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.
Check out ‘Celtic in the 1980s: The Lost Decade’, by CQN Magazine contributor, Sean Huddleston. Available on Kindle for a bargain £1.64.
Issue 7 of CQN Magazine is out now! Go to the dedicated magazine site here to read it properly (which you’ll not be able to do below).
We are now shipping hard copies of the magazine from the UK – and sold out last month. Order your copy by clicking on the link below.
Pay by card or Paypal.
You can support the online edition by making a discretionary donation here.
955 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 26
- »
The Kelly family has been shattered at the moment of their greatest joy.
Patrice Muamba’s family are still at his bedside as he struggles for life.
The Celtic family have suffered a minor sporting set-back in a hugely successful season.
Which of these three things pales into insignificance in the real world ?
celtic *o* lennon
Maybe if we are 4 up next week on 65mins, he will get a run out ;)
sixtwo,
Patterson isn’t quite as bad as Burley – but that’s not saying a lot, is it?
I really don’t think the vast majority of co-commentators bring anything to the table at all. Most of them just state the obvious or repeat what was already said. Few offer any sort of insight that improves the quality of the viewers’ experience.
In the old days Archie MacPherson and Arthur Montford didn’t need a co-commentator.
Hopefully a precursor to next weekend:
Scottish Women’s Premier League
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Petershill Park
Rangers 0
Celtic 3
(Cunningham 18, 66; Grant 30)
Well done ghirls.
Mort
6-2 @ 11.31
You are correct.
CP is unbearable – talks patronising tripe after the event.
You have to wonder how he got the gig – Ludge BBC or Ludge SFA?
Very disappointed and another treble thrown away.
Forester: Very poor with his feet and his kick outs/distribution is poor
Wilson: Not good enough
Mulgrew: CH or nothing I feel as there is no point in him putting in crosses for small strikers
Forrest: Right wing or nothing
Rogne: Should have stayed on
Hooper: Kept dropping deep to make up numbers which is not his game
Stokes: Does not do enough running I feel, too content to stand and wait
Sami: Should have started or been on from half time at least
Wanyama: best player we had by a mile
Matthews: Did well and was unfortunate it was his mistake for the gaol
Ki: Did well when he came on but should have fouled the Killie midfielder in the centre of the park to stop the goal
Overall I felt Celtic got the tactics wrong as Killie flooded the middle and as I have said Hooper had to drop deep which negated his abilities.
We pumped too many long balls up front which was a stupid tactic when you saw their centre backs and our small strikers.
Our midfielders seemed scared to shoot and always wated to give one more pass.
We have too many one footed players summed up by Mulgrew’s excellent dribble but inability to shoot as he has no right foot. Killie kept pushing our plaers onto their bad foot thus killing the threat.
I worry that Lenny has now lost too many ‘big’ games. That’s 2 LC Finals, a couple to them, Inverness, Ross County and if you remember the Scottish Cup Final last season Danny SHOULD have been sent off at 0-0 so we caught a big break in that one. There is too much positional switching with Celtic. Mulgrew, Ledley, Commons, Brown, Wanyama, Forrest, Samaras all seem to switch week in, week out. Versitility is great but you cannot beat having a settled core which we lack I feel and was shown yesterday when Rogne was taken off. Surely Izzy is back to fitness now? His pace would have been an excelelnt tool yesterday and the big Pole was the guy you needed if you are going to play long balls but he has barely played and has had opportunites to get him up to speed. I worry Lenny thinks he has too many Plan ‘A’s that he doesn’t realise you need a Plan ‘B’.
Ok here goes,,team for Mordor
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Forster,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Matthews,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Rogne,,,,,,,,,,,Mulgrew,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Izzy,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Wanyama,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Brown,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ledley,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,McCourt,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Commons,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sammi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Its a bit left field,,,,but we should attack them from the off!!!
Hail hail
paul67
Could be a bad day in the office as although we did not play to our best we missed a few chances and on another day could have had the game won before the penalty claim. However we have not been at our best for a few weeks now I know a win is a win but we have had a lot of 1-0’s recently and even the DU game was pretty even until the sending off.
