Celtic got what they deserved at Rugby Park yesterday. An inspired early goal by Ryan Christie limited the damage to two dropped points but that aside, Kilmarnock coped easily with everything Celtic could muster. After being caught out by Christie, Danny Rogers in the Killie goal did not have a save to make for the rest of the game. Who would have thought?
Post-match, Neil Lennon referred to Christopher Jullien’s slow start to last season. After a poor performance at Fir Park he was dropped for the infamous defeat to Cluj at Celtic Park. Chris got better then and he will do so again, but he lost Nicke Kabamba in dangerous positions three times in the first half.
He does not have problems with big stirkers, as was alleged on TV commentary; the significance of that goal by Lyndon Dykes at Livingston could not be more overstated. But he is a big lad who clearly needs a better preseason.
Crossing was poor, control cumbersome and the physical battle was often too much. The lack of physicality is a concern; we are small and light in several areas. One of the hottest strikers in Europe spent much of the game a spectator, despite our most valued creatives playing. It really was a team dropping points together.
The manager changed the shape of the team on 65 minutes but to no effect. Olivier Ntcham had the last 10 minutes but by then Killie were settled and Celtic, increasingly desperate. You know me and Olivier, I would have introduced him earlier. Or, had him on from the start.
Neil has dropped points at Rugby Park before and he knows how to build a response. No one was “thrown under the bus”, as he said later. Until then, we have to live like others, not at the top of the table, for a change.
We are going to face a lot of packed defences this season and play on a few plastic pitches. There can be no complaints, let’s just get better at overcoming both.
Given a choice of winning yesterday, or facing two away draws in Champions League qualification, I would take the draw with Killie and home times against Reykjavik, then either Ferencvaros or Djurdargens, the prospect we face after different types of draws yesterday and today.
Home ties until we are well into our season is a huge bonus. There is still work to do, but the prospect of a Lincoln Red Imps rerun is receding. Wish we could attend these games.
Sweden is Europe’s Covid herd immunity test case and the test has not gone well. It remains to be seen what travel restrictions visitors from Sweden are in place when the second round takes place on 15 and 26 August.
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A very concerning performance Yesterday.
Mak no mistake 10 is going to be incredibly hard to get. The hardest without a doubt.
I’d be playing Callum in Broonies position right here right now.
All the warning signs are there.
Covid means we cannae even dae a proper Huddle.
Let the movement in midfield flow – or are we gonnae keep an exceptional and Talented midfielder go?
And mak no mistake our Capitano wisnae even close to being the worst Yesterday – a few players ahead of him. But against packed defences like that, I think that position, believe it or not, demands a Dynamic and incredibly skilled player on the up.
If Celtic are playing a team that is perceived to be better. I’d have Broonie in that position. Lenny dinnae play our Capitano every game. It won’t work this Season. That is just my opinion.
SAINT STIVS on 10TH AUGUST 2020 12:38 PM
Sturgeon announces that young people must get the exam results they worked hard for, and apoligies for getting it so wrong, we concentrated on the statistics and algorithms rather than the individuals.
correcting a wrong. good.
——————-
Agree, she deserves praise for acknowledging an injustice to our future generation. Marking hard working pupils down because of their deprived postcode is morally repugnant.
HH.
Let-Keep
BANKIEBHOY1 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:40 PM
Everyone’s allowed an Off Day…….(We drew)……..ours was yesterday on a “pitch” made of plastic…………
BankieBhoy, we have a plastic pitch @ Lennoxtown, we should be using it when we have
matches coming up against Kilmarnock Away, Livingston Away, & Hamilton Away.
& learn how to adapt our style of play, when playing on those types of surfaces.
Mate just texted and said just got email from premier sport saying Reykjavik
game on premier sport
I thought we were getting with Season ticket
anyone confirm one way or the other
Thanks in advance just afternoon zoom meeting coming up
GreenPinata, sack the ones who made that decision, as regards marking up the exams results.
Plastic pitches don’t belong in the professional game and are a symptom of poor to non-existent Leadership from empty Blazers.
” Say No To Lino!”
Fix fitba; Empty Hampden.
HHH.
AKBW1888 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:04 PM
Our CEO is more concerned about his heated Drive Way, & heated Garden Lawns, & Garden pathways.
_____________________________________
Really? I didn’t know PL was a garden fanatic. Do something about it. Now.
JC2 has a Board Meeting via Zoom.
JC2, Skype is also good for Councilling, Personal Development One To One’s, & Teaching.
