The Rules of the Game do not discriminate between a first and second yellow, but it is the discriminate application of the rules that causes problems. Two mis-timed – but not dangerous – challenges were enough for referee Nick Walsh to dismiss Callum McGregor, players are given latitude at the second yellow in the same scenario every week in the calendar. When cast against the off-the-ball stamping, kneeing and kicking Celtic players have endured in this fixture without protection from referees, it is clear what we are up against.
Celtic took control from the off but the intervention of Walsh; awarding a foul against Scott Brown on the goalkeeper when no foul happened, awarding Newco a throw-in deep inside the Celtic half that should have gone the other way and three further fouls for shoulder challenges that went Newco’s way, broke the pattern of play.
Three of the four goals came from mistakes by our defensive mid, two from Scott Brown and one from his replacement, Ismaila Soro. Scott wanted the win yesterday as much as you or I, but despite improved performances in recent months, the tank is empty. Ismaila will learn from yesterday. He was thrown into the game cold, there is a lot more to come from him.
For this third time in 2021, Celtic went to Ibrox and created a hatful of chances, at least on this occasion they took one, although many went a begging. Creativity is clearly not the problem.
Odsonne Edouard got on the scoresheet and put in his most impressive and interested-looking performance in some weeks Mohamed Elyounoussi again impressed, in a better-structured team he would be a star. Kristoffer Ajer was man-of-the-match. He repeatedly transformed defence into attack; too powerful, fast and skilful for Newco players to touch.
So where did it go wrong? Teams practice how to play with 10 men and the first thing the practice is how to defend. Not for the first time this season Celtic were porous, lacking a robust structure. Defence protects the keeper and midfield protects the defence. Scott Bain had little cover, the same could be said for the defence. Our shape with 10 men was all wrong.
Still, as Viv said, tomorrow is another day!
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Saint Stivs
The morra is another day..
SAINT STIVS
I hope they’re performing indoorsif it’s sleety! -))
Weather report from caravan two miles from Aberfoyle pishing rain, 60 km/h gusts and temp is supposed to be 4° more like 1°⛄. Thankfully fridge full of booze 👍👏👏
PHILBHOY on 3RD MAY 2021 4:39 PM
DENIABHOY
Ye mist PAUL fe yer list!
————
Whoops. Him too 😂
Paul’s opinion pieces are fine by me, though I rarely agree with them these days, but it’s the overall decline of the site that I really mourn.
On the plus side, there are a few of you around whose wit and wisdom are worth coming back for.
The stories told are rarely equalled on any other forum.
I’ve decided not to get Vaccinated.
I’m basically a hermit pre-Lockdowns anyway.
People Celebratring getting a dose is Classic Hegelian Dialectics on a Global scale.
The other sites I’ve looked into , posters are much more forceful with their vitriol and most seem to be unmoderated.
PARK T BUS N BLOOTIR IT SIMPLES on 3RD MAY 2021 4:49 PM
ALASDAIR MACLEAN on 3RD MAY 2021 4:00 PM
PARK T BUS N BLOOTIR IT SIMPLES,
…
If so, who would’ve did such a thing to them?
==========================
I think he already answered your question…”Just because the Celtic board, corrupt authorities and cowardly journalists are complicit with the fraud – doesn’t make it true.”
However, that deflects from the original point.
The original point was that – irrespective of any deflection, misinformation, lies, ‘taking advantage of the situation’, misdirection – the facts remain:
– Rangers are dead.
– Their owners let their club die.
– Their fans let their club die.
– The club playing out of Ibrox just now was formed no earlier than 2012. The documentary evidence proves that absolutely and unequivocally.
– The current club has no history beyond the point it was created in 2012 and bought up some of the remains of our long-time, but happily now liquidated, foes.
– Rangers are no more.
– It was a battle that took place over many years.
– Celtic won – Rangers were consigned to the dustbin of history where they undoubtedly belong.
– There is now a new entity playing out of Ibrox, followed by the same horde – Celtic have a new fight to fight.
– We helped destroy Rangers, we can help destroy the new club too.
– We can keep destroying any new incarnation that may arise.
– If one comes along that doesn’t have some of the common unpleasant traits of the previous deceased clubs, they might survive.
HH
BGFC
If my source is on the money Howe will be announced tomorrow, will not take over till the season ends, Kennedy in charge till then,
Eddy away………….20 million
CalMac away………10 million
Christie away……….7 million
Griffiths……………….1 year extension
Ajer……………………..new contract & captain
Wait and see…
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY on 3RD
—–
😂 😂 😂 I Hope that wasn’t a line of Duty spoiler.
NorrieM
Thanks. I gave Soro the benefit of the doubt based on earlier promising performances, and won’t let one mistake cloud views (I similarly base my assessment of Welsh on overall performance rather than yesterday v Defoe).
Soro and Turnbull are raw but with good coaching and good experienced midfielders coaching them through games I think they can really push on.
Losing Callum would be a real blow.
The Bhoy is a Genius.
