Tannadice was so packed out this afternoon it looked like a Rangers creditors’ meeting and the Scottish Cup tie on show didn’t disappoint. Dundee United had the better of the opening period but four second half goals from an irresistible Celtic decided outcome.
Jon Daly headed wide early on after a Willo Flood cross early on but the first great chance of the game fell to Johnny Russell on 25 minutes. Gary Mackay-Steven got free on the left and crossed for Russell who mishit his shot, allowing Fraser Forster to make an incredible save and claw the ball away.
With Dundee United clearly on top defender Robbie Neilson received a straight red card for a forearm smash into the face of Georgios Samaras.
It took Celtic 36 minutes to make an attempt on goal. Joe Ledley’s shot from a corner was blocked and James Forrest shot over from a corner seconds later.
Celtic stepped up the pace after halftime. Charlie Mulgrew jinked to create space on the left side of the United box but Ledley couldn’t reach his cross. 8 minutes after halftime the visitors were ahead after the best move of the game.
Adam Matthews passed back to Fraser Forster who played the ball out to Joe Ledley. Ledley moved forward after playing the ball onto Samaras, who passed to Mulgrew before the ball moved onto Stokes. Anthony Stokes fired a low cross into the box which Gary Hooper dummied for Ledley, who never stopped running. The midfielder won the ball by nipping in front of his marker and shot home from 7 yards.
Samaras shot over before a Stokes shot after 64 minutes from 25 yards was saved by Pernis, the first save the keeper made in the game.
United had a great chance to draw level when substitute Milos Lacny latched onto a long through ball but his shot from 16 yards was weak and off target.
Georgios Samaras made it 0-2 when he got on the end of a Mulgew free kick to bullet a header into the top right corner of the net.
Two minutes later Johnny Russell had a great chance to pull a goal back but his shot from 15 yards flew narrowly over.
Stokes should have tied the game up 11 minutes from time when James Forrest combined with Hooper before Forrest cut the ball back to Stokes, who contrived to hit the crossbar with his shot with an empty net waiting.
Samaras and Forrest both had chances to add to the scoring before Ledley threaded a pass through the middle of the United defence for Stokes to clip past Pernis into the net.
With a minute of the game remaining Samaras beat Dillon, who pulled the Greek international down inside the box. Scott Brown rolled the resultant penalty into the net to make if 0-4.
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Son of Warsaw….
I clicked on the link, and am really glad I did!!
I’ve laughed so hard I think I’ve pulled a muscle.
Race nights? Auctions?
What next?? Fat Sally’s grannie making tablet to sell at half time???
Brilliant!
HH :-)x
Gregory Ioannidis @LawTop20
I understand HMRC rejected another RFC offer to settle. They are not like any other creditor to accept a hair-cut on the debt.
#Bring out yer dead! (I feeel happyyyy!)
Fourstonecoppi
I delivered milk in Easterhouse when I was at school. Fantastic folk and great tippers!
I was also the “alarm call” for some of our customers.
I made more money on that milk run than my mates who were working full time earned.
Happy days, although I don’t miss the early mornings!
sparkleghirl on 11 March, 2012 at 20:32 said:
Bless, below that fighting fund report, a comment:
“Fantastic , were going to be alright ”
I was so consumed, overwhelmed & tearful reading the article, I didn’t read the replies….now you have me in pieces :-) there there there
Enjoyed wtaching the game although until Utd went down to 10 men I thought we were up against it. Ledley full deserved his MOM and Yanwama tightened up the back whilst releasing both Mulgrew and Ledley to do damage up the park.
On mentioning Mulgrew I,ve been thinking about the other CQN bete noirs like Sammi and Broonie who have shown that they can add value if fit and played where they perform best.
Even saw wee Shaun lay on Wigan’s goal and look like Shaun of old, all suggesting the players are all good enough but our patience is a bit lacking.
@CelticHub Reply Delete Favorite · Open
HMRC reject offer from Rangers to settle? breaking news on Twitter. RT and lets all laugh together. #RIPRangers
Oh dear Heidi VOkka from Sweden. Will be disappointed that her pledge might not be accepted ….
Queries about the keeper substitution earlier. Was it not just a chance for Zaluska to get a run out against his old team?
Son of Warsaw on 11 March, 2012 at 20:21 said:
Brilliant, they haven’t got a penny yet and they are arguing!! Or are best agents doing their duty?
AracenightfurfucksakeCSC
Sorry , our best agents
RB & mbipp
Sorry I may have misread their advert ,So I will just have to find something else to laugh at concerning them.
