Credit to Dundee, who for 94 minutes defended like their livelihoods depended on it, but they were undone by a rash hope to win the game and sheer fatigue. Manager, Jim McIntyre, gave an insight into their downfall immediately after the game.
After being under pressure throughout the first half, Dundee had a chance to take the lead seconds before the interval. In his post-match TV interview, McIntyre said how he urged his players to take chances like this in the second period.
As it happened, Dundee broke away four minutes into stoppage time, with five players piling forward in a hope of winning three points. The move came to nothing as Scott Bain easily collected the ball, but for a moment, the pitch was stretched. Celtic’s forward balls were poor all day and Dundee had a chance to clear one final time but, stretched and tired, it did not happen. Odsonne Edouard and James Forrest combined to give Celtic yet another last minute winner.
It looked cruel on Dundee, but what on earth were they doing chasing a winner with so many players forward in the 94th minute? They were clearly tired and Celtic needed to draw them out. The subsequent goal was a direct consequence of McIntyre’s desire for the win.
The net effect of the weekend’s games is the likely spread of Celtic’s league winning margin moves to 15-18 points. This is below the record levels achieved the last time Neil Lennon was in charge of the team but is none too shabby.
The sight of stewards working on behalf of Dundee FC yesterday confiscating an Irish flag is another disheartening sign of the country’s slip into intolerance. Officers from Police Scotland watched on, legitimising the act of anti-Irish racism. It is to credit of the dispossessed Celtic fans that they conducted themselves so well in the aftermath.
There was a Croatian flag yards from me at Celtic Park recently, and there has been Italian and Canadian tourists in our section at the last two home games. Scotland remains a tourist destination and visitors will be not expect their national symbols to be viewed with hostility.
Celtic Park will remain open to all, but do not think police and steward-authorised racism will remain limited to Irish identity at other grounds. When the police authorise the confiscation of property because it bears the colours of a neighbouring country, it is time to speak up.
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From fester fester today
It is the hope that kills them
Quite interesting regarding these last minute taig goals. Never thought of it like that but this may actually work in our favour long term.
We have been pissing so many points up the wall and they have almost done the same but keep getting out of jail and themselves out of the negative limelight.
They may go and win the lot this season, even a last minute cup final winner but as long as not much changes over there we can get our own house in order.
Next season it can be done.
Guys who have been out for at least 4 weeks this season,
Gordon
Lustig
Tierney
Boyata
Benkovic
Simunovic
Rogic
Brown
McGregor
Christie
Griffiths
Edouard
Arzani
Ralston
prestonpans bhoys on 18th March 2019 3:14 pm
Looking at all the criticism of Lenny’s tactics and performance over the past few days would make you think that this didn’t happen under Brendan Rodgers formations?
—————
Yep, we’ve been putting in these types of away performances all season (last year wasn’t much better).
!!BADA BING!!
I had a chat with the Griff at lunchtime today and he says he is hoping to get back to training next week.
Not full on, an easy start to begin with.
He looked well too!
C’MON THE GRIFF!!!!!
Prestopan/Huddle
Agree… we have lacked the nous to breakdown defences for some time now (as you say, since BR’s first season, really)
It seemed clear that it wasn’t going to change under BR. I guess people were hoping with a change in managment there would be a bit of change to this aspect of our game.
To be fair to NFL, I thiink he is on a bit of hiding to nothing.
If he keeps doing what BR did, he will likely win the treble, but will get little credit (BR’s plan, and the football is not great to watch).
If he changes things up, there is a greater chance that we dont win the treble, and he gets hammered for blowing the treble treble.
Tough spot. But, NFL was clearly went into this knowing what he was dealing with.
Philbhoy- good news HH
GG, thoughts and prayers with you during this very sad time.
These injury time winners and clean sheets I blame Neil Lennon.
GG
Heartfelt condolences on the loss of your brother. God bless and keep him.
HH
GG condolences
Firstly…
MAH – although I’ve never said it on here – I do offer up prayers whenever I see comments about people’s health or losses. Even although I’m o non believer myself now, I still offer them for those who do, you being one of them ??
GG – heartfelt condolences ? YNWA
Now footy….
50 SHADES OF GREEN on 18TH MARCH 2019 11:44 AM
When Bain collected that ball 4 mins into injury time and with 5 Dundee players forward with nose bleeds, I was screaming for him to punt it long and when he rolled it out, I let a few expletives out, just shows you what I know…?.
Although I’m pretty sure I let a few different expletives out when we scored ?
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I was exactly that same, then I was running round my living room screaming yaaaaas yaaaaas yaaaaas ?
I was baffled by the substitution of Hayes for Mikey yesterday…. for the first 5 minutes I couldn’t even see where Hayes was playing or in what role. When I seen him on the right I’m like “wtf?”
