Consecutive defeats saw Hearts slip from a promising third to a Gorgie Insurrectionist sixth over the last nine days. Both reversals were by a single goal and came against our Coefficient Monkeys, Aberdeen and Newco, the latter of whom continue to do sterling work in Europe on behalf of the Scottish champions. It really does make a difference.
In his post-match interview at Pittodrie on Saturday, Hearts boss Steven Naismith explained how his team surrendered a lead by throwing the players under their luxury coach, “It wasn’t anything tactical, we got bullied”. Translated: My tactics were without flaw, and we would have won if the players had been man enough.
2024 is almost upon us but in corners of this country, people in position are still trying to explain away their own inadequacies by questioning the effort of those who work for them. It’s all a bit primitive, although, if you’ve ever been to Tynecastle on match days, perhaps Naismith is their perfect boss.
There has been a perfect symmetry to Hearts since September, they lose every game against teams who reached the European group stages, and beat everyone else, with the solitary exception of a draw against Hibernian. The aforementioned thrower-of-others-under-the-bus will attempt to arrest this run at Celtic Park tomorrow. Let’s not allow that.
The best news from earlier this week was the return to availability of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda. I would start Daizen in a heartbeat tomorrow. Cameron, on the other hand, what’s the rush?
His hamstring was only tweaked, so there is a high probability he would get through the game without incident. The question for Brendan, is, what’s the probability of the alternate outcome? Would three weeks’ rest guarantee his full recovery, and his implied availability for the game against one of our Coefficient Monkeys?
Liam Scales, Stephen Welsh and Gustaf Lagerbielke should have enough in the tank for this one.
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Time, I think, to recognise that – if you haven’t yet – Philippe Clement is a serious football manager.
Get in!
The 1978 World Cup saw this country’s expectations go through the roof.
What often happens when people get giddy … facts, evidence and reason hit the exits.
For those not old enough to recall … our group comprised
Peru
Iran
Scotland
Holland
As for reports this morning of Sevco eclipsing Celtic’s Champions League earnings.
See above ….. vertically
THE BATTERED BUNNET @ 12:01 PM,
Truth!!
Hail Hail
A decent result in Europe, but Clement manages the monkey huns, so his achievements in the Premiership must be viewed in the context of the pattern of assistance which has undoubtedly benefitted the zombies and contributed to their points total thus far.
What I mean by that is… our ‘coefficient monkey’ is just net 2 points behind us in the league, is in the final of the League Cup and has topped its group in the Europa League, having beaten a good Spanish team home and away.
Comparing the direction of travel of Clement’s team with that of Brendan Rogers’, it doesn’t take an expert in Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis to predict that the odds market for the SPFL title is narrowing measurably.
Our team selection is once again a headscratcher.
We are certainly a much weaker side without CVV, yet the makeshift team stood up to beat Feyenoord on Wednesday.
Hearts got beat by a decent team at the weekend, yet they do have an attacking threat.
Our winning streak in the SPL has hit an unfortunate blip, we need to win all our matches now before the winter’s break.
So pick the best team available Brendan.
CCV and Diazen to get the nod…
Hail Hail
For a while I have ventured that Stephen Welsh could make a half decent defensive midfielder, playing in front of our centre backs. Academic really given that he was out injured for so long. Might have picked up a strain for his sterling efforts mid-week, but if not could possibly replace Iwati who was certainly injured. That would allow us to play Acker Bilk alongside Liam Scales assuming Gustav has passed the weekly Myers-Briggs personality test set by Brendan that is.
Happy Friday all!
Betris currently sit 7th, 2 points head of Las Palmas. 15 points adrift form the leader.
A notable result yes but lets have some perspective
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 15TH DECEMBER 2023 12:11 PM
“our ‘coefficient monkey’ … has topped its group in the Europa League, having beaten a good Spanish team home and away.”
Won 6 of 16 games in La Liga and from what I’ve seen – mostly La Liga extended highlights to be fair – they look like a team who are going backwards year on year (managed decline as some might call it).
“Comparing the direction of travel of Clement’s team with that of Brendan Rogers’, it doesn’t take an expert in Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis to predict that the odds market for the SPFL title is narrowing measurably.”
Odds change as much on betting patterns as on predicted outcomes do they not? I might wear the waterproofs on my bike cause I see the skies are cloudy; it doesn’t make it more likely to rain.
As for direction of travel, have we not had better CL results this year with arguably worse injuries and a weaker squad? SPFL wise I remember dull home draws with Motherwell and St Mirren last year as well as an away defeat at Hibs. I can’t say I think we are much better or worse off than last season.
