Anyone who has watched Celtic in recent weeks knows the impact Jeremie Frimpong has on the team. He alone has the ability to run at and past defenders, without him, Celtic are significantly easier to defend against. This has been clear from recent performances and his absence from the starting line-up against Riga was my principle concern before the game.
He did not start last night because when we go three at the back, it is Jeremie or James Forrest on the right. After the game Neil Lennon told us James has struggled with an ankle injury for a couple of weeks, leaving us with the classic ingredients for recency bias. James’ recent injury-affected form has been below the standard or Jeremie’s. But of all the occasions you could make a case to start James Forrest, European qualifiers will be the easiest. He scores and creates goals in qualifiers at a prodigious rate.
Also, watchers of Celtic in recent seasons will know that Injury is the Mother of Invention. Where would Ryan Christie be without Eboue Kouassi and Olivier Ntcham picking up first half injuries at Murrayfield? Jeremie is now likely to get a run at Hibs and Sarajevo. What happens in the middle of the park is more intriguing.
Scott Brown took a knock that will keep him under observation between now and the Hibs game. That clip on Scott’s Achilles’ gives the manager lots to consider. After Hibs, we have four hugely important games: Sarajevo, then after the international break: Newco, Aberdeen away and Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final. The roster becomes significantly trickier if we overcome Sarajevo, as we would have two Europa League games before next month’s semi-final.
I read many asking, why does Scott Brown play practically every minute of every game? It is clearly not that you have spotted something that escaped the manager’s attention, Neil Lennon does not have a blind spot that tens of thousands of Celtic fans can see through, so let’s not pretend otherwise.
You have been watching football all of your life, so you know by now that what you see on the field is only part of the story. Any team: footballers, salesmen, network engineers or shop staff, need a common culture and leadership to reach their best. What a boss gets from his or her line manager in frontline performance, in any walk of life, is not the entire contribution.
I have a friend who is also a customer. He tells me what I need to do with my staff and I tell him the same about his staff. Neither of us take the others’ advice, because I am using the resources I have to keep my team focussed on our objective and he is doing the same. I talk to him about practically every personal aspect of my life, but I don’t even go into the detail of this stuff with him, because it involves personal details about others. In very simple environments like mine and his, teams are complicated things.
I would like to see Jeremie start more games and I am really keen to see central mid re-jigged. From my seat on the couch, both are crucial to our outcomes this season. But I know there’s a ton of human dynamics in every team that outsiders are clueless about. The manager needs to keep this indoors while suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous opinion. It can be a tough gig. It is good that we have all ‘been there, done that’, when it comes to building a winning football team, so none of us exist in a fantasy that we are the true fonts of wisdom Neil Lennon really has to listen to. I mean, can you imagine thinking like that? Jeez.
Have a great weekend.
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MADMITCH on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2020 11:55 AM
Sorry mate you need to cheer up.
Worst result would be a defeat or dropped points…not a celtic win by any means.
Very dissapointed by your post.
I support Neil Lennon and actually think he is doing a great job.
HenryJoy
So sorry to hear your news. You would have made your Dad very proud in how you conveyed it.
HH jg
Henryjoy
Sincere condolences for your loss, may your father RIP.
HH
Huns got their dodgy penalty earlier than i thought today…one nil
Usual penalty from Madhun
1-0 huns….soft penalty but no complains from Motherwell defender which is usually telling.
Lazy D
I have enjoyed your wee drops of honey amongst the vinegar .
Seen some posts about red and yellow cards this year with an obvious Sevco slant to the numbers. I wonder if penalties are trending the same way?
HH
Craig Levein thought the penalty `was a bit harsh`.
Madhun MIB only doing his duty
Dbhoy
One would assume so. Also relevant would be score at time of award.
LD @ 12.04
Fair point but we are not playing well.
In fact our current level of performance will not win us the league unless the others throw it away.
We are performing at half the level of our talent and that is giving everyone else hope.
The only two failures have been in Europe but at some stage our honking performance will catch up with us locally.
Plus this is our first game against one of our three main local challengers.
Will provide a good pointer to the rest of the season.
2 penalties
This is a disgrace. Rangers have been given 2 penalties by Madden and Motherwell have been denied two. Soup taker Walker has endorsed Madden’s decision. He found both incidents unworthy of much comment but SKY revisited them after a good few minutes both were stick on penalties. Walker said they would have been soft. It’s shocking bias.
