That was the latest instalment in a long running series of Behind the Couch Celtic away performances in Europe, with the wonderful exception that after Hapoel Be’er Shiva had us on the rack in the opening period of the second half, Celtic put five at the back and closed the game out without any stressful incidents in the final 15 minutes.
There are a few moments worthy of comment:
Hapoel’s penalty came as a consequence of Celtic pressing high up the field for the first time in the game. The home team dropped deep as they were temporarily reduced to 10 men, but when Celtic pressed high to take advantage of an opponent receiving treatment, they easily passed through us, switched the ball left and gave Saidy Janko his first difficult moment of the night.
More on Saidy in a moment, but we cannot allow teams to pass through us so easily. We should never have been caught so high up field. Our alertness, interceptions and tackling were not good enough. Craig Gordon’s block at the penalty was priceless (or at a price of circa £26m, if you’re being picky).
There’s a reason teams who mark zonally at corner kicks don’t mark the penalty spot. It’s because headers from the penalty spot need to be exceptional in order to beat the keeper. Sahar’s goal wasn’t an exceptional header. It bounced before passing Craig Gordon three feet inside the post. It should never have been a goal, and although Craig’s mistake for the second was more evident, the first was as worrying a goal to concede.
We’re fond of talking about “schoolboy errors” in football but Saidy’s lack of awareness of his direct opponent and goalkeeper at the second goal was a classic error from the 9-year-old’s game. I’ll be generous and say he’s not ready for a game at this level. Craig Gordon doesn’t have a let off for this one, either. While his fullback made a mistake, an alert keeper would have prevented the goal and knocked Saidy into next week. Awareness concerns exist for him too.
Whether it’s Craig’s self-confidence, or that the defence don’t have confidence in him, goalkeeping mistakes came perilously close to seeing us drop out of the Champions League last night.
Not that Craig shoulders all responsibility for what was a weak performance. The middle of the park was experimental and looked it. On the back of one of his best games for Celtic a week ago, Scott Brown’s passing, control and influence was miles off the pace.
Scott, Callum McGregor and Nir Bitton were swamped in midfield. Too few Celtic players were showing for the ball, which was thrown forward aimlessly whenever a Hapoel player closed us down. If central midfield is right, your defensive and goalkeeping frailties are less evident, but we were exposed too often at the back last night. There was a period in the second half when watching on TV made it impossible to know where we were going wrong. After a Hapoel chance, we would see a replay, and before it cut back to live pictures, Celtic had lost possession and were again under pressure. This happened repeatedly. Central midfield was the major problem with the performance, if not the result.
Don’t let any of this dampen your spirits. We’re into the Champions League group stage, a fact which will see us break through the £80m turnover mark for the first time. By comparison, turnover was £51m for 2014-15, the most recent season accounts are available for.
Despite the increase in expenditure this season, we’ll pay our bills without increasing borrowing or selling players. We’re on the circuit again, which means we’ll find it easier to attract talent going forward, it means we’ll find it easier to attract commercial deals and pretty much every KPI at the club will become that bit more attainable.
Last night was a transformational day in the life of your football club. We’re back, enjoy it!
903 Comments- Pages:
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TONYDONNELLY67 on 24TH AUGUST 2016 1:13 PM
Whistle the auld Zadok.
NATKNOW on 24TH AUGUST 2016 1:09 PM
Tell yeez whit. There’s some right crabbit aul basturts stomping round the office in brown brogues the day
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Gonnae email the best goddam ringtone seller on CQN later. Might need you help wi’ the CYT to get it installed though fella.. ;-))
Hey lurking Huns! Cop for this an GIRFUYs
https://youtu.be/r5ryRnUSBN0
TONYDONNELLY67 on 24TH AUGUST 2016 1:13 PM
Thanks, lol.
Barney,
I couldn’t believe that stat about Gordon and penalties. He saved 2 in the one game against Gretna.
But post match Broony had a cheeky dig at him saving one so I’m guessing it’s true :)
HH
Will take Moscow.Brugge and Leverkausen tomorrow.
KTF
NatKnow
Ridiculous accusation. I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the British Association of Urological Nurse.
I mean…are you taking the piss?
*Nurses
RYAN MC GOWAN EMDAE??? NOW THERS A FINE GOAL SCORING DEFENDER IMO!!!
