The James Forrest Feedback Club were quiet last night. I’ve no idea if James will rediscover his form on a sustained basis, or if his limbs will allow him to attain his potential, but it was good to see him running at defenders with confidence again.
He got the measure of John Rankin early on. Thereafter the United marker could do little more than block James whenever they faced-off.
I’ve been impressed with Dundee United during this series of games. Fojut held things together remarkably well at Hampden, you can see why we signed him subject to a medical, while Ryan McGowan was clearly their best player at Celtic Park, notwithstanding his late lunge at Liam Henderson. Well done to McGowan for coming onto Twitter to share apologies and congratulations.
Nadir Ciftci’s swagger reminded me of Jackie Dziekanowski in his latter days as a Celtic player. He’s probably found his level at United, where he can turn it on at will, but the modern game is looking for something different.
Loved the moment when a fouled Nir Bitton ruffled the hair of his assailant, Aiden Connolly. Nir is growing by the week, I’m working hard to avoid comparisons. We’ve not seen much of an edge from him since that, mistimed, tackle against Ajax, but he could do with some of that in-your-face attitude others in the midfield have.
Not been online much since the game, what suspension have the SFA offered Paul Paton after his altercation with Anthony Stokes?
Keep your eyes peeled for a nomad. They can hide in bins and outhouses. Check your shed. Any will do.
913 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- ...
- 25
- »
Everton for all their faults beat wolfsburg home ( 4-1)& away ( 0-2) and wolfsburg in turn are making short work of inter.
.We have a long way to travel to get competitive in Europe
coneybhoy
Agreed, they were an unusually agreeable Italian team.
http://maleysbhoys.com/2015/03/19/one-hundred-celtic-goals-and-counting/One Hundred Celtic Goals and Counting…
Uncategorized Add comments
Mar
19
2015
A Statistical Breakdown Of Celtic’s Season So Far
Introduction
Good evening ladies and gents, I trust you’re all in a rather buoyant mood as in the last week alone we’ve secured our first Scottish League Cup since 2009 and came through a replay to book our place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals scheduled for the middle of April. However, what some people may have overlooked today is that Virgil van Dijk’s injury time tap-in last night, although irrelevant to the outcome of the tie itself, carries some significance, for it was the hundredth competitive goal which Ronny Deila’s Celtic have scored this season in all competitions.
As such, I’ve decided to write a brief article on Celtic this season from a statistical standpoint. After all, its been a long time since Callum McGregor’s goal in Iceland opened our goalscoring account, as is pictured above. If football stats are your thing, then please read on as I presume this will appeal to you, but if not, you might feel your time could be spent better elsewhere, I know stats aren’t everyone’s favourite subject. Regardless, for those of you who decide to delve in, enjoy.
Goals
Well, for a start, let’s have a glance at where the one hundred goals in question have arrived. Fifty-five have come at Celtic Park, forty-one have been scored at away grounds, whilst the other four were netted at Hampden Park, which is, of course, a neutral venue. Also, for anyone who may interested, only Leigh Griffiths, Anthony Stokes and Callum McGregor have scored more goals away from Celtic Park than they have done at home.
Six of these hundred goals have been penalties, with both John Guidetti and Kris Commons scoring two each, and Leigh Griffiths and Nir Bitton responsible for bagging the other two. Three own goals have added to our scoring tally, with two arriving in Europa League competition against Dinamo Zagreb and Inter Milan, whilst the other one came against Hearts in the Scottish League Cup.
Continuing on in this vein, on average we score one in every 7.65 shots we take, whilst our opposition only score one in every 10.95 they attempt. They may just sound like random numbers, so allow me to quantify them somewhat. Of the 765 attempts we’ve had to score this season, 100 have resulted in goals, whereas of the 416 attempts our opponents have had, only 38 have resulted in goals for them (half of which were scored by Legia Warsaw, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb and Inter Milan it must be said). Therefore, our current goal difference for the season, if we combine our goals scored and conceded in all competitions is +62.
And so, let us turn our attentions to the scorers of our one hundred goals.
stats2
Despite his barren spell of late (dramatic equaliser against Inter Milan aside), John Guidetti still leads the scoring charts, with thirteen goals to his name. However, Kris Commons, Leigh Griffiths and Stefan Johansen are hot on his heels, with twelve, eleven and ten goals respectively. As such, these four players essentially account for almost half of all Celtic’s goals thus far this season.
