Overall I was pleased with many aspects of Celtic’s play yesterday. We dominated large parts of the game and got in and around the Hearts penalty area often enough to score the proverbial barrel load.
Hearts scored a good goal. The flick from Beattie and run from Skacel were both exquisite, although a deflection off the blameless Kelvin Wilson was crucial. Enough has been said about the second Hearts goal already. Defensively we were good.
Midfield also played well, to a point, forcing Hearts into retreat for all but the opening 20 minutes of the second half. Ki Sung-Yueng should have scored twice but he’s never been a player for back post headers and I was more surprised he found himself in that position than he missed both opportunities. He is a player who continues to impress.
The question we should turn our attention to is why Celtic didn’t score more goals?
It is probably not an exaggeration to suggest Emilio Izaguirre is the best left back at the club in 30 years. Skilful and intelligent in possession, Celtic look composed when he is on the field, but he’s being kept out of the team by a free transfer from Aberdeen because Charlie Mulgrew is manufacturing the most crucial item in the game – goals.
I’m close to advocating ‘Give the ball to Charlie’ tactics. He has the ability to fire in remarkably dangerous crosses and has an instinctive awareness that the purpose of the game is to score goals. Kris Commons shares this awareness but Kris has had a wretched season and is still rescuing his game from injury and early season loss of form.
In these circumstances, Neil Lennon cannot afford to play Izaguirre if it involves dropping Mulgew as this would severely hamper Celtic’s ability to put the ball in the net. If the manager wants to use Emilio, particularly in Europe next season when retaining possession will be crucial, Charlie has to play left midfield.
Scoring goals is the primary responsibility of the strikers. None of Celtic’s current crop are impressing at the moment, but we need to look further upstream first.
We have an outstanding original canvass painting of Neil Lennon available for purchase on eBay to kick start our summer charity fundraising. This year the beneficiaries will be Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Martin Chambers Foundation and The Neuroblastoma Alliance, Aberdour PS PTA, The Haven, Blantyre. The painting, by US based artist, Joseph Gormley, is an outstanding memento of our manager during these times.
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Mags don’t need tae I ken that myself. I was having my daily rant, it’s an age thing.
Rainy and wintry here brrrr!
V
Latest on Twitter, late last night from Phil, two minutes ago from RTC wold suggest the gates are about to close, the chains & padlocks about to clink shut for a while.
Good morning all from a very wet, windy and generally dreich looking East Kilbride.
Jobo
Andy Walker saying Lenny ran onto the pitch to Intimidate the Ref & his bahaviour is being condoned by the Board, This man will say anything to get paid. Ban all these ex players putting the boot into club from Parkhead for life. We don’t need or want them.
2 points (via BRTH)….
1…Operation Hornet
2…Gavin Masterton
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
thanks for that…
re-posted for reference
question is…as per Whytey….where are we on Ng ? who is the fella ? wonder if SFA etc will ask the question this time around
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JohnBhoy on 17 April, 2012 at 02:40 said:
Billy Ng. Singapore. “Rangers supporter”.
So he must know the two biggest Rangers supporters in Singapore:
Donald Findlay, part owner until recently of the Sportmans Bar, home of the Davie Cooper Memorial Rangers Supporters Club (Singapore). And Chairman of Cowdenbeath FC.
And Neil Fentie, owner of Singapore-based Subsea Marine and proud member of the Davie Cooper Memorial RSC (Singapore). And sponsor and Investment Director of Cowdenbeath FC.
As Rolf Harris would say:
Can you see what it is yet?
ban the Orange Order
end freemasonry
ok – off back to work now, have a great day everyone, rfc fans n all (you too can do some good today, go for it, i invite you !)
Who the hell called them the blue knights anyway. Self praise etc.
Singapore now favourite to buy govan. Have they already said they would liquidate?
Thank god all we have to worry about is getting beat in a semi.
THE SPL FAN SURVEY
Live Stats for Press
There have been a total of 11697 responses.
If Rangers are liquidated and reformed as a Newco, should they be allowed immediate re-entry into the SPL?