As the bus passed the bars at Bridgeton Cross the driver gives the patrons as toot of the horn and they wave back not knowing either the bus’ contents or destination.
Past the cross, the bus, passengers and precious contents head along London Road
turning on to the Celtic Way towards the statues glistening in the afternoon sunshine.
Hello again all you young rebels.
Went on a hunt the hun and have some fun day, but no luck,
it’s very difficult over here on the rebel peninsula, but i’ll keep
trying, i’m sure they will emerge when glibby opens his warchest.
Tough going for us last night but i’ve seen better Celtic teams
crumble away from home, i think the size of the prize got to a lot
of the players and some just don’t have what it takes, Bobby
Murdoch types don’t come along very often but i’m sure Brendan
has a player in mind so loosen the purse strings Peter the moneys
there.
H.H Mick
VFR8008A
I have not called any Celtic player a coward as such.
But what was cowardly last night is receiving a pass and returning it straight back to a team mate who has a man on him rather than taking the responsibility to make a slightly riskier pass to two forwards making good runs ahead of you.
To put the burden on team mate rather than being resposible is certainly not the actions of a brave player.
Janko was terrible last night but he was as brave as a lion for continuing to be involved.
Geordie Munro on 24th August 2016 2:27 pm
I only looked it up because i thought someone said he’d NEVER saved one. I got it here…
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jumplist/elfmeterstatistik/spieler/12589
although they haven’t up dated it from last night. HH
For you Joseph Anthony,if you’re lurking.
http://youtu.be/XG63OtsKC7k
And GIRFUY ;))
I’m happy we are in the CL but after last night’s performance, it feels like we’re going two steps forward and one step backwards. Our home performances reflect this, we race ahead and then let in silly goals. I feel that at home we may get one or two CL wins but on away form (see Imps L, Astana D, HBS L), I’ve got a bad feeling we could be in for more of last night’s display.
I find it incredulous that supporters believe we will spend 10 – 15M in transfer fees just because we have qualified for the CL.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t spend a penny in transfer fees and its loan deals we go for.
I think that is sensible because you will get a higher standard of player although you will be back to square one next season.
Anyone expecting a big outlay will be disappointed imo, only going on our recent past for evidence.
Still buzzing and we must strengthen in midfield and right back. HH
DAVIDOPOULOS on 24TH AUGUST 2016 2:28 PM
NatKnow
Ridiculous accusation. I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the British Association of Urological Nurse.
I mean…are you taking the piss?
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If you think I’m getting drawn into another one of your daft punning sessions then urine for a rude awakening…!
I reckon we will spend £5-7 million on fees with the same commitment on wages and the rest tucked away for a rainy day.
A sharp suited man, smiling widely, hastens down the steps from the front entrance and rushes to greet the bus driver and its cargo.
A whispered exchange.
The sharp suited man pulls out his cellphone and Zadok the Priest rings out.
The driver smiles and the six dark suited men descend with the boxes, carrying them into the reception.
“Sign here please. £30 million pounds is all yours.”
And you can get your own tones at
ACGR@OUTLOOK.COM
Just realised I’m working in London on week of matchday 4, please let it be an away match that week.
50/50 CSC
Thetimreaper
Wishful thinking imo.
sid on 24th August 2016 2:42 pm
I find it incredulous that supporters believe we will spend 10 – 15M in transfer fees just because we have qualified for the CL.
====
You may find it incredulous, but I am not aware of anyone who has actually called for us to spend £15m up front on transfer fees.
Some people have questioned the possibility of signing Roberts on a permanent deal, a couple replied saying the fee may be particularly high, up to 15m. There was debate about the fee that Man City may actually want.
It was also noted that although a figure of 11.5m was widely quoted that Man C paid for Roberts, it would also be true to say that only about 2m-5m of this was paid upfront. A structured deal for Roberts that eventually amounts to 7-8m, with Man City having first refusal/buy back, may not be a total pipe dream.
We will definitely strengthen, as the manager said, when you qualify for the CL the transfer market explodes with possibilities… we also have a few sellable assets in Johansen, Armstrong and a couple of others. It all mounts up.
HH
The way I see it is we’ve got to the CL groups a year ahead of plan.With the job Brendan had when he came in;too big a squad,new signings needed,low confidence with players etc.,I believed it would be next season before he’d have sorted things enough to qualify.So from that pov we’re ahead of plan.