When one considers the fact that Stefan Johansen only scored two goals last year (in seventeen appearances having been signed in the January transfer window), it is a pleasant sight indeed to see him scoring on a more regular basis nowadays. Of course, Ronny Deila’s decision to push him into a more offensive position in the midfield set-up must take some credit for this, but the point stands.
Regardless, whilst John Guidetti also leads the way in the “minutes played per goal” standings, with a current average of one every 131 minutes, Leigh Griffiths, who has actually played the equivalent of approximately two matches less than the Swede, has been gradually chipping away at his advantage for months now. Griffiths currently averages one goal every 137 minutes, and I doubt I am alone in thinking he will likely overtake his counterpart in the coming weeks and months when current form is taken into account. Other ratios of note are displayed below:
stats1
One critical point of note is that of the number of goals coming from the defensive line this season, the current total of which stands at eighteen. Over the entire course of our last campaign, this figure finished at just eleven. Now, when one considers the fact that we are only currently midway through March, and therefore a few more goals are likely to arrive from Virgil, Jason and company before the end of the season, the importance of this becomes clear.
Equally, changing our focus to the other end of the field, we come to the revelation which has been Craig Gordon. Doubted by many (including myself), not for any lack of ability but for concerns regarding a recent lack of playing time and a history of long term injuries, he has proven himself to be a truly integral part of the current Celtic team, producing an array of stunning saves in the process. At present, Craig has made forty-one appearances for Celtic in all competitions, and to his immense credit, he has kept twenty-one clean sheets (including eight consecutive shut-outs), giving him an admirable clean sheet ratio of 51%. Lukasz Zaluska, for the sake of clarity, has kept one clean sheet in four appearances this season.
Possession
Another individual whose influence mustn’t be overlooked is Nir Bitton. Initially left of out the squad largely in favour of Charlie Mulgrew, he too has seen his standing within the Celtic squad rise rapidly after an array of sterling performances. To quantify this, Celtic have won 64% of the matches which Nir Bitton has started this season, compared to 62% without him. Now, at first that may not seem like much of a difference, but when we begin to peel the layers back, the significance of it will become clear.
For example, included in the figures without Nir are two victories against K.R. Reykjavik who, with the greatest respect to them, were not a side we would expect to draw or lose against – therefore, for the sake of this comparison, I shall discount them. Doing so drops the latter percentage to 59%, whilst ignoring the second leg of the Legia Warsaw debacle and a mish-mash style team put out at Inverness between the Maribor games increases Nir’s win percentage to 70%. Of course, I could be accused of twisting the figures to suit an argument, and I suppose such an argument could be made, but one statistic which does not require any dressing up is this – since Charlie Mulgrew last played for Celtic (a one-nil home win against Partick Thistle in early December), Nir Bitton has started all but one match in his old position, and since then, Celtic have won 70% of the matches which Bitton has started.
In terms of team possession, we have enjoyed an average of 57% of the ball in all of our matches across this season, with the individual peaks and troughs coming against K.R. Reykjavik (75% home and away) and Inter Milan (34% away) respectively. We’ve dominated the ball in forty-one of our forty-nine matches thus far this season, and that is pleasing for a variety of reasons. After all, when you have the ball, your opponent cannot score (unless you’re Cha Du Ri and you feel like attempting a pass back, that is).
Cards
Ignoring double yellows momentarily, Stefan Johansen has been booked more than any other Celtic player, with eight yellow cards to his name thus far. However, the inclusion of double yellows (and therefore red cards) would allow both Virgil van Dijk and Scott Brown to overtake the Norwegian and share the title of the most carded player, with nine cards in total each. Of course, whether or not such statistics have anything to do with the fact we have committed more fouls than our opponents in more than half of our matches this season (including ten of our last eleven ties) remains to be seen.
Conclusions
In closing, I feel it is clear to see that Ronny Deila’s Celtic are continuing to progress from strength to strength. Having struggled to settle on his best eleven early in the season (not helped by the unavailability of some players at points due to injuries and suspensions), it is now relatively easy to predict the majority of most Celtic starting elevens.