This result should give NL chance to give some players the benefit for a spell on the bench. Forrest for one as his form has dipped over the last few weeks.
Gordon_J
True, would have been worse if the game had been on ESPN.
Agree totally with you about co-commentators, the vast majority bring nothing to the coverage. Annoying thing with the BBC ones is that we pay their wages!
Mort
From previous…
I apologise for delay in response m8.
Anyway, “Take a leaf out of sir walters book”
Yes. I stand by what i said.
I would have taken a, horrible, hun-type of draw, pens if neccessary, to win the cup for Celtic. DEFINATELY.
Furthermore…..If MO’N would have done the same in Seville, as he did @ibrokes after the semi-final v’s Boavista then, ‘our’ history, might have been brighter ?
But, as I said earlier….what do I know ?
Hail Hail
regsrding the penalty decision:
if gollum couldnt see it (therfore not give it), then why was stokes booked ?
i want at the game, but did we get a corner out of that?
Condolences to the Kelly family and prayers for Muamba and his family by the way.
In the early stages of the game the Kilmarnock left back Gordon was finding a lot of space getting forward. That stopped when Brown moved to the right but the down side was Forrest moving to the left where he is less effective.
I think young James is a cracking player with a big future but he is suffering from a dip in form at the moment. A wee rest could be on the cards – and I think he will benefit from it.
Paul67 et al
See there is a lot of questioning decision to substitute Rogne.
Must be my imagination. But did Rogne get an injury and treatment shortly before he was substituted. I’m sure he did and I fully expect that is why he was subbed.
If I’m correct then that is good management as far as I’m concerned. If I’m wrong then Rogne’s substitution was an error of judgement.
MWD
Kevin
All I can say is thank goodness Jock Stein didn’t do that in Lisbon.
There may be a time and a place for a more defensive strategy but a cup final against Kilmarnock is most certainly not the place.
Mort
Aye,yesterday was a disappointment;Killie played better than anyone expected ( kudos to them,by the way ) and we didn’t convert chances. And what else could you expect from Gollum? At a crucial time, he gets a crucial decision deliberately wrong( even a blind man could tell that was a penalty ).
Also,if you look at it objectively, the result was a statistical probability,after our long unbeaten run ( even Barca have bad days! ).
And we don’t do the ‘entitlement’ thing either.
I bet Kilmarnock town centre was peaceful yesterday. If it had been the orcs in town….well, we all know their idea of inner city remodelling.
Remain in light. Even without Rankers 10pt. deduction we would still win the league. And NO ONE would have thought we’d be where we are today a few months ago. HH!
MWD
Thought Rogne was walking a bit gingerly up to collect his medal so might have been carrying a bit of a knock.
Either way, thought we looked better when Ki was on the ball, he made it look like he had more time on the ball and was able to pick out some good passes. I didn’t think Joe Ledley looked comfortable on the left nor much better when he moved infield. I’d have made the swap Ki for Joe at half time but then again, Joe should have scored after getting into space in the box later on and 9 times out of 10, he probably would have.
Mort
I hope to God Rogne is alright for next week. I do not fancy Wilson playing next weekend.
He is a bombscare and in that atmosphere he has already shown himself to be inadequate.
Lenny is having a great season and can become a great manager.
Yesterday he will have learned something more. Don’t let sentiment affect your team choice. He picked the players who had been involved earlier in the League Cup (K.Wilson picked up his injury playing against Ross County), and so broke up the central defensive partnership of Rogne/Mulgrew and decided to leave out in-form player Samaras.
If they are on form I would always pick the best players: Samaras and Ki. They’ll play next week, I believe.
Anyway to cheer us all up : in case you missed it,here’s the smoking howitzer from RTC!
http://rangerstaxcase.com/2012/03/18/campbell-ogilvie-his-responsibilities-in-his-own-words/
Paul 67
I think we’re clutching at straws with all the talk about pens
I was at the LCF in 2003 v’s the huns when, BBJ got a pen in injury time, with us trailing 1-2 at the time and, we missed it!
