Paddy McCourt was the difference between the teams today as Celtic came from behind for the second time in three days to beat Motherwell at Celtic Park, securing second spot in the league. Craig Higdon opened the scoring for Motherwell after 11 minutes with a header from a corner kick but Anthony Stokes levelled, also from a corner, two minutes later. Substitute Gary Hooper scored the winner late on.
Despite a sprightly first minute Celtic were on the back foot for most of the opening period and it was no surprise Motherwell opened the scoring. Nor was the manner in which they lost the goal a surprise. Tom Hately crossed from a short corner which Celtic slept at, failing to mark-up. The defence also pushed out in instalments, leaving Craig Higdon free six yards from goal to head home.
Celtic immediately pushed forward and Georgios Samaras flicked a Kris Commons header onto Stokes at the back post, who volleyed into the net.
A Commons free kick was blocked by Samaras, whose shot was saved. Thomas Rogne headed a Commons’ corner on target but the ball was blocked on the line. On the half hour mark Higdon drew a good save from Fraser Forster.
Four minutes into the second half Stokes should have given Celtic the lead when he latched onto a long ball from Daniel Majstorovic which evaded the defence but Darren Randolph closed the space. On 54 minutes the lively Stokes cut-back for Commons who took one touch too many and was robbed. Fraser Forster was called into action again soon thereafter when he blocked a Nicky Law effort.
Paddy McCourt replaced Samaras with 15 minutes to go and transformed the game. On 79 minutes he collected the ball inside his own half, drifted through a nervous looking Motherwell midfield until he reached the edge of the D before feeding Stokes on the left. Stokes made space before rifling the ball into the six yard box for Gary Hooper to score the winner.
Tim Clancy was shown a straight red card late on for kicking Gary Hooper. If referee Charlie Richmond had taken an earlier opportunity to control Lasley or Jennings, Gary Hooper, James Forrest and Beram Kayal would perhaps have finished the game with fewer injuries.
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Eyes Wide Open says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:38
I never heard the official reason why Richmond was dropped. I don’t think a reason was given. He was just quietly sidelined. I may be wrong…again.
BUT, he was the ref who came out and said that Dougie Mc.Donald should resign, when the disgraced ref was hanging on to his job, long past the time when he should have gone.
So, I would guess that he was dropped for breaking ranks and was today given the chance for rehabilitation….which he gratefully grasped.
Acquiesce or resign, Celtic. Which is it?
lazydynamite
today, and probably today only – I could give you Craig Burley’s phone number – an HE could list the things Richmond did wrong.
so mabye instead of shrugging your shoulders in post form, you should maybe accept you might be a ‘bit’ wrong and go and watch the game again…
u
Thomthetim,
Perfect synopsis.
HH
Udinese 2 — Sienna 1 .
Winner scored by Di Natale . Great goal . 10 th goal in 12 games .
Striker ! ———
Great shift from Siena’s goalkeeper Brkic who saved Siena from a hiding . He is on loan at Siena from Udinese !
ESPN: referee allowing Motherwell away with murder.
Radio Scotland: referee a wee bit eccentric but do we want to make it a non-contact sport; reminds of how game reffed about 8 years ago and more.
Paraphrased, of course.
Radio Scotland talking heads need to ask themselves a couple of questions
1. Did any of the eccentricity adversely affect MWell? If not, then find another word to explain Richmond’s performance. Eg biased, negligent, incompetent.
2. Does contact sport not have to be within the confines of the laws of the game and protection of players? If not, is there any need for referees?
One of my kids pointed out that we have ONLY had seven different scorers this season in all competitions ad only two started the game.
hamiltontim says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:58
Aye table 3 over in far corner won the “signed” baw in the raffle, which is now heading its way with Wireless to Belfast prob be raffled for the Erin Go Bragh Bus!!
Cracking night, not a bad pint in there either
its not about which rag i read.
the whole conspiricy theory nonsense has become nothing more than a byeword or excuse for our own in failings.
rangers are on the verge of 4 in a row because we have been rank rotten..we should be pointing the finger of blame at our own managment team/teams ,players and board of directors before looking for third party excuses.
i stand by my claim that this celtic squad is one of the worst i can recall in the modern era.even in the dark 1990s we had the majesty of paul mcstay and john collins.
i admired neil lennon as a player but i seriously do not rate him as a manager [of celtic anyway].
perhaps given his experiance here he could go on to be a decent manager at a smaller club he has less sentimental involvent with.
