Despite the many portents of doom, Celtic were the better team last night against Midtjylland. When the defence needed a leader, Stephen Welsh rose to the occasion, putting in his best performance in senior football. Honestly, I did not think he had a performance like that in him. The free kick he conceded was harsh.
Midtjylland are not as good as the Copenhagen team we lose meekly to in February 2020 but they left Glasgow with a draw, courtesy of two hangovers from last season: a lack of cutting edge in attack and a keeper error. It does not matter how much better you are at most things in football, the game is all about putting the ball in the net and stopping opponents from scoring, aspects that will give Midtjylland hope.
Last season, a friend noted Vasilis Barkas looked like an outfield player stuck in goals. The keeper’s hands were right below the free kick, taken from what looked like an unlikely tight angle, but Barkas arms did not instinctively extend to make what would have been a functionary block. That’s what you or I would look like. Ange learned what you and I already knew about our keeper.
Players running down their contracts can go a couple of ways; Ryan Christie decided to leave everything on the park. He was Celtic’s fulcrum, one we will miss, for sure. Fortunately, Liel Abada looked every inch the replacement on his competitive debut, marked with a goal before he was hooked to make way for a defender when fellow Israeli, Nir Bitton, was red carded.
I like Bitton, he has the ability to take the ball out of defence, but he is not a defender. On the back of last night’s evidence, he is not much of a thinker either. It is not often we see Instant Karma but Midtjylland’s Dreyer received two yellows for simulation, the first leading to Bitton’s moment of madness. His self-satisfied smirk deserved nothing less. “Gonna knock you off your feet”, indeed
You and I have seen Celtic lose to lesser teams too often, there remains a lot of work to do next week.
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How the hell did Mario Goetze end up at PSV at 29?
INIQUITOUSIV
Everybody thot that the huns were up against it when the played Feyenoord, how wrong we were, PSV eff them, the standard of football is diminishing at an alarming rate IMO, it’s down to proper coaching now, this is the reason that UEFA are pushing their pish, football is finished, mark my words, not in the near future but in the medium, again mark my words.
I will see it out, but I know that my grandweans won’t, I doubt my weans will
HH
Would English dare attack the Huns in the relentless manner he attacks us?
Hmmmmmm…let me think.
Hail Hail.
Night all, a wee tune for you
HH
Brian
https://youtu.be/7JYH1pVbqpQ
Keith, the Destruction of the Middle Class Business etc is apparent.
The Big Companys are allowed to run along nicely. If that is not Fascism what is?
It is horrendous that our Young Ones are being Bribed to be able to go to a Nightclub.
Pete Tongs moves are long Gone but it just isnae right.
Kris Ajer saying farewell to Celtic on Instagram, said the following:
“A special mention also to John Kennedy, the most inportant person for me during my time at Celtic. Without him we would never win the quadruple treble.”
I see Brentford have eventually signed Kris Ajer . I wonder why they never signed him sooner.
Wait a minute they don’t have champions league qualifiers to negotiate, so I suppose there was no rush.
Not like us.
Hesitation said Ange
Feel sorry for Galatasaray.
From their “welcome to hell” pomp they’ve fallen a long way.
Recent European record is dreadful.
Asking them to play this competitive fixture almost a month before their league season starts is just unfair. (IMHO)
DeniaBhoy,
Kris is a Celtic Hero like John is for me. Kris has left and that is a nice comment.
FRED C. DOBBS on 21ST JULY 2021 10:32 PM
Would English dare attack the Huns in the relentless manner he attacks us?
————–
Indeed.
He wouldn’t dare.
Too scared of getting a good kicking ….
…. from some of his colleagues.
KRISTOFFER AJER has sent an emotional message to the Celtic support after his exit was confirmed this afternoon.
The defender is now a Brentford player and has needed the Hoops a large chunk of cash towards their rebuild.
The Norwegian came in as a teenager and did a lot of growing up while at the club. He went from youth player to first-team star and a great part of the quadruple treble side.
Tonight he has said thank you to everyone associated with the club but he did reserve special praise for Celtic coach John Kennedy.
Ajer is active on social media and will have been aware of the backlash in some Celtic quarters about John Kennedy and his continued role at the club.
The centre-back is making it clear Celtic have a great coach on their hands who helped him develop over the years.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You have to be there to know?
Good luck Kris.
HH
DENIABHOY
Pity he couldn’t coach him to head a ball
Is this the Tom English article so many have criticised:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57917043 ?
If so, I cannot see what the fuss is about. I saw it as a perfectly reasonable article ( and I don`t mean only when compared to the usual MSSM nonsense).
Goodnight all.
ST TAMS on 21ST JULY 2021 10:47 PM
DENIABHOY
Pity he couldn’t coach him to head a ball
Nice bit to finished off the night👏👏👏👏👏👍👍
“Bees boss Thomas Frank told the club website: “We wanted to get another central defender in, and Kris was our first choice. We think he fits the position specific profile perfectly, especially on the ball.
“Kris is very composed and can find the right passes between the lines. His level when bringing the ball forward is very high.
“As a defender he has the physicality that you need, and he won his duels when he played in the Scottish league. He can help us in both boxes, with his strength in the air.”
Opinions, opinions ……….
Good luck Kris
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL,
Cannae argue with that :-)
Hail Hail.
What’s Jozo Šimunović up to this weather?
Ange is up against it from the Raphael Van Der Vaart.
Very encouraged with the Bhoys performance. I expected little.
Really looking Forward to seeing our Japanese Bhoy play. BrammerCentral.
