After a shaky opening few minutes when Hibernian threatened to swamp Celtic, the champions took control and recorded their third and best win at Easter Road since a similar result nine years ago. Aaron Mooy scored his first goal for Celtic, shortly before adding a second from the penalty spot, but his overall performance was deserving of the Man of the Match award.
With Josip Juranovic due to return to right back on Monday, Ange Postecoglou has a decision to make in central mid. Callum McGregor will start, but Mooy, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley will compete for the other two slots. Mooy is normally stand-in, but he has made a case to start.
Daizen Maeda seems to have gained confidence in Qatar. His return to domestic action has seen a lift in effectiveness. The game was determined last night by two first half runs he made. We were surprised when he was taken to the World Cup to play striker, with Kyogo left in Glasgow. Having watched how important pressing is to Japan, their squad selection looks right.
Make no mistake, our rivals were hoping to see a chink in Celtic’s armour last night. 9 points is a commanding lead, one that can suffer a defeat and remain commanding. Instead, the champions looked every inch that status.
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Everything Celtic
@aboutceltic
🇬🇷 | Giorgos Giakoumakis
Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis is expected to depart the club during the January transfer window.
The Greece international isn’t happy with the offer Celtic have made to improve his contract.
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@mhendry92
]
Hello Paul67. Looks like it’s just the 2 of us :)
HH
Big Wavy
I think that one has been well signposted.
Pity but it is probably right he moves for both parties now.
So it looks like another signing on the horizon, can’t have enough good players…………….the Mooy the merrier.
I watched from main stand last night and the vile abuse the Hibs manager took for his positive approach was not pleasant.
To see 2 of their stands empty by 60 minutes gone was a sad indicator of modern football fan tolerance. Listening to a few of their board and patrons speaking after I would not be surprised to see him out by next week if they lose their derby.
Shame as he tries to play football with a poor bunch of players imo.
So pleased for 2 of our recent escape goats. Mooy and Maeda showed great courage and mental fortitude and have proved many of the whinging doubters in our midst they have something to offer.
I hope Jota can learn and grow from his current experience on the bench. He is so talented but seems a bit out of sorts post World Cup.
Cal, Mooy and Reo for me.
Hoping Taylor is ok, with Jura playing right back.
Maeda, Kyogo and Abada up top.
Hiyas
Burnley78,
Yeah, you’re right. If Hendry is saying it that usually gives us an indication of the inside track at the club. The guy is in hios prime and if he feels he needs to boost hios wages then I wish him luck. I like him but not an automatic first pick for me. We seem to be circling around younger profiles with a better fit to our play – the Dane Tengstedt or SK Cho (we seem to have a mate lining up for him too).
Good to see us being proactive and holding all the cards
HH
With you re Mooy and Maeda, Pablo.
Before the World Cup I assumed the guys playing at it would need their game time managed on their return.
(they still might later in the season)
Right now though they look fresher and sharper than the guys who had a break.
As for our next game, obviously I have no idea what the outcome will be.
But I am confident about a couple of things
1.
Over next 4 days there will be a lot of noise. Most best ignored
2.
Will we win? Possibly.
Will we lose? Again, possibly.
Will we turn up on the day. Almost certainly.
Because, under Ange, we always do for the big games.
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 29TH DECEMBER 2022 12:13 PM
Taylor fine according to Ange post-match. Experienced a bit of stiffness and asked to come off.
Thought Bernabei looked good when he came on. Fast, direct and technically very good. Still a bit loose but signs of progress.
I’d be happy to give Johnston his debut on Monday if JJ not fully fit. The world cup bounce, as we’ve seen, looks like a real dividend.
HH
Mod88: I’m happy for you to pass on my email address to Tobago Street.
Re Kyogo’s goal last night, he looks for that early pass every time we have the ball,more of the same please
Bada, your right that Kyogo makes those runs throughout ever the game . Our 2 centre halfs seem incapable of finding him with a pass.
The debate about signing Mooy has been put to bed. He’s been a very good signing and he’s taken his WC form back to Glasgow.
I’d still start the tried and trusted middle trio for Monday, CalMac, Reo and O’Riley. Mooy is a good sub when the pace of the game slows down a bit in the second half.
Juranovic must start at RB. A win and the league is done. Play your best players in their best positions. If Jura wants a move then a midday UK wide audience on a bank holiday is another good platform for him.
You can always win games and leagues when you have the best players. What we are seeing now is the uplift in performances when you have a top-level coach.
Really pleasing to see moves from the training ground on the pitch. Taylor’s pass for the third goal was outstanding but equally important was the run from Maeda.
Keep it up, Celtic!
Matt O’Reily plays on the right of the midfield 3 and has established patterns of play with midfield peers, full backs and wingers. He also physically strong and valuable at defending set pieces. Neither of the other 4 midfielders are comfortable on the right side. Generally the position is Matts. He is a fantastic worker and crucial to the pressing game. Cal will lead the team so it’s between Hatate and Mooy. You can make a case for either but Hatate has more to offer overall.
