By Alex Gordon.
A DREADFUL penalty-kick miss by Bahrudin Atajic condemned Ronny Deila to his first defeat as Celtic manager.
The Bosnian striker had the ideal opportunity to level the scores four minutes from time after substitute Paul McMullan had been downed in the box.
Unfortunately, Atajic blazed his spot-kick over the bar into the Hamburg crowd much to the annoyance of the new Hoops gaffer.
It was a largely experimental Celtic line-up with Deila taking no risks ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw in the Polish capital.
Alas, appalling defending by Filip Twardzik gifted the Germans the winning goal before the interval.
The left-back made a mess of trying to control a long and hopeful punt into the Celtic penalty box. The ball broke clear and was immediately presented to Christopher Nothe who could hardly believe his good fortune.
Nothe struck his effort first time from eight yards and Craig Gordon had no chance as the low drive zipped past his right hand in the 39th minute.
Twardzik toiled in the opening 45 minutes and was also booked in the 33rd minute after a lunging tackle after once again giving the ball away with a slack pass.
Celtic started at whirlwind pace and had three excellent opportunities inside the opening 10 minutes.
Atajic fizzed in a low shot from just outside the box, but keeper Philipp Tschauner got down swiftly to hold the ball at his right hand post.
Five minutes later, Tony Watt, looking lively on the left wing, tried his luck from a tight angle.
His shot totally bamboozled Tschauner, but carried over the crossbar and out to safety.
Amido Balde should have got the game’s opening goal in the 10th minute when he was through on goal after some neat play outside the box.
However, the Portuguese Under-21 international lacked composure at the vital moment and allowed the keeper to block his hurried parting shot.
Gordon, making his second appearance for the Hoops, showed he was still rusty after being out for over two years with a slack goal-kick to Nir Biton.
The Israeli midfielder, captain for the day, was taken unawares and St Pauli broke forward, but made a mess of the opportunity.
Stuart Findlay, partnering Eoghan O’Connell in the middle of the inexperienced back four, was also sloppy with some wayward passes, but the Hoops escaped punishment.
The game was billed as a friendly – and the clubs have an affiliation – but the home players weren’t slow to put in some punishing challenges.
Skipper Soren Gonther was yellow-carded for a rugby tackle on McGeouch that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Celtic’s current home at Murrayfield.
Liam Henderson tried to set up Balde with a neat chip into the danger zone, but the ball carried over the giant frontman’s head.
It looked like being a stalemate at the interval until Twardzik’s lapse in concentration and control allowed St Pauli to snatch the lead.
Deila put on Lukasz Zaluska for Gordon at half-time and replaced the ineffective Balde with Paul McMullan.
Henderson brought the St Pauli keeper into action with a long-range free-kick in the 65th minute. The idea was good, but, unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite match the ambition.
Zaluska produced one memorable moment when he pushed a raging effort from Sebastian Mhyre over the crossbar 10 minutes from time.
Then came Atajic’s dreadful spot-kick blunder which was followed in the last minute by an effort from Watt which swept just wide of the target.
As an exercise, it was worthwhile and the Celtic youngsters will expect to do better when presented with the opportunity to impress the new manager.
CELTIC: Gordon (sub: Zaluska 46); Herron, Findlay, O’Connell, Twardzik; Biton, Henderson, McGeouch; Atajic, Balde (sub: McMullan 46) and Watt.
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hi there .
Hail Hail!
Oldtim ya rascal!!
Hx2
The two oldest bloggers take positions 1 and 2:o)
oldtim:
Bloody iPad switched itself off as I hit refresh…you well? What was your 33/1 shot, anything running later?
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
HT- agree ,i posted when Watt was being played wide left that it was unfair on a young guy trying to establish himself ,and not playing him thru the middle.
starry plough.
A bit embarrassed by that never tried for it.
Desertbhoy
Beat by a nose …I was on it too
eldiegobhoy
17:09 on 26 July, 2014
Haw you, what do you mean the two oldest bloggers…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Well done Oldtim
oldtim67
A win of any kind is something to celebrate..
Bring on the Legia..
You going?
Lennybhoy
Just keeping you on your toes:o)
PFayr
You need to let others know which nags you’re on giving them the chance to bet on something else:o)
Lennybhoy.
