Celtic were overflowing with fine performances last night but mostly this was a tactical victory. Ajax dominated possession against Milan and enjoyed lots at the Camp Nou, so Neil Lennon knew what to expect.
Despite playing at home against our lowest-ranked opponent, we never chased the game, allowed Ajax time on the ball, and waited for the opportunity. We had the intelligence across the field to outsmart Ajax, with agility (Forrest), combativeness (Mulgrew, Kayal) and experience in the box (Stokes) to get the job done. We also have perhaps the best keeper in the competition. Shhh.
At some point before the return game in Amsterdam, The Bore may consider that his team deserved to lose, just as Nir Biton deserved his red card. Lunging into tackles inside the box is a recipe for defeat. Take the ball or you take your opponents leg. The noises from Ajax after the game suggested some bewilderment at the defeat; a well-worn track for teams to leave Celtic Park after Champions League games.
I hope de Boer carries that sense of entitlement into the next game, if he does, he’ll have learned nothing and his team will lose again.
Celtic’s area for remedial action is also clear. Over three Champions League games they have not conceded in the first 75 minutes but conceded four times after that point. This is not a complaint, it’s hard to maintain the levels of concentration, not to mention the physical effort, late in a game, but the stats suggest that, at this level, we wilt before our opponents.
The Dutch are known as progressive and tolerant people but the behaviour of Ajax fans (I hear from the moment they arrived at Schiphol Airport) was deplorable, without question the most violent European fans in all my time watching Celtic.
Football hooliganism is nothing like it was in the 70s and 80s but it is on the rise across Europe. Remain ever-vigilant.
On a more prosaic fan issue…. We were not at a pantomime last night. The moment between Nir Biton lunging forward with his studs up and the referee producing a red card was filled by a “Oooh” from many in the home support.
As soon as I heard this I knew the card would be red. Biton may have gone without the sound effects, but we don’t need to authorise the ref to make a big decision.
All this and the Big Glasgow Derby coming up!!
Between now and Sunday you are going to hear lots about the collection on behalf of the Greater Maryhill Foodbank, taking place before the Thistle-Celtic game on Saturday. What a great cause to be a part of.
[calameo code=000390171853d2bfc4f69 lang=en page=38 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
1,519 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- ...
- 40
- »
steinreignedsupreme
14:01 on 23 October, 2013MickTT 13:50 on 23 October, 2013It was your post on the last thread that got me thinking about it. But it sounds as though 100% of the bald men you have spotted leaving the ground before kick-off do in fact suffer vertigo.
Next week on Science Quick News; How many chins does the average Sevconian have?
I know several with several..
HH
DBBIA
Before we consider Pukki to be a failure of a (broken) biscuit tin policy, we might consider the calendar.
By my reckoning it is still October. Where was Vic Wanyama in the October of his first year with us. I remember him being one of the guys subbed on at half time at Rugby Park when we were 3:0 down. He had not yet established himself in our team and, though he did nothing special in that second half, he benefited from the failure of players like Kayal that night to get his chance to not be dismissed as a project signing.
Now Pukki could well turn out to be another Miku. He too had fast feet but no great liking for the style of Scottish games or the weather even though he played in one of our greatest wins of last season. But it is too ear;y to say he will not be a Wanyama or Lustig, who both took a few months to convince fans, or even a Kelvin Wilson who took a full year.
we got a big shout on talksport earlier today(sorry) – don’t know who but they ere saying the support and atmosphere were amazing who
Doc is supporting Oscar and McKenzie. – the support for Celtic was great. The vitriol for Frank de Boer, whether in the stadium or here, leaves me feeling sad. No contradiction.
Fraser, Efe, Virgil & Charlie all played very well.
Not looking for negatives – just disagree with the received wisdom on this one. Such is life.
Take care.
praecepta
Thanks for the link but they do not record distance covered during a game as one of their stats.
TBB
Fo Sure blood! ROFL
language can evolve up dead ends too.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS forza Oscar and Mackenzie
14:03 on
23 October, 2013
The song “Cheer up,…..”
It is a parody of Daydream Believer,and was originally done as a tribute to Peter Reid by the Sunderland fans.
http://sunderland.wikia.com/wiki/Cheer_up_Peter_Reid
Hit the Top Fifty,too.