The manager picked the wrong team. simples :¬)
Hail Hail
Disappointed like everyone else about the result, some worrying signs regarding the run in.
All credit to Kilmarnock,probably played as well as they could, sadly overshadowed by the young lads father, very sad.
However a big thanks to this great blog Paul,got two last minute tickets for my son and myself on here, a big thanks to Charlie if your looking in.
I have now seen Celtic lose 9 out 12 League finals since my first final when Dundee beat us in ’73. Anyone got a worse record than me, League cup finals and me don’t go. I suppose we will have to settle for the double .
Hail Hail
Mort on 19 March, 2012 at 11:56 said:
///////////////////
So, would you concede that, the attacking option chosen yesterday was the wrong one ?
If not, why not ?
Hail Hail
@bhoy62: Let’s see who is serious about boycotting the Sun, can you please RT if you are no longer going to buy this joke of a paper!!!
Ignore previous.
Meant to post this one.
@BBCAlLamont: Rangers status as a company in administration confirmed in court.Lord Hodge back-dated ruling to date original ruling on admin made
Is today a bank holiday in the UK ?
I thought I read someone saying it was and I also thought that today was the day that Duff & Phelps try to extricate Craig Whyte from Hun FC.
If they do manage to do this as there is no precedent that I have seen then I think it is safe to say that the CPS has also been bought by Murray.
Which will not be a good sign.
I see that Paul Murray is now speaking like Craig Whyte .. word for word.
He obviously is holding his water pistol directly at HMRC´s temple and threatening to skoosh water on HMRC.
Whyte is obviously smarting about what Ticketus are up to otherwise he wouldn´t be making inquiries at St. Mirren.
I know Whyte has assigned sole rights to the Rangers crest to one of his multitude of companies. So when Rehun FC is attempted who will the imbeciles follow Rehun FC playing out of Ayebrokes or the one with the official Rangers FC crest being ran out of St. Mirren.
The St. Mirren fans must be excited about sharing their club with the Manchester rioters.
I see a late arrival bid has also been warmly welcomed by Duff & Phelps the language used in them welcoming this bid indicates to me that it is of a superior standard than the bids that came in by the deadline on Friday.
That would indicate to me that those that have been courted last week Duff & Phelps are not too impressed by.
I think we will be left unsatisfied by the SPL investigation and that the SFA will do nothing.
I fully expect once the FTT announces its findings on Rangers use of EBT´s as being illegal for Sir David Murray, Craig Whyte, Paul Murray, Alistair Johnstone, John Mc Lelland and Martin Bain all to be arrested. I think that Duff & Phelps may also be in on this very well planned and highly coordinated scam to defraud her majesties revenue.
Hail Hail
Haven’t read any comments from yesterday (other than the ones on this thread).
Very disappointed for Lenny & the Bhoys. No one really was on their A game except perhaps FF & Broonie, most others were more than OK. A few though never really got into the game.
Joe L & Adam M were well below their usually reliable selves which is a pity since I’ve been a big fan of both since they first donned the Hoops.
Vic never got to grips when in midfield, was better at the back and made a magnificent lay-off to Anthony for the pen that never was (apparently). I haven’t seen any replays but at the time I was more angry with AS not shooting sooner!
I assumed Thomas was taken off because he’d taken a heavy knock earlier but this is not suggested in any papers I’ve read this morning. If Lenny chose to sub Thomas rather than Kelvin I think that was the wrong move.
Kelvin? What to think? He strolls about the way a calm quality defender does, except there is little evidence so far that he is quality. Needs a rocket up his jacksie!
Our finishing was abysmal. Hoops & Stokesy have done very well this season but both, it seems to me, have stretches of making poor decisions. It was a pity BOTH were affected by this on the same day. Honestly thought Hoops’s performance outside the box was as good as I’ve seen him. Controled the ball & laid off very well, which is often a problem for him but it’s in the penalty box I want to see him.
Thought it was a good match and given lots of bad press for Scottish football recently both sides deserve credit for being open with both concentrating on playing a passing game. In light of the sad events at the end it is easy to maintain a sense of perspective.
Our side is very young and still learning and so is our boss. It does not necessary follow but I expect everyone to learn from the experience and draw strength for the future.