Beale had stated that they will go ‘hell for leather’ from minute 1. We need to withstand the initial flurry and take control or better still punish them early on. The explosive pace in our front line will present them with a problem, drop off, concede control of the game and invite a hard press. Or, push up and get ripped to pieces in behind.
AN DÚN
I think you need to play in form players and O’Riley isn’t one of them.
Superbru Update
Round 19 is the last set of fixtures for 2022 and also when we give out some prize money to the current top 3 in the leaderboard.
First of all, we will get this week’s winners out of the way.
The yellow cap goes to Greenpinata with 10 points, holding off kelvinbhoy with 9.5 and McKenna_88 with 9. Three predictors ended up with 1 point each this week. BillyBhoy 13 was one of them but the computer arbitrarily awarded the wooden spoon jointly to his two fellow single pointers, LanarkBhoy and Friesdorfer.
On to the money announcements.
In 1st place winning £75 is A Thing of Beauty, proving yet again that men know nothing about fitba. Congratulations as you lead the points total with 117 points.
In 2nd place winning £45 is Leggy, surprising his brother-in-law again with his 111.5 points
And with a good performance in Round 19, Ayrshire Tim held on to 3rd place when he faced a strong challenge, and won £30 with his 107.5 points.
Please use the Banter column in Superbru to give me an indication of what to do with your prize money. I will leave an e-mail address there for you to communicate with me. We can transfer money by bank transfer or we can hand it over personally at the next home game, whichever you prefer.
We have a couple of entrants who have not been able to maintain participation regularly but, at the bottom, in the race for a prize of a real wooden spoon, we have Pro Cierto who has gone for 55 and achieved that in one half season, surpassing Serco’s 55 that took them a whole season. PC has held off stiff competition from Craig76 on 55.5 points and Park Road 76 on 59.5.
The individual best week points total prize is being shared currently by Ayrshire Tim and Melvin Udall with 14.5 points and that is a target everyone can aim at in the second half of the competition.
Once again, thank you all for your support and enjoy Hogmanay, New Year and an Ibrox event on the 2nd, above all.
I thought Bernebei really helped up the pace of the game, when he came on,very promising
BURNLEY78 on 29TH DECEMBER 2022 12:03 PM
Quadrophenian
Tommy Tomasso.
Now that brings back memories.
Hope all good with you.
———-
Genial and grumpy in equal measure, but great on the football basics was Tommy eh?
I’m just turning in for the night, but don’t recall if we swapped notes about St Joes before ?? HH
Right full back is perhaps the only questionable position for Monday.
JJ is probably not fully fit and it’s been what, 3 weeks since he kicked a ball in competition?
Ralston is also doubtful and didn’t make the bench last night. So he can be discounted I feel. It’s a great pity as he’s the type of player suited for the atmosphere of this game.
The Canadian, Alistair Johnston is unlikely to be in contention. I’d hate to throw him into the Govan cauldron, which would be experiencing a level of hate and intensity completely unknown to him.
The Rangers will be pushing Barisic forward and neither Abada nor James are the best at covering back.
I’d switch Maeda to the right wing to use his work rate, speed and covering to plug this exposure.
So do we use Reo again or do we play the 2 full backs Greg Taylor and Bernabei to fill the FB slots?
I’d prefer Reo in his natural MF role, leaving Ange to solve the conundrum.
He will probably surprise us all, including the Huns, by using 3 CBS.
watched the whole game just now, a few randoms in no particular order.
we played exceptionally well.
all of the players, every one of them, contributed something with very few errors.
our coaching staff look a very contented bunchm but absolutely no doubt Ange is their leader,
14 touches of the ball for Maeda goal, stunningly good.
not really a fan of a black stip, but this one is a modern day classic and should be retained for sometime.
maybe we have found our next penalty taker.
kyogo touch back.
thats it.
Mooys ability to take the ball under pressure against a high press and his greater experience in those sort of games means he gets the nod for me. O’Riley does a very specific job when we’re pressing so he plays alongside him. Ralston plays if fit, I’d be tempted to play AJ instead of Jura if he really is wanting away, AJ looks better defensively and I don’t like the idea of playing Jura ahead of players who want to be at Celtic in games that are so important to the players.
GG looks like he’s not happy when he comes on and seems to be playing a bit more for himself these days. You can understand it, being given token minutes must be doing his head in, but he’s obviously not going to be first choice as long as Kyogo is at Celtic so rather than have an unhappy player who could affect the atmosphere of the group the sensible thing is to move him on as quickly as we can get a replacement in. Our recent recruitment suggests we’ll get better for less.