HOT SMOKED on 21ST JULY 2021 10:51 PM
——
Here here!!
Of course there are unfair things written about us on the SMSM – however we must judge each article on its merits – constantly ‘crying wolf’ undermines credibility.
Can I add that I wish the very best to Kris Ajer. He owes Celtic nothing. I believe he always gave of his best. His penalty against Hearts to win the quadruple-treble summed him up – Good luck Kris!!!
No improvement whatsoever last night. Hunt Edouard asap.
winning G.
Enough is enough.
Thomas Graveson is remembered fondly.
The 40 % sell on makes it Easier for Any club….. not just Celtic….. when the piss is being ripped.
It’s ‘hear, hear’ not ‘here, here’
AT, prove MM wrong then , about his views on SG pricing! ps in language we KIN UNDERTSTAUN ! !! 👍😂😉hh fella
Watching news footage from China earlier
Was a guy being interviewed, he had just been rescued
From a flooded underground train
He indicated that the water in the carriage
Had surpassed his shoulders before they got him out
He was holding an umbrella as he told the tale
To protect himself from the rain….
N’est-ce pas
Celtic player of the year leaves celtic says he owes his progression to a celtic coach, who he met every working day since he signed, till yesterday when he left.
reaction,
nawe you didny your just saying that,
give me strenght.
On the face of it, I’m delighted we signed a proper defender at lower fee than we sold a converted midfielder who’d always given us the best of what he had.
Don’t disagree with English’s assertions, except the one that McGregor is a talisman.
Don’t even agree that Tony and Greg are useless; not everyone in every position is gunna be a superstar; they just need to do most of the basics right, most of the time. They’re both Telford-esque players; good rotators.
I too have had a bellyful of continually negative posters, short on nomenclatures and king billious snarking.
Told yous you’d like Ange.
Oh and HH, Carl!
These people have no shame
“FIVE Tories breached the code of parliamentary conduct over an “egregious” attempt to influence legal proceedings against a former Conservative MP, a standards committee found today.
Theresa Villiers, Natalie Elphicke, Sir Roger Gale, Adam Holloway and Bob Stewart sought to interfere in a decision regarding ex-Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, who was convicted of sex offences in July 2020, the Commons standards committee ruled.
It recommended that former environment secretary Ms Villiers, senior Tory Sir Roger, and Ms Elphicke – current Dover MP and Mr Elphicke’s estranged wife – be suspended from the House of Commons for one day, while all five were told to apologise.
The finding came after they wrote to senior presiding judge Lady Justice Thirlwall and Queen’s Bench Division president Dame Victoria Sharp in November, asking them to consider issues raised by the potential release of character references provided for Mr Elphicke.
Written on taxpayer-funded Commons notepaper, the letter was also copied to Ms Justice Whipple, who had heard the case and was deciding whether to release the references.
The committee stressed that improper attempts to influence independent judicial proceedings are “corrosive to the rule of law and, if allowed to continue unchecked, could undermine public trust in the independence of judges.”
All five were ordered to apologise to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, as well as to the Commons. Tory peer Lord Freud has already done so after having also been found to have breached the code of conduct.
Ms Elphicke did apologise but added that she was “solely motivated by my duty to represent my constituents who had raised serious concerns” about the publication of the character references, agreed to by Justice Whipple in December.
Ms Villiers’s spokesman accepted the committee’s findings and said she “deeply regrets” signing the letter, while Sir Roger declined to comment.
Mr Elphicke was jailed for two years after being convicted of three counts of assault against two women. One of them said he had asked her about bondage, then kissed her and groped her breast before chasing her around his home, chanting: “I’m a naughty Tory.”
After his conviction, Ms Elphicke, a parliamentary private secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, announced that the couple had separated after 25 years of marriage. “
You would easily get sick fed up at the ongoing criticism of John Kennedy from five a side CQNers that should concentrate their collective “fitba” minds on clapping, if you weren’t clapping along already.
SFTB – indeed.
Saw it.
“recommended that former environment secretary Ms Villiers, senior Tory Sir Roger, and Ms Elphicke – current Dover MP and Mr Elphicke’s estranged wife – be suspended from the House of Commons for one day, while all five were told to apologise”
One day suspension.
Shocking.
They should face criminal charges.
July 21st, 2021 Anno Domini, Angelus and Rosary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAu6Y9VSdsM
Repost from previous blog:SLÁINTE ANGE on 21ST JULY 2021 10:56 AM
I thought Ryan Christie had a very good game last night. This got me thinking about the reason why he was so poor (some may say abysmal) last season. This is pure speculation on my part, but could it be that he was dissatisfied with NFL and the instructions he was giving to him. To the extent that he just ignored them and did his own thing?
He has refused to sign all contract extension proposals and clearly wanted away. I don’t think his performance last night was to attract a move away, but rather to demonstrate to Ange that, under his management, he could still be a valuable asset to Celtic.
I may be completely wrong on this ~ it’s just a theory ~ time alone will tell.
In Ange we trust.
Ryan Christie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSRvcdlgSI
Since you brought it up…it’s sure worth a look…
John had 10 games in full charge, and we saw little positive playing changes from the end of Lenny’s reign.
Now with 5 games in charge, Ange has already intro’d a new style and plan that most of the supporters see and appreciate.
Only clapping when clapping’s due!
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS @ 11:43
Here here!!
Applauding effort is as much our cause celebre as it is der Huns nemesis.
Summertime Glasgae
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_rB4v75jqU