Kevin
No I would not concede that. We created more chances than Kilmarnock (12 shots to their 8) and had more shots on target (9 to 5). we had more possession (53%-47%) and had 2 more corners.
The game was very open and I’d imagine for the neutral quite exciting. We missed a few chances, their keeper made some very good saves and overall there wasn’t a lot of difference between both teams with us edging it slightly in the areas mentioned above.
A more defensive strategy would not have enabled us to create any more chances, it would only have allowed Kilmarnock to attack us more and they showed on the odd occasion they got into our box, that they were dangerous. Allowing them to attack us at will, would have given them more chances and they probably would have taken one of them anyway.
Can’t honestly believe I’m having a debate about Celtic not employing a negative strategy in a cup final against Kilmarnock. It it were Barcelona I might have a bit of sympathy with your suggestion but would still be dissapointed if we ever went out to get to penalties.
Mort
Calum Murray this weekend. No surprise.
Paul is right about the penalty.
I feel that as Celtic fans we tend to dwell on these incidents because there does not seem to be a rational explanation for the referee’s decision. And so it proves once again.
I have seen some posters say that Stokes was looking for the penalty to be given. I disagree. He was trying, perhaps somewhat inexpertly, to control the ball while racing onto it at speed. I imagine he was thinking that this was his chance to put the game into extra time, so it was important to get it right. He only touched the ball a couple of times before he was tackled. I could live to be a huindred and not see a more blatant decision not given for a penalty. The booking was the insult to the injury.
Having said that, Kilmarnock played extremely well. I was surprised at their fitness levels as I had expected them to wilt in the latter stages of the game. I endorse much of what has been said on the blog about our performance. It is, though, somewhat ironic that Neil is being criticised for leaving Sammi out when not long ago he was being castigated for leaving him in! The stone the builders rejected…………..
Next week is, in my opinion, more important. Hasn’t the team we’re playing recently acquired a poor home record?
Disappointing yesterday, it put a slight dampener on what was otherwise an excellent St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
However, for me, the disappointment has dissipated today.
We have no divine right to win things and didn’t play well enough to deserve to win yesterday. Kilmarnock tool their chance and deserve the trophy, well done to their players and their manager.
This is still a very young Celtic team – including the manager. The upside to that is that they will continue to improve. The downside is that we can expect them sometimes to be inconsistent or make mistakes. Such is life.
The sad news about Liam Kelly’s dad put it into perspective. Bill Shankly had his tongue in cheek when he coined his famous soundbite. Family, life, love, these things are all more important than a game of football.
The shocking news about young Fabrice Muamba was another example of this. He and the Kelly family should be in out thoughts and prayers.
As for Celtic, we still have a double to win.
Bring on the Rangers. (thumbsup)
Awe_naw
it’s a bank holiday in N Ireland just.
Mort
Ffs PLEASE spare me the return of mccourt brigade!!
2 nd rate player who hasnt done it in 3/4 years We should be aiming a lot higher level than that
Imho we will need strong physical brave players this sunday Anyone who watched dobs kick dundee utd from first whistle on saturday will know what to expect
No forrest commons et al
ibleedgreenandwhite1
I quite like that team, particularly the front three. Paddy deserves a start – the problem is he’s been out so long there’s no experience in terms of linking up with other players, but what cares Paddy for linking up, right?
On a separate note, if we go with three midfielders (which I think we should) Cha, not Matthews, is the man for RB.
Not overly optimistic as we have a pretty poor record at Mordor with the exception of Sammi Sunday, so the need to get the right teamsheet is paramount.
i think it was a penalty.
Correct me if im wrong, but i thought the tackle from behind was outlawed?
That was the tackle nelson made on a stokes.
Awe Naw
Bank holiday in the Republic.
(St Patrick’s Day)
Mort on 19 March, 2012 at 12:13 said:
////////////////////////////
you say that Cammy Bell made som ‘really good’ saves ?
Yeah! From whom ?
Hail Hail
“Snakes On A Plane” is just an ersatz version of the St Patrick story. (thumbsup)