O’Neill’s Celtic’s GOAT claim and persisting core attributes

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If Shane Duffy wanted to whet the appetite of supporters after securing his loan move to Celtic, scoring a 93rd minute equaliser for Ireland in their Nations Cup game in Bulgaria last night was the way to achieve it.  Those who know the player told us he was a commanding presence and the manner in which he powered home his header from a corner kick backed this up.

When you watch how teams defend set-pieces against Celtic, you will note their key defensive resources concentrate on Christopher Jullien.  He also appears to be the man other Celtic players try to provide space for, by stopping opponents getting a block on him.

Jullien is a better set-piece target than we have had in many years, but this makes us predictable to defend against.  Duffy will make Celtic significantly less easy to stop on these occasions.

If there was a Greatest Set-Piece Team of All Time table, Martin O’Neill’s Celtic would sit top.  Bobo Balde, Chris Sutton, Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and John Hartson were five absolute mountains.  Defenders seldom knew who to cover.  As a consequence, Henrik Larsson did as much damage in the air as any of them.

Football has changed greatly in the years since that team rose to prominence, it was a thing of its time, but defending and attacking at set-pieces requires the same core attributes.

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  1. THROUGH THE RAIN on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2020 10:05 PM

     

     

    Just received surprising info… Celtic paying all of Shaun Duffy’s wages during the loan year!

     

     

     

    😳CSC

     

     

    surprising ? who else would be paying him?

     

    :-)

     

     

    hh

  2. Through the rain on

    Not uncommon for the owning club to continue to pay part of the wage especially when the receiving club is in a ‘smaller’ league environment. In fact probably always the case I would have thought. And that’s not even taking into account the loan fee to the parent club….

     

     

    My shock is possibly enhanced by the reported salary (which may be nonsense of course!)

  3. THROUGH THE RAIN Would you happen to know if we have a permanent fee at the end of the loan deal , that’s the difference between a good deal or not for me ?

  4. I listened to one of the Celtic state of mind podcasts earlier this week. The host Paul John Dykes mentioned that our former director had told him we tried to sign Paul McGrath . Paul said Big Billy , Neil Mochan and Tom Grant had travelled to Manchester to meet Paul McGrath at a function.

     

     

    When they arrived where the function was , Paul McGrath had enjoyed the hospitality a bit to much which did not impress our guys. What could have been.

     

     

    Paul John also said if Paul McStay had left , Gascoigne, when he was at Newcastle, was who the board wanted to sign as his replacement.

  5. JVR 10.57pm

     

     

    As you know I have the attention of a newt and much the sane memory but through MB he has got me into Open Goal .. the good lady loves Slaney .. John Higgins was on this week … favourite Euro game .. I said we beat Partizan Belgrade 5-4 and still went out, JH (John Higgins) went for that game … favourite player am shouting must be the Maestro .. JH … “growing up there is only one .. Paul McStay” through the seasons when we didn’t win everything we all probably clung onto whatever we could … these days maybe some fans cling onto what we don’t have :-)

  6. Gerry, one of the advantages of working from home I can listen to podcasts or music to make my day be a bit more enjoyable. Open Goal with John Higgins was really good. John’s brother , Jason, is on the Homebhoys podcast.

     

     

    Dallas junior getting our game next week , would ideally be questioned by Celtic, but I don’t think it will. Dingwall must be the place where the SFA pay match officials the most expenses for travelling and staying the night before a Ross County game.

  7. Bankiebhoy1.. 11.23pm

     

     

    You should be chief moderator on here

     

     

    Am oblivious at times at the defining some posts … you seem to have a (Tim) “nose” for every skeekit ;-)

     

     

    Keep at it :-)

  8. JVR 11.32pm

     

     

    Working from home ??? Since I went back to work I think I have a wee cloud following me called “wfh” as I have been soaked to the skin every single day, added to being masked :-)

     

     

    The new punters are actually a good laugh, even better they are changing their arm with AoW being their manager … definitely poacher turned gamekeeper from AoW … :-)

  9. Neil Lennon & McCartney on

    Shane Duffy: A proper hard arsed old school defender

     

     

    from my Brighton~supporting mate

     

     

    HH

  10. Corkcekt from Wednesday morning around 8.48am

     

     

    Your post about Shane Duffy made me smile on way to work, I haven’t saw much of Shane at all but your post reminded me of a certain Mick McCarthy back in the 80s … sometimes you just need somebody in there to organise and not get pushed around ..