Lazy personal pronoun abuse.
HH
Lazydynamite,
Fair enough. Maybe you are not a Hun. Maybe you are just a Celtic fan who feels compelled to come on to a Celtic forum to vent his fury after seeing your team dig deep and fight to win a vital 3 points.
I’d hate to imagine your anger had we not won today!
You are correct in saying there are some on here who have blind faith but today was a good win under farcical circumstances. I honestly feared for the safety of Forrest for much of the game and was just glad to see us get through it without any serious injuries.
Is there any result that would have pleased you today?
Philboy,
Wheeshed.
This is not a primary school playground.
I don’t have to state my celtic supporting ‘credentials’. Take me at my word.
End of.
jc2
Good stat.
Clever kids.
Yours? ;-)
Yep Stokes and Forrest. No others scored for us.
Should be getting goals from all players in all areas.
lazydynamite @ 16:02
“its not about which rag i read.
the whole conspiricy theory nonsense has become nothing more than a byeword or excuse for our own in failings.”
There’s where you’re wrong. It is exactly about which rag you read, as that is the source of the nonsense you are spouting. Stop reading them, eh. But most of all, stop repeating their nonsense here.
And please stop referring to “conspiracy theory nonsense”. You are denying something that has been and is very real, and you badly need to escape the conditioning which has reduced your ability to form an opinion of your own. Open up your eyes.
lazydynamite is not a Hun or any other rubbish like that and he has a point – Celtic were not great today but other posters have a valid explanation for this – the Motherwell players and the referee didn’t allow us to play.
Watching the first half Motherwell got away with tackles which most teams in most leagues would have seen red for. I thought there was no possibility that Celtic were getting to play our football because after the first 15 minutes, it was obvious to the crowd, TV audience, the Celtic players and EVEN Craig Burley that the referee was letting them off with tackles which were inexplicable other than by way of cheating or inability on Richmond’s part. This is the same referee at the same venue 2 years ago who denied Celtic 2 clear cut penalties before finally giving us one which Robson missed and when Fortune was clean in on goal, he blew for full time. The guy is a disgrace as a ref and should not be in the top flight and how he came to be appointed only a select few will know.
Lasley, Jennings, Higdon and Hammil ALL should have seen red today along with that clown Clancy who has previous against Celtic. Had the ref done his job, Celtic would have faced at least 8 men for that second half – I don’t care about the spectacle, or any other rubbish, I care about the rules and yet again “honest mistakes” came out in force in a must win match.
Compare the following:
Celtic vs Aberdeen – Arnason makes 7 dangerous tackles before getting a yellow
Aberdeen vs Rangers – First tackle by Arnason after 10 minutes – instant yellow
Collum is referee in both matches
Celtic vs Aberdeen – fallon tries to take Charlie Mulgrew’s leg off – only a yellow
Aberdeen vs Rangers – he jumps for a ball and gets a straight red which is later quashed on appeal
Collum refereed both matches
The game’s rules are not being applied properly and we all know who the beneficiaries of this style of non-application – that is why they have won what they have in the last 3 years along with cheating the tax man, along with racking up debt they can’t afford and along with “buying” players they don’t pay for until years later.
Even today we see a Motherwell player kick out at an opponent and finally get what was deserved for that team from minute 1. Jelavic can kick an Aberdeen player while on the deck off the ball and only get a yellow from Gollum.
There you have it.
I have not been banging on about referees this year but I feel after a performance like that we are still being cheated.
I wonder if the statisticians who knew exactly the number of penalties we got last season are counting the number Rangers have racked up. At this rate, they’ll get more than 17 in jig time. Are you listening Mr Keevins? Us looneys on the net have facts behind us you are your lobbyist ilk will not use. We know why.
Celtic won a game where they weren’t allowed to play football by the opposition or ref – we should rejoice, get ready for a repeat at Inverness in two weeks and then get 9 points in a week, cut their lead to 9 at least and then see what happens.
This is not over.
Well done the team minus 10 players
Well done Neil Lennon for the substitutions
Mon the Hoops
Hail Hail
Gordon64 says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:58
I’m celebrating
Not much left,you got any beer up there??
Canny be ersed brekkin intae bt’s gang hut.
MadMitch says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:39
We have been overrun in midfield for a few seasons now, as we play a version of 4-2-4.