& One can also Record these one to ones via Skype.
“In a move that is sure to upset some it has just been announced from Big Peter’s palatial corner office that all remaining fixtures will be played at The Botanical Gardens………a level 5 Plant is credited with the reports….”
RHS CSC
Matches on astro involving Celtic are generally poor games. The opposition sits in and Celtic build up is slow due to the surface. I contend that.astro pitches are bad for the football product.
We should ban them.
” Say No, To Lino!”
FritzSong.
AKBW1888 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:04 PM
Our CEO is more concerned about his heated Drive Way, & heated Garden Lawns, & Garden pathways.
_____________________________________
Really? I didn’t know PL was a garden fanatic. Do something about it. Now.
FritzSong, that is more easier said, than done.
Our beloved Club, is mainly runned by a shady buisness man, by the name of Dermot Desmond,
with PL as his CEO, getting those two to invest wisely in our Club, is like trying to extract blood
from a stone. They are basically using our Club, as a cash cow, the goose which lays the golden
egg. The only way, we will ever see the back of them, is by buying out there shares, & getting
someone in who has vision, & will move our Club forward, not back the way.
In other words make them an offer, which they can not refuse, & move them on accordingly.
& Replace them with a Board, which has bold buisness accumen, & will invest in the playing
side wisely & positively, & will not make jobs for the boys/girls on the Board offers, in other
words who, & what will they bring into the Club, instead of the old pals act.
Equallibriam mind sets is rubbish, we as a Club have to accept changes, & move with the
times accordingly, cause ancient time waits for no Man.
BANKIEBHOY1 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:55 PM
“In a move that is sure to upset some it has just been announced from Big Peter’s palatial corner office that all remaining fixtures will be played at The Botanical Gardens………a level 5 Plant is credited with the reports….”
RHS CSC
LOL, BankieBhoy, however it’s a rumour going around, that PL really does have a heated driveway.
BankieBhoy, is it not the Botanical Gardens in Dublin, the place where the Wolftones wrote a
song about. Yeah so that DD can keep a close eye on PL as well.
JC2
Celtic v Rekyakvik is on VST
I’m supremely confident that we will pick up 6 points from our next two league games.
Hopefully, at that point a few of our slower starters (Jullien and Brown especially) will have shaken off some cobwebs.
Spelling ☝️☝️☝️
JC2
Celtic Football Club
@CelticFC
·
10 Jul
🎟️ We are delighted to confirm that should access to Celtic Park still be restricted, any UEFA home qualifiers (in the first 3 rounds) will be included in your season ticket, via your online Pass to Paradise!
Yeah BourneSoupRecipe, & no doubt the rest of the qualifiers, should we proceed,
will probably be on the home cup ticket scheme, which we will have to pay extra for.
” It’s a konspiracy ah tellz ye!”
HHH.
thanks guys about Home games in Europe
Sure i had read that
Prime sport must be additional income
I don’t want to be too hard on the team who have been excellent over the last 12 months but (big but) that was the worst performance I have seen from any Celtic team in the last 2 years.
21-5-79 🍀 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 2:24 PM
JC2 Celtic Football Club
@CelticFC
10 Jul
🎟️ We are delighted to confirm that should access to Celtic Park still be restricted, any UEFA home qualifiers (in the first 3 rounds) will be included in your season ticket, via your online Pass to Paradise!
Yeah, however if we are able to reach the play-off round, & we are @ Home, then that match will
certainly be on the Home Cup Ticket Scheme.
As for allowing us the Supporters, back into Paradise, instead of having to watch the Home Matches
Online. In my opinion, we should al bel allowed back, instead of a Training Day Attendance, with
hardly any atmosphere in the Stadium. How will the Club manage, with like you can go, & you
can’t attend option after all we have 52,000 Season Card Holders, & yet they are talking about
only allowing 10,000 back in, that will not work.
Thanks akbw ! Will check out HWG10IAR
BANKIEBHOY1 on 10TH AUGUST 2020 2:25 PM
” It’s a konspiracy ah tellz ye!”
HHH.
What’s a conspiricy BankieBhoy1?
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Calls to ban artificial surfaces are a waste of time. We will have a number if games on them each year (quite possibly in europe also) so best to focus energies elsewhere. The training ground and the transfer market for example.
Keep the eyes on the prize(s)
hankray on 10th August 2020 2:15 pm
Timaloy29………….Didn’t see the match yesterday but always disappointed when the Hoops drop points. Julien has been a good signing for Celtic but that was a stupid challenge by the Frenchman in a situation when there was little or no danger from the Killie forward.