2nd half when he switched left he was our most effective player, pity we had no one to get on the end of his crosses. If we are going to play that way then we need a target man – Bayo??
With regard to playing against a parked bus, it’s not just us that suffer. When Jose was with Inter, Barcelona could not break them down. We done the same to them when we beat them. More than those games though, I remember last season, waiting on Juve for a coupon up. The game was on bet 365, away to Spal.
I sat down with a few beers fully expectant of Juve winning me a few quid. It was very similar to that game yesterday- after half an hour I couldn’t see a goal coming so had a wee saver bet on nil nil and Juve 0-1.
I cashed out 5 mins into the 2nd half – it finished 0-0. Still won a few bob but nowhere near what I would have got with a win for Juve. It’s not just us, it’s fitba, it happens and I assume we’ve all watched enough to know when games are going that way.
The key is an early goal and this is where the decision of Madhun to not give us the penalty comes into it. It was blatant. Incompetent or a cheat? I don’t know but if he gives that AND we score it…. it’s a totally different game.
I’m looking forward to the break for once and then the return to paradise for a hunskelping title winning performance.
Hail Hail ?☘️
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 18TH MARCH 2019 4:33 PM
???
He brings it on himself ??
Celtic and Barcelona both ten points clear.
Philbhoy
That’s excellent news – delighted he’s on the road back, for us of course but more importantly for Griff himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3p4UIot4w
what a surprise – 2.08 the hubs have one response to a genius and GB hands him the ball !
IVEHADTOCHANGEMYMIND
I was watching that clip only yesterday, I remember enjoying it at the time as well. The hub who George dribbles around, gets fouled by and then hands the ball to, is none other than BFDJ!!
Embdae on here played Pine Cliffs Golf course in Albufiera?
FWIW, IMO, etc etc
We would have been right up the creek after Brendan Rodgers did his moonlight flit had Neil not agreed to come in.
And he did so knowing he was on a hiding to nothing – taking over from maybe the best manager we have had since the Big Man himself, certainly since MoN.
For all he knew, he was walking into a dressing room that had had the heart ripped out of it at a crucial stage of the season. Because the appointment is temporary, and because of the awful timing of his predecessors’ departure, he can’t set his stall out, can’t stamp his template down.
He said his job was to get us over the line, and so far he’s doing that. It’s hardly surprising that there are days and displays like Sunday’s – he’s in the horrible situation of inheriting the last man’s playing ethos and many of his players while knowing that his gig might last only 9 or 10 games.
Whatever happens, win, lose, draw, I will always thank him for being the man who came to our aid when we were left in the shit, and I’ll always be in awe of the strength of character – the sheer cojones – he showed in doing so.
Expecting silky joined-up football under the circumstances we are left in after the lifelong fan stiffed us is as fanciful as saying Morelos is worth £20 million.
MIKE IN TORONTO on 18TH MARCH 2019 3:25 PM
Prestopan/Huddle
Agree… we have lacked the nous to breakdown defences for some time now (as you say, since BR’s first season, really)
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Sorry, but that is absolutely incorrect. It may have been true before Christmas on some occasions. But these domestic results since the turn of the year before BR left don’t back up your opinion:
January: 3-0, 4-0, 3-0, 2-0
February: 2-0, 2-0, 5-0, 1-0, 4-1
Admittedly the games Neil has managed were expected to be extremely tough opponents apart from Dundee.
However, since Neil announced we would be getting the ball forward quicker, the style of play has been abysmal and it’s made it easier for teams to defend against us.
I was perfectly happy with playing the ball around at the back, even taking chances, to entice teams out and wear them down. Why change what wasn’t broken?
How many Celtic fans knew about this in advance?
From Celtic FC SLO at 1.42pm on Friday, March 15
@CelticFCSLO
Following Following @CelticFCSLO
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Important Info for Sun: @DundeeFC like many others these days, have advised that due the Shankly Stand being completely sold out there is a lack of free space therefore fans are asked not to bring large flags or banners as they cannot be accommodated RT @CelticFC
……………………….
From Celtic FC SLOat 12.24pm on Sunday, March 17 (6 minutes before kickoff)
@CelticFCSLO
Mar 17
More
Couple of reminders for Dens today, gates open 11:30, new access arrangements in place, no large bannners. Enjoy yirsels, Hail Hail ???
………..
Couple of things occur…
What is “large” in this context?
Who decides what is large & what isn’t? (well we know who’ll decide)
Was it really because the Bob Shankly stand was full that flags were banned? Really?
Does this mean that fewer fans in that stand will mean flags & large banners will be permitted?
What system did the stadium management have for receipts for return of confiscated property afterwards?
What protocol & training did stewards/police have to implement this change?
What realistic steps were made to ensure fnas were aware in advance?
When was this change put before the Safety Team & when was it finalized?
When were Celtic FC made aware of this alteration to the usual customs about flags & banners?