In the last two games we’ve shown probably the best form of the season, especially given our record against Hibs. We’ve managed it without Jura, GG or Abada making any sort of meaningful contribution. We can do without all 3 and replace them with better players either in their or in other positions.
Bernebel needs more game time ,he has plenty of pace ,to me he looks like he is more of winger than a left back.
The stats trumpeters on radio and tv last few days talking up hibs at easter road being a bogey fixture for the celts having won only twice in 12 visits.
particulalrly keevins spouting shite.
i was left pondering what has previous managers with different squads got to do with the team and manager today, and the answer is he haw.
relevant for me was only ange results at easter road which are
hibs 1 celtic 3.
hibs 0 celtic 0.
not really a hoodoo is it,
on current form , or even on 2022 league form, we were always going to win and with some daylight.
add in our league cup win and i am struggling to know what the fuss is about.
same for the game on monday, ignore the noise, play our own game, we will win.
I thought Maeda’s performance last night told us everything you need to know about his mentality. How many of us would have backed him to score that goal after he missed the sitter?
He’s a must start at ibrox, they’ll be terrified of his pace and, most importantly these days, he’ll handle the atmosphere
celtic calander year 2022. domestic fixtures only
P 43
W 38
D 3
L -2 – ST Mirren freakishly bad for god knows what reasons + extra time loss to huns in cup semi.
we never stop
CELTIC40ME on 29TH DECEMBER 2022 2:03 PM
I thought Maeda’s performance last night told us everything you need to know about his mentality. How many of us would have backed him to score that goal after he missed the sitter?
————-
me.
i think the wee mans resilaince borders on the mystical, he is made of samurai steel.
i watched it again, i dont know that it is a bad miss, he did well to get to it.
‘GG on 29TH DECEMBER 2022 1:31 PM
I’d switch Maeda to the right wing to use his work rate, speed and covering to plug this exposure
———
Maeda is generally ineffective on the right and I don’t see Ange moving players about to account for their supposed strengths. Furthermore, Abada has had significant joy against Barasic. The best way to nullify their full backs is to push them back. And that also feeds into the Hatate/Mooy conundrum. When their full backs do get forward, I don’t think Mooy has the legs to consistently get across and help his full back.
TIMBHOY163 @ 1:58 PM,
For me the quicker we can get Bernabei up to speed and replace GT as a left wing back the better.
Love wee Greg and he’s playing out of his skin, the sublime pass he played last night shows no lack of skill either, yet to be a competitive UCL team we need Bernabei playing to his full potential.
Anyone think Abada and O’Riley being not fully focused on their game is due to the transfer speculation – ’cause I do.
We need a way of getting our quality prospects focused on their Celtic career and being their best, tell them they go at their peak and not before
We lost the yen because of this nonsense and we need to change the mindset, I’m sure it’s the way Ange thinks and it needs to be cemented from youths, through the B team to the first team –
You are here to play for Celtic, do that to the best of your ability and the rest will take care of itself
Hail Hail
Hail Hail
Quite funny with Croker and Walker just finished slaughtering Maeda for hitting the bar, he goes on to score a worldy. His header was hardly the miss from hell, as they tried to paint it.
Daizen has gone from escape goat to first name on the team sheet, these World Cup managers are so clueless. Four zip at Easter Rd the perfect way to end the year.
watched the header again.
sure it is an open goal when the cross is made, but when the ball gets to maeda he has two hibs defenders between him and the goal line, side by side and within 4 feet of him. i do think he tries to place the ball above them, but they are filling that side of the goal, its inches of a miss. and not an open goal.
as to GG, he set up o’riley and forrest and looked quite animated in a positive way whn the chances didnt go in, i dont think his head is down or indeed he is playing for himself.
goals at the edwardian toilet block for daizen and gg would be most welcome.
and jota, abada, forrest, kyogo and haksa.
why not.
edinburgh no1 – courtesy of paul larking, i am guessing 1950s
https://twitter.com/timspod/status/1606979929144442880/photo/2
0https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/whats-on/glasgow-pub-sees-dire-situation-25843239
McChuills
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/whats-on/glasgow-pub-sees-dire-situation-25843239
Paul 67, My friends in Celtic,
I don’t believe Daizen Maeda has ever been an escape goat. It has been rightly pointed out that he is not the most naturally potent goalscorer on our books.
We wanted a role for him to optimise his effectiveness. I amongst others suggested he must play, even if we found a modern Didier Agathe role that fitted Ange’s style.
Mooy was phenomenal last night. Many of us raised our eyebrows at his signing wondering what he would bring to the table. We now know.
His vision, awareness and general play was complimented by a magnificent penalty conversion. Aaron will be an integral cog in our machine going forward.
A 0-4 win and entertainment in a packed boozer. What’s not to like.
HH, the journey continues.
BB,
As previously stated. That is as good a reason for giving your money to a particular boozer as any. After last night Nicky is well aware of our appreciation.
Hail hail.