Ffs
Penalty sesson in full flow
HOT SMOKED
To a degree but any chance to score from a PK is always a big advantage and has potential for changing the outcome of the game regardless if they’re level on score or a goal or two behind. I’m just curious to know if anyone is keeping track of the stats for PK’s.
HH
Blatant cheating at Fir Park,
Shows what we are up against.
Stand united behind our team.
Sevco..Could be 5 or 6….penalties
Luca Connell playing left wing back roumer
believe it or not, a look back at stats and it appears that is the rangers first 2 penalties in this league campaign.
BSR 27sept.
Tommy Callaghan ahead of his time,playing the wing back role before it was fashionable and was never fully appreciated by many.
SAINT STIVS
That’s surprising
HH
Not so much that Motherwell have been dire,but where is all that kicking and hacking they employ against us.No way is this team full of Huns lying down,so whats the difference.Hardly been a tackle on a Hun player.Did they not watch the Hibs game last week.
Shocking performance.
St Stove
Currants get their first penalties awarded.
I.e. must be close to Covid-19 shutdown for season.
OMG how serious pish are the ‘well
Henry Joy
May your Father rest in peace. Thoughts with you and family
Thought Motherwell would not be competitive today. Like their opponents they played on Thursday. But not something they are accustomed to.
Was hoping that we could match the result and come within a goal or two of the winning margin.
Having seen it 3-0 at halftime including TWO penalties, I’ll settle for a win of any kind.
15th June
Rangers are awarded the most penalties in the Scottish Premiership according to new study
RANGERS top the table when it comes to the frequency of penalties handed out in the Scottish Premiership, according to a report from the CIES Football Observatory.
Since the 2017-18 season, the Ibrox club have on average obtained a spot kick every 411 minutes – a total of 23 from 105 matches.
Celtic were seventh in the list of the nine clubs who have competed in the top-flight throughout that period, earning a penalty every 681 minutes (14 from 106 games).
Motherwell are bottom (734 minutes – 13 from 106), while Hamilton are second (477 minutes – 20 from 106).
Aberdeen (530 minutes – 18 from 106) are the most lethal from 12 yards with a conversion rate of 88.9 per cent, while St Johnstone (591 minutes – 16 from 105) have the worst record, notching only half the spot kicks they are awarded.
Rangers scored 87 per cent of theirs, while Celtic netted 71.4 per cent.
When it comes to the league as a whole, the Scottish Premiership (every 302 minutes) is 21st out of 35 European leagues for the frequency of penalties whistled by referees.
At club level, Serbian outfit Crvena Zvezda lead the rankings with a penalty obtained every 209 minutes. At the other end, English Premier League side Burnley have been awarded the least at one every 2363 minutes – four from 105 games.
FULL TABLE:
Minutes Club Success (%)
411 Rangers 87
477 Hamilton 85
502 Kilmarnock 78.9
530 Aberdeen 88.9
561 Hibs 70.6
591 St Johnstone 50
681 Celtic 71.4
681 Hearts 64.3
734 Motherwell 76.9
now after that was published it is also just been claimed on off the ball , that Rangers only had 1 penalty in the calander year , the miss versus celtic in the league cup final.
BB i hope you are wrong.
Luca is kwality as an advanced 8.
Hearing Edouard out of today, I hope I am hearing wrong.
D :)
Little aggression.from Mwell.
Maybe the Manager is following the greater good,just like Calderwood did ,but in his case the job never came up.
No fight bordering on passive.
team leaks incoming.
LAZYDYNAMITE on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2020 10:29 AM
xxxxx xxxxx
hail hail
great post
Lazy
Think if Neil was doing really well we may still be in CL.
Huge game for us 2day. Biggest domestic test so far.
If Edouard out,then so be it,his performance mid week hardly justifies his inclusion.
So does Manager put him in hoping he decides to do us a favour,cant have that.
Want to play,good.Attitide marginal then drop.
” worst thing that could happen is a ‘scappy win” ?????
definition of worst that I was previously unaware of’
why write something like that?
SAINT STIVS on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2020 1:17 PM
Not surprising.
HH