As we discussed a few days ago, the margins between success and failure at this level are tight. Two rash tackles inside the box was enough to see Celtic into the playoff round. On another day, the story could have been different.
For me, Kolo Toure’s 30 minutes was eye-opening. His touch was assured, which gave him time on the ball. He was confident enough to hold possession while being closed down, and can carry the ball out of defence.
He talked throughout, often while gesticulating to team-mates to calm down or to push out in a line. It’s not that we had problems in central defence before he arrived, we didn’t, but he gave the entire team an authority we’ve missed. Without him, the game may have ended differently.
This is what a top player looks like in a Celtic shirt.
Craig Gordon had a big decision to make: come out of his box to head the ball, or stay and allow Kieran Tierney to manage the situation. Yes, it was a good finish, but the keeper made the wrong decision. If you head the ball while 25 yards off your line it needs to go safe or you shouldn’t there.
Did you notice Moussa Dembele’s penalty technique? There were two important elements: the pause and the number of steps.
Most players take a penalty as soon as the referee blows his whistle. Moussa didn’t. He waited. Players who wait until a moment of their choosing score a higher percentage of times than players who move on the whistle.
The delay empowers them. They are in charge, they decide when things start. The two step run up further denies the goalkeeper reaction time: “I’m the boss, you don’t know when we start and you’ll have no time to throw yourself about”.
Squeezing the pips
None of the 11 starters were Brendan Rodgers’ players, four joined until Ronny, while seven have been at the club since Neil Lennon’s days. It’s remarkable that we managed to eliminate a team who qualified for last season’s Champions League with players who were caught so short in Europe in recent seasons.
Last night we squeezed the last pips out of the squad. The addition of Kolo and the return of Erik and Jozo will give the defence a formidable look, but we are not right in central midfield, and I know every one of you held your breath when Leigh went down injured.
I left the ground feeling Brendan got a break in getting that squad past Astana (you could argue Ronny could have done with a couple of rash challenges inside the box in similar circumstances). Sometimes you need the breaks to achieve great things.
Oh, and if football was like that every time, every other leisure industry would close. I’m pretty sure no one in the North Stand knew two Astana players were sent off, such was the Festival of Drama.
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Happy with that. Awkward opponents disposed of.
Delighted for Dundalk but I would take them for the next round.
i get kinda annoyed when i cant find the official attendance either,
looked upwards of 58,000 to me.
Aberdeen fans will like that cup Saint.
HJ-I thought 55-58k,a remarkable attendance IMO
HJ,
You’ll not be far away with that.
Strange that it’s not easily spotted in the media today.
A quid says when around 20k turn up next Wednesday, it’s splattered on every Scottish sports rag.
HH
Another home draw for the huns……;0
Not sure about the return of ES and JS. JS, in particular, looks like one of those oddball signings which we tend to make. ES hasn’t impressed much. Young O’Connell did fine.
!!BADA BING!! on 4TH AUGUST 2016 2:29 PM
HJ-I thought 55-58k,a remarkable attendance IMO
===========================================
I read somewhere it was 52,952.
This won’t be popular, so tin hat on, but I don’t blame Craig Gordon for their goal last night, I blame the manager.
The defence was taken out by a long ball and Gordon had no option but to come out and head it. The problem in my opinion was caused by the substitution minutes before.
With half an hour to go, we were through. All we had to do was keep it tight, don’t do anything stupid, and do not concede. Up to that point, Astana had done little to suggest they were capable of scoring. That’s why to me the substitution of Toure for Armstrong was so mystifying.
My problem is not with Toure coming on as such, or even with Armstrong coming off. My problem is that the manager re-jigged the whole formation at a time when there was simply no need to do so.
Why go to three at the back instead of four when we don’t need to score, just not concede? The result of the substitution was that the defence was unsettled for a few minutes as it adjusted to the new set-up, leading to uncertainty when that ball was lobbed to the edge of the box.
To me, Gordon did all that could be expected of him, running at full tilt to get there before the attacker. His job was to clear it. Let the defence worry about where it was cleared to.
It was a good finish by the Astana player and in the space of a moment, we went from cruising to the play-off round to squeaky bum time, knowing that another goal for them would mean we would need two more to go through.
And with the fullbacks pushed forward, Astana found plenty of space behind them in the 10-15 minutes following their equaliser. We could so easily have found ourselves out.
I’m not one of these guys who thinks we should be qualifying every single year. I know there are going to be years we won’t make it and I’m not going to call for heads if we lose out in the play-off round, but I thought Brendan Rodgers’ decision to re-shape the team with the tie virtually won, was bizarre to say the least.
Enjoyed yesterday
Good cpmpany in the bv, garry, gary, joe.mick, james and benny was a gang of good guys.
Can the scapegoateers jist beat it.
Broonie looking great
Once again Brendans subs have impact
I like Brendans comments on how best we can support our team..patience and wee improvementS each time I watch.
Moussa , well done,, go and make yourself a name.
And well done to every Celtic fans in the park, you just dont get that atmosphere thro sky, bt, beeb,stv, or the dodgy links.nowt like being part of the theatre instead of lookin at it.hail hail to youz all.
:-)
Geordie
That’s right – I remember that dodgy penalty.
