Football is all about the creation and utilisation of space. The first thing Leigh Griffiths did to create the goal last night was leave space in the box for him to exploit. If Leigh occupied the traditional centre forward position, there would have been no space for him to leave his marker and the goal would not have happened. This is a striking example of football intelligence.
Until that moment, Celtic were disarmingly impotent. Too often this season we have been dependent on opponents making a defensive mistake, and, if like St Mirren they don’t, we look laboured.
It was difficult to assess Filip Benkovic against St Mirren on Friday, he was never pressed and was skinned once, but you could see what all the fuss was about last night. The Croat looks the real deal: fast, good in the air and comfortable on the ball. He will take more responsibility in the weeks to come.
Celtic improved when Brendan Rodgers abandoned his initial plan on 57 mins, replacing Tom Rogic and Forrest with Scott Sinclair and Mikey Johnston. Almost immediately, Callum McGregor burst into newly available space (my word of the day) in the box. From then on Rosenborg were under pressure. The entire stadium knew the game was there to be won, we just needed our chief goal-scorer on the field.
When managers break transfer records for a player they are keen to play him, but leaving Odsonne alone inside the box isn’t working. We have options for Rugby Park on Sunday, but our treble goes on the line at the League Cup quarter-final at McDiarmid on Wednesday. We need to be ready for it.
I’m nine days from the Great Scottish Run half marathon, which I’m totally unprepared for. The ‘Why did I say I’d do this?’ thought has occurred, but you know why. If you and I cannot do our best for the Celtic FC Foundation, we are missing a whole lot of what it means to be Celtic.
The Foundation means we can connect right back to that hall in Calton in November 1887, when Bro Walfrid said, “Let’s form a football team to help feed the poor.” This is where we came from and, if you and I have any say in the matter, it remains a central part of where we are going.
If you can help sponsor me for the Foundation, please do so here.
678 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- »
Time is amazing.
Celtic is Awesome.
I love Neganon2 and Jobo equally.
TIME
the last Destiny Labs Video subtly suggested Something I aint at all happy with., I posted it in a Dr. Unken state.
Beautiful Sunday.CSC PLC it was all around the Ground.
TRAVELLERBHOY on 23RD SEPTEMBER 2018 2:25 AM
Great to see y’all posting TB!
Been a while , how’s tricks with ye loon?
HH
TC45
LEGEND
Danny CELTIC.
Lazy ytubing
I’m a Brexit Dude.
I know nothing.
16 Roads Truly is Magical
19menamissin’.CSC
no one knows anything.
Thank You God for the 7 Titles SOFAR….. ooh controversial.
Morning Tims.
Its matchday, ye hah.
2 wingers please Brendan.
And 3 points.
H.H
A beautiful, moving tribute to Tommy Burns!Respect to all involved.And was so proud to hear the janitor of Kerr Street School being mentioned-namely my dad’s brother John Rice.How many of us have run those steps?
Out soon to the Perth CSC for the game. HH.
Good morning CQN from a chilly Garngad
COYBIG
I hope Mulumbu gets a start beside Broony today
D. :)
Melbourne Mick (and Paddymacoz)
Hope you enjoyed your lunch at Mornington Golf Club. Thanks again for arranging a meet up during my (very) recent visit to Mount Eliza. HH
morning bhoys from a very dull but mild Cheshire.DAVID66 ,yes hope mulumbu gets a start, he knows that pitch.hh.
I think a major part of our current problems with the form and performance of the team ( abysmal transfer window aside ) is down to poor man management.
Boyata and Dembele obviously felt let down by our management, whether either were justified in their separate grievances is unclear to me but I suspect Boyata may have been let down by someone at our club.
Regardless of who was/is in the wrong here these situations appear to have had a negative effect on our squad which is really disappointing on so many levels given the quality of players, management and resources we have available.
The reaction from our players to Boyata’s goal against Accies was telling. They obviously felt the big man was justified in his grievance imo. His performances since being reinstated in the team are a real credit to him and his professionalism.
Egos need to be put aside and people employed by our club would do well to remember Tommy’s now famous quote…”When you pull on that jersey you’re not just playing for a football club, you’re playing for a people and a cause.”
There’s enough elements stacked against us within Scotland ready to put us at any disadvantage possible without contributing ourselves .
As a club we need to put all the unrest behind us and regroup, unified , pulling in the same direction again. If we do that the performances will look after themselves.
We have arguably the best manager at our club since Jock, definitely the best since Martin O’Neill . Our board need to support Brendan in the transfer market, the support will be watching closely at our dealings in January. Disrespect them at your peril.
We also have a good squad with some good young players with loads of potential. There’s the great foundation of back to back trebles to build on. A lot of things to be positive about. The once fragile defence is looking solid . Another clean sheet today would be welcome.
Some attitude adjustments required and the rest will take care of itself, well that’s how it looks to me.
HH
Traveller Bhoy, good to see you posting, and to hear that you are in fine fertile. Dundee Celtic Club 67 just off Dens Road should have the game on. If not there will be plenty of pubs with Sky Sports. HH
BP1 I hope you are all well
Yes I think Mulumbu will be used to that pitch but I also think he will inject a bit of dig and pressing.
Although we all know he will get booked for the wearing of the green
D. :)
“It is often not easy being a Celtic supporter, but it is always worthwhile “.