No (11203) – 95.78%
Yes (494) – 4.22%
In the event of a Rangers Newco being allowed immediate re-entry how, as a supporter of another SPL/SFL club would you respond?
I would continue to attend SPL fixtures as normal (1341) – 11.46%
I would NOT attend any SPL fixtures at all (6227) – 53.24%
I would continue to attend SPL fixtures but boycott any fixtures involving the Rangers Newco (3740) – 31.97%
I support an SFL team so don’t attend any SPL fixtures (389) – 3.33%
Do you back the SPL’s Financial Fair Play Proposals?
Yes (4304) – 36.80%
No (7393) – 63.20%
Billy Ng employed local corporate rescue specialist on Friday. Blue Knights did/have not walked away. They have been hoofed oot of the show by Duff & Fudder Amazing Administrator circus.
MWD
Whit Paul “Blue Knight” Murray disnae huv any money, news tae me..
A grey, drizzly morning here in North Ayrshire.
rangerstaxcase says:
17/04/2012 at 7:09 am
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Just to repeat my twitter post on here:
How many of the Rangers squad that would win the SPL 2004/2005 title by a single point by beating Hibs at Easter Road on 22 May 2005 would benefit from having an EBT?
That is correct. Every single one of them.
Let us be in no doubt. Rangers’ use of the EBT scam was no trivial issue of little consequence.
– It deferred insolvency until this year
Without the EBT, Rangers would have had to clear out highly paid players (or would have had to pay double the termination costs to pay off the ones they did clear out). According to Rangers’ own accounts, they paid £7.2m through the EBT in both season 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. That £14.4m in spending by Rangers would have cost Celtic approximately £28.8m to achieve the same effect.
Rangers won the league by a single point in 2004/2005.
The fruits of Murray’s “for every fiver” jibe had borne fruit.
Dignity – Thirties Style (Contd.)
03 March 1934
The Scotsman reports that Celtic fans travelling by train to the St Mirren game were ambushed by a gang of between 40-50 armed men at Bridgeton Cross railway station. The men had stood quietly on the platform at the train station and when the Paisley bound train arrived the mob rushed the train and opened the doors to five compartments and indiscriminately attacked the passengers, most of whom were wearing Celtic colours. The gang whose weapons included hammers, hatchets and knives, then broke off the attack when the train bound for Ibrox for the cup tie between Rangers and Aberdeen arrived. One man was taken to hospital and one man arrested.
(Aberdeen casuals no doubt…..)
On Phil’s Twitter page…
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Phil MacGiollaBhain@Pmacgiollabhain
Close
I’m puzzled. Why would the well run club in the East End of the city think that they won’t have noisy neighbours for a least a year?
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Thoughts,anyone?
And one from WEE OSCAR’s page-KNOXY2000’s young lad.
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CLIC Sargent @CLIC_SargentReply
Retweet
Favorite
· Open
Parent of 2yr old with leukaemia is looking for Gruffalo costume this week, so son can meet his idol. None available! Ideas? Scotland.
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Anyone out there able to be of assistance?
JHILDAY 0722
Apologies for your poor weather over most of the last three weeks or so.
My Mum always does a wee raindance before she flies out to Spain;she doesn’t like to miss any while she’s away.
Now lets see if I have got this right .
The BK asked ticketus for the 500,000 to see the books ,the ticketus that have been duped to the tune of 24m and had to fight not to have the contract ripped up in court .
So the BK did not even have the 500,000 and asked Duff & duffer to take a deposit .
Wee blue nose billy and the teddy bears better invest in another couple of CD writers and get that hit single out quicker
The brass neck of these peepil really knows no bounds
hail hail
Morning,
Went to bed early last night and woke up to my phone going into meltdown as it came out last night SFA rules mean a Newco cannot play for 3 years and that is why they want to start a new League.
I take it UEFA have advised the SFA of their duties.
HH
Singapore rangers does have a nice ring to it, I would give them that…
jude
when you log back on.. U/17’s lost in a pen shoot out to orcs last night..