Rangers fans adapted it towards Tommy Burns-though not in a tribute way-and it has been sung at countless football grounds ever since.
Anyone finding offence in it is simply looking for offence,and should be part of FOCUS or the Scottish Government.
—————–
Or part of the majority of celtic fans that think it’s a bit of embarrassing ned sectarianism that shames our club
Cubist Funk, fair enough.
Take care.
Steinreigned supreme- Gerd was an alcoholic after his career ended but to their credit Bayern got him into rehab and he managed to sort himself out.
He’s a coach with the Bayern reserve team.
The”cheer up…” song is cringeworthy,we can do much better than that,and with a bit of humour too.
Cubist Funk
I agree. I prefer it when the fans are behind our team. Delighted to hear Charlie’s song getting an airing last night.
LB
Geordie Munro
14:24 on 23 October, 2013
Tontine Tim
“When he first produced the red card I thought it a bit harsh but on reflection he was just following the rules.”
You mean, when it turned out it had no bearing on the result your opinion changed?
Or was that just me? ;)
*bit of both I suppose.
BTW noticed Teemu playing the GH role at corners and getting a bit of the Juve treatment although not as blatant as those cheats.
steinreignedsupreme
14:34 on 23 October, 2013
One the way to the game last night the wireless was on in the car.
Great description that, love it, the wireless..
HH
setting free the bears supports Celtic’s best fighter- Wee Oscar Knox
14:47 on
23 October, 2013
DBBIA
Before we consider Pukki to be a failure of a (broken) biscuit tin policy, we might consider the calendar.
—————
I remember the first time I saw wanyama live against Wolves pre season I think it was, he could hardly kick a ball. I suppose all the signings need time. Amdrose and Virgil absolutely superb though – I have never seen a centre half pairing like them in Scotland
Parkheadcumsalford
13:20 on 23 October, 2013
I have a mate who is a taxi driver. He took 2 groups to the airport this morning. The first was Arsenal supporters. The second Dutch. Both groups were way beyond amazement at the atmosphere. An Arsenal fan said they never saw anything like it at their ground. The Dutch loved everything except the result.
We don’t need a theatre of dreams. We are in Paradise.
—————-
I found myself sitting beside a Catalan who decided a trip to Parkhead was in order after being priced out of a trip to Milan. He was in awe at the noise – we were in 411 and I have to say the GB Bhoys were fantastic throughout.
Jackie Mac
We must have done really well last night to get good coverage on Talk sport.
Betcha it weren’t that Celtic hating Durham dishing it out .
For some reason that bloke has a real dislike for us and a liking for all things zombie
Regi Blinker: ” I can see Celtic beating Ajax and then the two other games, they are unpredictable”.
Perfect logic from Regi.
Hi Celts,
lovely day to be a tim,when is not?lol, I thank Neil and the men for that display last night,absolutely brilliant,heroic and stoic
.
Enjoyed NFL on the radio at the press conference,nice observation and comment on Bitons
red, re it would prob only have merited a yellow at Easter Rd.I liked that Neil,a quality contrast between Champions league group of Champions and our National league.
What was the ITV highlights about?? – no comment at all about our victory,there worry only being if the wall is ready for engerlands future failure in Brazil.
I also thought the Beeb via news24 were shoddy,one bulletin suggesting we gave ourselves a glimmer of hope.ridiculous!!
I would like to commend the team as a unit,fantastic,taking account of who were omitted i thought our squad was not found wanting,Everyone of you played with a spirit that was just
C E L T I C.
That spirit flowed down the aisles last night just as it was ingrained in our spirit through previous generations.They are smiling on us.I smile as it is just great to be a fan of Celtic
Lets start jumping all over every ‘aye but’ bit of envy(after grinning/laughing and smiling).Our Game as a whole is improving,slowly but without doubt it is. no room for cheats, we work at our game and our game is going to get better for it.
An almighty pat on the back for the young hoops,let that result reverberate too,4-1 against what the world would looks on as the benchmark of youth acadamies,Ajax.
Brilliant work by John Kennedy and his pool of players.Well done
Thanks for making me happy Celtic.