Kristoffer has been Monumental and if he signs on again….. petec will be over the Moon. He has the
je ne sais quoi
Squire D
“To what else, apart from deliberate malevolence, would you attribute what is, to my mind and at face value, one of the most complete and abject collapses in the history of organised sport?”
——————–
I have already provided my feeble analysis of where we went wrong this year and I will cut, quickly, to the conclusion which was “I don’t really know!”
I am not privy to enough objective information to know how badly the coaches and Board got it wrong or whosse egoes were not pulling for the team.
All I can tell objectively is that last season we won the league with 80 points after 30 matches (2 draws and 2 defeats) and this season we have only 73 points after 36 games (10 draws and 5 defeats). Last year, Sevco got 67 points after 29 matches (4 draws and 4 defeats) but now have 96 points agfter 36 games (6 draws and 0 defeats). So they have got a good bit better and we have got a good bit worse.
Everything else is speculation.
Most fans were pleased with player retention and recruitment in August but were dissatisfied with it by October because the results did not match what we thought we had.
We can speculate that lacking a Number 1 goalkeeper increased insecurity in defence.
We can speculate that Shane Duffy’s performances were nowhere near what he has produced in other seasons.
We can speculate that we were more adversely affeted by a lack of fans than other teams but it is an unprovable argument.
We can speculate that refs were suddenly quite clever in manipulating matches but this was never a season like the Rev McCurry/Tony Mowbray season where the cheating was much more blatant.
We can speculate about player jealousies and fall outs but successful teams are happy camps and losing teams give rise to more overt fall outs ( Success has many fathers; failure is an orphan).
In the end I can only acknowledge Sevco as the better TEAM and no other excuses will wash. We lost a sporting contest and we should not have done so.
Those on the inside will have a lot more insight into why this was- we might find out from them someday but we are unlikely to learn much about this from me or other ill-informed posters who were not present at Lennoxtown every day.
BIG GEORGES FAN CLUB – HAIL, HAIL, WEE OSCAR on 3RD MAY 2021 5:20 PM
So why are the tickets for games with the Ibrox club at £52?
Why do Celtic fans buy these tickets at those prices if they know its all a lie?
Will Celtic fans still buy these tickets if they go to £55?
Genuine question.
SAINT STIVS on 3RD MAY 2021 5:06 PM
Largs. Three degrees. Sleet showers. 2nd may. Ffs
###
Bank holiday.
Celtic should step in and make it a double for Andy Walker already banned by Sevco.
25THMAY1967 on 3RD MAY 2021 5:22 PM
hope at least 2 are wrong.
GlobalWarming/Climatechange.
Was Maurice Strong?
Whats going on?
PARK T BUS N BLOOTIR IT SIMPLES on 3RD MAY 2021 5:34 PM
Because they have the same fan base as before.
Because they are pretending to be the same club as before.
Because bigotry and sectarianism are woven into the fabric of Scottish life, particularly football, and this provides an expression for it.
But the objective facts remained. They original club was formed as an unincorporated association which became a limited company which fell into administration and was/is being liquidated. End of club. Dead. Finito.
Whatever huns might think or claim and whatever Celtic fans think or do does not change that reality.
Oui
When Lawwell came in Celtic were top 4 EPL standard team. This season’s team would have been relegated from the English Championship.
I know the football environment has changed beyond the control of Peter Lawwell in the intervening 18 years…. but not that much.
We still have mammoth season ticket and merchandise sales relative to most English clubs and a global fan base.
What we have seen a gradual asset strip that has delivered shareholder return (and relatively very high CEO remuneration), but what have the fans got out of PUTTING IN rather than taking out?
A Championship relegation standard team, that’s what.
Don’t believe P67’s squirrels about Nick Walsh. He’s a very clever guy, he doesn’t believe it either. What he says and what he thinks are not the same, at least in this instance.
25thMay1967
Interesting. That would represent good business. Retaining Ajer would be a coup. Losing CalMac would be a blow, but still good business.
Christie can piss off any time, same with Edouard who’s been a disgrace all season and ruined his hard won adoration from the fans. Great player, rotten attitude this season.
James Forrest @ 4:17 pm (and Denia Bhoy)
Such temperate and considered discussion is fine with me. And when you tone down the exaggeration and hyperbole, you get back to being the fine writer you always were James.
I have absolutely no problem with dissent being voiced on here, (though I do find some regular dissenters don’t like being dissented to, with or against)
I believe Paul67 has to be personally reticent about criticism of individuals at CP but I do not beloeve that he just toes a party line. After all, there is very little effective PR operated by P67 (or by proxy by PL) when you see the general reaction of fans. If The Board think they can influence fans by having a “pet” site (and I don’t accept that caricature of this site), then we are in a lot more trouble than I thought.
In the wake of a lost 10iar, which was very winnable, there is absolutely nothing that can be said by the club that can excuse or explain that situation. We are not currently in a mood to listen, anyway. Even holding your hands up and saying “Sorry!” won’t wash because we want more than that.
It will take a long time to shift the mood and perception but the only way it can be done is by winning more matches and winning them to an extent that wins a league.
