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Makeshift midfield motors

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

A makeshift Celtic midfield took no more than 15 minutes to get into its stride at Fir Park yesterday, before overwhelming Motherwell in every department.  That opening period promised a competitive event, with the home side’s Lennon Miller (18) twice hitting the woodwork from outside the box, but soon thereafter, Celtic’s midfield three of Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan and Reo Hatate found their rhythm.

Bernardo played in the deep position, vacated by the injured Callum McGregor, although Celtic pressed the game so far forward, ‘deep’ is not an apt description.  This left Hatate and McCowan free to roam across the front of the Motherwell defensive line, which had dug its trench 20 yards from goal.

Persistence paid off midway through the opening half when Luke McCowan found space among a pool of defenders to craft a shot into the corner of the net.  The Dundee deadline day signing is making the most of his time at Celtic.

Daizen Maeda then timed a run perfectly to get behind the defence, but was barged in the back by Motherwell’s Stephen O’Donnell. The ball struck Maeda’s arm and bizarrely, dribbled into the net.  It looked all day like a penalty and a red card, as O’Donnell made no attempt to play the ball, but VAR chose a different outcome, and awarded a free kick against Daizen for the handball.

The hosts remained in the contest, by proximity of the scoreline only, until 57 minutes, when Celtic’s fullbacks combined.  After a sustained period of passing inside the Motherwell half, Alex Valle pitched a cross towards the back post.  Alistair Johnston was already on his way to that area and met the ball perfectly with his head to double Celtic’s lead.

Substitutes Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah combined on 88 minutes for the latter to complete the scoring.  Motherwell’s Liam Gordon received a deserved red card in stoppage time for a dangerous foul on Idah.

Cameron Carter-Vickers made his first appearance in six weeks midway through the second half.  Greg Taylor was on the bench, his first appearance on the team sheet in four weeks.  Reinforcements are welcome as Celtic compete on three fronts over the next 8 days.

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  2. Saint Stivs on

    glendalystonsils on 28th October 2024 5:15 pm

     

    KINGLUBO

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Agree about Kuhn. Jamesie didn’t have a bad game but his lack of pace

     

     

    ————

     

     

    not so long ago, brendan gave an interview where he said that jamesie gave maeda a run for fastest at the club, but just didnt have the whole game staying power.

  3. Darwin on

    Imagine an item in ‘Have I Got News For You’.

     

     

    “A group of Celtic supporters appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport today alleging that there was institutional bias in refereeing in Scotland in favour of the club known as Rangers and against Celtic.

     

     

    The group was asked if they had proof that this was the case to which they answered “no” but added that” everyone knows that it is going on”.

     

     

    The court then asked what has been the outcome of this bias and cheating in terms of competing for honours.

     

     

    The group stated that since the beginning of this century there have been seventy two competitions in Scotland. Celtic have won forty-one (57%) including, doubles, trebles and even had an invincible season. The club known as Rangers had won just eighteen honours (25%) during that time and only three in the last twelve years.

     

     

    Members of the court were seen to be in fits of laughter as they listened to these figures. When composure was regained they delivered their verdict.

     

     

    Ruling: If there was a culture of institutional bias against Celtic it is plainly obvious that it was devised and orchestrated by a bunch of idiots . It has been a total failure and seems to have achieved the exact opposite of what the Celtic group allege – Case dismissed……..laughter resumes!”

  7. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    Darwin on 28th October 2024 6:44 pm

     

     

    Imagine an item in ‘Have I Got News For You’.

     

     

    “A group of Celtic supporters appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport today alleging that there was institutional bias in refereeing in Scotland in favour of the club known as Rangers and against Celtic.

     

     

    ——-

     

     

    CAS? HIGNFY? A weak metaphor, IMHO.

     

     

    Here’s a stronger one closer to home.

     

     

    The SFA announce a consultation about removing EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE who supports either Celtic or R2ngers and committing to never employing anyone in future who has a demonstrable record of supporting either club.

