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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Beerman and Halliday should both have been off. Beerman should have been booked for trying to take Roberts out when Halliday did. Halliday’s was a shocker and should have been a straight red. Players are getting away with murder these days as they know refs won’t send anyone off early. “Spoils the game”, apparently….
Tuarangabhoy
A blue nose and a Hun are one and the same. Differentiating them by your own logic gives credence to the Huns differentiated stupidity that our using the word is related to some religius split mythology.
A Hun is a Hun good or bad.
When we sing go home ya Huns do you think your blue noses are saying to one another “Ach they urny talking about me they mean that bad Billy there”. Na. We mean every one of them collectively.
McLeish is a Hun.
I know the differentiating Celtic society exists but for me if you’re a Hun you’re a Hun.
MWD
Paul 67.
Totally agree. I thought Callum McGregor was finished at Parkhead after his D&D, but he has proven us all wrong.
Probably the most improved player alongside Stuart Armstrong.
And there’s more to come.
HH.
Hi
Celtic By Numbers on the weekend Semi Final up later this evening.
In the meantime, can any CQN-ers who are Huddleboard members please vouch for me – you can only join if someone with 6000 posts recommends you – seems more stringent that the R&A! Looking to join to spread the CBN word.
Help appreciated.
HH
TOSB
Disagree on Dedryck. He’s a player transformed over the last 12 months.
If – as you say – he holds onto the a ‘fraction’ too long then keep working on his game. God knows he himself has worked hard enough.
He and Jozo fill me with a decent level of confidence. Not as good as VVD and Jason D but they were exceptional. One has remained imperious, the latter has sadly disappeared. The vagaries of football.
HH jamesgang
MOONBEAMSWD
It’s only when you meet a right f…..g hun like yon Gordon I mentioned that you realise that not all huns are huns.
The problem with that theory is when they meet each other. That’s when they try to outhun each other,something you sadly know only too well.
Mob mentality off that lot,they seem to feed on hatred,and if you canny be more hunnish than the next hun then yer not a hun,man up and dae the bouncy and get the songbook out.
It’s genuinely fascinating and worrying to see smashing guys transformed into something else entirely.
It’s also genuinely fascinating and worrying that society tolerates and condones it.
Jamesgang,
What has happened to Jason? He seemed like he was destined to become world-class. I do wonder how he would respond to the BRevolution!………..given the chance?
HH
JAMESGANG on 24TH APRIL 2017 1:32 PM
TOSB
Disagree on Dedryck. He’s a player transformed over the last 12 months.
If – as you say – he holds onto the a ‘fraction’ too long then keep working on his game. God knows he himself has worked hard enough.
He and Jozo fill me with a decent level of confidence. Not as good as VVD and Jason D but they were exceptional. One has remained imperious, the latter has sadly disappeared. The vagaries of football.
HH jamesgang
……………………………..
I hope that Dedryk can improve on this issue (for me it’s an issue) by continuing to work hard. I recognise that he has improved but what worries me is that since his comeback to the first team he hasn’t faced the challenge of a really big game. The CL qualifiers are too important, in my mind, to go with Dedryk. I would prefer someone more proven.
I do hope you’re right though and that Dedryk can eliminate what I see as an important flaw from his game.
CELTICBYNUMBERS
I’ll mail a good few people later on the off-chance that someone can help.
Fingers crossed and no promises though.
The reality is if was not for the different refereeing standards that are applied to the huns they would be fighting relegation.
Getting the the call in every 50/50 has a huge impact on results.
Also allowing them to foul frequently without caution is a huge leveler for crap players against better opponents.
I do not watch them but there are numerous press reports of hun players not receiving deserved red cards.
In their last game against us at Celtic park the ref did not administer two red cards that were clearly deserved as rules stand and also denied us a clear penalty in the last minute.
This gained a precious point that was not only undeserved but was facilitated by a cheat with a whistle.
I am pretty sure many other clubs have suffered similar situations where the huns gained points and they lost them due to officials.
We’re all guilty of seeing what we want to see in a player, i do it with Erik (will never make it in our team sadly), do it with Cal Mac and quite a lot on here do it with Lustig and Boyata, and especially Griffiths. We’re always looking for flaws and not on what they actually bring to the team.