An T
SFTB
Open link – list of headings and select ‘overview’ (left-hand column) and open it.
You can then select; team/ player (from a drop-down menu) and ‘distance covered’ (right-hand column of options).
The future?
Had the opportunity recently to watch the u 19’s a number of whom also play for the u 20’s. Was much impressed yesterday by their demolition of Ajax. Was particularly impressed by how they hunted in packs ensuring that Ajax couldn’t settle into their passing rhythm. Like the first team they were unlucky in both the previous matches but some players stood out in the matches I’ve seen.
Paul Mc Mullan playing on the left wing seems to have tricks pace and an eye for goal and in each of the games I’ve seen has caused all sorts of problems for the opposition.
Liam Henderson who appeared pre season for the first team is a very industrious midfielder with an eye for a pass.
Denny Johnstone at centre forward really caught the eye yesterday holding up play turning the opposition and showing great pace. He’s tall well built and may very well have a chance.
With the likes of Callum Mc Gregor and Jackson Irvine already looking to have real prospects Its encouraging to see that Youth development at Celtic may at last begin to supply regular first team squad players, essential to allow our limited funds to be spent on increased quality rather than numbers.
BoscoBhoy02
14:23 on
23 October, 2013
What story?
Some wee titbits from FF for you to make ya smile. (more to follow)
Another grim statistic to stew over.
——————————————————————————–
Apparently the Tims have now gained more Champions League points than us, despite playing 15 games less and their woeful away form. That is a shocking reflection on us and as someone who holds European participation in high regard, something I’d like to see rectified as soon as possible.
I appreciate it might not be high on the agenda just now, but it’s another shitty nail in The Gub’s Espanyolification coffin of many moons ago. We’ll never fully recover from recent disasters until we are back in the CL so any forward-thinking club needs to be on top of this.
Grim times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustledust View Post
I might be very wrong, but haven’t we won one game (Bursaspor) since beating Lyon 3-0?
Our recent home record is appallingly bad. Embarrassing even.
Yeah I’m sure it’s one win in the last 24 or so. It’s even worse when you consider that includes two games each against Kaunas, Unirea, Malmo & Maribor
Kojo
18:52 on
22 October, 2013
Ah tell ya right aff…….
Ah Do NOT like Neil’s Team Selection of the Day..
Not even One Leetle Bit!
Man o Man i Chevitz~
Stokes, Pukki?
Na.. No Way .. agin the Ajax..
Neil, In Ma Opinion..is setting himself up fur an Embarrassment.
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Kojo
Still Laughin’
But .. No Happy!
How about Red Faced?
MickTT 14:58 on 23 October, 2013
I think wireless has a new meaning among the weans – something to do with the interweb.
I prefer to use it in the original form … if only wee Jimmy Sanderson was still on it.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy:
And just for the record, we were ‘sat’ high up in the stand opposite their tunnel. We stayed in the Krasnapolsky Hotel and after the game when a certain manager told me to ‘eff off’ for asking for his autograph in the foyer, we took a bundle of priests for a meal in H66 on the recommendation of the floor manager.
I was too young to know the meaning of ‘brothel’ but I’m a quick learner and we went with some big name ‘Glasgow’ business men, who could not stay awake long enough to pay their share of the bill and the priests that we’d dragged along… well they got a wee 101 lesson in prostitutes of the flesh and prostitutes of greed.
I still have all the paraphernalia of those days, tickets, photos, etc, They don’t mean that much to me anymore and I’ve offered to Estadio and ‘The Bhoy from the village’ to have them, but they wouldn’t, the photo’d the photos;.
I watched the movie ‘The Mission’ a few weeks back and the theme tune was bursting my nut, because I just knew there were words more than music.
It would not leave my nut.
The Mission.
Nella Fantasia
Somehow I think it’s time to move on because the truth does not really matter.
I’ll burn my memories.
praecepta
I am proving to be an eejit in this task.
When I follow your advice, it seems to list just two Celtic players James Forrest and Kayal (why just the goalscorers?).
Can anyone more accomplished find out the respective distances covered by Celtic players last night but particularly the stats for Pukki and Stokes.
