The plan for central defence this season was clear. Carl Starfelt would be allowed to leave, and Maik Nawrocki and Gustaf Lagerbielke would be signed. Liam Scales would return to Aberdeen on either a loan or permanent basis. Stephen Welsh and Yuki Kobayashi were not expected to play significant roles.
Before August was out, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Nawrocki, Welsh and Kobayashi were all injured. Celtic dropped their first points of the season at home to St Johnstone, with Scales and Lagerbielke in a shaky looking central defence. We anticipated a difficult time the following week at Ibrox.
Against St Johnstone, Liam Scales was caught in the headlights when defending a couple of over-the-top balls that forced him to turn back and clear. One which came late in the game could have resulted in the visitors leaving with all three points. On moments like this, careers can turn.
Newco were watching. One week later, they tried the same tactic against Liam, but he was ready for it. To be fair to Newco, Celtic were a bit deeper than they were against St Johnstone, so they had less space to aim for behind the defender. This allowed Liam to attack several of the attempts to turn him, or simply clear if the ball fell behind him.
He played every minute of our Champions League games but partnered Carter-Vickers, Welsh, Lagerbielke, Phillips and even Iwata during the campaign. Now, he is without doubt our first choice to partner Carter-Vickers, no matter who else is available.
Importantly, he is left footed, on receipt of the ball he can open the game up more naturally than Starfelt, who played left last season but preferred his right. Left footed defenders are rarer and therefore more valuable than the more common alternative.
By the summer, he will be 26 years old. He is not the finished article, like Carter-Vickers, and he doesn’t bring the ball forward, like Kris Ajer, but he is a better defender and less error-prone than Kris.
Were it not for how reliant the manager has become on him in the middle, he may have plugged gaps on the left. At this age, Liam is running out of developmental road but he is entering the peak five years of his career. Given a fair wind, his partnership with Cameron could sustain for a few years to come. There is no surprise Celtic have opened talks on extending his contract.
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He’s a spiv.
happened a few times as well…..
Sold out Saturday will be the fourth time Celtic FC have played Kilmarnock this season, with a possibility of a fifth and sixth meeting before the end of the season. Therein lies one of the main problems facing Scottish Football. Not the only one of course, but a major one. I have long argued for a bigger Premier Division, featuring clubs of a similar stature to Kilmarnock, Partick, Falkirk, Dunfermline, Dundee Utd, Ayr, Raith, ICT etc, with, in the main one home and one away fixture. Ideally enabling more young players to play at a higher level and in theory at least improving the overall quality of player. Auldheid has argued something similar over the years. There is only one major stumbling block to this, (and it is not our share of the broadcasting deal which is pitiful) it is the Old Firm mentality which exists and persists at executive and board level at Celtic, the SPL and the SFA. Celtic FC should step up, and argue that the SPL is letting football in Scotland down, too many games against too few teams, teams like Killie. Something better change.
OldFirmrUsCSC
Lazio get the same Pen as Celtic did against Hibs.
Dandy Dons 3
Murderwell 4
Seven minutes added time. Can Ross Co nick one?
Yes it is sad all the didi teams want only to maximise OF revenue, but the answer is not to increase the number of didi teams in the league.
The onus is on the didi teams to up their game.
3-1. Off to bed
Another 7 added ,plain cheating
where in the name of “the men who stare at goats” did they get 7 mins??
Hope raith score now
Remember killie did that?
the blogger
Is that the best you can come up with?
Case in point – it seems that 5 didi teams plus the huns are complaining to the SPFL they have been deprived of revenue because of hun complaints 🤔
Guessing the extra seven minutes wasn’t for Ross County’s benefit.
Still top off the League ? Sorry Bada and An Dun etc……..
Up the Celts!
Celtic mac – er, yes.
Normally adding shit to shit doesn’t really produce roses.
The didi teams should stop relying on OF gate revenue to survive and up their game.
Over 9 minutes added plus 5 in 1st half,no injuries of any note
I’ll go first: “Ranjurz narrowly miss out going top after emphatic 2-1 triumph over resurgent Ross County”.
the blogger
Name the six ‘diddy teams’.
9mins of the 7 added on complete – game over. Still top despite the officials giving them every minute – this league is a sorry shameless organization. Hope st Johnsone smash them (although Levien is a serial subordinate against them).