As someone else posted, BR has been here less than a year and you can see improvements in a lot of players, some take longer to blossom (CalMac being an example)
Perhaps we shouldnt write players off too soon
Impatience CSC
a hopeful repost from yesterday
Just in from watching the game at the Bramalea celtic club
Good game but took the foot of the gas in the 2nd half.
Booked a trip back home a few weeks ago, for the 50th Anniversary celebrations I have tickets for the last home game v mini huns, Henrik V Lubo game and the Lisbon Lion’s concert on the 25th. So now looking for a single ticket for the cup final to round off what will be a great week, a big ask but looking to the power of CQN to help me out, email paulbhoys@gmail.com if you are able to get your hands on a spare ticket
HAIL HAIL
“Scott Brown must consider his suspension appeal stands an excellent chance, if this is the bar.”
Paul, first words out my mouth to the ol faither in law.
Regarding the leigh substitution, I’m with mwd on this.
Also I feel any other position on the park and the sub would be made quicker.
HH
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY
Actually,I get your point about DB. He has been nursed back into the side.
But there is a player there. His previous tells you that. Good players only become bad players through injury or lack of confidence. The reasons for the latter can,of course,be manifold.
BR has worked on DB confidence. And will continue,I reckon,to do so for the next two or three months with the intention of getting him back to where he was about five years ago.
Back to the future IV?
Look how lack of confidence destroyed an African Nations Cup winner. Plenty of examples apart from Efe.
I honestly think BR views DB as our first pick CB. Though not yet.
Work still to be done,and if Dedryck was still pushing the weights at midnight when he’s nowhere near the team-as has been discussed on here-then he’s willing to learn.
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL
One teams players are getting away with murder.
Other teams players know the difference in refs tolerances during the season.
Against the huns they stand off and tread lightly despite brutal tackles by said team
Against the other teams the standard football rules apply.
Against Celtic they can be more aggressive than normal and understand that despite us having more possession the foul and card count will go against us.
BMCUWP
I didn’t say you don’t get decent Huns and scumbag Huns. My buddy is a Hun and a good guy. The wan that took advantage of me being pished isny a good guy. They are both still Huns though. They both support the Hun club of new and the Hun club of old.
It’s simple.
MWD
FAN-A-TIC
Willie Wallace famously said that when he played against Celtic,his team knew they could get away with so much more.
It wasn’t until he wore The Hoooooops that he realised just how much!
Thought provoking, interesting comment from Roguebhoy.
Calum showed his quality when he returned from Notts County. It is now being properly harnessed and directed.
No one plays the one touch, pass and move and one-twos as well as he does.
He seems to know his pass before he receives the ball.
Like many before him, his talent was not fully recognised until he “did” it against Them.
As for the referees. I posted yesterday what I think is the main reason for some of their performances.
Putting aside personal affiliations and where they hold season tickets for, the one ,main, underlying reason for the decisions/non decisions that occur in the game,is Game Management.
The Fact that this occurs in every league and every UEFA/FIFA competition negates the bias/bigotry factor.
That is not to say that it doesn’t happen in Scotland. It does, but it only males certain refs jobs easier in applying G M.
That is why refs like Collum, whose background doesn’t suggest any obvious anti Celtic bias, can make decisions like yesterday.
A poster yesterday referred to commentators praising refs for “keeping their cards in their pocket”, to ensure a better, more even spectacle.
I quoted Howard Webb, B T’s ref in the studio, saying that a tackle on Silva, which didn’t receive a yellow card in the 10th minute would probably have got one in the 65th.
Game Management.
Therefore, the problem goes deeper than referees club allegiances, etc.
I think it is a Collina/ Dallas directive, with TV coverage in mind.
GLASS2/3FULL
Players are getting away with murder these days as they know refs won’t send anyone off early. “Spoils the game”, apparently….
One of our key players being carried off on a stretcher after 3 minutes and being out of the game for anything from 6 months to permanently would also kind of spoil it. Certainly spoil it for our club….but perhaps that doesn’t matter.
“We’re always looking for flaws and not on what they actually bring to the team.”
Go tell spartan.
How very true. I have mates who rip a player to shreds before a ball is even kicked.
Many on here too just love to tell us about every missed place pass.
Being critical is fine and well but I’d chuck it if all I was looking for was non-perfect plays from certain guys in hoops.
HH
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 24th April 2017 1:40 pm
many thanks
“Calum showed his quality when he returned from Notts County. It is now being properly harnessed and directed”
Thom,
Spot on. Callum had a cracking start in Ronnys first year.
