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.
Thank you.
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Ten minutes since Saints scored, the Dons must have parked the bus?
GERRYBHOY on 3RD OCTOBER 2015 4:21 PM
Aguero scores 5, so far, against Newcastle!
Great for me. I’ve got him for top premier goalscorer and I get a free €2 bet for every goal he scores!
Aguero just been subbed. Manager has no sense of humour :))
Canamalar
Of course he is! For some strange reason I had it in my mind it was a European game. I was at the game as well so no excuses for my forgetfulness . I think I will have to drink several pints as a penance.
So, if fit, Simunovic instead of Efe ( In fact, I had forgotten about him as well! We have an embarrassment of riches!)
Cheerio for now. Off to watch the Rugby whilst humming When the Saints Go Marching In.
JJ
Saints score?
Does this mean Derek McInnes has lost the dressing room?
Lefty
Hope to meet up next week.
Central defence picks itself tomorrow, last two standing, Boyata & Blackett. Izzy should be back despite Tierney’s performance in midweek. Who plays right back? Lustig’s fitness means 2 games in 3 days, not to mention the playing surface, will probably keep him out. Is Janko fit?
Nobody entertaining me on the mushroom/cancer question?
Right we gotta step up tomorrow
I’VEHADTOCHANGEMYNAME on 3RD OCTOBER 2015 4:29 PM
1-5
Roy Croppie…
The slant will be how the huns only lost 3-1 to the team top of the spl :(
Forest Away
The heat was on in Higher Chemistry and I wasn’t coping well with the pressure. I tried to explain to the extremely enthusiastic, effervescent teacher that this was not the subject for me but she wasn’t having it. She never let up and as news leaked to her that I was to receive prizes for English, Geography and History she went into some form of chemical meltdown about my lack of effort and focus. The Head of Iona House-Paddy Doran-had a word and this straightened me out for a few weeks but fate would intervene in the form of a European tie – Nottingham Forest away. Unmissable.
November 23 1983. This was the day of the Chemistry prelim. The school had decided to have the prelims earlier this year and wanted them completed before Christmas. When the list came out with the dates I couldn’t believe my bad luck: ‘Chemistry Higher Prelim, Wednesday November 23. ‘I could see her snarling face, contorted with rage if I missed the prelim for a Celtic match. I suspected she didn’t like the Hoops, she’d confiscated my folder due to the ‘beautiful’ club crest and tricolour I had expertly drawn on it. She just didn’t get it so there was no chance of negotiating. She was a huge hurdle to my dream of attending a competitive game against an English club at their ground but she wasn’t the only one. My parents surely wouldn’t wear it, a trip to Nottingham in the middle of my prelims.
Operation Robin Hood was put into full swing. Five merry Bhoys from my year were planning on going and we all faced similar problems. Sickies were discussed, but this was too obvious. Some teachers didn’t take registers but missing a prelim would definitely lead to us getting caught. There was nothing else for it, lie to the parents about the exam and lie to the teacher about illness. It was every Bhoy for himself…what could go wrong? It was Celtic, green and white lies are allowed I told myself.
What I didn’t see coming was grasses in the class. As the day drew nearer we didn’t really talk about anything else. Miss decided to intervene in Chemistry, jokingly saying in her own terrifyingly inevitable way, that no-one better be thinking of going to Nottingham for a football match. She couldn’t even bring herself to say Celtic; she really was going down in my estimations. The classroom whispers seemed to encircle me like a poisonous gas and she reacted accordingly: ‘Are you going to that game?’ …’No miss that’s the prelim.’ Another lie, I could feel my soul shrink a tiny bit. She was on to me but I was determined to brass neck it as the prize was worth it. However, as D-Day drew nearer the butterflies in my stomach went into overdrive. I wasn’t sure if subterfuge was for me.
Tuesday 22nd November was a long day especially as it was double Chemistry after lunch. ‘Final revision’ she rattled constantly like a dentist’s drill boring into your enamel. She was relentless. I felt like a fraud. As we shuffled out of class at the bell she froze the blood in my veins: ‘Remember a quiet night before the big day tomorrow.’ Exactly my thinking I thought, she must be a Tim. My pals had held firm and the news hadn’t leaked. They wished me all the best for the trip as we left school and I reciprocated the good wishes for their exam. I felt good as that exciting Celtic feeling took over. They should bottle that and stick it on the periodic table I thought.
The bus was packed and auld Willie had done his magic again with the tickets, we all had one. He knew everyone and had called favours in from all over Timland and it had worked. A genius. It was treated like Aberdeen away, no overnight stay. I was glad of that as I could make the History exam on the Thursday. Most of us travelled light and ridiculously the majority of us didn’t take a jacket. Celtic tops and scarves would do in November; I wondered if Nottingham had its own tropical micro climate, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was a huge Celtic support travelling and it seemed like every bus and car we passed was full of green and white bedecked fans swigging from cans and green bottles. As we entered Nottingham I realised it did have its own climate, it was enveloped in fog and it was bloody freezing. We parked near to the river Trent (I knew that Geography O’Level would come in handy) and I began to worry if the game would be on. It reminded me of the pea-soupers that enriched the setting of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films.
Coming out of the mist though were thousands upon thousands of Celtic fans making their way to the stadium. We all tried to stay together but it was surreal walking through the gloom toward the floodlights and it was absolutely freezing. The crush outside was scary as fans rushed the gates trying to make the kick off. Eventually the police opened two large gates and everyone piled in. I was just glad to be in as I didn’t want to miss any of this historic tie and I didn’t concern myself about safety.
