Celtic’s run of 27 games unbeaten in domestic football came to an end yesterday as Kilmarnock surprised even their own fans, who bought fewer tickets for the final than they did for the semi-final, perhaps anticipating a reversal.
The bedrock of that magnificent run has been incredibly strong defensive performances; even when Aberdeen scored to take a point earlier this month, their goal benefited from an enormous deflection and the interaction of two debutant defenders.
Kilmarnock’s goal yesterday benefited from no such fortune. Ki didn’t match the forward run of Lee Johnson and Kelvin Wilson didn’t attack the cross. It was, however, a good goal, exploiting the expansive Hampden pitch with some fine passing and excellent movement.
Cammy Bell deservedly won Man of the Match but none of his many saves were spectacular. It could be argued that the stop from Gary Hooper five minutes in turned the match but it was a gift to Bell’s highlights DVD.
Celtic looked like a team who have run out of steam. Profligacy in front of goal and a momentary lapse in defence was all Kilmarnock needed to secure the cup.
I didn’t get a good view of the Anthony Stokes penalty incident at the game, it was Hampden after all, but on the radio going home I heard the evidence clearly confirmed it was not a penalty, which Neil Lennon would realise after he calmed down a bit, despite his initial reaction on seeing a replay.
Television evidence could not be clearer. Michael Nelson went to ground to tackle Stokes and didn’t come within 2 feet of the ball but clipped the Celtic player’s ankle while he was in the process of controlling a fast moving ball.
There was no dispute that Stokes ankle was clipped. No claims were made that Nelson played the ball, or even got close to playing the ball. The incident was an indisputable foul.
When you are running at speed the contact required to force you to lose to lose control of the ball is slight, more than enough contact was made on Stokes to hugely reduce his chances of scoring. Nelson made a rash and ill-timed challenge which should have resulted in an injury-time penalty.
Our sincerest condolences to the Liam Kelly, his family, Kenny Shiels and the Kilmarnock players on the death of Liam’s father Jack in the minutes after full time.
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Kenny Shiels admits in his STV press conference after the game that they spent time developing tactics to nullify our strengths. Forrest was one of those strengths.
He also admitted that they talked up the treble to put pressure on the younger Celtic players like Rogne and Forrest.
Perhaps some of that explains why James was not as good as we’d hoped for.
alex thomson@alextomoReply
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Three major exclusive interviews coming up soon on #c4news examining Rangers FC financial disaster.
HH
TLK
El Madrigal on 19 March, 2012 at 16:29 said:
On the non-penalty, Stokes had taken at least one touch too many and even when the challenge came in he wasn’t shooting but going to take another touch!
He could have shot as soon as he got the ball but at that stage, keeper would have been favourite to save it, especially considering how he played. Had he shot first time and missed, no doubt there would loads on asking why he didn’t take another touch.
Hooper shot first time and he should have taken another touch and went past the keeper.
Stokes did the right thing, he had the ball under control and was waiting on goalie committing himself, which he did just before Stokes was brought down. Had the challenge not been made, he’d have simply slotted the ball past Bell as we have seen him do on a number of occasions, most recently against Aberdeen.
Mort
Ibroke is to be a sea of union jacks as the fighting fund hope to sell 43,000 at two quid a pop at the game on Sunday. Be afraid Timmy.
Should we await a statement from Collum admitting that he made a mistake, like the statement from the ref after the RFCIA game when Weir did Maloney.
Can’t remember the ref’s name.
Now we go from Collum to Calum on Sunday.
Now it’s not as if Calum has any history in games v RFCIA, so…oh yeah I forgot about that game.
Calum the Calm who told the SFA that he didn’t mind being manhandled and pushed around by Bougherra just because he produced a card.
HH
The Lizard King
I’d say so. Even by having a clause giving them a lower release fee in Summer than what would have been expected is better than nothing. Added bonus getting them to play for 25% of wages for next couple months.
Mort
Craig Thomson was the ref who wrongly booked Maloney.
RalphWaldoEllison
It was Craig Thompson and he denied 2 stonewall pens, booking both Celts before finally giving one. It was him who termed it the now infamous “honest mistake”
Mort
There must be a whole bunch of new Laws of the Game that I’m unfamilar with.
Apparently now it’s not a foul if you’re brought down in the penalty box when you are playing badly, your team doesn’t deserve to win, you miscontrol the ball, you take too long to shoot or if it is injury time. The last one might only apply to cup finals though.
