I know you are as delighted as I am for Callum McGregor. He has matured into a very talented central midfield player. One of our most composed on the ball, his first touch creates space and opens up play.
His 11th minute goal pure gallus, to use the local vernacular. Moussa Dembele did well with his first touch and lay-off into the hole, or to be more precise, the midfield chasm. McGregor sold the Newco defence a ticket to the movies for the afternoon, rolling the ball with the inside of his football, like a carpet bowl, past the cinema contemplating Fotheringham in goal.
Long before this, Celtic imposed their will on the game. As we broke forward, television pictures showed possession stats for the match until that point; Celtic had 85% of the ball. It didn’t stop then, either. Celtic continued to pass and move, dragging hapless shadows in their wake.
I’m going to be flippant about a non-flippant subject, for a moment.
“Right, Leigh, you’re on. Get your trackie off, go to the toilet. We’re out of milk, and you know what Broonie’s like if he doesn’t get his halftime tea, so you better nip to the shop on Aitkenhead Road before you put your top on. And Leigh, bring your lanyard to get back in. Then you can replace Moussa, he’s pulled his hamstring.”
It took Leigh Griffiths 3:17 mins to appear in the technical area after Moussa gave the substitution sign to the bench. I don’t know what was going on, but is an unacceptable delay.
We had possession a few times after Leigh pitched up, but it was a further 3:38 before the ball went out of play, and we were able to compete with 11 men again. Running aimlessly infield with a man waiting to join play offers considerably less utility than knocking it long into touch.
By the time Dembele retired after 26 minutes Newco were punch drunk. Allowing them to play against 10 men for 7:05 mins gave them a breather. They were able to pass the ball for the first time in the match, recharge batteries and get forward. They were unable to do anything with that possession, but Celtic had spent 7 minutes chasing and were not quite as dominant thereafter.
Halliday’s scissor-kick on Patrick Roberts after 3 mins would have resulted in a red card on many other occasions. Scott Brown must consider his suspension appeal stands an excellent chance, if this is the bar.
That wasn’t the end of the treatment dished out to Patrick. Beerman was cautioned for another challenge would could have resulted in more severe action, but the Newco player followed this with a cynical trip on Roberts two minutes later. It should have been a second yellow. Roberts had their number and there was nothing within the rules they could do about it.
The penalty, early in the second half, was a battle between Celtic’s pacey striker, Leigh Griffiths, and Newco’s pacey defender, Tavernier. The latter was schooled by the former. Why Tavernier lunged in so carelessly inside the box will be one of the items on their new manager’s “What’s going on?” list. Griffiths is a huge resource to have on the bench waiting for his chance. He’ll be counting the minutes until Saturday comes.
We were so much on top the temptation to showboat looked irresistible. Lustig, Boyata and Simunovic all ran out of position with the ball when straightforward options were available. As a consequence of this, and similar endeavours, play was more balanced in the final 20 minutes.
When you are so far ahead, there is a temptation to take an extra touch, but that extra touch undermined the system. The Celtic team is not filled with supermen, instead they have a hugely effective system. Stick to the system and we’ll look like supermen, go off piste and it will all get a bit indulgent looking. When we were at our Fabulous Best, we did the simple things very accurately and very quickly until the final third, where we were quicker still, and even more accurate. While we practiced this plan, we were unplayable.
Both teams should improve for the rematch in five days’ time. Newco, surely, cannot be any worse, but Celtic can make more of their dominance.
Raffle for Ibrox Tickets
Do you have a ticket for Ibrox on Saturday? Me neither, but Celtic sponsor, Intelligent Car Leasing, have again given us two tickets to raffle for Mary’s Meals. To win, make a minimum donation of £5 here, then the email confirmation you receive to me, celticquicknews@gmail.com with the word “Pedro” in the subject line. Make sure you enclose sufficient contact details, we don’t have a lot of time to arrange ticket collection.
The competition closes tomorrow at 23:00, so entries will be few. I think we’re going to enjoy Saturday, so get in there.
LIMITED NUMBER OF CQN LISBON THEMED JOCK STEIN T-SHIRTS REMAINING FROM CQNBOOKSTORE.COM – HURRY WHILE STOCKS LAST!
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Dermot will get the private jet out for Paddy after cup final
Good luck to the young hoops tonight
CELTIC’s Development Squad are hoping to bring the Scottish Youth Cup back to Paradise tomorrow evening (Wednesday) and stand-in skipper, Sam Wardrop, knows exactly what’s in store as they go toe to toe with Glasgow rivals Rangers at Hampden.
Not only was Wardrop part of the team who beat the Ibrox side 5-2 to lift the trophy two years ago, but the defender got on the scoresheet that night to add to an Aidan Nesbitt hat-trick, and a solo effort from Luke Donnelly.
Since the inception of the competition in 1983, Celtic have had more success than any other team in Scotland, securing the silverware an impressive 14 times.