Craig Gordon has been imperious in goal; three of the back four – Emilio Izaguirre, Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer virtually pick themselves, with the right back slot now contested by three players; Scott Brown has led the team with his usual verve and determination whilst his partner at the base of the midfield, Nir Bitton, is proving himself to be a magnificently talented player capable of picking out sublime passes and brushing aside opponents with the minimum of fuss; new additions Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong (not mentioned in this article previously) have settled into the team instantly and if it weren’t for their ineligibility in cup competitions, they would likely be starters every week, and Stefan Johansen remains one of the most important figures in the squad; and finally, Leigh Griffiths appears to be Deila’s striker of choice, certainly in recent times, and his industrious work rate coupled with a clear desire to score goals is pleasing on the eye.
Of course, there are other important individuals within the squad, including Kris Commons, Adam Mattews and Efe Ambrose to name but a few. In my opinion though, I’d now consider our strongest starting eleven to be: Craig Gordon; Emilio Izaguirre, Virgil van Dijk, Jason Denayer, Mikael Lustig; Scott Brown, Nir Bitton, Stuart Armstrong, Stefan Johansen, Gary Mackay-Steven; and Leigh Griffiths, but I’m sure many would have differing opinions as you would expect.
Ronny Deila has passed the majority of the big tests put before him as Celtic manager, but as you would expect with the nature of the job, as soon as one fades into the distance behind him another appears on the horizon. As such, his predominant aims for the springtime will be to attempt to lead his side to Celtic’s first domestic treble in fourteen years, and only their fourth such success in its modern format (post-war).
And yet, whether he is successful in this regard or not, he will likely face big challenges in the summer also, with prominent current players such as Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer widely expected to depart the Club. Therefore, wise and prompt replacements will be required, all whilst attempting to prepare for Champions League qualifiers and trying to shift some of the deadwood from the peripheries of the squad.
In saying that, with every passing week, more and more people within the supporter climb aboard the so-called “Deila Bus”, and the general good feeling and confidence in the fanbase continues to grow. Virgil van Dijk will likely not be a Celtic player when the two hundredth goal of Ronny Deila’s tenure finds the back of the net, but the supporters and many of the characters within the current squad will be there, and for that reason alone, I look forward to its eventual arrival.
This is a very good period indeed to be a Celtic supporter, and long may the good times roll.
Viva Ronny Deila.
Our annual charity raffle, in aid of Alzheimer Scotland this year, is currently underway. With tickets priced at only £2 each and a fantastic variety of seventeen prizes on up for grabs, if anyone is interested in taking part you can find out more information on how to do so by CLICKING HERE.
Big J
67 heaven, may be a Bhoy you want to talk too, he may have some connections :-)
You could always try to get a hold of our board member Lord Livinston, he was pretty influential at BT
Hail Hail
Captain Beefheart
A Russian derby between Zenit and Dynamo Kiev you say?
Have Russia annexed the Ukraine?
I know they would like to!
HH!!
Jamesgang
20:01 on
19 March, 2015
Having seen people find advice on just about anything here I’m going to hit you all with a left field one here…….
…….anyone work in the telecoms business? Need to have a chat with someone about costs, technical requirements about setting up an 0800 advice line……with the potential of it being manned/womanned/personned from home………..
—————————————————————————————————————
Don’t tell me that you’ve got in first with the “Help a Hurting Hun” support line?
Well that’s another idea of mine down the tubes……
Cowiebhoy
Cheers bud……
HH jamesgang
Tim Malone Will Tell
No way I’d make that line free!
;-)))
HH jamesgang
George Connelly? Pure class. In my best ever Celtic team. Also need to consider that we were still a good European team at that point and George was part of that. Big loss to the Scottish World Cup squad when he broke his leg… was it 78?
Wits @2035
I agree with your sentiments but the fact Everton beat wolfsburg and wolfsburg are gubbin inter, who in turn gubbed us doesn’t mean jack Scheidt.
Greeninbingley
20:34 on
19 March, 2015
===============
I’m wi you mate, he’s a dormant Henke IMHO……….he has a hunger and passion, I hope he channels it our way
James gang
How’s you big guy :) hoping alls good with you
Andy Murray is awesome at the moment.
Jamesgang
Fair point – maybe we could charge premium rate £16.90 a minute? Let’s pool our ideas on this one…
tim malone
Angelgabriel is the mhan to ask about the telecoms business.
