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Fine performance marred by bigger failings than Efe

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

I liked a lot about what we did last night. Leigh Griffiths provided more evidence that he is a remarkable predator. Kris Commons delivered another driven corner, his third of this European campaign to result in a goal, Lustig made first contact leaving Griffiths with only instinct to produce a shot on target. That same instinct clicked an instant later to turn the second shot over the keeper and into the net.

Do you remember a moment, before the first goal, when Fenerbahce enjoyed their best spell of pressure, and we cleared our lines aimlessly four times in a couple of minutes? It looked ugly and invited Fenerbahce to continue to pile the pressure on, but it was a salutary indication of how tactically well Celtic played. When under pressure, clear your lines, regroup, and get ready to go again.

On two occasions we dribbled out of a defensive position leading to a goal. Nir Bitton had ample opportunity to clear forward, but with opponents closing space all around him, he hesitated until he could play-in James Forrest, who surge forward to cross for Commons to score.

Scott Brown as immense all night, but having held-off a challenge 20 yards from his own goal on the wing, he should have cleared deep inside Fenerbahce territory instead of trying to make a pass. We didn’t get the ball back until the score was 2-2. Johansen and Lustig were both caught similarly in the second half but neither was punished.  Being brave in possession isn’t always wise.

Some of the passing football we played was a treat to watch. Bitton and Brown played their best game as a partnership, if not as individuals in a Celtic shirt; Brown was certainly that good. James Forrest, now fit, is drinking-in responsibility. He was effective last night, but not because he used his unparalleled pace, instead he delivered link play.

You’ll have noticed Craig Gordon likes a leg save. Few keepers do, they seem to try to get their hands or torso to a ball, but I like that Craig likes getting any hard part of his body in the way.

Don’t let it bounce.

“Don’t let it bounce.” There’s not a central defender in the world who doesn’t hear that phrase every week. When a ball is coming towards the danger zone in the air, get your head on it. If you let it bounce, anything can happen.

This was Efe Ambrose first mistake last night. He failed to read the flight of the ball. The moment it bounced, he was in trouble. With Fernandao waiting to feed on the scraps, Efe should then have concentrated on winning the physical challenge as the ball dropped a second time, but instead he found his ‘don’t let the ball bounce’ instinct too late and committed a second inexcusable error.

Think back almost three years to the opening minutes of the Champions League game against Juventus, Efe committed pretty much the same mistake. He lost the flight of the ball and we were a goal down and out before we warmed up.

Although Efe is taking a large slice of the blame in some places for the second Fenerbahce goal, I’m not convinced this is a fair assessment. To give due credit, it was an excellent corner and header – from a zone in front near post it’s difficult to score from. The point about zonal marking is you defend areas it’s easy to score from, at the cost of leaving less-risky areas unattended. Fernandao’s header didn’t come from a high-risk zone.

For some reason, wispy Leigh Griffiths was delegated to man-mark bulky target-man Fernandao. Wee guys can block big guys, but they need to be standing ball-side of the attacker, preferably facing his chest with arms out, so that when movement happens, he’s at least the right side of the attacker. Leigh was on his heels, completely unprepared.

Before the kick was struck, Fernandao was on the move, gambling on a near-post run. Should Efe have also gambled similarly? On first glance it looked like it, but that’s only because the ball went to that area and ended up in the net. Fernandao could afford to gamble by running into a space the ball may or may not arrive at. This is not the case for a defender. He has to wait until the ball is in the air. If he leaves his zone before the ball’s kicked to follow an attacker who has move early, he’s not doing his job.

It’s all about the block.

Great corner aside, we lost the second goal because we didn’t get a block on Fenerbahce’s target man. Before the kick was taken, Leigh Griffiths was adjacent to and looking at Fernandao, having been delegated the task by the impressive Kieran Tierney, but Leigh was also looking all around him and made no attempt to block.

Griffiths (5’ 8”), the smallest man in the Celtic team, should never have been near Fernandao (6’ 4”), the tallest man in the Fenerbahce team. That’s 8 inches of disadvantage and double figures of kilos weight.