Heavy Metal,No didn’t catch it with anything, but I’m happy with the 33/1 shot, had a couple of bob on it.
eldiegobhoy
17:16 on 26 July, 2014
Will let you off this time…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
oldtim67
17:19 on 26 July, 2014
Well done, trip to Warsaw covered then.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Bada
We may well be proved wrong, however, it’s widely accepted that both Watt and Griffiths are more effective through the middle and I’m just slightly perplexed why they’ve both been used in wide positions so far under Ronny.
EDB
After enduring a miserable day at the gee gees ….
Could do without abuse from the likes of you ….btw….you are correct
starry plough.
I was going until I came back from Edinburgh knackered, Feet & legs were pretty swollen when I got home so contacted Zbyszek that I wouldn’t be going over,pissed of with the diabetes, it get’s to me at times.
Oldtim
Well done on your gold medal … But geeza Brek with the never tried for it
I’ve never seen you post ” hi there” in all my years on CQN ,,, ha ha
No shame in grabbing the honours especially when beating bhoys young enough to be your great grandchildren ;))))
How’s your teeth by the way .. I hear a bad bhoy from Blantyre sabotaged you at murrayfield … Someone might have said he pulled a flanker on you ;)
oldtim67
Sorry to hear that Pal, I won’t get there either, the funds are not there as my bank card likes to tell me!
Get yer feet up the night with something soothing!
Old tim backing long shots and winning podiums…
Whooosh!
Oldtim67
The winner of today’s podium wins a packet of Wrigley’s Spearmint chewing gum.
Well done!!! :-)
Paul67
If you’re around there’s a vigil Mass at 9:30pm tonight.
Hamiltontim.
Smart Ass. I think it was spearmint tasting super glue, when I went to my kip after getting rid of the chewing gum, I woke up the next morning and my mouth was stuck shut,mind you that would suit a lot of people.
PFayr
“The likes of me”. Thanks.
EDB
I trust the girls were well looked after
EDB
I did forget the :-)))
Joke ….
Would that mass be for praying that Virgil stays or that we get lots of money for him ?
I need some travel help please……
I am flying into Manchester Wed. morn and need to take the train to Langho (Lancs) near Blackburn.
On checking the trains it seems I can connect in Bolton or Salford Crescent, anyone know which one would be the easier for an old guy hauling a couple of small suitcases. TIA…..HH
TBJ.
I’m past the stage of trying for kudos,when I went to see what the score was, there was a page with a zero on it, I decided to take advantage and knock it off,so thats that.
Oldtim67
I’ll stick the chewing gum to your keyboard in future :-)
Keep your head up you seem a bit low ya oil tart!!!
mungolian bhoy
Either :-)
Tontine Tim & Fav Uncle
My recollection was that it was a bit of kidology from Jock and that Yeats played as an extra Centre half. However, as we went 2 :0 down, I think he threw Ron forward and we lost 3:0.
I cannot find a match report but the line up suggests we had Forrest and Hughes as Centre Forward options:-
SCOTLAND: (Manager: John (Jock) Stein/7)
Adam Smith Blacklaw (3/Burnley) –
David Provan (4/Rangers)
Edward Graham McCreadie (8/Chelsea) –
Robert W.Murdoch (3/Celtic)
Ronald McKinnon (3/Rangers)
John Greig [c] (14/Rangers) –
James Forrest (2/Rangers)
William John Bremner (4/Leeds United)
Ronald Yeats (2/Liverpool)
Charles Cooke (2/Dundee)
John Hughes (5/Celtic)
wdh
I’ve only had an abbreviated version of their night at cinc sentis and I’ll learn more when they get home tomorrow but for sure they had a wonderful dining experience.
Will update you early in the week.
mickbhoy1888
If I had only known that you pined for a B&Q filled afternoon, I could have sent you to get more garden path mesh pegs so that I could finish my project before the rain came.
I’d have to assume that you are an unmarried man if you are missing trips to B&Q.
PFayr
:o)
In my opinion there are only 4 “forwards” who fit into ronny’s favoured formation. Pukki is the only option as one up top as the only other alternative is Balde who i’ve given up on. In wide positions Derk and Forrest fit the formation but are never fit. I for one don’t want to see Watt or Griffiths as the 1 up top though Griffiths looks like he could adapt on right. I don’t imagine an interrupted nights sleep if any of our “forwards” were to leave. Excited by Ronny’s ideas but dont think many of the existing forwards have the ability or aptitude to adapt to fast high pressing football.
Ronny must know now we need at least 1 striker, or give LG and Watt a run thru the middle