     

     

    Every single Celtic fan I know and every single r2ngers fan I know are highly likely to have a consistent reaction.

     

     

    The latter group?

     

     

    “Oh, I think that’s taking things too far”

     

     

    The former … “Where do I sign?”

  8. An Tearmann on

    Dobyin/Cloud9/jhb/Andrena/Tommy the ranter

     

     

    That was a nice wee story

     

    A brexiteering boatchasing unionist who believes institutional bias does not exist in Scotland.

     

    You should have went down the ‘survey’ route with your own made up figures and percentages inputted from yir own head,now that is truly laughable…At you.

     

    You should come on as ‘idiot’ at least then that’s an easy definition,covers all those monikers you have

  10. Turkeybhoy on

    Aberdeen still available at 3/1 tomorrow.Huns,21/20.

     

    My mad Turkish mate who likes a punt,just phoned me,” Did you see the betting for Aberdeen?.” “I did”. What do you think,will they win”” Good chance””Right,let’s hammer it”” OK,stick £100 each on””What ? £100,fek off,in Turkish,that’s too much,£10 each”” OK,I will give you it on Wednesday when I’m passing”.”I will take it out the winnings and leave it behind the Bar for you”

     

    Knew he would have a heart attack when I said,£100.I had no intentions.Bless him.

  14. Darwin on

    SAINT STIVS on 28TH OCTOBER 2024 6:53 PM

     

    that is a trophy count for two different clubs.

     

     

     

    so it couldnt be used in court.

     

    ——————-

     

    I did quote the “club known as Rangers” deliberately.

     

     

    Just a sporting parable – would never get near any court. HH

  15. glendalystonsils on

    SAINT STIVS on 28TH OCTOBER 2024 6:29 PM

     

     

    I do remember Brendan saying that about James . I assume he was being serious . If that’s the case , I just don’t see evidence of JF using that explosive power the way Nicholas , Daizen or Kyogo do.

  20. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    Dearie me.

     

     

    Some unimaginative, uninteresting, talking head who allegedly likes golf has a sly dig at Celtic …

     

     

    … and the usual suspects spit feathers.

     

     

    Mission accomplished.

     

     

    If your aspirations in life include being bested by a moron?

     

     

    Keep doing what you’ve always done.

     

     

    Otherwise … ignore the imbecile.

  21. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    From Jobo

     

     

     

    *SENTINEL CELTS PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2024-25*

     

    *RESULTS FROM GAME #14 MOTHERWELL 0 CELTIC 3 (McCOWAN, JOHNSTON, IDAH)*

     

     

    Good evening, friends.

     

    Prior to kick off yesterday one of my assumptions had been that Johnston would be given a break, given how he had hobbled through the last 15 minutes in Bergamo. So I was pleasantly surprised to see him in the team and delighted when I noticed he was captain for the day. Blowing my own trumpet time but here’s what I posted last Thursday at 4.41pm, “…The fact that CalMac is captain contributes to him being picked for almost every game. Get AJ to commit for 5 years and become captain as part of the deal!…” . I wonder what Blog Name Brendan posts under?

     

    Anyway, the game itself saw a bright, end to end affair in the initial stages with Motherwell hitting the post and then the bar in those opening 15 minutes. At that point I feared a European hangover but we gradually started to impose ourselves on the game, switching play from side to side and just searching for the opening. Once Luke broke the deadlock on 26 minutes with his fine run and strike it really became one way traffic for the rest of the game. There were often 21 players in the Motherwell half and it was only a matter of time before we increased our lead. We thought we had done that in 34 minutes when Maeda bundled an effort in off the post. The goal was correctly disallowed as the last touch had come off Daizen’s hand. But the resultant decision should surely have been ‘no goal, but a penalty to Celtic’. We waited and waited but then learned that the referee’s decision was simply a free kick to Motherwell from Maeda’s handball – which only happened due to him being bundled over to the ground! The expected VAR review didn’t materialise.