QB
QUADBHOY @ 12:44 PM,
Very good perspective.
If you look at our results in the round, we are certainly not going backwards.
Scottish football seems to be improving at Club and National level.
If we are seeing a better domestic football environment re-emerging, then it gives us as a Club a new challenge.
We should welcome rather than fear it.
Hail Hail
The Battered Bunnet on 15th December 2023 12:01 pm
Time, I think, to recognise that – if you haven’t yet – Philippe Clement is a serious football manager.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Did Geo not come within a penalty kick (ironic) of winning the Europa League?
Sssshhh Sssshhh
It had to happen.Usually head screwed on types getting caught up in the rush,instigated by the BBC,Record,Times,etc,that this one result has wiped out the fact,that this same team,took 1 point out of 6 against Ari’s,and were thrashed by PSV,attempting to reach the CL
The CL,you know that tournament that has now been overtaken by the Europa as the most lucrative to be in.I expect to see Man City,Madrid,etc,hoping to finish 5th in their leagues,to enable them to cash in on the Europa cash cow,you know the one Rangers are in,,but which has,much weaker teams competing.Easy money.
Mr Clements did not win at Aberdeen,his team,in fact cheated to earn a draw.Have struggled against a good few in the SPFL,only to be aided by penalties,and has not faced Celtic yet.
We shall see.
Paul67
Gustav and Scalesy to kick on from beating a better side on Wednesday, if CCV and Welshy don’t make it.
Bernardo if Tomoki is injured, might be too much to have Mikey start three games, in which case it’ll be
unleash……………James Forrest
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Yeah, Clement is no mug . Do the huns know he’s a Pape !!!!!!!!!!!
Just stuff these mini huns, and get them ready for Xmas. Funny eh !!
KINGLuBO
Coefficient Monkeys……….
Entitlement or what?
Watch Sevco get the easiest draw in the next round in Europe. UEFA are keeping them afloat.
That referee last night was shocking.
Bit of jealousy on here regarding Sevco ,they mostly do well in Europe,at present they have the same defence as last season and a good goalkeeper,
I watched their game last night. They are a big physical team, who bullied an aging Betis team, whose top players’ best years are behind them benefitted. They benefitted from two potential penalties being missed(?) by the ref and not scrutinised by VAR.
my overall impression was that the match was played under SPFL refereeing standards.
The implied notion expressed by many on here, and elsewhere, that Rangers are not competitive and that we will stroll the league is nonsense in my opinion. Their overall form & consistency (not to mention results) since appointing Clement has been better than ours and when you factor in the ‘patterns of assistance’ issue, we’re undoubtedly in a genuine and proper fight. I’ll admit that they seem to carry luck on their side (as evidenced last night), but that for me makes them a more, not less, dangerous opponent. Also, their goalkeeper looks like he has recovered the form that had people raving about him down South not so long ago.
We know that the wage bill in Govan exceeds our own, albeit by a small margin, and we also know that many of their players have lower resale values (at least for now) because they are older but consequently more experienced. It’s commonly accepted that the form of youngsters is more erratic than seasoned professionals, and that may well be what we’re currently witnessing. On this note, it’s understandable that Brendan Rogers wants a few more finished products and fewer projects in his 1st eleven, regardless of the potential shown by the latter.
I also look around Europe and see that many clubs that are participating in the Champions League are showing the effects of that in their domestic leagues. It is undoubtedly the most demanding competition of them all and we have looked rather fatigued at times – both towards the end of CL games and in domestic matches during this period. Hopefully, now that the CL is over for us, we might find the higher energy levels and the consistency that will serve to avert the type of damaging result we experienced last weekend. Any strong and experienced additions during the transfer window could also tilt things back in our favour as far as the league is concerned. That said, I still think it will be a close affair because with every win Rangers are clearly gaining confidence.
Near where I live in Budapest, there’s a street that is appropriately named Sharp Corner. The bus I frequently travel on stops their so the stop with that name is always displayed on a screen as you approach. The other day, simultaneously on another on-bus screen, it said “Hold on tight when the bus is in motion” (or words to that effect), and I couldn’t help thinking that the joint metaphor sums up Celtic’s season at this time. We’re approaching our version of the sharp corner and it’s not for the feint-hearted. So my advice to everyone would be to “hold on tight with hope in your heart!”
*they benefitted twice, I see!
They’re tall throughout the team and play long balls. Not many sides play that way so it’s something of a culture shock when European teams are faced with that challenge.
flip it, to when they need to be the team
on the front foot and they struggle. So they can beat Betis twice but drop 5 points against Aris.