Your stats are interesting and reveal that Celtic do drop points early going on previous season’s results. Let’s hope Lenny manages the aging Scott Brown situation and curtails his appearences during the season. Time for Oliver to make his mark.
Uncle Jimmy.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Calls to ban artificial surfaces are a waste of time. We will have a number if games on them each year (quite possibly in europe also) so best to focus energies elsewhere. The training ground and the transfer market for example.
Keep the eyes on the prize(s)
You are damn tooting Uncle Jimmy.
Clubs like Kilmarnock, Livingston, & Hamilton, can not afford to renew their pitch @ the end of every
Season. Not like our Club, which now states it cost’s them over one million pounds to regularly
renew our home pitch. What, is that the price of playing on grass nowadays, they must have
seen you coming.
It’s all very well, with us having a home ground pitch like a bowling green.
However, we need to get street wise up, & now realise that when we are
playing away from home, other Clubs will use their pitch to their advantage.
So we have to prepare properly, for those slings & arrows heading our way.
PETEC on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:40 PM
100% AGREE
Been saying the same last few weeks but found nobody interested in my opinion on here or indeed offering similar view like yourself.
Scott Brow is a modern celtic icon and he still has a big role to play this season.
It is not going to be against packed defensive teams though I hope.
I don’t see Sevco qualifying for the Europa this year, not seeded for the play off round means they’ll be up against it. Early days yet so we’ll see what their league form looks like in the weeks ahead, so far, I’m not concerned.
We’ve a good run of games now with the tougher fixtures on paper at Celtic Park. We’ve an excellent chance to tick off a good run of wins which has been a feature of Neil Lennon’s Celtic teams.
I would be a bit concerned if I see Broonie in the starting 11 for Wednesday. Ntcham undoubtedly deserves his chance now.
LAZYDYNAMITE on 10TH AUGUST 2020 2:53 PM
Scott Brow is a modern celtic icon and he still has a big role to play this season.
It is not going to be against packed defensive teams though I hope.
—–
Ok. When would you play him? In Scotland we ‘always’ play against packed defences.He has no offensive game.
In Europe, he’s too slow and old to play the CM role he once graced sadly. Lots of data show that. He’s a huge risk at that level.
Being positive, I’d bring him on to close out games in the same way an aging James Milner is used by Liverpool.
An Dun,
I don’t see Sevco qualifying for the Europa this year.
–
I think Europe plays to their gameplan more. Whether that surprise factor is less impactful this year but they have a gameplan that has seen them progress.
AKBW1888………..Hard to believe in the home countries that have such an abundance fertile green grassland that there would be any need for artificial football pitches. But it’s the harsh winters that take their toll and consequently the need in some cases for clubs due to financial circumstances to instal artificial surfarces. Playing football from Spring into summer would mean games played on the best possible natural surfarces which of course will never happen. We see it here in the ROI the pitches are all in great nick where the seasons begins in springtime.
PLASTIC PITCHES
It’s common knowledge that Broony hates plastic , why play him then I ask. Maybe i’m too much the optimist, but I thought the entire team looked very tentative on that surface.
It is beyond ridiculous that in 2020 we have to play on these surfaces. I’m sure it must be the same for all the other “non plastic pitch teams” so why the feck don’t they all unite and refuse to play on them. i’M sure EUFA must back us as we seem to be the only top league doing this. Only in Scoddland, eh, a backward little shit hole.
KINGLuBO
Say NO To LINO………
PETEC on 10TH AUGUST 2020 1:40 PM
100% AGREE
Been saying the same last few weeks but found nobody interested in my opinion on here or indeed offering similar view like yourself.
Scott Brow is a modern celtic icon and he still has a big role to play this season.
It is not going to be against packed defensive teams though I hope.
LazyDynamite & Petec.
We need to be more original & direct, when playing these types of matches.
Like taking the Bull by the Horns, & playing a system of 3-5-2 with two strikers
playing up front, not one lone wolf, who gets easly dispossed with the ball.
Also, we need to get the ball more often, into the opposition’s 18 yard box,
& also work the space properly, to try & pick out our players in the box,
instead of trying to swing in hopeful crosses.
We are looking for quality, not quantity, in the final third of the pitch.
Not playing out matches, that looks like we could play all day, with no end
product, we need regular creativity in our play, & as wee Bertie would say
a bit of panache. (style)