Steinreignedsupreme
15:17 on
23 October, 2013
MickTT 14:58 on 23 October, 2013
I think wireless has a new meaning among the weans – something to do with the interweb.
I prefer to use it in the original form … if only wee Jimmy Sanderson was still on it.
………………………………………………………………………….
Round this way “wireless” was a term given to people who tended to rabbit on a bit and usually making little ,Aye, a bit like joko
“little sense” (had to happen ;-) )
rodow1
I wouldn’t want to get Paul’s blog into trouble but ask anyone in the south side of Glasgow if they know of a story about Ronald de Boer and you’ll be amazed at the amount of people who know about it.
gallowgate mad squad
14:52 on 23 October, 2013
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS forza Oscar and Mackenzie
14:03 on
23 October, 2013
The song “Cheer up,…..”
It is a parody of Daydream Believer,and was originally done as a tribute to Peter Reid by the Sunderland fans.
http://sunderland.wikia.com/wiki/Cheer_up_Peter_Reid
Hit the Top Fifty,too.
Rangers fans adapted it towards Tommy Burns-though not in a tribute way-and it has been sung at countless football grounds ever since.
Anyone finding offence in it is simply looking for offence,and should be part of FOCUS or the Scottish Government.
—————–
Or part of the majority of celtic fans that think it’s a bit of embarrassing ned sectarianism that shames our club
==========================
I refuse to accept that an adaptation of a monkees song can in any way be offensive.
The only problem lyric for the hand-wringers is the insertion of the word ‘Orange’ in reference to aforementioned subject’s suspected membership.
The ‘Orange’ of course refers to the Orange Lodge.
The Orange Lodge are as much a religious organisation as the Ku klux Klan; they are but a glorified round table, thick with bigoted wee intellectual dwarfs propensing toward some half-arsed pseudo religious bent when all and sundry recognise them for what they are –
a risible organisation of venemous rabble founded on irrational hatred of an ideology which shapes their conspiracy fantasies of latent persecution and subjugation.
An ‘Orange Bastard’ is but a synonym for ‘Bigoted Bastard’ or ‘Supremast Bastard’.
It is as ‘sectarian’ as calling Mickey Mouse a ‘Disney Bastard’.
Only in Scotland. Truly the nation’s sinister, pathetic, shame.
Ajax charged by UEFA re fans conduct at CP
SFTB
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2014/matches/round=2000479/match=2011805/postmatch/statistics/index.html#1/2014/2000479/2011805/pitch-view
Oh! and my limited opinion… Pukki is a footballer of ability. But unless he walks the Camino de Santiago Damascus Road, he’ll never be a striker.
!!Bada Bing!!
15:35 on 23 October, 2013
Ajax charged by UEFA re fans conduct at CP
—–
Ban the home support for their next home match. Only fair.
Only in Scotland. Truly the nation’s sinister, pathetic, shame
I walked through George Square at lunchtime before the last home SPL game.
In the bright sunshine a group of admirable folk [presumably of the one true faith] were ‘ Praying the Rosary for Scotland’, complete with statue of the BVM.
And basically they were just being left alone to get on with it.
So perhaps things aren’t as bad as some would make out, away from the hotbeds of hillbillicity.
Afternoon to all CQNers I met yesterday in the Blane Valley sorry I could,nt stay too long,had a dinner date at the West Brewery, which I may say was excellent-throroughly recommended. Back in the land of Stornoway Black Pudding, orders being taken for my next trip-Nov 2nd. Regards to all Hail Hail Hebcelt
I always thought the de Boers were excellent players but were somewhat washed up when they signed for TFOD.
It’s an even more damning appraisal of Smith’s record when you could consider the quality of the footballers he was able to sign.
It would be like us having Lampard, Robben etc these days and failing to qualify from our group.
Cripes, I feel bad about joining in the singing of “Cheer up……….” now.
Anyway, I would like to pass on my regards to those fine fellow-CQNers myself and Spsini met yesterday, namely Butsybhoy, Bognorbhoyle, the legendary Morrisey the 23rd, Barcamole, and the other few whose names I forget.
Barcamole, I hope you got fixed up for accommodation last night, that was a genuine offer from me!
HH