this weekend to Dundee Utd and Hibs.
Neither are gimmes.