There are two big questions to be asked about this goal:

Why didn’t we have a physical equal on Fernandao, capable of withstanding a shove, or better still, getting his own shove in first? Fenerbahce had one target man striker, we didn’t notice him. It doesn’t matter if you play zonal or man-to-man, if we are conceding 8 inches to the opponent’s main physical threat, we’ll continue to lose goals at corner kicks.

But the real curious question is why was it left to 18-year-old Kieran Tierney to instruct who picks up whom at a corner kick? Action moves so quickly at corners that everyone needs to understand they have a responsibility to take control, not just the central defenders, captain, or keeper. Or 18-year-old novice.

This is not happening at Celtic right now, which is why we’re playing our European football on Thursdays this season. If you put your smallest player on an opponent’s tallest, and it’s left to an 18-year-old to delegate responsibility, you deserve to lose a goal.

Last Man Standing 5

Last call for all those wanting to take part in Last Man Standing 5, in aid of Wee Shay McGinlay who is 2 and suffers from cerebral palsy. To date CQNers and friends have raised an incredible £5400 towards the fund raising campaign, to finance treatment for Shay not available on the NHS, which will hopefully improve his quality of life.

The current entrants stand at 72, so if you want to take join the LMS5 clique, then simply drop a line to Jobo and CRC at cqnlastmanstanding@gmail.com before 12pm Saturday and they will send you more details.

Thanks for indulging me bringing the work of the Foundation to your attention all this week. The Great Scottish Run is less than 48 hours away and dozens of Celtic fans have put thousands of hours into preparing for the event.  Those doing the ‘half’ are going to miss the Hamilton game, another consequence of playing Thursday night European football.

If you can support any of the runners, please do:

Click here for my linked donation page.

Here for Steve Gunn’s.

Here for Thomas Eman’s.

Here for Robert Doherty’s.

Here for Stephen Hewitt’s.

Here for Kenny O’Neill’s.

Thank you.

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  1. emusanorphan on

    Was the performance from the oldest most inconsistent youngster inconsistent last night, or a move to more consistency?

  2. dena29 on

    its times like this that we all reflect on what we have and what we take for granted

     

     

    Another good bhoy has gone but will never be forgotten, the facebook story shows he was a thoughtful man and as such will be fondly remembered.

     

     

    R.I.P.

     

     

    Goodnight Timland

     

     

    HH

  5. Celticrollercoaster supporting Shay,our bhoy wonder along the way on

    ACGR

     

     

    If you are around, just checked the cask is 7.5 years, so maybe wait another 6 months or so?

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

  7. rudicantfail on

    Hamiltontim…

     

     

     

    I think it would be interesting to have a pint with ya

     

     

     

    You are obviously an intelligent guy

     

     

     

    However……I think you would be surprised at your ‘moral compass ‘ being out of kilter with most of Celtic fans.

     

     

     

    I think people on here think they are representative of the demographic of all Celtic fans.

     

     

     

    I don’t think so….

     

     

     

    It is a tiny percentage of our following.

     

     

     

    No creed, No colour,No religion……I love that about Celtic FC…..open to all

     

     

     

    Can’t understand all the stuff on here when people post about going to mass and communion etc.

     

     

    Wtf has going to mass got to do with Celtic?

     

     

     

    Absolutely nothing in Jock Stein’s world I would have thought…

     

     

     

    Hail Hail

  9. Hamiltontim on

    Greenpinta

     

     

    Our support is exceptional and a credit to our ethos.

     

     

    We have dafties on here who’re more supportive of a board that will be gone long, long before us and our ancestors yet still persist with a Girfuy attitude q

  11. Delaneys Dunky on

    Rudi

     

     

    Hamiltontim is my kind of Tim. I would love to be in both your company. Strong minded fenians are we. :)

  15. Celticrollercoaster supporting Shay,our bhoy wonder along the way on

    rudicantfail on 3rd October 2015 12:45 am

     

     

    If you are really open to all then why do you decry people that go to mass and receive communion or post about it? What actual harm is it causing you or indeed anybody else?