But, today, I don’t fault the selection, due to the fact that we have run out of midfielders.
Brown, Ki and Ledley were all missing for us and I’m sure if Ledley had been fit, he would have played ahead of Commons.
I think Neil finally realises that we have to win the midfield battle ti control games.
If he hasn’t, then it’s about time he did.
Therefore, I can understand the weakness there today.
Both Kayal and Victor played well and worked hard. it became obvious that Victor tired towards the end. Two games a week in midfield for a 19 year old is tough.
That left Kayal virtually on his own and, I think, he rose to the challenge.
For all that he played well, Matthews was at fault for the goal, playing three men onside, by not coming out with the rest.
Until we get a recognised, settled back four, mistakes will keep happening.
So much so, that until then, we must rely on our forwards doing the business.
It’s difficult to play football when your ball players can be kicked every time they try to run with the ball. It may not have been our most fluid performance of the season, but Richmond is more to blame for that than any of our players.
Today was all about the three points. We overcame an early deficit and got back into the game quickly. And when we needed to find a winner our strikers combined to make it happen.
Don’t the “experts” often say that winning difficult games without playing to your best is the sign of a good team?
Che
Wish I’d known, would have said hello.
A lovely Guinness, just too many of them :)
Really pleased with performance today.
We have to recognise (though not necessarily accept) that Motherwell’s rough house tactics are a feature of every game we will play away from home – thought we coped well, and showed the grit to slug it out for first hour , and then win the game in last 30 .
This is the way need to play to get results in Scotland away from home – match them physically and win the right to play football.
One question I do have – around this time last year( possibly further into November) , we had a bad spell, and, we started to pick up when Ki dropped out the team.
I don’t want to start a campaign, but I happen to think he is a dry weather player, and despite a lot of grace on the ball, he is not always effective.
Anyway else agree ?
hamiltontim says:
6 November, 2011 at 16:10
Likewise
were you with CaltonTongues mob?
up_over_goal says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:47
OK. To those saying Paddy was ‘poor’ on Thursday.
I’ll let you into a secret.
Sometimes Paddy comes on and doesn’t create and score a thrillingly sublime goal.
I know, shocking. But true.
Not often i share your opinion, However on the derry Pele you are correct
Paddy goes for the throat of the opposition, he attacks without fear driving and committing his opponents to tackle him
It is the toughest and most difficult route to take, thank god Paddy is blessed with the skill and ability to carry it off sometimes
Stokes took up a good position today giving Paddy an option which was used to give us the winner
All to often we have player who watch him like spectators
The Honest Cover-up says:
6 November, 2011 at 16:03
Lazydynamite,
Fair enough. Maybe you are not a Hun. Maybe you are just a Celtic fan who feels compelled to come on to a Celtic forum to vent his fury after seeing your team dig deep and fight to win a vital 3 points.
I’d hate to imagine your anger had we not won today!
You are correct in saying there are some on here who have blind faith but today was a good win under farcical circumstances. I honestly feared for the safety of Forrest for much of the game and was just glad to see us get through it without any serious injuries.
Is there any result that would have pleased you today?
YES
it would have pleased me if we had gone to fir park today and wiped the floor with complete dross like motherwell….3 or 4 nil .
considering the size of our club,the fanbase we have,the history we have and the complete distortion in wages our players earn compared to motherwell then yes ITS WHAT I DEMAND AND EXPECT.
i do however understand that football can sometimes be funny .if we dominate a game [ala st johnston at parkhead earlier in the season] and somehow dont win ,then i will always go easy on the team.
if however we scrape a win despite being as bad /or worse than utter mince like motherwell then i am always going to ask questions.
Snake
hun does not have a capital H even when you start a sentence with it. Stop kissing hun ass by doing so.
HH
I see Mr Lasley again up to his old tricks trying to boot us off the park .
This guy’s previous performances against us are always the same.
i was really proud of the performance from celtic today
especially with that TERRIBLE! referee
motherwell got away with murder today
but celtic still won the game
and all that terrible tackling was for nothing :-)
two great wins now and im happy we won today
after playing against rennes on thursday
there is nothing negative i can say about celtics performance today
but i will give credit where its due
i thought mccourt changed the game
i really like matthews and the rest of the team
where great today as well
keep it up lenny and keep it up celtic
DB67
aw naw
My spell checker says differently I’m afraid and I don’t use that word myself so I wouldn’t know. I was responding to some people talking about another poster.