We made our way through the terracing throng to the front of the Celtic end but as I looked around the stadium there was green and white everywhere. Where were the Forest fans? They didn’t deserve Clough I thought. Half of the pitch was frozen, the mist was sitting over the stadium but I knew now it was game on. What would they do with 30,000 (looked like that to me) Celtic fans if they called the game off?
Celtic:-
Bonner, McGrain, Reid, Aitken, McAdam (Melrose 54), Sinclair, McClair, P McStay, McGarvey, MacLeod, Burns.
Subs not used:- Latchford, Halpin, Dobbin, McGugan.
Ref:- S. Aladren (Spain)
Att:- 32,017.
We started nervously but my abiding memory came about ten minutes in. There was a huge surge behind us and I felt myself getting pushed forward. I was fighting to stay on my feet as I knew going down could lead to real trouble. The wall in front of us collapsed and we spilled onto the track. I couldn’t breathe right for a few minutes and I started to panic. Somebody told me to breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth and this helped. I couldn’t believe I was at the side of the pitch closer to the Hoops than ever before. The police were quite aggressive at first till they realised this wasn’t a riot. Clough appeared on the park with a Celtic flag waving it to pacify us I think…after about 10 minutes the game restarted and I along with hundreds more walked around the track and were put into another part of the stadium. A crazy night, tragically no lessons were learned and a few years later the Hillsborough tragedy would unfold in front of all our eyes.
0-0 F.T.
We were confident now of going through. The journey home was extremely muted. Tiredness, soreness and drink (for some) had taken its toll. I’d got a right fright but thoughts started to drift to school. As the bus ate up the miles on the M6/M74 I knew I was getting closer to my day of reckoning. My mum and dad were waiting on the bus arriving home. There was a welcoming committee that I’ve only really seen after we won something. It turns out the TV cameras had caught many of our faces as we trudged around the side of the pitch. I got a row for not taking a jacket and then big hugs, I didn’t dream of telling them about the prelim.
Thursday November 24th. The History prelim was in the morning. I was quite happy to be safe and sound in the games hall sitting at my wee wooden desk nursing sore ribs. The other Bhoys wanted to see the bruising; it was a badge of honour. My bubble burst when after lunch my Chemistry teacher appeared in my English class, never a good mix.
I felt a panic attack coming-nose and mouth I told myself-she looked as stern as ever, then: ‘How are you? Are you okay?’ she said, was this a trick? ‘Look I know you were at the game, I saw you on the television.’
That meant she was a Tim, I was beginning to warm to her. She gave me a mild rebuke for missing the exam nothing as ferocious as I expected but she was more concerned about my injuries. Unbelievably she acknowledged that 0-0 was a good result and that she was going to the second leg with her boyfriend. Now that I was in love with her I was instantly jealous.
Celtic and Chemistry, it’s a great mix.
(HH Should be on the periodic table)
Sipsini
Never thought of that one :)
HH
That beat…:)
YOGIHUGHES
Think you commented on Johnny LIttle a couple of months ago ?
I had to go out and never got back to you.
John was my PE teacher at Sacred Heart. Great guy.
Snecker
Check the Cancer Research UK site for their comments on the subject.
Crimeco are drawing against Falkirk
The BBC paid £400,000 paid to televise the Scottish League Cup Tie Hun St. Johnstone game, do the BBC really pay that much for a live game??
Nuns score :(((((((((((((((
Huns even ;
snecker on 3rd October 2015 4:32 pm –
Been wracking my brain on that one, think it may have been one of the over seas Bhoys, read it a few month back.
Someone in Italy springs to mind
Jungle Jim 3:43
Excellent post.
I HAVE A BET ON HIBS WINNING THE LEAGUE 8/1
RANGERS WILL GO INTO ADMINISTRATION
THE PARTY WILL BE OVER 25 POINTS DEDUCTION
HAIL HAIL. CLAN MCCARTHY
snecker
probably Petec
Eldiegoboy, with all due respect to the charity, I’d rather do my own research. Big pharma is a massive con. Their view is there’s no money in healthy people. I know that might sound harsh, but if you consider how much money has been spent on these diseases, surely the cure would already be here. Cancer is an immune disease, common sense would tell you that having a healthy immune system would help. Not being critical just being a bit left field. But thanks for the reply.
Roy Croppie
Brilliant story
Quality
HH
..that’s my fault……tuned in just as they scored.
It’s the hope that gets ye….
Roy C
Thanks for the memories magic my friend
EDB
See you next week sir
Gerrybhoy I’m still laughing at “NUNS”
:))))))))
till later all
GFTB
Cheers….Kano foundation is my destination for the money.
Neil Lennon struggling at Bolton, down 3-2 from leading two nil.
snecker
I listened to a broadcast from a guy called Leonard Coldwell, it was a great listen but have not done any follow up reading so dont know much more about him.
Snecker
Good luck in your research.
Chick Young at Poundland on Shortbread…..’we don’t know how much injury time is to be played as we don’t have a board at this level’
The Huddle no way on earth did the Beeb pay £400,000 to televise that game. Please provide proof/evidence and I’ll apologise. H H Hebcelt
Well done the Perth Saints; get the job done tomorrow CELTIC.
HH
Thanks for the comments Bhoys.
Partick Thistle 3 Dundee Utd 0
televised games in lower leagues ? 60k max .