In the SPFL, they meet an Aris more often than a Betis…
I’ll worry about the huns when they get a gaffer that makes them play 21st century football.
the latter of whom continue to do sterling work in Europe on behalf of the Scottish champions. It really does make a difference”
——————–
Twenty years without a knockout win? Makes you wonder how much worse it could be………
When sevco win in europe is it because the opposition were crap?
There’s a lot of money to be earned in the champions league next season and I think sevco will go all out in January. Don’t be surprised if they outspend us. Will we sell before we buy?
We could beat sevco next game and still loose this league.
I have every confidence in our board’s ability to mess things up.
Anyway, I suppose it’s only fair that we get something out of them!
I agree with TBB – the Huns are going to challenge us this season. I watched them last night and thought it was a good performance – one we’d have been delighted with. They generally defended well and they counterattacked really well. What have our weaknesses been? We’re easy to counterattack and we can’t defend corners. Plus the speed we’ve been playing at plays into their hands.
That said, they have Sima playing above his normal level and when that tails off their other forwards are garbage. And last night Betis rested three of the four defenders who played against Real Madrid at the weekend and their replacements were muck.
But still, we’d take a win in Spain any day of the week so it’s time to take Sevco seriously.
It’s irrelevant what supporters think Sevco are, its what our club does thats important, the ins and outs from Jan1, if we can win all the games to the break that would be exceptional form, and I think necessary.
Westcraigs 2:16
Absolutely spot on. We beat Rangers at the end of 2008, took one point from our next two games and lost the league (no need to go into the detail of that window!).
Every point counts the same. No extra points for beating the team nearest you. Every point dropped counts – regardless of how it relates to “the gap” at some spurious mid-season standing.
Oh dear the site is once again awash with hunterlopers tellin us how great they are and will not only outspend us but put us to the sword, on the other hand we bemoan about the mitb we both get and wonder why, well here’s the answer below as him and his version of rosemary’s baby at hame are proof in the puddin
UEFA Referees Committee 2019-2023 (updated December 2021)
Deputy Chairman
Hugh Dallas (SCO/UEFA Refereeing Officer)
One or two getting their Rainjurz’sss and their Sevco’s mixed up as well
Competition is good.
It should also make us more competitive and ensure no complacency on the pitch or indeed in the board room.
I hope neither has the same dismissive attitude as this host’s lead article today.
Anyway here’s something I penned last night, but forgot to post, as it refers tae far better hun side than is trying tae play the game right now:
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 14TH DECEMBER 2023 4:23 PM
TONTINE TIM on 14TH DECEMBER 2023 3:56 PM
Interesting reading your memories of how the huns had us under the cosh in the early sixties. Who could have guessed how much the pendulum would swing towards us as the sixties wore on!
The 1966 new year game on a frozen Parkhead was the game when I always felt the tide was turned. Wilson opened the scoring for them before we proceeded to put 5 past them including a Chalmers hat trick.
*Oh, I remember it well, I was trying tae play fitba at the time so didnae see to many games although I was at our game at the bigot dome against them earlier in the season where we lost 1-2 in a game which Jock for some reason inexplicably dropped Joe McGoals, it has since then been air brushed tae an injury but he did admit after it to being a big mistake.
We had beat them in the Glasgow Cup at Parkheid 6 days after Big Billy’s bumper game, they took the lead that night, but our equaliser occurred when big provan in goal for the injured martin who broke a finger trying tae save a big yogi piledriver let a wee ten thirty shot slip by him with Stevie netting the winner, so we had nothing to fear from them and added the GC to our SC within 11 days with victories over the bully wee and spiders.
After that hun defeat we never looked back and went on a run scoring for fun, except for a slip up at home tae the harry wraggs, including 5 weeks later IMHO the catalyst for the Big Cup as well as the first honest NIAR winning the LC in the 2 penalties and hun riot game at hunden.
Meanwhile the huns dropped 5 points including a loss at Fir Park culminating in another tie at Shawfield the week before Christmas, and then on the Holy Day as we were all congregated in my mothers, including lads who would have normally been at Parkheid, we all awaited the scores, a hush descended on the house as they were read out “Celtic 8 Morton 1” a huge roar went up, and then a louder one “rankers 2 Dunfermline 3” although he didnae score the star man that afternoon was Sir Furious who tore a brand new one in the hun defense.
On New Years day we won 1-3 at Shawfield while the huns trounced the Maryhill Magyars 4-0 at the bigot dome so on that night we were both on equal points only we had a game in hand over them with the Pars 3 points behind as we looked toward that big game on Monday January 3.