Sevco have proved in the last half dozen matches that they have an edge over us in creating and converting chances. Eddie Howe, if it is he has an unenviable task in sorting our defence out quickly. He is not used to being in charge of a “must win” team so , as far as I am concerned, he is as much of an unproven success as all our managers were when they came, including BR, RD and NFL. He will still be welcomed by me and given time to show he can create a recognisable team with us.
We have a summer of suffering and will only start to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic when the competitive results start pouring in in July and August. I hope we can afford our new manager until, at least October, before we get the first call for his sacking.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 3RD MAY 2021 4:01 PM
You have very articulately put into words what I and no doubt many on here have been thinking.
HH.
Heart
of
Glass
We have been pathetic in Europe – hopefully we will Rise again.
I can’t agree with you Paul67 about Macgregor 2nd yellow. I think it symbolized the lack of game intelligence that was apparent throughout the team.
The exact same team played in the same formation in the same way and expected something different. The Huns have coasted through every game against us this season but still chose to make a change to allow for a different approach to play on our weaknesses and it worked.
They had a new center half but we stuck with one up front so Golson could take care of him. They played with two strikers and gave Kent a free role to run at Broonie who’s legs looked gone. Anyone could see they were getting the ball to him when they could but we still stood off them and let him have it in dangerous positions.
When it was obvious Edouard wasn’t effective on his own we put on MJ.
We sat back but instead of cutting out balls to their full backs we let them have it in deep areas so they could throw in crosses to two instead of the usual one striker.
It was witless performance from everyone.
Are the UK Goverment allowing all of these Covid-monitoring Crowd events to be held in Liverpool because they returned 5 Labour MPs at the last election?
Inexhaustibility
the morra is Another Davie Hay.
PARK T BUS N BLOOTIR IT SIMPLES on 3RD MAY 2021 5:34 PM
BIG GEORGES FAN CLUB – HAIL, HAIL, WEE OSCAR on 3RD MAY 2021 5:20 PM
———————-
See reply from Ernie Lynch.
And as mentioned – that wasn’t the original point.
Rangers are dead.
HH
BGFC
CELTIC40ME on 3RD MAY 2021 5:56 PM
I can’t agree with you Paul67 about Macgregor 2nd yellow. I think it symbolized the lack of game intelligence that was apparent throughout the team.
###
There’s been a lack of mental sharpness evident throughout the team for a long time.
Everything they do seems to be half a second behind the curve. Their vision, their decision making, their positional awareness, their movement, their execution of moves, everything is sluggish and half awake.
PARK T BUS N BLOOTIR IT SIMPLES,
The question is, paraphrased, why are Celtic marketing the Celtic Rangers competion as if the current club are the same club and not a replica.
Possible answers.
1. Because they can.
2. They’re going along with the same Club line. There is money to be made from maintaining the status quo.
3. They are not going along with the same Club line, but the club playing out of Ibrox has kept everything about the club the same – pumped money into it and provided real competition. People are prepared to pay top dollar to watch this – sham history or not.
If Sevco Scotland had been more honest and admitted reality – publicly – stating that they were a new club etc, and they were going to maintain everything attributed to the old Rangers, I think there would still be the same demand.
Correct me if I’m wrong, and maybe my wording will not be correct but, the main dilemma I think is the question, without dancing around it:
Are Celtic and the new club maintaining the old basic religious-based hatred, fostered through generations – so that company fat cats can cream money out of it?
And are the fans falling for it?
I browse other Celtic hyperspace for views on Celtic issues (and non Celtic ) and for insight or reasoned arguments against my own personal, often reactionary, views. Some haven traits I find amusing as well as informative, notably it’s really for all the rumours that fly around, latest ITK is James McCarthy as first signing, which I find perplexing, given he’s made of glass, nevertheless I fear we would need around 9 first team players for next season, I don’t mind if it’s a mixture of buys, loans or whatever. The consensus on most if not all is that EH is unveiled tomorrow. I live in Hope
RC
Which two !
Ajer is an Athlete, to young to move at the moment, worth 50 million if he continues to improve, but he will only improve if he is played in his proper position, Centre Back is not his position, either RB or Midfield, he has the build for a Centre Back, but that is not his position
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 3RD MAY 2021 5:31 PM
Cheers for considered response.
No obvious answers as you say.
Alasdair MacLean
Brendan Rodgers wanted the Celtic game to be nothing to do with Religion. I was young and Sung No Protestants at all – Sorry.
Thanks for being here Big Man.
Folk lining up to come on Pauls blog to tell folk that they’re not allowed to tell Paul how much they disagree with his blog.
Funny old world
Ajer could be sold whether he wants to go or not,to help finance the rebuild.
Hi Petec,
Cheers!
Taking Celtic out of the equation …. I find as much dislike for The Rangers among supporters of most if not all clubs in the league.
We collapsed – check!
We face a challenge from an organised group of has beens, their refs and authiorities who won’t apply regulations to their Pinocchio finances- check!
We have learnt our lesson – know idea!