Possibly not the best one to get then!
Guess we’ll just have to take who we get. And beat them!
Damo Lennon
Disagree that Gordon needed to come head that ball. The lad was still 25 yards from goal
Tomorrows draw will see us get PFC Ludogorets.
Remember you read it here first -))
SUMMA
Please pass on my condolences to the family of Tommy Carmichael.
Carmichael is my family name. I hope, in time, the family will smile at the lifetime of memories.
HAIL HAIL Tommy Carmichael
Criticizing CG Paul?
Only on the lack of elevation on the header.
Fault for the goal lies with the defenders who switched off to the direct ball he had to come and cover, and with Broon who crucially ended up on his erse, when he needed to stop their lad getting the loose ball.
I like to see my keepers come out and cover like that. If the rest of the back line had been as alert it would never have fallen to CG to intervene.
Delighted we’re through and European football guaranteed once more but I don’t think we should get carried away in any shape or form. They may have fared not too bad last season but I really don’t think they’re up to much. I don’t know if they’ve lost players or not but they’re not a great team and we’ll come up against a lot better opposition. We struggled to transition the ball for the most part last night and when we don’t look like scoring a stupid goal conceded is always likely.
Patrick Roberts is a gem and completely changes how we perform but without him in the team it will be tougher and he’s not here forever.
90MC
90MC – @90MinuteCynic
Sinclair, Duljevic and Tetteh all ‘apparently’ en route/in Glasgow to sign for Celtic
Two wingers and a defensive midfielder? Would fit the profile of what we are looking for.
Duljevic is a 6ft 1 winger according to wiki. Clearly the next Cristiano Ronaldo
:-)
Hopefully these reported new signings can be completed but. under two weeks to bed in before the third preliminary round.
However, on we go and hopefully the constant negativity and detraction will abate and we can all get down to what we do best : supporting our team the Glasgow Celtic way. HH
Is Tetteh the guy from Norwich?
BADA BING!! on 4TH AUGUST 2016 3:21 PM
Is Tetteh the guy from Norwich?
Lech Poznan
Some goals are just good goals and not the product of mistakes. I’m not madly impressed with CG ( started his Celtic career brilliantly but has faded to average IMO) but he was not at fault for the goal which was expertly executed by the scorer.
He was quite a bit out and bodies in front of but showed quality and presence of mind to flight it beautifully.
A really good goal.
Questions should be asked re missing defence that necessitated CG intervention…. But we’ve been asking that question for a couple of seasons.
Reading back……………..
bognorbhoy on 4th August 2016 10:13 am
BLUE CABS!!!
Never a good idea; BMCUW will attest………..
TBM
Sandman
Just read back
After I posted to see we share same analysis of the goal..
You obviously know your stuff :-)
Check the date of birth, same a wee mini Starry:))
Full name Abdul Aziz Tetteh
Date of birth 25 May 1990 (age 26)
Place of birth Dansoman, Ghana
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Defensive Midfielder
Glasstwothirds,
I don’t know. Brendan will have done some work on them. Maybe manager, playing staff and style are still similar. Good spot.
Maybe one of the better teams to get in the ‘one to avoid’ section ;)
HH
Abdul Aziz Tetteh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAzDfRAik2Y
G67-Ta
He has a good date of birth aswell:))))
Tetteh was mentioned last night on other tinternet sites.
Supposedly spotted at the game. Hmmmm.
His wiki page last night read…
“In August 2016, he signed for Glasgow Celtic, stating his love for Patrick Roberts was the primary reason for signing.”
Those cheeky wee scamps :D
HH
Liking the positivity today.
It’s all very grounded in realism too.
Real sense of a work in progress.
We could reach September in great shape.
Some timely signings would keep it ticking along nicely. Here’s hoping.
RT-Agree,but last night was probably a bit more uncomfortable than it should have been.I thought they were a poor team,and we made heavy weather of it,but it’s cup tie football ,getting through to the next round is what it’s all about.HH
I Just can’t Get Enough currently blasting from Radio 2.
Big smiles on the faces of all the Tims and grimaces on coupons of the Huns.
What a chorus of it at the final whistle lastnight with almost everyone staying after the end.
Steve Wright must be a Tim! :-)
52,952 according to the BBC site. I thought there were more than that.
Another stat from the Beeb: Seven yellows and two reds for Astana.
JJ
timaloy29 on 4th August 2016 2:47 pm
1.32 on this video. Gordon was inside the D when he headed it, with no other Celtic player even close to the attacker. If he hadn’t come for it, the guy was clean through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NOvKuTsss
Could CG not have stayed in his box and collected it?
It used to be Firhill for thrills.
Now it should be Celtic Park for last minute CL drama.
Twice we scored with last minute penalties last night.
Artur’s penalty save against Manchester United.
Donati against Shaktar
And of course the grand daddy of them all Big Billy from Charlie’s corner against Vojvodina.
And that’s not even considering the last minute dramas against the dead team
Recent examples being JVOH and Chris Sutton.
Just some of the reasons for not leaving a game early to beat the traffic.
Great Result yesterday, well done Brendan and the bhoys…
The result means we have European Football until Christmas, BR now has a platform to build towards… upwards and onwards…
Hail Hail