Fergus McCann CSC
Traveller Bhoy: fettle, not fertile…! ???
DAVID66 all well here, got a new westie pup last week 10 weeks old, so he get us up at the crack of dawn. but your right anyone wearing green and white is a target.hh.bruv.
Just over 4 hours to go to we see our beloved Celtic
Celtic
Celtic
Celtic
Hail Hail
D. :)
BP1 I don’t know how you can cope with all those dogs.
We have 1 and I’m afraid we will not be getting another after Cheeko goes.
Hard work now that he is old, and we are all out working.
He gets out in our big Garden constantly yet still pisses the floor.
He also stands and stares at doors and walls whilst shaking.
Anyway hail hail
D. :)
Outside chance,I know-but does anyone have a spare for today? One of my sisters is stuck in the house otherwise!
If so,please mail me at
bmcuwp@gmail.com
Thanks
BMCUWP, many thanks for connecting me with Melbourne Mick and Paddymacoz, much appreciated. Just home and trying to overcome the jet lag! Hope you manage to get a ticket for your sister – I will be watching (almost) comatose from the couch. Thanks again. HH
Hope to see a good performance today, with good high pressing, Malumbu in the middle with Brown, Griffiths up front with Edouard just behind on the left with McGregor creating, and good, fast, forward momentum with Tierney and Forrest bombing up the wings to the byline and getting quick, early crosses over for the oncoming midfield, and others. Not much to ask for, eh! Oh, and quickly taken, effective, throw-ins and decent (?) corners for good measure…! COYBIG HH
Good morning all from the Govanhill hangover. Sharkeys bar today methinks.
50 Shades
2 wingers ???
2 strikers get Eduardo on beside our Leigh
Petec cheers for putting up with me last night :-)
Celtic are going to destroy some team soon ….
Griff hat trick for my couple of shillings today
Does anyone remember a Celtic team who were good at shys? I can’t and I have seen many.
My friends in Celtic,
I see the “Moonlandings ” reared its head again last night.
My take is simple : If the Iraq ” Weapons of mass destruction ” happened in 1969 the establishment would have got away with a whopper.
This fone I am posting on has more computing capacity than all NASA’s computers combined in 1969.
It simply wasn’t possible.
Anyway three points today and I’ll be over the moon.
HH to all and COYBIG.
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD on 23RD SEPTEMBER 2018 9:52 AM
Does anyone remember a Celtic team who were good at shys? I can’t and I have seen many.
Adam Mathews was useful and you could give Di canio the ball at any height under pressure and he’d take it in and protect it and produce a pass with it …a great out ball for us , a magician .imo.
Good morning friends.
My contribution is up there with the laziest of journalism this morning. I can’t be bothered predicting what the starting eleven will be or opining on why so and so should be replaced by whoever. That’s because I assume (and pray) that Brendan has already done this. So I hope there’s a freshness to the team with at least 3 changes from the other evening. But I don’t really mind who!
I agree with Gerryfaethebrig that some game soon it’s all going to click. The artificial surface at Rugby Park wouldn’t seem to be the likely venue for that but we live in hope.
I don’t think it would be wise to make too many changes to the team. It doesn’t help those who are brought in. Maximum 3 changes.
Goalie? No real need to change but Bain is better with his feet. On plastic pitch that could be important.
Mikael. Just back in the team and although he is the current whipping boy, his height when defending corners is valuable.
CBs – same again please.
LB – KT was supreme. But does deserve a rest now and then. Perhaps Izzy?
Midfield. Grandpa Broon needs and deserves a rest. Ntcham is suspended. Rogic is injured (been having injections for painful knee to play in games). McGregor off his best. Would expect Mulumbu to replace Ntcham. Rogic may get a rest.
Wide. I thought Forrest was good in comparison to others on Thursday. Does the plastic pitch favour his skills? Or more suitable for Mikey? And what about Lewis Morgan? Sinclair I would keep feeding him 20-30 minutes when opposition is tiring to get his confidence back.
Up front. Any two from two will do. Christie seems to be considered a front man rather than a mid by manager. Not how I see it. Bench for him.
In summary, I haven’t got a clue. Three changes is my best guess.
Jobo. Almost snap. Except I bothered with the reasoning ?
leigh must start today, and for once give him a full game.
a run in the team, a number of games would see the bhoy return some goals.
in the last 2 seasons, whats the most games in a row leigh has actually played ?
GREENPINATA
Whilst it is true about the processing power of today’s smartphones versus what was available in 1969, that power is consumed by layers upon layers of software architecture.
Whereas in 1969 they were programming using low level languages I.e. Fotran. And would use Assembler and even Machine Language programming where necessary to extract every binary flop out of the hardware.
roy aitken took a cracker shy in the 89 cup final
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPj6Gyc3a74
Alex Ferguson on Michael Collins & Irish history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTyG6-sdpS8
MARSPAPA….
Agreed about shys, we’d be as well just giving the opposition the throw in.
Have you been away yet?
If not have a grand time.HH
Good morning from a sunny Harrogate on the feast of St Robert of Knaresborough. He would be proud of the Celtic support and their charity towards the poor and homeless.
I watched the very moving Tommy Burns documentary last night – a truly great individual.
I don’t normally make predictions but I have a feeling it is going to be a Beautiful Sunday. ???????
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=t5ab2mybrY0
Any team news yet?