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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How to get round any potential problems ensuring that newco Rankers will play in the, ahem, “top” flight? Why, set up a new league of course.
This is revolutionary and will blow the lid off Scottish, nae European football. Uefa, where have you been?!! How better to stem the demise of football? Weed out corruption? Improve better refereeing standards? “Naw, naw, naw” says Mr Campbell of that ilk Ogilvie. “Score oot the name ‘SPL’ and replace it with ‘SFA Premiership’. Bingo!!”
Far from being the ‘best wee nation’, are we not simply the ‘daftest nation’ in Europe? Ross County, Murderwell, Hertz, remain the same whether the league is the SPL or the Topflight Fancy Bingo Jings Smashing Football League.
Help we’re Celtic Football Club, Get us out of here !!
When i finally seen the ledley handball- particularly after being informed a dozen times it was a stonewall penalty- I was expecting Joe to have been standing on the goal-line…cut to my befuddled horror stricken mush at what I was observing: that shot was going into row 14L and clearly Joe, nevermind, big Vic, had no cognisance of using their hand to gain an advantage…the inevitable mob scapegoating of Lenny is depressingly predictable- the question is: what does it say about this country?
the glorious balance sheet-Forgot the one when Myth and Alex Totten got charged after a brawl at Mc Dairmid Park.HH.
ibleed…,
the guy is talking excrement, never turned up at the bigotdome ???
seen that on here a few times recently when people drivelling about no being able to win big games, 9 men against corrupt fc, ffs.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh right I get it now definition of a hun is a Celtic Supporter who happens to disagree that the sun shines out of Neil Lennons arse and the widely held internet belief that he should be elevated to the status of the worlds only living saint
Question ? what makes Neil Lennon so infallible in many of your eyes and where did some of you earn right to demean other Celtic Supporters just because their opinion of Neil Lennon differs from yours
ibleedgreenandwhite. There is something to be said about our team being to nice we dont have a player like Black in out team.He is a player of limited abilty but he does put some of the opposition off and never fails to work hard in every game .I do believe we would be a better team if we had an enforcer type player.H.H.
Radio phone in bampots
Wonky
“particularly after being informed a dozen times it was a stonewall penalty”..you should look at the company you keep
ibleedgreenandwhite1 on 16 April, 2012 at 18:42 said:
Guy on Clyde right now is 100% correct,,,,we are too nice!!!
————————————————————————-
Same guy then says he was embarrased by Neil Lennon yesterday. This sounds like a stitch-up. The panel now extrapelating the views of these fuds to the whole support.
While some of us sit at the back of the bus Neil Lennon is driving it
Neil is only to aware of what is happening in scottish football
Plus he is the only person challenging it and trying to change it whilst
putting his life in danger while doing so
For that Im 100% behind him
Last thing then headin. Now i know some fans prob a lot have a fav english team they support but why oh why. Man utd why?? when we played them in CL all i could see from the forums before the game was they do not like us and they ask WHY is there some link between us cause all they see is Scottish / Irish which they hate. After the Naka CP game we came out LL stand to be amongst their support and yes i know they must b upset but to hear Irish scum and IRA scum and threats against us proved the forums were right. I support Celtic and only them also to my Irish friends on ere i have a lot of friends in Doire and cannot believe they support an English team sorry that country just tortured, killed and still occupy the six counties( please not looking for a political debate).
The same goes for our Scottish support the same applies England totured, killed and still occupy this country. Rant over sorry had a friend mail me that NL was a disgrace and Hearts deserved to win and yes he is a celtic fan but was down at the man u game, he is a disgrace.
only anti our manager on phone ins tonite surprise surprise
Where’s Terry? We sure need him.
…and what’s that stink!
I do not know any Celtic fans who speak like these clowns on Clyde!
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 16 April, 2012 at 18:46 said:
ibleed…,
the guy is talking excrement, never turned up at the bigotdome ???
seen that on here a few times recently when people drivelling about no being able to win big games, 9 men against corrupt fc, ffs.
I agreed with the first point he made about our team being too nice,,they are too nice,sometimes you need a bit of a nasty streak,but they are young and they will learn!
The rest of the points the guy made, i dont agree with any of them!!!
Hail hail
Evening bhoys from a warm hun free mountain range.
Green huns on the radio, green huns on the blog, hunvelievable.
I hate this “… when it comes down to it we weren’t good enough” pish! We might not have played our best game but we were clearly the better side over the 90 minutes, so how on earth were we not good enough? Sometimes luck, and in Scotland MIB decisions go against you. Nothing to do with ability on the park. You don’t need to win by several goals to be good enough.
