Good teams can score anywhere. Great teams can defend anywhere. Celtic have set a modern time record for lowest goals conceded in a league campaign of 17, beating the record jointly held by Martin O’Neill’s Celtic 13 years ago, and by Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in the 80s, by a single goal.
This is a remarkable achievement but the bald fact hides another story. We conceded 12 times in their first 17 league games of the campaign, but conceded only five in the remaining 21 games:
St Johnstone scored with a rebound after Gordon saved.
St Johnstone scored when Danny Swanson fired unstoppable shot.
Inverness scored with a rebound after Johansen blocked on line.
Kilmarnock scored a deflection from shot from outside box.
Dundee scored from a move which opened Celtic defence.
Unstoppable shots, or deflections, from outside the box are, from a defensive organisation perspective, irrelevant. If someone ‘buys a lottery ticket’ with a low percentage shot and it ends up in the net, you’ve no remedial action to worry about.
Two rebounds ended up in the net. We don’t make many goal-line clearances, by keeper or defender, so reacting to the second ball is worth doing when opponents get inside the Celtic box. Dundee scored an 87th minute consolation in a game they were completely out-thought. Perhaps a momentary lapse from a Celtic team who thought their work was done for the day.
That 17 goal tally, a record which stretches back 96 years, is largely a story of the last six months, but it’s been a different story in cup games over the same period, where we’ve conceded eight in eight games.
The roof fell in over in the first half against Inter Milan at Celtic Park. While the three goals could be put down to bizarre mistakes I suspect the real story is that we didn’t have the game-plan right for an opponent of that standard. The remaining game and a half against Inter was different, where we conceded only a single ‘lottery ticket’ goal.
Dundee United scored with a disputed penalty (let’s not get started) and Inverness scored three against 10 man Celtic. Those three Inverness goals contrast so sharply with the rest of the season that you could conclude that we don’t have a robust game-plan for playing with 10 men against domestic opposition. The earlier 10-man performance at the San Siro was a different (much better) story, but tactics for Inter Milan and for Inverness will always be so different they are not worth comparing.
The loss of Jason Denayer and potential loss of Virgil van Dijk provides Ronny with a real challenge to maintain or improve the defence next season, but as you will know if you’ve been paying attention for the last 10 months, it’s all about systems, not players, so there’s a lot to be hopeful about going forward…….. apart from the fact that the only goals we’ve conceded since the middle of December in all competitions were to players wearing blue or orange!
Happy Lisbon Lions Day!
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Tony, agreed.
I don’t like to see people lose their jobs but i’ll make an exception in neil doncaster’s case.
Beatbhoy – oh sorry picked you up wrong. It’s a question I asked at the time and never really got an answer to. Maybe because they don’t have or need a UEFA license.
It has consistently been stated that UEFA don’t allow civil courts to intervene in football matters though. Maybe its a threat more than a reality though.
Annabel Lee by Sarah Jarosz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvJswSzfE70&list=RDIvJswSzfE70&index=1
Poem is by that well known cheery chap who hung out in Irvine, Ayrshire for a few years, Edgar Allan Poe, but the band and Sarah do a great job.
HH
Evening Bobby. Unless Celtic blow it, we will be in charge. Dubious charges won’t change it.
Thanks to the poster for the Fiorentina info but did they keep their trophies? Which liquidated club has lost their trophies? Anybody know?
Italiabhoy, i may have misread it but in relation to the trophy presentations in the last two years, both men spoke to each other, it certainly wasn’t the case yesterday.
dallas-neither ND or PL were announced by the PA guy yesterday.
beatbhoy
Cheers mate,thanks for that,you have just saved me £75. Wasn’t the cover I saw yesterday.
DD
One would hardly need inside info to realise what MON was up to with that ” benchmark ” comment
Doncaster and Regan
hmmmmmmhand picked by certain folk to do a job and oversee the charade ,
!BADA BING!
Re Ancellotti,he has said he is taking a year out for health reasons.
Captain Beefheart – simple liquidation wouldn’t lose you trophies. It was the EBT cheating that should have seen theirs stripped – winning titles, fielding players they couldn’t afford.
Parkhead …
DQ is one of my favourite pieces of literature … and, funny enough, I would say that it applies equally to those who are agitating more for change! But I cannot fall out with a man who respects DQ!
And generally I respect those like yourself who are perhaps more ‘glass half full’ than I am. I admit that I do sometimes get frustrated by some of the happy clapping that goes on, as I feel the lack of support makes the work of people like Canamalar harder than it need by.
Some fans primary role is cheer, some to keep us on the straight and narrow, some of our older fans are the historians, and keepers of the stories …. others bring youthful enthusiasm …..and sometimes our roles change over time …..
Celtic fans are a broad spectrum, and all of us (whether we agree on all things or not) have a role to play in moving Celtic forward.
I know you are one of the good guys …. we want the same thing … what is best for Celtic … just sometimes we disagree on how we accomplish that. That’s okay.
Respect, my friend.