     

    Having gone in at the break a goal to the good we had to wait only 10 minutes until we doubled our lead. A well timed run into the box from Captain Alastair saw him dive to place an excellent header into the corner of the net. Despite our total domination and a series of substitutions there were only 2 minutes left of the ninety when some fine play by Kuhn ended with a low cross being nicked into the net by Adam Idah. Big Adam featured in the one remaining notable incident being on the end of a vicious 92nd minute ‘tackle’. The referee did see the incident but thought it only worthy of a yellow. But a VAR intervention saw the card being upgraded to a red and Motherwell’s Liam Gordon’s game was over. Fortunately, Idah appeared not to be seriously injured.

     

    A well deserved victory and a weekend where Celtic extended their lead at the top by a further 2 goals.

     

    We have now played 14 games this season, winning 11, drawing 2 and losing 1. We have scored 41 and conceded 14 (domestically it’s 35-6 and in Europe it’s 6-8).

     

    I continue to be encouraged with the voting numbers which again have sneaked into the eighties, 85 to be precise, so thank you so much for your support. This turned out to be the closest MOTM award so far this season.

     

    The total votes cast for each player are as follows, with my own nominations asterisked.

     

     

    Schmeichel: 0

     

    Johnston*: 67

     

    Trusty: 17

     

    Scales*: 10

     

    Valle: 45

     

    McCowan: 66

     

    Hatate*: 26

     

    Bernardo: 19

     

    Forrest: 2

     

    Kyogo: 1

     

    Maeda: 1

     

    Kuhn: 1

     

    Carter-Vickers: 0

     

    Engels: 0

     

    Idah: 0

     

    Palma: 0

     

     

    And so, the players receiving POINTS for the game against Motherwell are –

     

    Johnston (67) – 5 points

     

    McCowan (66) – 4 points

     

    Valle (45) – 3 points

     

    Hatate (26)– 2 points

     

    Bernardo (19) – 1 point

     

     

    And the overall positions after 14 games played are –

     

    26 points – Scales

     

    23 points – Kuhn

     

    21 points – Hatate

     

    20 points – McGregor

     

    19 points – Maeda

     

    16 points – Bernardo

     

    12 points – Engels, Johnston A and Valle

     

    8 points – Kyogo, McCowan and Schmeichel

     

    7 points – O’Riley

     

    5 points – Taylor and Trusty

     

    4 points – Carter-Vickers

     

    3 points – Forrest and Idah

     

    1 point – Yang

     

    0 points – Holm, Johnston M., Nawrocki, Palma, Ralston, Turley, Welsh

     

     

    We end a busy October with a midweek league game. Dundee are the visitors to Celtic Park on Wednesday evening, kick off 7.45pm.

     

    Hail Hail!

  24. Maestro on

    Last time out lack of focus on Idah disallowed goal. This week all about how the Murderwell manger feels the red card was hard attention again taken away from real talking point the penalty not awarded.

     

     

    Only in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  26. scullybhoy on

    Celtic:

     

    Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Lennox, McBride, Auld, Hughes (Chalmers)

     

    Goal: Lennox (19)

     

    Rangers:

     

    Martin, Johanson, Provan, Greig, MacKinnon, D. Smith, Henderson, Watson, McLean, A. Smith, Johnston.

     

     

    Referee: T Wharton (Glasgow)

     

    Attendance: 94,532

     

     

    https://www.thecelticwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Fl72R_aX0AAu4Ya1.jpg

     

     

    https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/ujJTacQ6hSZWQqRPUqV_dg574212

  27. scullybhoy on

    Great time to be a Celt. Appreciate our well run Club, you only have to look at the likes of Man U to see that nothing in football is guaranteed.

  29. Tom McLaughlin on

    I was told last night by someone in the know that Celtic were in talks with another Premiership club throughout deadline day about buying one of their players but could not agree on a fee.