BT
So, after reading BRT&H’s article over two morning coffees, I’m getting the following (please correct any mistakes):
1) Bank of Scotland controlled the overdraft of every 1st div (later SPL) club – including Celtic until Fergus – but only allowed flexibility to RFC.
2) Gavin Masterton at BOS used Murray’s Metals company as the preferred company to refurbish other clubs’ stadiums, through his own company, Stadia. The clubs paid for this through loans with his bank.
3) Murray sold his Metals company in 2004 to an American consortium, his sales pitch helped by a visible healthy profit margin that looks as though it may have been manufactured through a massive overdraft to MIH from BOS.
4) Rangers continue to receive huge loans from the BOS, while other clubs have to pay up, forcing them to sell their best players, while Rangers’ debt is squirreled away into MIH. Rangers snap up most of these players with the help of these loans (and EBTs to fund wages).
5) The bank depended on Rangers success to get their money back, although at one point (late 90s) they need a Celtic challenge to bring back jaded punters to RFC.
6) Incidentally, Gavin Masterton is on the board of Dunfermline FC, who were also in hock to BOS, and who lost 6-1 to Rangers on the final day of season 2003, when Rangers debts were at their peak (£80m or so).
Time pressed this morning but the SFA rules being mentioned – why is this just making Phil’s blog now? If there was something so obvious why was it not brought up right at the start when people were going through all the clauses and sub clauses in the rule handbook? People have been torturing themselves to come up with a rock solid case to prevent a Newco, so how come such a simple rule or two was not the focus all along? Have I missed something?
Hapless huns.
Time to address the future
Hugh Macdonald
Chief Sports Writer.
THE scheduled planning meeting at Celtic this week may be more subdued than might be expected of the conclusion to a title-winning season.
It may be all the more constructive as a result. Peter Lawwell, the club’s chief executive, Neil Lennon and his support staff, will convene to assess the campaign and discuss the future. The disciplinary cloud is hovering over Parkhead and is set to break with an almost certain dramatic effect, but there are also football matters to be resolved at Celtic.
Lennon faces a series of bans that should consign him to the stand for so long he will qualify for a season ticket. The reaction to his behaviour is as overheated as the manager’s outbursts. There are two possible resolutions to the problem. First, referees stop making mistakes or, second, Lennon stops complaining about them. The latter is the more realistic option with the Northern Irishman finding a place in the directors’ box is not where he wants to watch games and adjusts his behaviour accordingly.
The officials made errors on Sunday. Ian Black should have been sent off, the penalty decision against Celtic was soft, particularly so if it was given against Victor Wanyama, and Gary Hooper’s goal was scored from an offside position. The last is a matter of fact.
These mistakes are part of an unalterable past, but Celtic need to look carefully at how they mould the future in playing terms. There have been telling, unavoidable lessons offered at Hampden under Lennon’s tenure. He has a 4-4 record at the national stadium as a manager, losing to Ross County, Rangers, Kilmarnock and Hearts and beating Aberdeen (twice), Falkirk and Motherwell.
As always, victory comes with celebration and defeats are accompanied by education. There are two obvious constants to the losses. There has been much chatter about the manager picking the wrong teams, adopting the wrong tactics. The losses cut straight to a brutal bottom line. In the defeats, Celtic have scored two goals: one through a midfielder in Joe Ledley, the other was offside.
The goals conceded have been awful. Rudi Skacel’s opener on Sunday was well taken but the lead-up play was hardly reminiscent of Barcelona and thus should not have cut open a defence. Kilmarnock’s winner in the Scottish Communities League Cup final was a simple header that should have been stopped at source, then at the instant the ball was crossed and then when it entered the six-yard box. The two goals in the League Cup final defeat by Rangers last season were also cheaply conceded.
Celtic’s central defensive problems endure. Kelvin Wilson does not look the answer. There are those who say he is quick. There are others who say he has to be such is his inability to read a developing situation. On Sunday, he was involved in an involuntary assist for the first Hearts goal and a slack pass back in the first minute. Furthermore, he contributed to the continuing Celtic problem of not being able to deal with a physical centre-forward. This has persisted, at least, since the days of Daniel Cousin and through Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty, Lee McCulloch to Craig Beattie.
