Instant gratification is no good for people, it gives our brains the wrong signals, but still, when it comes………. Within 4 minutes of making his Celtic debut Daizen Maeda opened the scoring against Hibernian. It was his first chance, his first proper involvement in play and pivoted the game away from Hibs, who should have already been ahead after Joe Hart and Josip Juranovic pondered in their six-yard box.
Such was the anticipation ahead of last night’s game that for some of us it brought back memories of Jorge Cadete’s debut against Aberdeen (delayed by maleficence at the SFA), or Paulo Di Canio’s against Kilmarnock the same year. Maeda’s impact was every bit as clinical. His 90 minutes was reminiscent of Kyogo; constant movement, gyroscopic balance, few touches and an outcome-determining performance.
If Maeda had a dream debut, Reo Hatate’s reached fantasy levels. When we first heard of Reo he was operating as a left back, with the cursed title of a utility player. The transformation he brought to Celtic’s play had to be seen to be believed. His role was to create and then utilise space, the former achieved by perpetual movement, the latter by ranging passes that switched play and swiftly pushed Celtic forward.
As a consequence, it all looked too easy for Celtic. They had options everywhere, a teammate in space, a forward pass tempting them into attack. Hatate’s movement impacted what happened everywhere on the field. It was a kind of omnipresence, even when he was 40 yards away (the limit of his distance from play), he was still consequential.
With so many playing their first game in over a month, the relenting pace of the first half could not continue. Celtic reduced their pressing after the break and saw the game out. With five substitutes available, it was curious that Ange Postecoglou waited until 74 minutes before brining on Yosuke Ideguchi, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Mikey Johnston.
Our third and final debutant of the night had a lot to live up to. Yosuke adopted the No. 6 role at the back of the midfield, with Callum McGregor moving one place ahead for the remainder of the game. He did enough to show comfort and competence on the ball, as Celtic subverted Hibernian hopes.
As I said above, instant gratification misleads our brains. My brain has already extrapolated last night’s performance across the remainder of the season. Let’s agree that at the very least, Celtic have embarked on an exciting road.
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HH
maybe the one Road…?
CONEYBHOY on 18TH JANUARY 2022 12:09 PM
With the plaudits we are giving to the first 45 minutes from our players, we should note that despite us hitting our straps, Hibs lived with us for most of the match.
They broke our press early and should have scored
The clincher was a handball , not an open play goal
they had new guys in but dealt with our corners apart from Abada chance
We beat a good team last night and sevco will struggle against them again next time
Our bench looked considerably stronger last night and will only strengthen as Jullien, Kyogo and a rejuvenated Bitton come back.
Exciting indeed .
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to get very excited about last nights debutants. It’s what being a fan is all about
Some of Reo’s passes were breathtaking last night
Once the spl cloggers get him in their sights he’ll not get as much time and space but he looks so composed and calm on the ball and so confident that he’ll manage easily.
For a young man in a new very different country it was a reassuringly reassured performance.
What a wonderful day of footballing highs yesterday! 👍🍀
Firstly, whilst some of our fans are happily telling Leigh Griffiths to GTF, our Manager shows his absolute class by reminding us, and Leigh, that overall he had a Celtic career that he could be proud of! 👍🍀
Next up is our Club and fans showcasing Celtic Park as an absolute cauldron of footballing passion and spectacle! 😊🍀. All this and the match hasn’t even started yet! 😊🍀
Like every other fan I eagerly awaited the opportunity to see what our new Bhoys could do…
However, It takes 2 teams to have a game of football, and with just 2 minutes on the clock Hibernian reminded us just what a good team they are. I was struck throughout the match at just how well Hibs played last night. With Celtic winning this seems to have been forgotten, but I think this Hibs team under Maloney are going to take a lot of points off a lot of teams before the season ends. Watch this space…
After just 3 and a half minutes Daizen Maeda emphatically announces his arrival on the Celtic Park stage, and Celtic Park (and fans like me around the world) erupts with sheer joy! 👍🍀.
