Gameplan: drop to the floor in the box

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I get why Derek McInnes was so animated in claiming for a penalty on Saturday.  For the second weekend in a row, we watched Kilmarnock players put body between ball and opponent, then drop to the floor.  It was a tactic that broke play up, won them possession and provided the ability to push forward into Celtic territory.

None of this constitutes foul play (see this fine example by Lint on Twitter).  It was also not an incident VAR were able to get involved with.  The referee saw it and made his decision.  VAR is only able to get involved if a clear and obvious error has occurred.  It wasn’t, it was just a decision the Kilmarnock manager didn’t like.

There are lots of caveats available when assessing the Celtic performance.  The conditions were awful, which contributed to the pitch cutting up early on.  We are clearly missing Greg Taylor on the left, Alexandro Bernabei looked to be a long way from Rosario under the Hampden lights.

A feature of our play the week before against Kilmarnock was low cross balls into the box, which eventually paid dividends.  These were forgone at Hampden for high and aimless crossing that was never going to be productive.

We were fortunate at the first goal – fortunate that Aaron Mooy’s cross fell to Kilmarnock’s Kyle Lafferty.  He chose not to attack the ball and instead let it drop before clearing into the net off the chest of Daizen Maeda.

After that moment, Kilmarnock made more of an attempt to play football, but their best chance was always going to be convincing the officials to award a penalty.  It is not exactly an honourable plan, but given the disparity in quality between the squads, you see why McInnes went down this road.

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  1. I have lived in various parts of England for the best part of 10 years on and off and I have never felt threatened because I was a Celtic supporter. Not because I was afraid to let people know; it just wasn’t an issue, like it could be here in Scotland, I imagine.

  2. That was one helluva depressing read back…..

     

     

    Big, bunch of mentalists.

     

     

    I’m gonna guess, based on dealings so far, that the MSM know eff all about what is really going on.

     

    I like GG too. We offered a rise and he said no. We sell now and get something of a fee (as I doubt we would get anything in several years time). I’d like us to get more money and surprised the market hasn’t bit higher but a reminder that a team in a league nobody respects doesn’t command the fees our biased opinions warrant.

     

     

    Our game also depends on 1 target man and our approach means we mix it up. That’s not for everyone, especially a 29 year old who wants to be top dog up front each week and has no flexibility in the positions he plays.

     

     

    Do we still trust in Ange or is it to the car park ?

     

     

    p.s Eff the Nisbet rumours though :)

     

     

    HH

  3. Very underwhelmed with the Nisbet rumours. He’ll probably cost us more than what we’ll take in for GG and we’ll be a weaker squad when it’s all signed off.

     

     

    Nisbet feels a bit lastminute.com

     

     

    We should not be rushing this, if we can’t source a replacement for GG, he stays till the summer.

  4. ….and breathe…..

     

     

    🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Kevin Nisbet

     

     

    Celtic have not made contact with Hibernian or the representatives of Kevin Nisbet over a potential move.

     

     

    @ScottBurns75

     

     

    HH

  5. Go tell the Spartim on

    All that fascist cesspit of written media have done have read Celtic forums and taken punts from there, align that with agents booping mischievous and dropping hints means the square root of sfa.

     

     

    the other possibility is that Hibs are flying a kite to trigger a bidding war

  6. It’s a sad day when Celtic supporters get swept up by stories concocted by the Daily Record and the Sun.

  7. TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 17TH JANUARY 2023 9:35 AM

     

     

    Hail Hail Tom

     

     

    Where to start?

     

     

    Most important first.

     

     

    The weapons stash was found inside Ibrox not outside, please dont take my word for it check.

     

     

    So weapons stash found inside bin at football club the far right love.

     

    At a time when far right extremism has been rising for years

     

    No one as far as i am aware has taken the police to task for this.

     

     

    I didn’t demand that DNA be taken, i asked why the police had been called out publicly for there complete lack of anything remotely resembling competence

     

     

    Were the huns stashing weapons at Ibrox to attack other huns?

     

     

     

    Liam Scales is our player not Aberdeen’s

     

    He is an Irishman, how are things regarding anti Irish racism in Scotland?

     

     

    So one of our players is assaulted on a football pitch

     

    The manager at the club he is on loan at says nothing

     

    The person doing the assaulting has previously got away with assaulting one of our players

     

     

    I attacked Peter Lawell and Dermot Desmond

     

     

    First time i have ever attacked them

     

     

    I do not regard them as being Celtic

     

    One is a director and largest shareholder

     

    The other is our chairman

     

     

    IMO the criticism i have directed at them is valid, they are running our club

     

     

    Fan and staff member assaulted at Ibrox.

     

    Weapons stashed inside stadium no arrests made other than 2 for minor drug offences

     

     

    Complete silence from our club

     

     

    Our CEO is the invisible man

     

     

    I regard the owners of Celtic as nothing more than temporary custodians.

     

     

    DO THE WEAPONS BEING INSIDE IBROX CHANGE YOUR VIEW?

  8. DALRIADABHOY

     

     

    Now you’re in denial. You clearly asked why DNA was not used to investigate the weapons found in a bin. I can’t be arsed searching back for your comment.

     

     

    It doesn’t matter whether the bin was inside or outside tge stadium. My points still stand.

  9. Liam Scales was fouled. The idea that he was ‘assaulted’ doesn’t help our valid concerns with SFA bias and referee incompetence.

     

     

    Are we really fearful of the ultimate sand dancer in the final ?

     

     

    Bring them on. We owe them a bit of payback for last season’s cup semi.

     

     

    But first, we need revenge against the buddies.

     

     

    HH

  10. BIG WAVY on 17TH JANUARY 2023 10:46 AM

     

     

    My use of the word assault was to highlight that if Kent tried to do to Liam Scales outside of football and a police officer seen it he would be arrested.

     

     

    The foul would have been assualt outside of football.

     

     

    I take your point though

  11. TOM MCLAUGHLIN

     

     

    “My determination to attack Celtic at any and every opportunity is clouding my judgement”

     

     

    A stash of weapons inside Ibrox doesn’t change your mind.

     

     

    😢😢

     

     

     

    I am away back much later.

  12. Tomorrow night, the hun in the middle is Steven McLean….

     

     

    In the VAR studio, you have Andrew Dallas.

     

     

    Should be interesting…

     

     

    HH

  13. I have a feeling in my watter that we will finally cut loose and bury St Murn tomorrow night

     

     

    5-0

  14. TT- Agree with you, IF Nisbet is being considered, a downgrade from G Mak, and not going to improve our chances of progressing in Europe imo

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