HH!!
TBJ
Good pal – hope you are too….. x
Tim Malone Will Tell
1-800 1888
;-)
HH jamesgang
Greeninbingley,
I genuinely believe that Ronny knows that Guidetti will be playing elsewhere next season, probably Feyenoord.
It would explain his rare appearances, being mainly used as a sub.
Also, he hasn’t looked like a player who is trying to impress a potential employer.
Could be totally wrong, of course, but he doesn’t look like what we need up front to me.
roberttressell
19:50 on 19 March, 2015
In short, EPL is an overpriced, over rated, bloated ego fest….
———–
Funded by Sky and BT subscriptions.
Should we also demand that these two plus the BBC spend a proportionate amount on SPFL games?
For anyone interested.
The AGM for the Celtic Trust will be held on Saturday between 11-12:30pm in the London Rd Social Club.
Anyone can attend you don’t have to be a member. If you want to have your say on matters affecting the Celtic support then this is your opportunity.
Hail Hail
lionroars67
Need to re-post linky thing for tickets
HH
dena
‘linky thing’ – i love it when you talk all technical like!!!!
;-)
HH jamesgang
Hamiltontim
20:59 on
19 March, 2015
For anyone interested.
The AGM for the Celtic Trust will be held on Saturday between 11-12:30pm in the London Rd Social Club.
Anyone can attend you don’t have to be a member. If you want to have your say on matters affecting the Celtic support then this is your opportunity.
Hail Hail
C we might not get in until around 12 if b4 then will try to make it
HH
Was Jack Scheidt Rafael’s dad and agent?
If it looks like Scheidt, spells a bit like sh@#e………
Captain Beefheart
I’m another one who is curious, why you callpossible
jamesgang
:-((
I know I should have been born in Victorian times lol
much better suited to my abilities :-))
HH
Dena
No bother maybe see you there. Remember and be careful driving that big shippy thing :-)
Inter need to score three goals in the second half, without conceding, against the VW works team to take the tie to extra time.
Nae chance!
HH!!
WITS
I’d take us to beat Everton any day of the week.
We are on the verge of great things.
Our problem will be keeping the team together.
VVD & Denayer will probably be off .
We need to adequately replace.
If we do , the sky’s the limit
My mistake. Stupid phone And me.
Captain Beefheart
Why do you call possible Zenit v Kiev – Russian Derby?
Excellent article from Etims on the absurdity that is SKY and how they are killing football. And then they also have the cheek to have adverts too! Every Scot should boycott SKY. Sorry if this has been posted.
Sky TV. Killing Scottish Football
March 19, 2015 · by Ralph Malph · in Latest
I’ve made a decision.
I’m going to cancel Sky Sports.
And I’m going to tell them why.
Firstly, because I can think of better things to spend forty seven quid a month on.
Secondly, because the money isn’t going to Celtic. Or even to Scottish football.
And finally, because on the occasions that I can get to the game, they’ve moved the kick off time around so they can fit the English games in.
Thats the English Premiership. The one that just got £5 billion from sky, which in turn has forced them to put the prices up,
Which is why Southampton, Norwich and Swansea could offer better contracts to Celtic’s best players.
Which is also why the other clubs in Scotland cannot compete with second tier English clubs when it comes to wages.
Celtic are a big club. But we are not a novelty act for a television station.
I don’t want the occasional nod of the head to our special atmosphere.
I’m sick of the “how would they get on in England with a support like that ?”,
You know something ? They know exactly what would happen if a “support like that ” was in the Premiership.
It would tip the balance of power.
It would destroy the status quo.
And its’s something that won’t happen because turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
With Sky money, and a worldwide support, the balance of power would shift north.
They don’t want that.
But they will keep taking our money.
And giving it to someone else. Swansea. Southampton, Norwich.
So, you would think they would offer suitable recompense.
Er, no.
Celtic get around £1m a year.
The rest get sweetie money.
They take a little short of fifty quid a month from our bank accounts, cleverly disguised as part of a package, where we can also watch the same film at the same time every night of the week.
I pay for Sky because I can’t make every game.
So do you.
And almost every penny goes to the English clubs who take away our players every time we think we are building a team capable of competing in Europe. Instead of a squad of players hungry for success, and its consequent rewards, we end up with players who believe the rewards are purely financial.