     

     

    Eventually Celtic admitted defeat and gave McCowan the nod late in the day, all of which would explain the tardiness of Luke’s smiling appearance in the tunnel.

     

     

    My source swears he doesn’t know who the target was or the other club involved, but we both landed on the same guess — a young man who twice came very close to putting his team 1-0 up on Sunday past.

     

     

    Before the game of shoot the messenger begins, let me just add that the same source told me on Saturday 10th August that Celtic were back in talks with Norwich over a fee for Adam Idah. The news broke on the Monday and the player was signed on Wednesday.

  30. Celtic Mac on

    scullybhoy

     

     

    Not often you see a reference to Celtic FC in the business section of the Observer, but sure enough our club got a mention, 20.10.24, in an analysis of the challenges facing Aberdeen. (‘Aberdeen laments the end of oil…’).

     

    In an interview with Russell Borthwick, CEO of the the Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Aberdeen fan stated, in the context of the problems facing the North Sea Oil Industry, impact of high tax rates etc, that;

     

    “But Celtic Football Club made bigger profits than our largest North Sea Oil producers last year.”

     

    Think about that for a moment. Think just how difficult it is to make a profit running a football club in Scotland, or any sport for that matter, and you then appreciate how well we are run on the commercial front. And given our total revenue from domestic broadcasting last season was the equivalent of one home full house in this season’s CL it is nothing short of a miracle.

  31. An Tearmann on

    Tam McLaughlin

     

     

    Who did you and your pal think the player was?

     

     

    Name the player,not shoot the messenger

     

     

    HH

  36. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    Good morning CQN

     

     

    https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/ckgr1nem1gwo

     

     

    Not sure what I think about this one.

     

     

    Petulant corporate behaviour on show from a club that has superiority in its DNA?

     

     

    An indulgent, overinflated jamboree which has the collective worthless opinions of a bunch of hacks at its centre?

     

     

    Vincius Jr appears to have issues about respect … some of which I get.

     

     

    Part of me is thinking “screw ’em kid and count your medals”

     

     

    For what it is worth, if I had a straight choice between watching Vinicius Jr going about his trade or Rodri?

     

     

    Easy choice.

  37. Celtic Mac on

    gene

     

     

    Just for reference the article I referred to was about Aberdeen the city not Aberdeen FC, though Russell Borthwick is in fact a Dons supporter.

     

    On the sponsorship front, you may have a point, despite having a fair claim to being the oil capital of Europe for over forty years, I do not think the local club benefitted from that in terms of sponsorship from the big oil companies. Twice in recent years they have planned to build a new stadium, first to the South of the city and latterly to the West. Neither appear to have happened.

  38. Greenpinata on

    Celtic Mac,

     

     

    I too question the figures that Celtic made more profit than Harbour Energy for example.

     

    Even after the windfall tax they still made over £330m in 2023.

     

     

    However, no wonder the majors are leaving the North Sea in droves and extracting Fossil fuels elsewhere.

     

    Which we will then import with a giant carbon footprint.

  41. Greenpinata on

    Celtic Mac,

     

     

    Somtimes we need to be careful what we wish for.

     

     

    Celtic is a well run profitable club with a stable grounding.

     

     

    Another high profile club is run by an individual who choses to live in a tax haven while influencing British industry and avoiding a potential tax bill of £4 Billion. ( Incidentally, its all about choices :- The harder choice to recoup tax from certain individuals or to take the easy choice and take money from some of the poorest and most vulnerable pensioners).

     

     

    Financially rich , but Morally bankrupt.

     

     

    Not for Celtic.

  42. Greenpinata on

    Timforlife on 29th October 2024 10:07 am

     

    Does anyone know if the game is on Celtic tv tomorrow

     

    ——–

     

    Its on PPV.i believe.

     

    Pointless as there will be a selection of viable streams to pick from.

     

     

    HH.

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