The Lizard King,16:39
Ogilivie speaks!
But only with lawyers in the room…
Mort, thanks for the welcome wishes. Seems the man in Monaco has got them by the short and curlys…..
Just spent an hour in the company of my sole rangers supporting friend.
Now throughout all of their trials and tribulations not once have I text or phoned or personally mocked him as a result of their impending demise. Yet last night and today I receive endless texts relating to yesterday’s result.
Hump them on Sunday Celtic, please just hump them.
Ah…THEY are just scum..the lot of THEM..scum.
Choice of entertainment tonight.
7pm on Sky – A repeat of RFC season ticket holder Jeff Randall’s unedited fawning over Minty Moonbeam from last week.
7pm on 5 Live – BBC Radio comes to town to listen to the financial powerhouses of Hateley, Goram and Nevin articulate why cheating is allowable in Scottish football and how we couldn’t possibly survive without the Teddy Bears.
or 7pm C4 news where Alex Thomson has been digging around the midden that is Scottish football.
or just listen to Clyde to hear Hugh Keevins grapple with the complexities of tax evasion schemes.
Think i will pass
HH
Mike
O.G.Rafferty on 19 March, 2012 at 16:49 said:
Who are the other 2? (Are you a researchers for C4? – a non denial is fine ;))
HH
TLK
Minty being ‘interviewed’ on Sky tonight @ 19:00. Should be an interesting lesson in prevarication etc.,.
hamiltontim on 19 March, 2012 at 16:51
In that case let the texts begin. I made a point of ensuring I asked my 4 year old son if he wanted jelly and ice cream from the buffet each night last week at a hotel abroad as a R*ngers fan insisted on dressing for dinner in a different R*ngers t-shirt each night.
long haired yins man on 19 March, 2012 at 16:50 said:
The amount of abuse Whyte has taken is a strong indication as to the tighness of the grip Whyte has over Rangers assets – some peepul are seriously worried.
HH
TLK
miki67 on 19 March, 2012 at 16:57 said:
Minty being ‘interviewed’ on Sky tonight @ 19:00. Should be an interesting lesson in prevarication etc.,.
7pm on Sky – A repeat of RFC season ticket holder Jeff Randall’s unedited fawning over Minty Moonbeam from last week
About time Minty was interviewed by Strathclyde Police.
Gordon_J
:-)
or if you are reading from Willie Collum’s book, if you are wearing a Celtic jersey.
Mort
quonno
we were only not good enough
by our own standards
we were however plenty good enough by the standard of our opposition
The Lizard King, 16:57
Duffield is another
Aw…I was hopin’ for some new comedy laffs! HH!
Agent Craig and Mort
Thanks. I don’t think Collum will say anything.
Should the SFA be concerned at the clear pattern of double errors from their “top” officials. The refs clearly feel obligated to either give a penalty when an incident occurs, or else they have to book the player who goes down. They don’t seem able to see a challenge as fair, yet still be one where the contact from it is enough to impact on the other player. It is a sport where contact is allowed and encouraged. Once they decide ‘no pen’, they’re reaching for a card to book a player for diving. This double error seems widespread in Scotland so you have to believe that it is what the refs are taught at the SFA ref school.
In the same week that Steve Conroy resigned as a ref because he had been demoted for a dodgy penalty decision given to RFCIA, Collum demonstrates that there are other of the SFAs refs who are actually not very good.
I though John Fleming (?) was supposed to be sorting things out post-Dallas, or was that a joke that I didn’t get.
Let’s have another SFA investigation.
Celticbhoy on 19 March, 2012 at 16:42 said:
Ibroke is to be a sea of union jacks as the fighting fund hope to sell 43,000 at two quid a pop at the game on Sunday. Be afraid Timmy.
—————————–
back in the 80’s we had green white and gold versions of the jack flown by the celtic supporters.
a wee TIFO of this in the Broomland stand would have them even more apoletic
http://www.uilleannobsession.com/images/irish_english.jpg
hamiltontim on 19 March, 2012 at 16:51
Same here an ex workmate who i haven’t texted once about their death.
Right after the game a text from him.So I let him know this season is all about the League,exposing the corruption in the Scottish game and closing the hun’s down.
His response a disgusting text about Paul McBride.
