Tactical experimentation ahead of Romania

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With Celtic a goal up midway through the second half yesterday, we tried something new.  The back four became a back three, with three sitting in front of them.  Adam Matthews pushed into right midfield leaving Izaguirre, Denayer and van Dijk across the back.  To the left of Matthews was Scott Brown and Charlie Mulgrew.  It was a useful game to experiment tactically as Inverness asked questions throughout.

The most striking feature of this three at the back with three sitters was that Matthews didn’t bomb forward when Celtic were in possession, as he usually does.  He kept in line with Brown and Mulgrew.  On occasion, they were 25 yards behind their nearest team-mate, which was a bit jarring to see, as it’s so rare.

This was almost certainly a dry-run for Astra on Thursday.  Getting it right defensively in Romania is going to be key to the outcome.  On their showing at Celtic Park, Astra are a decent passing team who enjoy being on the ball.  They were less impressive in attack, as the Celtic defence and Craig Gordon did enjoy to stifle them, apart from one slip, and when we asked questions of their keeper and defence, they looked vulnerable.

I’m not sure Ronny Deila will be overly convinced that his experiments yesterday should be repeated on Thursday.  Inverness carved us open several times late in the game, but at least we’ll hopefully not be trying something out there for the first time.

You can get copies of Caesar & the Assassin, Billy McNeill and Davie Hay’s accounts of managing Celtic from Jock Stein’s departure until the appointment of Liam Brady, signed by both Billy and Davie here. I’d a great chat with Billy today, he’s a man who knows how to enjoy his football.

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709 Comments

  1. GivehimthemoneyPeterCSC on

    I Wish everyone would stop carrying on about thems

     

     

    Scotland needs a strong well supported team to compete against us…they are as close as it gets…get over it

     

     

    As much as they are a horrible lot …I miss putting 5 past them….it’s not the same against utd or Ross county

     

     

    Peter lawell won’t stoke the fire by mentioning sevco but further down the track he will inject not so subtle reminders for all

     

     

    As fans we should remind people but realise that people out with us don’t really care if they are the same company or not..they will know it winds up by pretending they are the same club and will milk it….don’t react just laugh…

     

     

    I propose we concentrate on the big games we have in the next 3 months and move on(ie Europa and league)

     

     

    When the time comes for the semi instead of boycotting the game everyone should dress like zombies and enjoying putting 5 past them for the first but not the last time

     

     

    The generation of domination is only half way there…enjoy the ride

  2. GivehimthemoneyPeterCSC on

    Robert88

     

     

    Hopefully the gb are on it because like Seville and the beach balls at Ibrox pain can be distributed with a bit of humour rather than bitterness

  3. Would it be in poor taste to speculate how many deaths will be attributable to the forthcoming fixture?

  4. ernie lynch

     

     

    the fixture will be policed like you’ve never seen before, I cant see any trouble as being suggested. (Alex salmond would have called on the army!)

     

     

    Jake the snake with his usual morning round up, quoted many of fat sallys quotes, he seems to suggest there will be trouble, the muppet needs to say nothing, it plants the seed in peoples head to look for trouble or that there will be and they will attend with a different mind set.

  5. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma on

    Good Morning Folks.

     

     

    Thankyou for the Birthday wishes — just another day and another opportunity to poke some fun and occasionally some sense at the world.

     

     

    I share my birthday with Winning Captain’s son and Viscount Linley – eldest son of the late Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones.

     

     

    Linley was the Royal baby of his day and apparently I was in the papers when I was born as someone who shared the day with the “Royal baby”!

     

     

    Hmmm there is something very ironic in that right enough.

     

     

    Anyway, as you know we are going to Greenock once again on 21st November and Winning Captains is lining up all sorts of things to celebrate the publication of Caesar & The Assassin and to raise some money for the former basketball star’s food bank.

     

     

    Former basketball star? I here you ask.