My pal and I decided to visit the famed Sarry Heid pregame, 3 rounds plus a drink for an oul worthy there, a couple of bottles of scrumpy, and a bottle of “T” with change fae 10 bob, we had hardly got settled before the wee dive bomber, playing on the right, replacing much tae our delight the injured wullie henderson and that was it from them as at half time even though we remained goal less there were only one set of fans singing, us.
We ran riot in the 2nd half and the score line flatters the huns and the only question was what was the goal of the game Bobby Murdochs or Charlie Gallaghers, we were that good but a huge mention tae big John Cushley who had once again, along with Luggie, nullified the threat of forrest and mclean
It wisnae all plain sailing though as we would drop 8 points in the run in, but they would drop 7 so we still won the League by 2 points although our goal difference was far superior to theirs by +14 goals.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 14TH DECEMBER 2023 4:23 PM
TONTINE TIM on 14TH DECEMBER 2023 3:56 PM
Interesting reading your memories of how the huns had us under the cosh in the early sixties. Who could have guessed how much the pendulum would swing towards us as the sixties wore on!
The 1966 new year game on a frozen Parkhead was the game when I always felt the tide was turned. Wilson opened the scoring for them before we proceeded to put 5 past them including a Chalmers hat trick.
*Oh, I remember it well, I was trying tae play fitba at the time so didnae see to many gams although I was at our game at the bigot dome against them earlier in the season where we lost 1-2 in a game which Jock for some reason inexplicably dropped Joe McGoals, it has since then been air brushed tae an injury but he did admit after it to being a big mistake.
We had beat them in the Glasgow Cup at Parkheid 6 days after Big Billy’s bumper game, they took the lead that night, but our equaliser occurred when big provan in goal for the injured martin who broke a finger trying tae save a big yogi piledriver let a wee ten thirty shot slip by him with Stevie netting the winner, so we had nothing to fear from them and added the GC to our SC within 11 days with victories over the bully wee and spiders.
After that hun defeat we never looked back and went on a run scoring for fun, except for a slip up at home tae the harry wraggs, including 5 weeks later IMHO the catalyst for the Big Cup as well as the first honest NIAR winning the LC in the 2 penalties and hun riot game at hunden.
Meanwhile the huns dropped 5 points including a loss at Fir Park culminating in another tie at Shawfield the week before Christmas, and then on the Holy Day as we were all congregated in my mothers, including lads who would have normally been at Parkheid, we all awaited the scores, a hush descended on the house as they were read out “Celtic 8 Morton 1” a huge roar went up, and then a louder one “rankers 2 Dunfermline 3” although he didnae score the star man that afternoon was Sir Furious who tore a brand new one in the hun defence.
On New Years day we won 1-3 at Shawfield while the huns trounced the Maryhill Magyars 4-0 at the bigot dome so on that night we were both on equal points only we had a game in hand over them with the Pars 3 points behind as we looked toward that big game on Monday January 3.
My pal and I decided to visit the famed Sarry Heid pregame, 3 rounds plus a drink for an oul worthy there, a couple of bottles of scrumpy, and a bottle of “T” with change fae 10 bob, we had hardly got settled before the wee dive bomber, playing on the right, replacing much tae our delight the injured wullie henderson and that was it from them as at half time even though we remained goal less there were only one set of fans singing, us.
We ran riot in the 2nd half and the scoreline flatters the huns and the only question was what was the goal of the game Bobby Murdochs or Charlie Gallaghers, we were that good but a huge mention tae big John Cushley who had once again, along with Luggie, nullified the threat of forrest and mclean
It wisnae all plain sailing though as we would drop 8 points in the run in, but they would drop 7 so we still won the League by 2 points although our goal difference was far superior to theirs by +14 goals.
“ONENIGHTINLISBON on 15TH DECEMBER 2023 1:43 PM
Coefficient Monkeys……….
Entitlement or what?”
Humour surely. I can’t see how anyone can read entitlement into that.
It made me chuckle anyway.
If you want to look at Paul’s leader to find something to find offensive, you could always read this as a subtle dig at BR after the Killie game and all BR’s talk of personality etc:
“In his post-match interview at Pittodrie on Saturday, Hearts boss Steven Naismith explained how his team surrendered a lead by throwing the players under their luxury coach, “It wasn’t anything tactical, we got bullied”. Translated: My tactics were without flaw, and we would have won if the players had been man enough.”
Even that is a stretch though given MOR and other players said much the same.
QB
Spotting the dog whistling…
TopOfTheClassCSC
Hail Hail
CCV and Maeda in squad for tomorrow Abada and Reo a couple of weeks away