Did anyone at Dundee, Police Scotland or Celtic consider the implications of enforcing this against Celtic fans on St Patrick’s Day of all days?
Can we expect that fans of all clubs will be subjected to the same rules?
And for JP, what else did Celtic do to inform fans well enough in advance?
Clueless & Gormless – Solicitors to Dundee FC
FOOL TIME WHISTLE, stop talking so much sense on here,?.hh.
Supersutton
Why change what wasn’t broken?
this passing ’round the back/wearing them down may work against the also rans of the SPL, where there is little glory and even less money to be won ….
but remember we are paying our players an average of 15 times what they Dundee players receive …. for that price, our players should be considerably faster, fitter, smarter…. in short, a hell of a lot better than the teams we play in the SPL week in/week out.
too many games, even in the SPL, we make it harder than it needs to be… plus, that way of playing simply isn’t going to cut it when we play better teams in Europe
so if we want to compete with the big boys, we need to be able to pass and move better than we do.
and if we arent doing it against weaker SPL opposition, then how are the players expected to suddenly turn it on in Europe?
I was always a believer in the adage ‘practice the way you want to play’… given our financial domination over the last few years, we could have/should have been using the SPL to update our style of play … basically, using the domestic games as practice for the games where the real money is ..in Europe.
Big Packy 1
“My wife says I’m an eejit” will be the title of my biography.
She wants a copy to help with her insomnia.
Hope you’re well today – Cheshire isn’t it?
10 Points CSC
HH
FTW
I think that would the title of just about every husband’s biography!
:)
FOOL TIME WHISTLE, all ok here in deepest Cheshire, hope you are well,,ps ill buy a copy,?hh
MIKE IN TORONTO on 18TH MARCH 2019 6:55 PM
————
See that’s where I differ from many Celtic supporters. Doing well in Europe is not important to me. Well enough to get into group stages of either competition is more than enough for me.
You’re point about paying players 15 times more than Dundee only serves to show that playing against teams who get 10 men behind the ball and defend deep is ALWAYS difficult to break down. And that is what we face in 75% of our domestic games.
Which is why we need a system that provides the best chance of breaking those type of teams down. 7 trophies out of 7 suggests we were pretty good at that. And as the results I posted show, we also score quite a few goals in the process.
Recently with the change in style I believe the chances of winning these games is severely reduced. And it’s not pleasing on the eye either.
MIT
Going to start a wee victim support group for persecuted papas, pops, & grandas…
But I’ve got to get permission first…
Supersutton
If, as you say, you limit your ambitions to scotland, it is hard (hell, pretty much impossible) to argue with BR’s results.
And it is impossible to prove that, if we played a faster style game, we would have scored more, so I wont bother to even try ..
but, Not sure I understand your point about paying more … perhaps I am missing something. can you explain further?
FTW
:)
Growing up, my grandad always referred to my grandma as ‘she who must be obeyed’… when I was old enough to understand the phrase, I thought the old man was a genius …. took me another few years to realize that he had knicked it from TV
BP 1
My sister used to live in Wilmslow years ago when I lived in Reading.
Only later I found out that half of the Manchester Utd/City footie players seemed to live there.
By then she’d moved to Lichfield – but I’ve always been a step or two behind.
MIT
I know the phrase well..
Think it was actor Leo McKern in Rumpole of the Bailey who used it.. written by John mortimer.
Trivia about Leo McKern
Born in Australia
Lost his left eye at 15 years old
Became sapper in Australian army during WW2
You’d be nervous with a one eyed man as your sapper, but as long as he had a steady hand..
Celtic should hammer every other professional club in Scotland every time they play.
Rainjurz couldn’t even manage when they were cheating.
FTW
Indeed it was Rumpole ….. got to love them barristers…. clever and funny to boot!
:)
We could have won 4-0 on Sunday and we could have lost 2-0 , without the performance being in any way different . It’s just the vagaries of the game , luck and the human element.
mike in toronto
And not just from any old tv show Mike, but from Rumpole of the Bailey, the eccentric barrister created by the drama writing QC, the late and great John Mortimer, and played by the equally late and great Australian Leo McKern, so a legal connection there. Incidentally, McKern was not Mortimer’s first choice to play Rumpole, a character based partly on his father, and yet another barrister, but the even later and greater Scottish actor Alistair Sim, but as Mortimer noted since he was dead at the time, “he wasn’t able to take it on”. Legal humour I presume.
MIKE IN TORONTO on 18TH MARCH 2019 7:41 PM
FTW
Indeed it was Rumpole ….. got to love them barristers
Even dirty orange Barristers?
MIT
I forgot didn’t I – You wear wigs in court in Canada?
Just a quick question/thought
Celtic players at Cheltenham last week
Magners were the main event sponsor
Just wonder if they wanted some of their other corporate sponserred teams present ??
Players in the magners hospitality suite ??