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
If they cant beat raith by 3 goals with 15 mins
I repeat
15 mins of injury time (with no major injury stops in either half)
ahahahahahahahahahahahha
They will never get a better chance
Sevco bottle it. . . . . . .
They would have gotten a huge lift had they gone top tonight. They didn’t, and the opposite will be the result. Celtic have been through a bad patch for the past few weeks, some of it self inflicted by machinations outwith the team and management, but with the big players coming back i can see Celtic steamrolling their way to the title.
They bottled it tonight, they were probably boo’d off the pitch, due to the entitlement of their 3/37 fans. This is a big night tonight. Sevco failed the audition against the worse club in the league.
btw – I’m all for getting extra minutes for time wasting as shy’s, corners etc. but when I watch celtic , its rarely the case. In fact, I remember 7 substitution and only 1min added. CHEATS – we need to rise above it, starting with a convincing revenge score against Killie
But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but …
… we were supposed to be top of the league tonight.
How did they get 14 minutes of added time – yet no injuries?
SARGASSOSEA
Cos the games bent in scotland?
Did the old super duper , no one like us , most successful club in the world have the chance
to go top of the league tonight (on the anniversary of their going into administration which preceded liquidation but no one’s allowed to mention that ) after a long run of games at home when their rivals and current Champions had a long run of games away from home where they dropped some points?
Did they fail to take that chance and remain second ?
Thought so.
also
Sign raith’s keeper….
ross county lol
Still top of the league…
Sevco sneaked it tonight, with just the 43 shots, 23 on target. 1 against.
By comparison we mustered 17 shots against the same opposition a few weeks ago, 7 on target. Lamentable.
It’s almost as if the calamitous ‘model’ has rendered us inferior to the skint hun.
Looks like Mark Lawwell will be paying the price for being not very good at his job.
I fear ‘the model’ Is the bigger issue.
I wonder how the balance sheet bhoys will rationalise a £120M swing to the hun if they go on to win the league. At best our odds are 50/50.
At best.
Celtic still top.
And a home against er Killie on Saturday to go three clear
Raman seen on Squinty Bridge with nothing but his underpants on his head.
STV producer trying to talk him down.
Why support Celtic if you want them to lose, or their enemies to win? I don’t get it.
The huns don’t look much like dropping (or being allowed to drop) points at the moment but when they run into the kind of injury problems we’ve had , that could well change . They’ll be stretched on the European and domestic front , while we will have fewer targets to focus on . In the meantime we will just have to continue focusing on picking up 3 points at a time , while our key players get closer to returning .
Never watched hun game …but looked at stats on BBC page…..43 shots !!……I take it this is a conscious ploy by them to shoot on sight ….as I say never watched so no idea if the shooting was great ….but even top Angeball was pushed to get as many shots as that away
Weird but right up until their 3rd goal I thought Ross Co might sneak one.
Yet in the first 10 minutes I thought rangers were going to get about 8.
Funny game football.
If the goal at HT hadn’t gone in it might have been interesting.
Muir never adds that kind of time on at CP. esp as there were no injuries or var. also the subs were in groups.
Celtic F.C. v Kilmarnock F.C.
cinch Premiership
17/02/2024 3:00pm Celtic Park
Referee:John Beaton
AR1
Calum Spence
AR2
David Dunne
Fourth Official
Peter Stuart
VAR
William Collum
AVAR
Dougie Potter
Celtic mac – in terms of my post at 9.43pm I’m referring to the 5 teams in cahoots with the huns complaining about something the huns brought about.
I don’t know who the 5 are because I’m not that interested, but the whole story seems odd to me.
In terms of the overall league, I consider every other team ex the huns as a didi teams because their owners/paymasters seem interested only in keeping their heads above water via OF gate receipts.
As a result they are prepared to bend over and take anything the huns want to give them.
They deserve all they get and nothing will change until this mentality changes.
Adding like mined teams to the league will only make it worse.
Off to bed. Night, night.
Shoot on sight is a ploy we should be trying instead of trying to walk the ball into the net . I noted when they pump the normal high ball into the oppositions box if the defender heads it out , they are camped around the 18 yard box waiting for a clear shot of goal , it was a plan they had years ago when Ian fergushun played for them . I wonder if our top suits will ask questions of the extra time . Nah canny see it .