     

     

    Oul Lionsroar keeps a few secrets under his bushell you know — I wonder what his thoughts are on Wilt Chamberlain v Bill Russell or those boys against Larry Bird or Michael Jordan?

     

     

    However, on this anniversary day I am just reminded that I have been very lucky in my 53 years while many are not so fortunate.

     

     

    Here is a wee tune by Billy No’Well which needs no introduction as by clicking on the link it says far more than I can ever say.

     

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWs0mHXta8Q

     

     

    Thanks again — and go see what lurks in your wardrobes.

     

     

    Woman and Children’s clothes most welcome.

  6. sunny calmachie on

    Surely the “old firm” tag now belongs to United and the Dons,

     

    Just saying likes.

     

     

    Happy Celticing. .

  7. Morning all.

     

     

    A very happy birthday to ole BRTH.

     

     

    A pair of new cowboy boots?!

     

     

    HH!!

  8. BIG-CUP-WINNERS on

    No amount of wee pics, jokes or terminology will do.

     

    The Celtic club are willing partners to a charade and from a business stance they are correct. Why, well it’s not just the money, the club’s customers demand the charade. The time for words,truth and action has been and gone.

     

     

    The sheep were right with their banner. Several posters predicted the only club to suffer would be Celtic.

     

     

    Sad but true.

  9. Thanks to all who have left messages saying that they were pleased I made a come back on Saturday. By the way, St Stivs if it eases your concerns, I was born in Lennoxtown and not in the land of James Watt..

     

     

    BRTH…happy birthday and many happy returns of this day. Your royal to most on here.

  10. sunny calmachie on

    Radio Shortbread,

     

    Todays topic,

     

    Do you welcome the return of the old firm,,,,

     

    here we go for some ill informed generalisation,

  11. Robert88

     

     

    08:35 on 3 November, 2014

     

     

    ‘ernie lynch

     

     

    the fixture will be policed like you’ve never seen before, I cant see any trouble as being suggested. (Alex salmond would have called on the army!)’

     

     

     

    ####

     

     

    I doubt there will be any deaths in and around the stadium.

     

     

    But I think it’s likely there will be deaths attributable to the fixture.

     

     

    It’s one of the things that makes the ‘old firm’ games special.

     

     

    Adds a certain frisson to the whole event.

     

     

    I wonder if The Great Desmondo will be there.

  12. The lack of policing at brigton x this season is shocking, our bus was attacked after the Accies game, with not one cop in sight. And it’s been the same all season, prob. Wait till some other young tim gets attacked and murderd while singing the bouncy song before any thing gets done Ffs.

  13. Syd Negakev

     

     

     

    23:58 on 2 November, 2014

     

     

     

    There is absolutely no chance of Celtic ever putting anything in a programme to suggest that Sevco are a new team.

     

     

    It would be considered provocative and likely to cause a riot at the game.

     

     

    Even if they did do it, an apology would be demanded afterwards and someone would get sacked.

     

     

    Sadly, that’s the situation we are in. The big lie has become accepted truth by the world and his brother.

     

    —————————————————————————————————————–

     

     

    Only if you believe the guff in the papers, radio and TV. However, out in the real world amongst real football fans, no-one except ofcourse the deluded unwashed of |Ayebrokes, believes the big lie and I suspect even some of them know the truth but are too frightened to acknowledge it publicly.

     

     

    As I said in an earlier, post we need to maintain radio silence on the semi-final as we have loads of other imporant matches to play over the next three months. Let them get worked up over a match three months away as that’s all they got to look forward to in their tiny miserable lives. Ignore the hype and the club should tell our players to focus on our next match and not some other which might not even happen.

     

     

    When the time comes, our first home match against the new team then that is the time to set the record straight on our official website and club programme.