Looking to emulate the success of Celtic’s U17s, who retained the prestigious Glasgow Cup for a fourth successive season with an impressive 2-1 win against Rangers at Fihill last week, Tommy McIntyre’s side are aiming to get their hands on their first trophy of this campaign.
Speaking exclusively in this week’s Celtic View ahead of the game, Wardrop said: “All the boys are on a high. They’ve been putting in some really good individual performances recently which has meant we’ve been getting some great results, so everyone is really looking forward to the game against Rangers. We know that when we’re at our best, we can beat anyone in the league.
“There’s a huge incentive to make sure that we bring that cup back to Celtic Park. It’s been two years since we’ve won it and the feeling you get from lifting that trophy is incredible, so we’ll be looking to do it again.
“I was involved the last time that we won it and it feels so good, because you work towards it all season, and it just feels like all the hard work that you’ve put in all year pays off. You get to lift the trophy and you can’t really describe the feeling that gives you.
“We’d be up for the game no matter who we were playing, but because it’s a derby, there’s that added edge to the match. I’ll be back and ready to play my part on the night.”
Its puzzling to me why some are suggesting the foul by Halliday will have ANY bearing on SB’s appeal. Different game, different Ref altogether. If it had been during the same game maybe, but definitely no chance.
Anyone seen or heard of Macjay
Barney67
The laws of the game are the same regardless of ref.
Things you’ll only ever hear in SMSM
“Rangers financial woes”
MEA CULPA on 25TH APRIL 2017 11:46 AM
Barney67
The laws of the game are the same regardless of ref.
Indeed, and how many interpretations of those ‘laws’ have we seen over the years? If it comes to it, they will just say, 2 wrongs dont make a right. 3 game ban, extra one for yer cheek. The notion that they will reduce it to a yellow is ludicrous.
So,if Paddy misses the final to play for England does that mean the huns will be supporting him in South Korea?They are England fans are they not? ;)
Don’t think the Hillbilly tackle will have any bearing on the outcome of Broonie’s appeal.Our appeal will be rejected and the suspension enforced.Wee bit of payback for having the temerity to play in a successful tim team.Imho,of course.
Just listened to the three renditions of ” The Band Played Waltzing Matilda . ” mentioned on Page 10. It really is a very powerful and emotional song and I can see why some favour one or other of the three performances.
Erik Bogle`s original version creates an impression of the singer actually having been there and gives immediacy to the events described;, the Pogues` performance reflects a quiet , raw anger that shows the futility of war and June Tabor`s beautiful,clear simple voice and the ghostly ending gives credence to the `less is more ` philosophy. Brilliant.
A very powerful song.
JJ
WHATISTHESTARS
I got a mail this morning from one of his antipodean friends.
In my reply,I asked him to mail MACJAY to tell him to get his sorry rightwing arse back on here.
I might have sugarcoated that last bit a tad,but the sentiment was the same(!)
I miss my sparring partner of eight years,he could sure keep me on my toes. Even as I’m reading his stuff,gaun ffs,mate,I could picture him in his lair wi an evil grin and a wee white tabby on his lap!!!!
From Monte Carlo to Saltmarket
Oh, good. Beaton is the MIB at Snake Mountain on Saturday!
KTF
BARNEY67
Brown’s red was merited under the laws of the game.
Everything else is whataboutery and based on the fact or perception that our players are refers to a different standard from the opposition.
Our board have sat back and condoned this for years.
Reap what you sow…
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821 on 25TH APRIL 2017 12:03 PM
Oh, good. Beaton is the MIB at Snake Mountain on Saturday!
===
The final roll of the dob dice.
VFR
Is Beaton a former season ticket holder?
Can he referee from his own wee seat?
Sir Legned of Cardigan always managed that,and provided some entertainment wi a slap to Kebab Boy when he was late wi the phone.
Under the same ‘laws of the game’ any player ‘even the Celtic captain’ has the right of appeal.
These laws bristle with doubt and ambiguity as demonstrated most weeks in
football not just Scotland.
Beaton to the rescue.
Beaton has been named as the referee for the game along side assistants Alan Mulvanny and Dougie Porter as well as fourth official Bobby Madhun
The review will not take any tackles in any other games into account when deciding on Brown’s appeal. They don’t even take the circumstances within the game into account. They will look at the tackle in isolation. Former Compliance Officer Vincent Lunny confirmed this last week in an interview on Sportsound.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE
Of course he does. But by the laws of the game,that was a red.
That the ref-and other refs-allow worse on our players is no defence.
And maybe when Scott gets done for that very reason our board might stop sucking it up.
new article posted.
Barney
Like yourself don’t think it will make any difference but there was a precedent set in the same match with a yellow being given for the foul on Tierney in the same match but….huns do what huns do. Ffs look at the appointments for Saturdays game.
Sftb
Unbelievable post last night. May Danny RIP and memories of your Elder brother help you and your extended family through this difficult time.
HH YNWA
my father inlaw recently purchased black Dodge Challenger SRT8 only from working parttime
off a macbook. this page…………. http://www.cashjobs01.com