The problem up front is also simple to diagnose. Hooper, for all his attributes, is either distracted by a possible move or committed to a definite one. He is capable of the smart header, such as that on Sunday, but now disappears in games, surfacing far from the front line. Part of this is tactical, as he seeks to create room for others, but on other occasions he is simply drifting too far away to make the touch to a cross.
Anthony Stokes is also a frustrating player. He has made telling contributions, most notably in Inverness and Motherwell when Celtic’s league challenge was fragile, but he can be careless in front of goal and downright casual in not spotting he is in an offside position. The suspicion is that Lennon may be resigned to losing Hooper and would not be grief-stricken if Stokes could be offloaded.
The problem for Celtic is to strengthen in two areas: central defence and centre-forward. The midfield is strong, with the return of Biram Kayal making it more formidable. There is pace and guile in James Forrest and Dylan McGeouch. Celtic, though, must find a striker and a centre-half.
There will be departures, with Hooper and Ki Sung-Yueng the most obvious candidates, but the wage bill can also be reduced by off-loading several of the players who are on loan and others who are on the fringe of the side and have not made an impact. There is much talk, then, of a substantial war chest. This ignores the reality that a balanced book at Celtic will owe much to incoming fees for players. Lennon will certainly be given money, but it will be limited.
Celtic have spent wisely in recent years. Kayal, Ki, Emilio Izaguirre, Hooper, Victor Wanyama and others are testimony to the spotting ability by the scouting staff and the decision-making by Lennon. It is now time to invest in guaranteed quality. Celtic crave experience at the back but this needn’t break the bank. They also require someone who can convert chances. This sort of ability comes at a premium. There is risk in splashing out everything in a quality striker but there may be a handsome dividend too.
BMCP
Had a look on Amazon & available only for age groups 4 to 8 years old. They have teddy’s, Would that be of any use to them? They could make a costume out of it if they remove the material from inside. HH
BMCUW
contact BBC maybe they would have a costume,
think it wasn BBC over christmas..
SERGE 0808
Thanks for trying,bud. Much appreciated.
I’ll forward that to WEE OSCAR,who can hopefully send the info on.
Cheers.
By the way,my mate has more Celtic strips than John Clark,and is still playing hardball over your Jordanian request. However,I plan to get him very very drunk at the weekend…..
BMCUW
Hope he manages to find something.
That would be great! thank you. That reminds me i forgot to put another request on last night, & BT reminded me too. The blog was a bit manic over AT ;-)
Craig Whyte doesn’t do walking away…
HH
BLANTYRETIM 0813
Cheers,bud-another smashing wee suggestion.
Just a thought;when you say you THINK it may have been on,is that some way of trying to say that you weren’t really glued to the screen?
MAN UP!!!!!!!!
I used to love babysitting so I could watch my nephew’s videos….
re Break On Through . . .
what about Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine
Daily Record reporting Lenny could face 17 game ban????
Parent of 2yr old with leukaemia is looking for Gruffalo costume this week, so son can meet his idol. None available! Ideas? Scotland. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyone out there able to be of assistance?
Waterstones Sauchiehall St 0141 332 9105
SERGE 0834
Only if they changed their rules about consecutive/concurrent bans.
A decent union rep would get him off with it-not much chance of that up here!
Speaking of which,if Joe Ledley is still a member of the PFA,I would be having a word about the lack of protection from downright thuggery afforded him and his team-mates.
SON OF WARSAW 0835
Thanks mate-keep ’em coming,folks.
WEE OSCAR advised to check CQN from 8am,so hopefully your good work will pay off,chaps.
Thanks again.
Tell you what,they don’t mess about in the States when it comes to handing out a jail sentence.
FORTY YEARS IN SOLITARY? Neil should think himself lucky!
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http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sCLKTL4Q0LZ3e3RtcOrYA_w/view.m?id=15&gid=world/2012/apr/16/angola-prison-forty-years-solitary-confinement&cat=world
Dance,dance,dance,dance,dance to the radio…