That said, he wouldn’t be in my first 11 but a valuable squad member non the less.
HH
NEIL LENNON & MCCARTNEY – What I mean is I feel a European League is now inevitable. I also think it will mean a breakaway from the UEFA umbrella for these clubs. Even if it doesn’t involve a breakaway, I think people might be surprised at just how quickly this could be agreed and then up and running.
Clubs outside of England and the Spanish top 2 are being left behind. There is so much marketing and brand value (Ajax, Celtic etc) being left to rot. TV money is reaching saturation point with whole tier A nations like Italy being left behind. A massive shake up is coming and I think it will involve restructuring and it will put IPTV at the forefront. I believe the board are positioning us to be in the first wave, hence the change in strategy and investment this season. It doesn’t sit logically with me that if they believed the status quo was going to be the case for the forseeable that they would sanction what has been sanctioned. It goes against what we have seen from them in the past.
Something is afoot…..
https://twitter.com/spfl/status/856474297010966530
Couldn’t help but notice Willie’s face in the background.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 24th April 2017 1:40 pm
If you can email me on celticbynumbers@btinternet.com if you find a willing referrer that would be excellent. I must admit I don’t know what the process is to actually do what is needed!
HH
Fan-a-tic/GlenDalys
My point about the reluctance to send players off early was really meant to apply to football in general – think of the 2010 World Cup final. Obviously up here it is taken to extremes with certain clubs!
Skilful players getting clobbered is “spoiling the game” in my opinion.
Just picked the granddaughter up from nursery, came to face to face with a Sevconian one of the ones who likes dressing up in a uniform to walk the streets…… I just smile, he then says
“Am not even going to mention yesterday”
My reply…… Nada, just smiled more, that actually annoys them more than anything :-)
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY on 24TH APRIL 2017 12:58 PM
Agree with most of your summary on the whole. Boyata is still too slow with his distribution and if Bronnie isnt avaiable to take the pass often just passes back to Gordon who either gives it to Jozo or Lustig, all 4 of them look to Broonie to take the burden of the forward pass. Not entirely surprising as thats his role but we need another option, it will be interesting who BR trusts with this role if Broonie is banned for a couple of games, especially next week.HH
Note… a Bronnie is not an amalgamation Brendan and Ronnie. ;-)
I didn’t watch the game yesterday – a conscious decision to avoid sectarian bile on my birthday. I’m now going to watch it on Celtic TV later. Having heard all the interviews and analysis, I think I’ll probably enjoy it and I assume their songbook was “limited”.
Glasstwothirdsfull
It’s corruption and lack of a level playing field thats spoiling the game.
Referees apply differing standards due to understanding what is better for career.
A decision that costs your paymasters in financial terms will see your career tumble.
In Scotland it’s something else.
Paul67, the point about the 7 mins it took to get Griff on is very accurate and worrying. We penalised ourselves it was very amateurish and could have been costly against a better team we would have been punished. Very sloppy indeed.
DAVIDOPOULOS
SORRY,BUD!!!!
Happy belated Hoooopy Birthday!!!!!!!!!
Yer some man,pick April Fool Day for yer wedding,and St George Day for yer birthday. No chance of you and yours forgetting anything.
https://twitter.com/vlr/status/856482423416254464
The hun rat Tom Miller and Duffield from yesterday…
If Brown isn’t available on Saturday as is likely, Bitton will probably replace him. I don’t think Kouassi will be trusted at this stage. Rogic will probably reverse roles with McGregor to give us a bit more physical presence. Griff will start and it’s a toss up between Forrest and Paddy. Forrest may get the nod to give us a bit more defensive cover in the absence of Broonie. Otherwise it’s same again.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Thank you very much!
Aye, although my Dad’s birthday is the day after mine (today) and yet I still managed to forget it!!
At least with my wedding anniversay I have a the excuse of a joke to buy me a couple of hours if I forget it.
Btw, there was another reason that I didn’t watch the game yesterday; superstition. The last Scottish Cup Semi Final involving Celtic that fell on my birthday was in 1997 and Paul McGrillen ruined it…
Emdy got any restaurants tips for Oban?
My kid sis is up there wi the Aussie in-laws,and any assistance much appreciated!
TIA,and
HH
DAVIDOPOULOS
Ffs,hopeless.