     

     

    I hope you reflect on your post

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

  16. emusanorphan on

    Gordon64

     

     

    You wear the newest incontinence pants available to oldest incontinents. I happen to like sitting in my own mess. Theyoungonescsc

  18. rudicantfail on

    Talking about drums….

     

     

     

    The marvellous Mac….his Echo boys….and bring on the Burundi Boys….

     

     

    Echo And The Bunnymen – All My Colours (HD) – YouTube

     

    ▶ 4:05

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMUaVoWU0Sw

     

    8 Apr 2013 – Uploaded by pigsfood27

     

    “All My Colours”, by Echo And The Bunnymen. From “Heaven Up Here”, 1981. For …

     

    Missing: barrowland

  22. Gordon64 on

    In my relative short time supporting Celtic I have seen many managers and a few board changes forthe better and worse. Is Celtic a better club for it ? Absolutely. Can we get better? You better believe it. Sack the board for a betterer CSC.

  23. emusanorphan on

    If Fenerbahce had qualified for the CL and we had progressed against Swedish Giants, Malmo and we had been drawn in CL, would it have been a sellout if we’d met?

     

    Who wasn’t bothered about tickets for Seville?

  24. Hamiltontim on

    i was going to reply to Rudi the shitebag and then I got a text about a collection I’m doing tomorrow about delivering foot etc to refugees and it starts at 8pn

  26. emusanorphan on

    Didier Drogba’s heid keeps appearing on my screen! Its as if I.m meant to fly Turkish Airlines to Istanbul! A sign!

  27. the_huddle on

    emusanorphan on 3rd October 2015 1:00 am

     

     

    If Fenerbahce had qualified for the CL and we had progressed against Swedish Giants, Malmo and we had been drawn in CL, would it have been a sellout if we’d met?

     

     

    Who wasn’t bothered about tickets for Seville?

     

    ——————

     

    Surely no one really believes we are faithful through and through :o@)

  31. Canamalar on

    AnotherAlexFaeGovan,

     

    Your melancholy broke my fcuking heart tonigh, pleased drag yer arse along to 10/10 and let some of the gobshites help carry the load or at least distract you for a wee while. You never know one of the cliques might even open up. Go on go on go on

  32. rudicantfail on

    Hamilton ….

     

     

    Keep on Keepin’ on

     

     

     

    You’re an inspiration……

     

     

     

    So good with all you charitable deeds you even find time to tell us all about them……

     

     

     

     

    Great guy …..

     

     

     

     

    Everybody loves you

     

     

     

    Remember…..to keep telling us about your selflessness…..if you get the time

  35. emusanorphan on

    Gordon64

     

     

    You may have seen the light later than many, but so too did Big Jock! Once a Tim, always a Tim!

  41. Celticrollercoaster supporting Shay,our bhoy wonder along the way on

    Anyway, made the trip through to Livi tonight with Mrs CRC and chauffeur Jobo (thank you), We saw a wee community maybe not in the best surroundings, get together for a common cause, Wee Shay.

     

     

    Both parents 23, Mary and Tam, could easy complain about being dealt a rough deal but they do not. They are driven by their son and how they can help him and they are trying their hardest to get the best for their son. Wouldn’t you?

     

     

    The father cant take in this concept of CQN wrapping their love round his young family and helping them, but he is getting there. He was saying to me tonight why are strangers helping us, but at the same time with so much thanks. I told him why not, this is CQN and Celtic. It is what we do.

     

     

    Then the tower of a mother, as all mothers are. Total respect for this young lady, who works so hard to help her family, organising the night , making sure everybody was ok, never resting. Feck sake she is 23.

     

     

    Then I realised I was privileged to be in their company. These are our future giants who will go on to be better because of how we help them and they will help others. Today was a good day

     

     

    Thank you CQN for helping this young family

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

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