HH
Good night all, sleep well.
Let’s hope we start building from a position of strength.
Nice song for you all.
http://youtu.be/N1oJapHRQy8
HH,
Clogher
RWE
22:12 on 25 May, 2015
Annabel Lee by Sarah Jarosz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvJswSzfE70&list=RDIvJswSzfE70&index=1
Poem is by that well known cheery chap who hung out in Irvine, Ayrshire for a few years, Edgar Allan Poe, but the band and Sarah do a great job.
HH
—————
Love these hillbilly tunes :O)
The ian Fraser herald article on Moonbeams murray has been removed and they had to apologise for saying he acted “recklessly”.
Technical help
I am on my iPad, but have logged into my AOL account (use for email), there is message in this claiming to be from Apple and saying
Welcome, !!!!!!!!!!! Log out
Review Unauthorized Activity
Attempt Details
We have detected an unauthorized sign in on your Apple ID on the 25/5/2015.Due to which we have temporarily disabled your account access.
To enable your account access you will need to verify and update your Apple ID account information.Please view the detailed report of that activity below.
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Date: 25-5-2015
Browser Agent: Opera/9.80 (X11; Linux i686; Ubuntu/14.10) Presto/2.12.388 Version/12.16
Activity: 6 login attempts.
IP: 81.195.34.16
Country: Russian Federation
And requesting a verification with data entry, now this includes bank details which Apple have never had’ and ain’t getting
Any ideas ?
Weeminger, a very pertinent point. That said, I wondered if Scotland treated liquidated clubs differently.
On this day,48 years ago, I watched the European Cup Final. There were two unusual things about that final – one it was played on a Thursday, two it kicked off about half five.
The early kick-off meant that after the game the grown-ups could go to the pub (they normally closed at 10pm).
The Mols Mire in Oatlands saw some beer drunk that night.
cowiebhoy
Sounds like a scam, Apple only ask for payment details when your card has expired.
My advice is ditch AOL and get a new provider.
BMCUW-RM is a stressful gig, if Liverpool see themselves as a big club,it’s a chance to get a top manager ,with a great CV.I hope they stand by Rodgers but this might be too good a chance to pass up, Ancelotti’s health permitting.HH
PFAyr
Someone with your analytical mind would know for sure. ;)
weeminger
21:20 on
25 May, 2015
Way back when all this stuff with them started and folk suggested Celtic should call out the SFA for what they were doing. I suggested that if they were to do so then the SFA would charge the club with bringing the game into disrepute and punish them as hard as they could.
I still believe that. With nowhere else to go we’re stuck and unable to say too much.
Nobody expects them to say much. A little about trophies and debts would do.
RWE from your tunes earlier
for you sir
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gtlnv/episodes/guide
Clothes celt
Great song,never heard it before.
Looking forward to Dublin next year
COWIEBHOY
Apple won’t even let me load a free app without asking me for payment details.
Hence,no free apps.
RWE
I didn’t realise that Poe had gone to school in Irvine. Cheers for that.
Hendrix67
Thanks, they look very official, with full Apple logo etc ? , 3 reminders, 1 every 8 hrs, and they are in my spam folder
Hail Hail
Captain/Weeminger ….
there is also the issue of corporate law … I am not an expert in Italian law, so cant comment on the Fiorentina situation from that point of view ….
but in most common law countries … sales are either share purchase (where the whole company is purchased, goodwill, plus debts are transferred) …. or an asset sale ….which typically is tangible assets … and the company and history do not ‘roll over ….
Rangers were liquidated, and the new club bought the assets …which, typically does not include the goodwill/assets….
but football seems to be a law unto itself, so they make rules up as they go …. starting from FIFA and working its way down to the SFA.
and then there is the just plain lying during the LNS sham.
Tricoloured Ribbon
21:45 on
25 May, 2015
Dermot Desmond,
“Rangers are a fantastic club with a great history”
Vomit inducing.
Agreed. But when and where did he actually say or write it.
Oops
clogher celt
Apologies !
mike in toronto
20:56 on 25 May, 2015
‘I think the answer can be found in Gramsci’s work on hegemony. ‘
###
You reckon?
MIKEINTORONTO
Pretty sure goodwill was purchased. And valued at a quid.
Honestly!
the_huddle
Hadn’t even heard of that lassie before today.
HH
quonno..
see
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/19823518
I dont think I ever saw a retraction/correction.
Mike
The continuity of Rangers is a sham
Whilst trying to avoid liquidation ….the MSM used the truth if the situation ..ie the death of Rangers ….to try to force the hand of the creditors
Liquidation ensues ….volte face …
Same club nonsense promulgated …..and sadly supported by CFC
Sarah Jarosz?
Music is not Polish but Jarosz is typical Polish name. Oh, and her face and that charm :-)
Mike, isn’t that the main point? Football is a unique type of business. Common business logic is jettisoned.
I personally don’t care about same club crap. Rangers were liquidated. That is why I have no interest in the new Rangers.