  14. Happy Birthday BRTH, have a great day!!

     

    Re Radio Shortbread phone in topic of the forthcoming “Old Firm” match I have contacted the show to point out the factual inaccuracy of the phrase and the reasons for it ie, new club etc. I did the same with the BBC News programme of Saturday night. I dont expect my complaints to have any effect, but feel that this has to be challenged.

  15. BRTH

     

     

    Happy Birthday

     

    I noticed that you mentioned Franz Klammer last night . I know someone who is a Klammer neighbor up in the Austrian Alps . The Klammer family guest house and inn with loads of trophies on display and Franz has built himself a new house there .

     

    But the dangers of down-hill skiing are bought home by his brother who was badly injured in a skiing accident and is now in a wheel-chair.

  16. South Of Tunis on

    Sunny-low 20s -way down south .

     

     

    Usual Monday morning phone call from my father.

     

     

    Went to his first Celtic / Deady Bears game in 1934 . A 1-1 draw.. Chick Geatons missed a penalty. Obviously rankled my father because he would trot out the story every time we walked past the Pandora Bar in Govanhill ( owned by Chick Geatons ) .

     

     

    My father will not be watching the scheduled Celtic / Rangers game . Why not ?.

     

     

    ” Watch it and you are validating their existence “

  17. The SMSM should be reminded at every opportunity that Celtic supporters do not recognise it as an old firm game and laugh at the insinuation that is being called that, but the phone screener guys will be well briefed on who to let through and who not to let through, you’ll get the aweeee I miss this game, we need them in the league, I’m so looking forward to this game brigade on all the time, bawlocks, they are all staged and set up, and then you’ll get x players, soup takers I call them, aweeeeee its been to long, Yaya yada fekin yada.

  18. morning CQN

     

     

    hen1rik if you’re kicking about I just followed you on twitter (I think) can you follow back

     

     

    hoopy birthday BRTH (did you get my email?)

     

     

    HH

  19. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma on

    Bamboo

     

     

    Klammer is an astonishing man.

     

     

    The injury to his brother prompted him to start the Franz Klammer Foundation which is dedicated to helping people who are seriously injured as a result of sports participation.

     

     

    The charity steps in and provides immediate expert care in the event of a serious sports injury and points out that many major sports stars end up injured, in wheelchairs and forgotten about.

     

     

    One day you are a National Hero and the next you are a cripple and out of the public eye relying on charity.

     

     

    Many of the people helped could not otherwise afford the necessary physical treatment and psychological counselling that is provided.

     

     

    The Foundation also helps young athletes as well.

     

     

    Klammer was a great skier ….. but he is a far more impressive man.

  20. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma on

    Barrach Obampot

     

     

    Yes I did and have circulated it to some people to see what we can do.

     

     

    I will get back to you

  21. Judging by the amount of horn tooting and general merriment I heard when walking back to the car on Saturday, I think that many more of our fans are welcoming the draw than some on here would like to think.

     

     

    I just don’t care. I think the notion that they were ever going to go away is fanciful. Even if they’d admitted the fresh start, they’d still have remained the second biggest team in Scotland and our main rivals. By doing so they’d have remained attractive to those that hate Celtic more than they loved Rangers.

     

     

    They could have changed name completely, you’d still end up with thousands of bigots in the away end.

  22. BRTH

     

    My Austrian partner who knows him says that the brother ,thanks Franzs support is now working as a solicitor but of course confined to a wheelchair.

  23. They could have changed name completely, you’d still end up with thousands of bigots in the away end.~~~

     

    _______________________

     

    I thought they did change their name? RIFC ? Sevco?

  24. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma on

    Bamboo

     

     

    Cheers for that.

     

     

    I love the Alps and skiing but it scares the shit out of me when my eldest disappears off at a rate of knots that is just plain uncomfortable to watch.

     

     

    He thinks he is indestructible and has ben known to jump off cliffs and the odd building into a swimming pool.

     

     

    Scares the Bejasus out of me.

     

     

    I admire Klammer hugely.