Scottish football is very much the poor relation of its bigger , more lucrative neighbor , and we are contributing to it.
It’s time to put a stop to it.
It’s time for every single supporter of Scottish football to cancel their subscription, because out of that forty seven pounds a month, most of it is financing the move of your favourite player away from your club.
Worse than that, its paying Neil McCanns wage.
Don’t put it off.
Cancel Sky, and stop paying towards the death of Scottish football.
Enough is enough.
Lionsroar67
Thanks for posting that, a good read.
72% of statistics articles are rubbish, so well done for bucking the trend .
Lionsroar 67…great read mate….thanks
…
Some of the football we played last night was as good as anything we’ve produced this season.
Bitton (never saw Connolly so can’t compare) is rapidly becoming the pivot around which this current team revolves.
How much do we get from Sky, exactly?
Hamiltontim
21:08 on
19 March, 2015
Dena
No bother maybe see you there. Remember and be careful driving that big shippy thing :-)
Ha Ha the only thing I drive on the shippything is the bhoys mental :-))
if I get in b4 12 I’ll definitely try to make it down
HH
Another lost legend
Tony Mcbride
Never saw him,apparently big Jock saw him as the Jinky replacement
The demon swally strikes again ;(
HH
timgreen
21:11 on 19 March, 2015
———-
Rallying call.
When it was determined that we would be playing the arabs 3 games in a row, now 4, my mind like many oul hauns on here went back to the three we played against the deid team in the early 70’s.
It seems now it was 3 games in a row but in actual fact it was 3 games in 4 weeks, or to put it in better perspective 3 games in 9.
The opening LC game was a home one for us but due to renovation work going on in the stand we suggested a move tae humpden. waddle said no and so we were forced to play our “home” game in the den of iniquity.
We won pretty comfortably in the end with a young KD scoring the insurance goal via a penalty.
3 games later after losing to Morton 0-1 midweek at home we were back there for the return leg which we won easily 3-0 with big Tid starring and scoring the 3rd.
2 days later and we completed the LC section thumping Ayr 4-1 at home. This game was played on the Monday as we were slated to play World Champions Nacional of Uruguay in a friendly at CP on the Wednesday. Incidentally Joe Fillipi and Johnny Doyle both played for Ayr that night.
It is interesting to note that we played our other 2 LC games at CP as well as the League home opener in a true east end derby against the bully wee, so why was our opening game not allowed…..as someone Robert Plant used tae say…”oooh makes me wonder”.
We beat Clyde 9-1 while the same day the Maryhill Magyars defeated the deid team 3-2; this led to the following ditty:
“As I was walking up the Maryhill Road
I heard the final whistle
The boys in blue got beat 3-2
By the good old Partick Thistle”
Anyway the following Saturday we were back in the bigot dome and full of confidence and why not, in the opening 2 games we had scored 5 and lost zero.
We should however had been cognizant to the fact that this hun team had 10 internationalist plus we bunion Henderson as sub, also a national team player, and had took us to a replay in the SC Final 4 months earlier so they after losing twice to us and once to the Sizzle in the opening games of the season were a wounded animal.
This one was a toughie, after going 1 up we left the field at half time 1-2 down. The bhoys bounced back early in the second half to tie the game but it was a torrid affair and the target for the hammer throwers was big Tid, they were lining up tae clug him.
As the game moved intae the closing stages we got 2 breaks, firstly stein ran on tae a through ball outpacing big George and reached the ball at the same time as Evan Williams, it seemed as if he got there first and lifted the ball over our goalie who lay on the turf holding his head in his hands, cue bedlam in the Copeland Road end which rapidly turned intae joy in ours as the ref chalked it off and gave a foul tae us.
Now I was in their coo shed almost in line with this event and was sure it was a good goal. Many years later I asked Evan about this and he clearly stated that stein had clipped him on the head prior to lofting the ball intae the empty net.
Second favourable incident came when finally a hun player…alfie conn… was ordered off after another foul on TC, as we headed intae the final minutes myself and my friends were quite despondent at dropping a point to them, that’s how good a team we were, when up popped the wee red heided genius tae heider a cross from our left and their now weakened right tae give us the final points.
But let’s not forget that this was a very hard game and so might Saturday’s as the arabs will also be a wounded animal.