A few years back i used to swap text during hun games with a workmate.Then during the seven in a row whitewash he stopped saying he didn’t get my texts.Over a season later when ugo ehigog? scored the winner AFTER we had already won the league.I got a text from him.I was F!”£$%n raging.
There is no such thing as a good hun.
Some are just better at hiding their scuminess than others.
Walking out of Hampden yesterday was thinking what miserable a place it is. Though i would check my stats for Hampden.
Excluding the Hampden season ( which itself was awful) since my first final in 1988 upto yesterday I have seen Celtic on 28 occasions at Hampden. Currently sitting at 14 wins 14 losses. And I have actually missed a couple of hun defeats. Most of those wins are semi-finals. Hard to grasp ive seen more cup final defeats that victories.
Lovely article fae Phil Mac:
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/a-family-gathering/
Boys if you don’t want to receive texts from Huns after the game just do what I do block them on the iPhone lol, that’ll make them worse.
Jinky/ agent
I’m sending a subscription to Equi’s Ice Cream parlour. That oughta do it :-))
Christ Almighty the huns are selling flags (union jags what else) on sunday all money going towards the Save the Huns charity.Any Bhoy going mind and take along any old holiday money pesetas will do.
Sorry boys should’ve said if you have iPhone.
miki67 on 19 March, 2012 at 17:16 said:
Lovely article fae Phil Mac:
————
thats a magic read, thanks for sharing.
My thoughts are still with Liam Kelly all his family, and his late father.
As for the football 24 hours later my feelings towards the defeat remain the same.
Better Celtic fans than me, were astonished with the remarkable swing performed by Neil Lennon and his players, from a stage in this season where by his own admission he was considering his future. When the swing commenced I gradually gave up wanting my starting eleven, or my favourites in my formation, after all that’s what Neil Lennon does for a living, and a pretty good job he’s making of it, in spite of dungeon fire and sword.
Complacency or human nature as I prefer to call it, was inevitable to occur at some juncture when you are unbeaten in 26 or 27 domestic games, even in the halcyon days of Jock Stein, and the Lions, we sometimes lost.
Good Celtic sides are abundant, great ones not so, and yesterday we saw a good Celtic side lose to a single goal without getting a rub of the green, and a hugely controversial penalty denial which if given, and converted would have ensured extra time, and a likely win for the dominating side that we were, over the piece.
I make no excuse for repeating that Anthony Stokes dwelled too long and ‘the honest
mistake’ would have been avoided because Bell should have been picking the ball out of the net, round about the time AS was being shown a yellow, for simulation that
even the Kilmarnock defender says, didn’t happen.
Gary Hooper’s touch has temporarily deserted him, and James Forrest has an annoying habit for a young bhoy, of sometimes reminding us, he’s just a young bhoy. Stokes didn’t play well, Joe Ledley was anonymous, whilst Scott Brown just about got pass marks.
Complacent ( that word again ) to think you can reshuffle your CB’s with Midfield and starting Wanyama in the engine room, then putting him in the back four in the same game, is as unfair on the player, as it is on the rest of the team.
Kelvin Wilson is a worry, as at the moment he doesn’t convince as any variation of what a Celtic Centre Back should play like, and we can therefore only assume the vastly superior Thomas Rogne had a knock, as he was chosen to go off.
The omission of form player, Samaras was apparently through picking a side along the lines of sentiment, for who had did what, in earlier rounds of the Community Cup, this today defies logic, but only with circumspection, and hindsight.
We’ll never know how ‘our selection’ and ‘line up’ would have done, what NL will do as a gifted clever young coach, is learn and redouble his efforts, hopefully with a League and Cup double.
Hail Hail
Good evening from India.
My only comment is if we had to lose a final this one is most merited.
Mr Kelly’s last moment was watching his son at his finest moment. Restrospectively I am glad we lost.
In time Liam will take comfort of his Dads last moment. My thoughts to the Kelly family.
ASonOfDan on 19 March, 2012 at 15:40:
I think quonno and coorslad are a double-act. And give credit where it’s due they are funnier than Mike And Bernie Winters.
I had no idea Celtic were in such crisis – I need to pay more attention.
All the jokers are on today … but it would have been a shock if they hadn’t come on.
Was at a friends funeral in Bothwell Park Cemetery today so I stopped to say a wee prayer at Jinkys grave. Thats it sorted for Sunday Bhoys.<o)
HaiL HaiL