David Peter Deans on 16 April, 2012 at 18:34 said:
Do you own a trumpet?
gsu
!!BadaBing!! – good shout. I forgot all about that one.
Did you know that Alex Totten got convicted and Wattie got a “Not Proven” verdict? It seems that Perth juries are similar to Edinburgh juries.
Joe Filippis Haircut
Black is the dirtiest player I have EVER seen play in real-life. No thanks! If you think a Celtic player could even hope to try to be a so-called enforcer in that way you haven’t been watching Scottish football for long. We’d be down to 10 men more often than not!
Joe Filippis Haircut on 16 April, 2012 at 18:46 said:
ibleedgreenandwhite. There is something to be said about our team being to nice we dont have a player like Black in out team.He is a player of limited abilty but he does put some of the opposition off and never fails to work hard in every game .I do believe we would be a better team if we had an enforcer type player.H.H.
We already have one his name is Kayal,,,we need more like Beram,very street smart knows when to foul and when to be fouled,,we have a lot of young players who will harden up as time goes on!!!
Hail hail
To be fair there are indeed a number of internet bampots.
They tend to appear here on occasion repeating what they’ve heard on the radio.
Irish internet bampot on now
Fortunes Favour Mibbes on 16 April, 2012 at 18:51 said:
To be fair there are indeed a number of internet bampots.
They tend to appear here on occasion repeating what they’ve heard on the radio.
:D
Name names lol
Hail hail
Are we internet bampots?
This is a stitch-up
ibleedgreenandwhite @ 18:41
I imagine if you broadened your horizons beyond the internet and opened your eyes and ears a wee bit wider you would hear and see that theres a substantial number of Celtic supporters who can see through the smokescreen that is generated by Neil Lennon anytime things go against us and his tactics are questioned
Let me assure you that on leaving the stadium yesterday the main topic of conversation was not the penalty but of how Neil Lennon had got it wrong once again
Neil being systematically attacked on Radio Clyde. No balance whatsoever.Fuming ! Am gonna call
According to Jabba, everybody knows Hooper was offside!!!
Yet to see any angle that conclusively shows whether or not he was off or onside. Sky pictures inconclusive.
Hurry up Alex T so i can turn this shite off – Snyde is a disgrace. Do they vet the caller’s questions before letting them on air? Surely given the law of averages there must be some callers who support Neil.
“the image of celtic and Rangers is very important!….
Have they paid the facepainter lady yet?
they quote harry getting bad decision yesterday
but dont mention in our last 3 so called big games
2 players sent off controversially
stonewall penalty denied in last minute to cost us possible cup win
opposition player allowed to stay on with leg breaking tackle
then deliberate handball to stay on
then ridiculous decision to give penalty to deny us possible cup final
maybe if this happened to other people then maybe we could judge them against lenny
Notthebus:
Work in EK…place is riddled wae huns! I must be one of those suckers who thinks a “decent” hun holds “reasonable” opinions…how wrong can you be? The thing is the huns are worse than normal cause now their hurtin bigtime.
Oh well, we live and learn.
Hail. Hail.
Joe Filippis Haircut:-
Ian Black is a cowardly thug who should sine died from football. He routinely tries to maim opponents but is a bottle merchant when given some of the hard stuff back.
Incidentally he and his fellow animal, Keith Lasley, seem to have a real distaste for each other. Both have been sent off for outrageous tackles on each other this season.
I strongly suspect that Lasley will do Black if Black plays against Motherwell in the league before the Cup Final.
The interchangeable hun pundits can spew all the pash they like about Lenny,
They know It’s their last chance to have a kick at Celtic before they are consigned
to the history bin along with their paymasters at Hun Central.
Good Feckin’ Riddance
Hail Hail Neil Lennon
wonkyradar
I have spoken to may many people today, huns and Celtic fans.
the words “stonewall penalty” were never uttered by even the most biter of hun
Title is now tainted cause NL has had questioned mib’s over a few weeks…..
Green huns feeding keevins and hannah starve them.
Just to add a bit of perspective over the behaviour , good or bad, of neil lennon. This is what the most experienced and successful manager in world football had to say about the press…….and he gets it easy compared to Neil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XPinFCIM3Q&feature=related
I do believe that Neil is justified in feeling victimized and the recipient of less than a level playing field. I wish he would act a little differently in reacting, however as I haven’t had anyone try to kill me or had my family regularly dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by police concerned for their safety, I am not going to criticize him