HAIL HAIL
just heard the Lenny interview
i know im biased because he is one of our own over hear in the statelet, but my admiration for that man grows evey time i see or hear him being interviewed.
he speaks from the heart, speaks well and dosent bow down to them (the interview with that clampot Tanner was a cracker when he basically told him he was talking sh1te)
compare him to mccoist – its like comparing night and day
im glad he has called the scottish media out – trayner and co ARE RESPONSIBLE for what he went through last year
Trayner and co let that ha ha ha hatley “piece” go through last week which accused Lenny and Celtic of acting badly
Trayner and co also ran with the “piece” about Celtic withholding the 300k for tickets and putting jobs on the line
so after last year, they still run with 2 stories that puts the blame on Celtic for rangers’ woes, and adding fuel to the fire against Lenny again
i hope it is in the hands of a legal team and i hope they hammer trayner and co
Lionel Ritchie’s brother…Mabawza, will be disappointed that his donations have been refused!!
Actually I find some of those comments disturbing … and not all in the way you’d expect. Some people are ‘pledging’ what are probably, to them, significant sums of money. Oh well.
And a warning to those of you who made pledges via scavengers.com:
“Great news. I hope that guy who pledged a million to SaveRangers is first to step up. I also hope they take a log of everyone who contributed and how much they gave and when we’re back on our feet get the top 100 contributors to do a lap of honour and the next 1000 get a free signed top or something. “
The Onlooker on 11 March, 2012 at 20:09 said:
I’m soooooooooooooo disappointed.. I happen to know that as a number of people I know have made generous pledges Phone nos etc have been supplied
……………………… and now their offers of help are spurned.
I wonder why!
sparkleghirl on 11 March, 2012 at 20:43 said:
Actually I find some of those comments disturbing … and not all in the way you’d expect. Some people are ‘pledging’ what are probably, to them, significant sums of money. Oh well.
And a warning to those of you who made pledges via scavengers.com:
“Great news. I hope that guy who pledged a million to SaveRangers is first to step up. I also hope they take a log of everyone who contributed and how much they gave and when we’re back on our feet get the top 100 contributors to do a lap of honour and the next 1000 get a free signed top or something. “
=====
Sounds like a deal. A lap of honour around the new Tesco car park and 1000 signed Tesco polo shirts. At least with Tesco there may be some return on their investment.
still think orcs could make some dough out of fat sally tobyjugs
and durant in the three monkeys poses also in brass
Haven’t been online much this weekend. What’s the craic?.
Árd Macha
Elizabeth Saxa-Coberg is furious her contribution hasn’t been included “one is not amused” she said whilst booting one of her Corgis.
As mentioned earlier… The goalie switch.. Assuming the jolly green giant Fraser was ok , it WAS a real GIRUY moment..
HH
Cromwel put them there tis a fact hundreds of years pay back
Starve them put them down no jobs in this town
Build our churches feed our kids on the back of what Brother Wilfred did
Organised and taught well the seed sown where what well
The dark side calls favours owned…scared in the dark..it is where they want to be….
Cos that is all they know..
Laters
Auld Neil Lennon heid
As his admirer (and guardian), I’d have to say that it probably did make sense for Lenny to let go of Shaun, if only because of his wage – 7 months is a long time to wait for a player to come good when he’s on £25k per week. Having said that, I note he was referred to as a ‘genius’ by Sky Sports after today.
#welling up
Notthebus / Maccargo…..thanks for explaining….glad my anxiety was ill-founded …..
Sami was great today……and what a difference Scotty makes…..with Izzi, Kayal, Commons to return….some squad …….. and Paddy can certainly make defences stand up and pay attention…..great passer of the ball also…looking forward to seeing more of McGeoch next season…..
I got the impression some of our fans didn’t buy into the ‘shafted’ theory over the past 3 years …..well, they now know……and 3 years of trying to save rankers didn’t work……in a word : JUSTICE……..no matter what happens now they have completely destroyed any vestige of reputation they had left…..forever
The treble is now a distinct possibility, and that’s a VERY good place to be…!!!!!!!!
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on 11 March, 2012 at 19:51
Don’t venture into ” The Fountain ” when in Derry , it’s actually in L’derry…..
if you know what I mean !!!
Sparkleghirl
To think that I, Bill Bawbaggins will be doing a lap of honour round my field of dreams……….it brings a tear to my eye!
Summa of Sammi
Enjoyed your fanfares for Samaras today. Another MOTM performance? Probably. Player of the year? Certainly!
Q. The reason for keeper switch today?
A. To give big Fraser the chance to get a round of applause for another shut-out .
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has warned BBC Scotland the club will not co-operate with sections of the media for the rest of the season.
Lennon accused the Scottish press of deliberately attempting to draw Celtic into Rangers’ financial crisis.
“There’s a lot of muckraking going on between some hacks,” said Lennon.
“There’s going to be a lot of media outlets disappointed, because me and the players are not going to be speaking to you.”