     

     

    Although I think big Julienne gets a bit of a bad press against guys like Dykes & the Killie guy … before joining Celtic all these “challenges” on Julienne in France would have been fouls … we should judge the big man against Lazio & not Livingston… our refs will favour Livvy :-) now

  11. Gerry , I’ve asked if I could come back to work but our boss said , naw.

     

     

    I tried to upload a Paul McStay video from you tube earlier but couldn’t get it done. My lack of basic IT skills strike again.

  12. JVR 12.05am

     

     

    SO has been excellent since all this started … but trust me your better off not in the office … 2 metres distance ? Your lucky if any of them stay 2ft away

     

     

    But it is what it is ….. the train journey is far worse than the office guff :-)

  13. MADMITCH on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2020 3:25 PM

     

     

    I genuinely get what you are saying too.

     

    I realise (or should I say my Mrs tells me) I have too much time in my hands and immerse myself in too much political coverage during the course of a normal day.

     

    The current state of play in the UK and the US is both bewildering and quite frankly depressing.

     

    This blog used to be an antidote to and a pleasant diversion from the division and bitterness at large but it’s increasingly less so and that’s a shame.

     

    And yep, I do know it’s in my gift to give up on the blog entirely.

     

    Cheers and HH

  14. Hello again all you young rebels.

     

     

    From a nice sunny fathers day here in Oz.

     

    The princess is on barbie duties so I can just lie back

     

    And sup my beer.

     

    H.H. Mick

  15. Gerry, I dropped my wife off on Milton Street the other week about 9.15. Lucky I’d there as a dozen cars parked in Milton Street,.

     

     

    I’m hoping David Turnbull gets on the pitch at some point next week. He is another plaYer the opposition will worry about.

  16. The mystery finally solved — all the chatter surrounding PG in late 87 / early 88.

     

     

    i can remember the chat in the paper where PG said that he was flattered that we were interested in him — seemed a bit pie in the sky to me at the time.

     

     

    Now we have the missing half — PMcS out would allow him in.

     

     

    I can remember Scotland playing Spain around this time and all the focus was on him to the extent that the English based commentators had him as the main talking point. Must have been an open secret that discussions were taking place about him moving.

     

     

    For the record Spain put two people and marked him out of the game.

     

     

    The great missing link — what might have been …

     

     

    KD / CN / PMcS in the same team.

     

    Add in DH / DMcG / GC for good measure.

     

    Not forgetting RA and TB …

     

     

    We have never been short of talent — just keeping and organising it.

  17. Melbourne Mick, you posted a few comments days ago about someone with a Celtic connected name .

     

     

    There was a boy in my year at school called Timmy Teague ,pronounced Taig, by him.

  18. JVR

     

     

    All good ,ta for asking, but it’s murder we canny see them or

     

    gie Wee grace a cuddle.

     

    Big decision today from the premier, does he relax some restrictions

     

    or continue the lockdown till the virus infections are in single figures?

     

    Not looking good.

     

    Hope you and everyone else are safe and well.

     

    H.H. Mick

  19. JVR

     

     

    Was mated up with a Geordie guy offshore and he was called Tommy

     

    Teague, I of course called him Timmy.

     

    I believe the name is related to the black Irish.

     

    Hope I’ve not offended anyone but I think I read that somewhere.

     

    Still think Tim Tully is a belter.

     

    H.H. Mick

  20. Think you’re all bedded down now, so another gairdin

     

    party beckons for me.

     

    Any more of this and I’ll need to crawl out of lockdown 8-))

     

    Laters.

     

    H.H. Mick

  21. Melbourne Mick, a friend of mine lives in Melbourne ., his wife is a nurse. He told me she has been working longer shifts and lucky to get even a day off . He’s very concerned about her welfare plus that of his two sons particularly if his wife does not have the correct protective equipment.

     

     

    Let’s hope you get good news about the lockdown being lifted with people following the lockdown being lifted.

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