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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HT
I have met him a few times now. Takes efter his mammy! Eh?
Great to share real quality time with you all yesterday.
Hebcelt is cool for cats!
Day I will remember till I die.
Kolncelt was a great surprise. Magical East End yesterday. :)
ERNIE LYNCH
Isn’t cultural hegemony about reaching the same conclusion?
DD
Indeed a great day all round in the very best of company.
Did you make it home for dinner? :-)
HT
Big boned he’ll have you know!
Night all. Especially Praecepta who loves all the Walton night nights.
No sign of him since the chat the other day about Grace Jones moving in with him. I expect he’s tied up.
;-)
HH jamesgang
clogher celt
23:04 on 25 May, 2015
Thank you
good night all
Zbyszek
I had a great party with your close friends Oldtim and Blantyretim after the game.
Was fragile at work today. :))
Big well done to Alex Francis Neil & his Norwich team in gaining promotion to English Premiership!!
Big Celtic fan is our Alex!!
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
23:10 on 25 May, 2015
‘ERNIE LYNCH
Isn’t cultural hegemony about reaching the same conclusion?’
###
In a word. No.
dd,
Hope all is well back home mate.
Really have to get back shortly.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
WOMAD name comes from World Of Music, Arts and Dance. If you go on their website, you will find music from all around the world. Peter Gabriel did fantastic job, giving the platform for the artists of different culture and roots. Thanks to him I first heard about Youssou N’Dour, Papa Wemba, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. If people who vote Grammy were smarter they would not let Sam Smiths hurt their tastes and cheat what is music.
HT
My daughter Julie’s cat was well fed last night. Drunken da’s roast chicken.
Takes after her maw. ;))
Leftcllick,
Night.
Hope to see you here next year. If not at Celtic Park.
DD
Ha ha serves ye right :-)
Night all.
Well, no response from captain b about lover of the Huns Dermot Desmond.
Dave King himself wouldn’t have spoke more highly of them.
Delaneys Dunky
Good company. I’m jelous.
On the football note, what I read today. I find it strange that Aleksandar Tonev got a call to Bulgaria team today.
There is no place for Mubarak Wakaso in Rubin Kazan. They will be trying to sell him.
ERNIE LYNCH
Really? Perhaps by coercion and manipulation rather than consent,but in a word,aye.
ZBYSZEK
Totally agree with you re today’s music.
WOMAD nearly bankrupted Peter Gabriel in its early days. But it is a huge success now.
I’d go back,but some young eejit would throw a blanket over my Zimmer and camp out for the night.
Wakaso and Tonev were brutal short term signings.
Hopeless the two of them.
.
Noo let’s talk about a player.
The Griff will net at least 25 goals next season.
James
Grace leads a Private Life. :)
thomthethim for Oscar OK
22:45 on
25 May, 2015
If/when Celtic sign Dijks, I would mind seeing Izzi moving forward to left midfield, when appropriate.
He is a better player on the front foot, with superb balance and footwork. If only his crossing was more consistent.
One way or ‘tother, we are going to have to re-jig our back four.
I hope that Ronnie sees Manager of the Year, John Hughes as his benchmark.
………………………..
Was posting something very similar to what you have just said earlier while at work but deleted it before it was finished as it had got too busy.
Strengths and weakness’s.
I believe too many of our players have too big a weakness in their game and 1 of them is Izzy.
Great ability and composure on the ball and a pretty good work ethic without being a chase paper for you type of player.
His weak points are crossing and defending and as a defender, well…..thats kinda important!
Id love to see him getting a crack at being a wide midfielder with someone behind him that is a better and more solid defender so he could have a bit more freedom to play offensively and not be leaving the back door open when he is going forward.
Reckon he would also give a full back more protection than Stokes or Forrest do.
Would his crossing be any better without having to get from one half to the other to do it…..who knows…..i think he would be worth a shot at it.
I will make same prediction I made for last season.
Johansen is a fantastic footballer and fits the Celtic jersey. More to come from him.
Griff will score 40. Most accurate and bravest on the ball striker since Henrik. His recent goals have been top class finishing.
Izzaguire’s ankle break has seriously curtailed his career.
He’s gone from being a great wee player to a very ordinary one.
Saint stivs,
now yer talking pal!
The inability of whatever wide players are on the park to cross the ball does my head in. Said it often. Tell them , Izzy and Adam mostly. Don’t cross the ball. Just lay it back every time.
When they do it. We mostly score.
Weeminger, Mike in Toronto,
Of course, there would be no impediment to, say, shareholders taking on the SFA ,rather than the club – who, as stated, could be held to a disrepute charge. The Celtic Trust, crowd-funding?
HH
Re izzy
I have always wondered if he was one of those guys who started out as an outside left and was then converted to a left back as he just fell that wee bit short of making it as a winger. He just struck me more as a forward who learned how to defend more than being a natural full back.
Andy lynch csc
PS.
High hopes for scep.
Earlier this season he had a few games where he did everything right, great runs, great positions, but the ball just didn’t get passed to him. I thought stokes and commons particularly greedy when they could have picked him out.
I was high up in the Lisbon stand for the first half and I thought scep played very well.
Still sticking in ma craw that down to dirty masonic corruption we are not in the Final next week.
garygillespieshamstring
Love it when folk can say what i think or feel in about half as many words and still do a better job :)
TCR
There are a few pints wi your name on them in some Dalmuir Licensed Establishments.
Haste ye Hame!
Aye same for me, that’s all the cheats could do,
dd,
Ach yer putting on oul lump in ma throat.
God bless you all in Clydebank.
TR
Ditto. :)
That’s it for me tonight lads.
▶ 4:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv_SLHf7dag
Thunder road
At one point where Tommy burns had a run of games at left back, I wondered if that would become his position. Used to like watching him bringing the ball out of defence.
TCR
Clydeview primary and Our Lady of Lorreto primary are Green and White.
Their grandchildren are Tims.
Dalmuir weans wear Celtic or Chelsea strips.
Charlie & The Bhoys playing in the Drumchapel Fenian weekend in Olivers on Friday and Saturday.
Wish you were here! ;)
garygillespieshamstring
23:57 on
25 May, 2015
left back was going to become his position. He mentioned it in his book that Davie asked him about converting to become Celtic’s next left back.
Sorry – Davie being Davie Hay.