Celtic cancelled their pre-match media conference on Friday and Lennon said journalists and reporters should expect more of the same as the season enters its final phase.
“We decided not to do a press conference this week because of all the nonsense that’s going on elsewhere,” said Lennon
“We’re nothing but professional and respectful to the media – and yet they do us no favours”
“So we decided we’re not even going to bother with you this week and just get about our business quietly and we’ll do our talking on the pitch.”
Lennon said he was angry at reports suggesting Celtic were trying to benefit from their Glasgow neighbour’s financial worries.
“It’s in the hands of the legal team and I’m probably best not to say to much about that, but you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he said.
“It doesn’t bother me at all – we just said, right, we’re not going to talk to anyone.
“We’re going to get our heads down, not look at a newspaper. We want to talk about football and the achievements we’re hoping to get over the line this year.
“We’ll maintain that for the rest of the season, but I don’t care, I’ll do it through the club if I have to.
“We’re nothing but professional and respectful to the media – and yet they do us no favours.
“They keep throwing things in our face and keep trying to make confrontations with people that aren’t there.
“So, enough is enough – they’ve not done me any favours over the piece.
“I’m angry, but I’ll deal with it in my own way.”
Meanwhile, Lennon added that he had been left devastated by the death of Paul McBride, the QC who has represented the Celtic manager and was a personal friend before his death last week in Pakistan.
“Save Rangers” has been forcibly stopped by Rangers Football Club
As the website gathered meaningless “pledges” of “over £10M
#####
Well I hope they just weed out the obviously fake pledges and follow follow up on the genuine ones.
Like for instance, David Merde, a French gentleman with an email address and phone number not unalike the email address and phone number of Chateau Routas.
Brass neck, or what..(rankers media)
“So nows the time to show the world how we really are the world’s best supporters and do whatever we can to keep our club running, every single penny counts no matter how small, its now time to Step up and Pay. WATP!! ”
LOL
Good Evening,
Cheekie Charlie Tully used to offer the opposing fullback a ticket for the stand before many a kick off, advising that the poor fellow would see more of the ball and enjoy the game more if he took a seat in the crowd.
Jock Stein, allegedly gave the same instruction to Bobby Lennox time after time. That instruction was to take the ball up to the opposing full back at the earliest opportunity, knock it by him, force him to turn round, run for his life and attempt to stop Lennox creating a chance.
Stein would explain that it didn’t matter if the ball went out of play, or if the full back managed to get the ball that first time, because no matter what the job was already done. The message was clear….. I can run by you any time! The result was that no matter what the opposing manager’s tactics may have been before kick off, those tactics had just been changed. The full back would not be venturing forward today- no chance- as you don’t give Bobby Lennox room in behind to run at your central defence. More often than not, when it happened again the full back would have to pull your shirt or kick you in the air.. because all else had failed.
Similarly with Tully. Different method- same result. Fullback full of doubts, not wanting to be humiliated by Charlie and his jibe about sitting in the stand. No way was Charlie going to make a fool of him today- no siree– with the result that the fullback stays back to make sure Charlie doesn’t run amok..and maybe lets him feel the leather of his boot.
Dundee United played really well in the first half today, but they were eventually ground down by a cleverer team, a skillfull team and a confident team that knew that the game lasts for 90 minutes.
From the moment big Georgios skipped down the left leaving a couple of players for dead, Robbie Neilson knew there was trouble here. Left with what he saw as no option but to bring him down, he drew the yellow card from the referee. 1-0 Samaras– and proof that Stein’s tactics work a treat.
God knows what was going through Neilson’s head when it came to the sending off. Now I like Robbie Neilson as a player- at least I did when he was at Hearts and often thought he could maybe do a job for us. However, when you see the highlights tonight look at a few things. Look at where the foul was committed. Centre of the pitch, well into Celtic’s half– what on earth was the Utd left back doing there?
The answer is simple really- Samaras had dragged him there as by that time Robbie knows that he daren’t let him collect the ball and run by a couple of his colleagues again. So press him up the pitch, don’t let him get in behind and if necessary clatter him up there, where there is no danger. Except that Samaras and a potential roasting is already in his head and so he commits the daft challenge, the plot is lost– and so is the game. 2-0 Samaras!
Not only that, by this time Neil Lennon has decided on changing the shape of the team that he sent out only a relatively short time before.
Charlie Mulgrew goes to left back, Big Vic into centre of defence, and Ledley is released into the left half of midfield. Such a change brought a few questions from the Radio Scotland commentary team. “Maybe Neil thinks Charlie is being bullied by Daly, and that Wanyama offers a more solid opposition?” they mused.
Maybe that is true.. then again maybe there was far more to it than that, maybe the whole message to Peter Houston’s team was we are going left left left.