However the best was yet to come… With one of the best Celtic debut performances EVER, Reo ‘What a pass!’ Hatate astounds everyone with a Sensational performance! Around the 43rd minute my jaw literally dropped at yet another amazing pass from Reo, and I found myself thinking thoughts I haven’t thought for nearly 20 years… When John Hartson scored against Liverpool I immediately bought tickets for the UEFA Cup final! Last night I couldn’t help but have the frightening thought of what Reo Hatate’s speed of thought and lightning-quick precision passing combined with Kyogo’s and Daizen Maeda’s pace are going to do to other teams!… 👍🍀😊
A new Celtic dawn is upon us methinks! 👍😊🍀
Take Care, Keep Safe, God Bless and Hail Hail! 😊 🍀
Yours in Celtic,
TB&F. 😊 🍀
And yet, Paul, the weans in the “curve” chose to ignore all that and sing about the IRA all night, banging that bloody drum.
An embarrassment to the club and all fair-minded people.
HH.
I wish a confidence-crushing, morale- bruising injury-strewn defeat to hundom the nicht.
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Hatate was so good last night, we could cope with Rogic having an off-night and Calmac staying at home :)
Not sure if I was watching the same game as everyone else but I thought Greg Taylor and JF played well on the left. Taylor made some excellent passes and JF looked comfortable on his less-favoured side.
It is wonderful to see such a strong bench again too. There were times last month when we no forwards available at all.
Anyone care to guess what time the red card and penalty will be tonight? I’ll go for 70 minutes.
We did definitely change our tactics in the second half, so much do that Hibs ended the game with more possession than us over the 90 minutes
We seem to be adopting a low block after half time these days, absorbing pressure and playing in the break and then finishing strongly. We tend to play the last 15 minutes in the opposition third of the pitch. Maybe it’s needs must, or maybe it’s Ange being realistic about what he can get from the players.
It works – a decent Hibs attack had no shots on goal and after a spell where they had a lot of the ball and only made one chance we took full control of the game again. GG giving the option of an out all helps a lot, as does being able to bring on players like Jota.
I think Ange knows what he’s doing and is adapting
After such a brio-filled demonstration, is it an exciting road or a silk road Paul ?
Adidas must be dreaming that the missing 10 sales will finally go off the chart thanks to orders for our Eastern Stars’ merchandise (see wot I did there, bhoys).
Just in from West Side Story – two and a half hours of relatively joyous and innocent cinematic nostalgia.
One of my long-passed Ma and Da’s fave films. From bhoys at brekky to Suppertime Speilberg – been a great day. HH
“Instant gratification is no good for people, it gives our brains the wrong signals”
—–
talkin aboooooot?
Paul 67
But we’re together now who cares
everybody played well including escaped goats and the “no celtic class” defenders.
I also thought Taylor was excellent in the first half.
Denia,
I’m going for a series of very early yellows to any dandy Donista who looks up for it……..
The penalty will be the wee insurer and the sickener any time in the second half.
NO BOBBY DOES IT PETTA on 18TH JANUARY 2022 12:15 PM
It was like being back in the jungle of the 70s and 80s.
Great times but the IRA themes sound very dated. Im sure vast majority of CP would rather move on.
Not too long until ‘We hate Jimmy Hill, he’s a poof’ get a rendition!
Anyway, great performance from all last night. A real energy andhopefully we can carry that on and be top by the end of the Newco match!
as a wee aside.
I too thought Hibs played well, with a style of football akin to celtic, the full pitch width is utilised by both teams. lets hope they do the same with rangers.
as to our japanese bhoys, i worried a bit the cluggers will do them, and tbf Hibs were not particulalry industrial other than the grab.
but then again i thought, but you have to catch them first, Hatate doesnt stand still his first touches got him space time and time again and the hibees couldnt get near him. meanwhile Maeda really does look like the serious samurai, hard as nails and athletic, quick, sharp, no nonsense, deadly,
good times they are a coming.
I’m still buzzing about Hatate last night.
Look forward to seeing more of Guchi maybe against Alloa?