Ghuys – I’m going to be controversial and state that for me it matters not if we win this , Erm, league or not.
Neil Lennon will still be the man for the job, as long as we continue to show the fight and desire we have shown of late.
Granted, his back-room staff may need a tweak along the way,
(i’d like to see a Dr Jo type added, someone who’s spent a lifetime coaching in and around the international scene)
but NL is the man for the long term.
Sure it would be nice to win the league, for me, mainly for the GIRUY factor,
but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all.
The SPL is a sham, a fix, a dead horse, a joke, it is spurious !
and tells us very little about our team.
Europe is where their judgement of progress/lack of should be made.
By the reading of people in the know it looks almost a certainty the hun will go to the wall this season,
and regardless of whatever dark arts are applied by the Sectarian Football Association,
they will not have a Euro licence next year.
Thus, and please tell if i’m mistaken,
a crack at the Champions league will be a certainty.
Please, do not let our judgement be clouded by our country’s bigoted little set-up.
Anyways up
Well done to the team today
That is no small victory
And beating the Mothers anyday is a good day.
We are in consolidation mode just now.
And that result hurts them – all of them.
If my facebook page is anything to go by – HULK HATE CELTIC SCORE – only he’d have to be blue not green…
We’ve annoyed folk today.
As the farmer says in Babe
That’ll do…
U
lazydynamite says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:16
Celtic fan ..in your dreams
Celts making less chances… but converting more of the chances they are making – you feel that is a negative issue?
“lennon.. rangers… a few corner decisions”
you never saw the blatant assaults and lack of ref actions?
aye, right!
Listened to the game on shortbread as I was driving when it was on- our winner was almost whispered such was the reception it was given by their unbiased reporters- then Chico talks about the winning goal- “marginal whether Hooper was in an offside position- but I suppose that as the ball was cut back to him he should get the benefit of the doubt” (If you are behind the ball you are onside Chico), and again at the sending off- Chico says- “I just watched the incident on TV and saw nothing”, McCall then comes on and says- yes the player admitted kicking Hooper. Chico comes back with- Yes I just watched it again and can see that now. Trying to appease the protesters maybe, or just institutionally biased
Paddy “Pat” McCourt shows the value of running more slowly but keeping control of the ball.
Will never catch on….in their faces every time
I predicted before the season started, that by November and December, the Rangers bench would be reduced to journeymen & kids but Celtic could use their larger squad to keep stronger talent available from the bench.
Well Yesterday Rangers were reduced to :-
Alexander,Broadfoot,Ortiz,Bedoya (journeymen) and Fleck, Hemmings, Wylde(kids)
however we are now reduced to :-
McCourt & McCourt (squad strength)
Zaluska (journeyman)
& Chalmers, Fraser,McGregor, McGeouch (kids)
Not as much distance as I’d hoped.
Snake
He is a hun so you need to correct your spelling checker.
HH
thomthethim @ 15:58
>> Acquiesce or resign, Celtic. Which is it?
I really hope it doesn’t come to that. We would have nowhere to go, but if the HMRC claim is upheld and Them prove too big to fail, staying in a league that was so blatantly corrupt and condoning financial fraud would be too much for me. It would be better to bring the whole edifice down on their unworthy heads and start again.
That should read as McCourt & Hooper (squad strength) but Paddy is worth 2 name checks
hamiltontim says:
6 November, 2011 at 15:44
Id concur with you about Stokes today mate.
I’d like Lennon to sit down in a room with Stokes tomorrow and watch the game again.
After Id like Lennon to tell Stokes – thats the benchmark big man.
If you play like that every week – I will guarantee you will start every game you are fit enough for, for a very very long time.
Unfortunately Stokes is the kind of guy who needs to be shown things.
Commons on the other hand in my opinion was ‘outed’ today. Him and Kayal were singled out for extra curriculars today – Kayal grew 10 feet and Commons went hiding.
Its that very trait which is the cause of our inconsistency.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
6 November, 2011 at 16:00
Thank you. Now I’ll have to go and find out what a synopsis is and can I get anything for it.
Hope you enjoyed your protracted honeymoon and that the German economy survived your absence.:>)
I see Shaun Maloney wasn’t playing for Wigan today nor was he listed as a sub. In fact, from what I can determine, he has only made 3 appearances for Wigan.
Is he injured? Again?