Look at it. Without that change, Ledley is not free to make those marauding runs forward. He is different to Victor in that regard. He is not a Celtic Midfielder in the mould of Murdoch, McStay, McLeod or Glavin who would all shoot from distance. No Joe is Mr Efficiency, with the ability to ghost forward like Billy Stark and punish a stretched defence which struggles to see him coming from deep. Result? 1-0 Ledley!
A stretched defence. Without Lennon’s change, Mulgrew does not fill the roll of the galloping fullback with the most dangerous of crosses. Gone is the hesitant Mulgrew who only last year filled that roll like a baby giraffe– uncertain on his feet, wary, nervous and just plain scary. No, this is Charlie Mulgrew, Internationalist, who can shoot from 35 yeards and whip in a cross with deadly accuracy. But more importantly if you have a right back who is already on a card, or a defence now having to cope with a totally absent left back, then between Charlie, Ledley and Big Sammy then you are going to pull the whole Dundee Utd defence right ( or to our left ) and force them to run like hell. Leaving space in the middle of defence. Result? 2-0 Samaras!
Elsewhere Brown snaps and harries for 90 minutes, Rogne shows a positional sense and pace that is impressive, Matthews grows and grows and so on.
Then we come to Stokes and Hooper.
Many years ago, I was priveleged enough to listen to a wee team talk given to a centre forward who was up against a centre half who was very athletic and in everyone’s eyes fully expected to take care of said centre forward. With that in mind, the centre forward was told that on each and every occasion the ball came to him near the box he was to attempt to lay it off to his bigger and more robust strike partner, and under no circumstance was he to try and take the centre half on– just lay it off! Time after Time.
The reasoning behind this instruction was to play to the centre half’s strength. The guiy was strong, fast and a good reader of the game, and the more the wee centre forward laid the ball off the more the bigger centre half would grow in confidence and would start to read the lay off. Eventually, predicted the manager, he will anticipate just too quickly, he will step into what he perceives will be the path of the lay off– indeed he will have already intercepted a number of lay offs– and when he steps out just a bit too quickly, then completely switch tactics– don’t lay it off, take it, keep it and by doing absolutely nothing, you will have an open goal before you– and a striker only needs that one chance to make the difference.
After that, the centre half will be hesitant, he will stop cutting out the lay offs for fear of being turned again, and this allows others into the game. In short, he starts to worry about what you will or will not do and when that happens ypu have him beaten.
That, is Hooper and Stokes. Both may not play particularly well on the day, but Defenders can’t leave them alone and it only takes that one chance, that one moment– and that moment is always likely to come when the centre back has to take care of the space on the right which has been left vacant by the absent full back. Result? 3-0 Stokes.
Of course the defnce is bolstered by a sub, but that then leaves a space somewhere else or only one striker for an out ball. The ten will have to run their legs off, and while you might do that brilliantly for a period you will not do it effectively for 90 minutes. They will tire, you can run at them and exploit the inevitable fatigue…….. and so it proved. Result? 4-0 Brown!
Neil Francis Lennon and his management team today showed the “craft” of management. Not experience in management, but the craft and skill of management. In turn, his team on the park now play with a belief that even when they are shoved against the ropes for a bit, they know… and the opposition know… we are Celtic and we will find away to beat you.
All over the park, there are individuals who can get into the heads of their opponents. Who can bring muscle, skill and confidence and perhaps most importantly footballing nous! Sutton and Larsson had nous and guile by the bucketload and today this Celtic team showed nous and that they are, without doubt, the best team in the country.
The first twenty minutes were hard today, but while others may wonder at why Neil would pull three players about and change positions with less than a quarter of the game gone, the end result and the way that it was achieved should give everyone a clue. Neil Lennon knows his players, and collectively they sent a message to all and sundry, a message that has bean learnt and is now there for all to see…..
In Lennon we trust!
67Heaven … I am Neil Lennon..!!..Truth and Justice will always prevail
The whole article reads like it has been awe nawed :-)
Loads of tributes to Lenny tonight. We are now talking about ‘Lenny moments.’
He had numerous great lines today but one was when they were punting the sending off as “That was a lucky moment for Celtic.” Lenny replied, “Well if a broken nose is lucky then I guess we were very lucky!”
I love Lenny!
My Boss is Peter Principle……Awe Naw, no Awe Naw’ ed ,,,,,,LOL
short version
i hope the guy who pledged a mill isnae a tim…
come to think of it – that’s a universal truth!
u
Just read that hunsmedia link from earlier, I wonder what Sandy Jardine has done to upset so many of them?
in brth we trust
seventyxseven ‘gelee et glace’ ……. since ‘I am Neil Lennon’, does that mean you love me too…!!!!……LOL
I’m in a great mood tonight….wonder why…..think I’ll go and have a TREBLE