Maeda looked leggy second half but I suspect he will be fully match fit within 2 weeks.
Both Daezan and Reo looked the part.
If we find a way to sustain the energy levels for 90 minutes and find the runs our forwards are making a bit more regularly, we are going to do real damage.
Hibs will be a much better team that they have been until now. I’m not sure they ‘matched us’ as some claim but they could have folded and didn’t and they kept playing their football. They’ll take points against anyone that isn’t ‘on it’.
The debutants were a sensation and very much look like the real deal on first sight
But…
Second half was very familiar. Lots of control but very little clear cut chances carved out. We still dont look like we know how to unlock a packed defence .
A goal for Hibs in the second half may well have brought on the all so familiar nervy seeing a 1 goal lead out.
We need to be more clinical. Our set pieces are largely hopeless. Our shooting from outside of the box is downright amateurish at times.
Much to be excited about, but much still lots to be done.
The orcs rarely drop points when you think they will. Random home game against a bottom 6 team more likely to be the day it happens than against Anerdeen at Pittodrie.
I’m not going to watch and I’m going to avoid hearing the score until the game ends tonight. Just assume they’ll win. Anything else is an unexpected bonus then.
After watching the stellar play of Maeda and Reo, I’m looking forward to seeing the Hoochie Coochie Man play against Alloa at the weekend.
blue monday, the most depressing day of the year.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1483371095466164228
I agree with those who thought Hibs looked a decent outfit. I think they will win quite a few games under Maloney.
The first 45 minutes last night was a revelation . If that level could be extended to 70/80 minutes , we will take some stopping , and I agree with Paul that ,to that end, the substitutions could have been made 10 minutes earlier. Not that I would quibble with Ange , who has worked wonders .
My only other gripe , without wishing to sound negative , is the number of unproductive crosses put into the Hibs box . Our ratio of crosses to chances resulting from them could and should be doubling scorelines like last night’s.
I am really worried about the direction Ange is going
All very well buying first team ready players who can score goals and excite the fans .all very well getting the best out of fringe players whom fans had previously wanted to see the back of.
But the major shortcoming of this team remain glaringly obvious to me and indeed to all who truly understand the game..
We still have to fill the position of Scapegoat.!!!!!
Ralston,Forrest,Jullien,Barkas,Bitton,Johnston,Starfelt,Taylor and others have been tried and have all failed dismally to emerge as a player worthy of being Scapegoat week in week out.
It really is the most important position in any team and we are looking at serious trouble down the road if we dont get someone in to fill this role immediately
CORRIB04
Are you a hun? Possibly a new multimonikered hun?
Wee Jamesie
“Postecoglou stressed: “We have to be careful about just saying ‘four Japanese players’.
“These are four individuals who are totally different people. And they’re totally different types of players, too.”
Very good point, Ange.
WHAT IS THE STARZ on 18TH JANUARY 2022 1:13 PM
Does an even retired Peter Lawwelll count?
Don Draper could have made it perfect in Paradise if he’d brought along wee Christina.
QUADROPHENIAN
Family all loved WSS. Can’t wait to see on the big screen.
CONEYBHOY
“We beat a good team last night and sevco will struggle against them again next time”
We are one of the 1st teams to play the “new” Hibs and the way they now play the game. Unfortunately, they will have seen quite a bit of Hibs by the time they play them, and, GVB does alter his way of playing to take into account the opposition. The main thrust of your point though is a good one. I believe that Hibs will become stronger and stronger the more they play this way, but, like us early in the season, they probably lack the squad size to rotate in order to keep their player injury-free and up to the task of playing their type of pressing game, but, then again, unlike us, they don’t come up against packed defences every game, so who knows, por cierto.
A couple of things I agree with Paul.
I thought Joe Hsrt cold have cut the cross out in first minute and couldn’t understand waiting so late to make subs.
I did enjoy the game and thought Hibs looked a very competent team, although lacked in final 3rd.
Shout for out Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter Vickers both of whom were excellent and snuffed out Boyle and Nesbit in a very attacking Hibs side.