I reckon this will make group games very difficult as we’re still so early into Brendan’s reign that we can’t be anywhere near where he wants us to be as a team,still evolving.It will most likely take the till the end of next summer’s window before he has a squad that’s entirely his.
I hope,therefore,that the support doesn’t react too harshly if we don’t fare so well in the CL this season.We’ve got a major cash boost and the players will get top-class experience that should improve each and every one of them.Then next season I can see us being more of a force and more savvy in Europe.
Qualifying is success this season,anything else is a bonus.
FOREVERANDEVER!!!
SID
Hope you are wrong on the spend.
We need an experienced central mid to control our positioning and tempo..
We have a lot of good youngsters in the midfield areas who could benefit from an experienced pros guidance.Ajer ,ChristieArmstrong .Nesbitt and Hendry spring to mind.
I think we need someone like this for at least 3 years so we should pay for such a player.
Immediate outlay for long term benefit.
EXPAT_CELT
A new coach still learning about his teams capabilities.
So can understand if we are a bit up and down for this season.
We are not really ready for champions league success this season but i’m hopeful we will have some positive results that can prepare us for the future.
FAN-A-TIC on 24TH AUGUST 2016 2:35 PM
Bitton was guilty of offloading the ball (and responsibility) to Janko who was tightly marked and knackered having just made a run down the wing. Bitton had space and other options. Janko was immediately disposessed and HBS back on the attack with Janko caught upfield.
Bitton at fault, not Janko (although he did have a poor game)
NatKnow
Ah, you are wise to my antics, you could see I was heading down that tract.
We should go for Yaya Toure on loan as Pep has dropped him from their CL sqaud for tonight in Bucharest and he was also dropped for last saturdays game against Sunderland. Jason Denayer and Nasri are 2 others, no fees just some of their wages.
HH
Wonder if qualification to the CL will trigger bonus payments from New Balance, Magners and Dafabet for increased exposure.
FalkirkBhoy
Great quote. The Lions had a team of leaders. As did MON’s team. Right now we are a few short.
!!BADA BING!! on 24TH AUGUST 2016 1:54 PM
Cheers for that link.
Sharp as a tack is Brendan. HH
DAVIDOPOULOS on 24TH AUGUST 2016 2:58 PM
NatKnow
Ah, you are wise to my antics, you could see I was heading down that tract.
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You need to shake it off mate. It’ll be hard but you’ll find it a catheteric experience…
TONY D
BRILL!! BIT DODGY CLIPS AT THE SIDE THO.
Broonie has played 70 euro games…. a Celtic record
GLENDALYTONSILS@2-57
That is exactly what i am saying.
Bitton does this often.
I only mentioned Janko as despite being poor he never hid last night.
In contrast to Bitton he was brave.
Very hot in the hun free valley.
So it wasn’t a dream, we did it.
We rode our luck big time, I said during the game that we had the Fear, this is a problem that you get with players who are not top quality, they have many attributes but they don’t have them all, if they did they wouldn’t be playing for us, this is where Brendan will really earn his corn, to make them believe, a mighty task but one I reckon he will manage, the difference so far is amazing, it will take time and not all the players will get there.
GG,
That was pure brilliant:0)
Some good posts with accurate observations on last night’s cardiac arrest game.
It appeared to me that the Hapoel players had superior upper body strength ( with the exception of Kolo and Erik), were first to almost every ball, won most of the 50/50 balls, had really strong acceleration, very good ball control, played a lot of triangles and one-twos, and were already moving as they received a pass. In short, a very good team. I will watch their Europa League progress with interest.
It did not help us that the referee, who allowed their defenders to outmuscle or leap over Griffiths to head away clearances, penalized Kolo and Erik for identical challenges.
Hapoel also had a lot of intricate passing play at Celtic Park, calmly playing the ball out from the back. Genuine question: why can’t we do the same when playing away? Is it lack of skill, lack of fitness, lack of confidence, or a combination of all three? We often resorted to panicked long clearances nowhere near a Celtic player, and couldn’t string together three or four passes. Our passing accuracy was simply deplorable. This will bring humiliation away to the likes of Madrid or PSG unless we devise a game plan to rectify it. What we don’t want to do is have a Group Stage like Malmo last year, with one goal scored and 20 lost.
I think we sometimes fall between two stools in our away strategy. Should we have a really determined backs to the wall display ( remember Matthews frustrating Messi a few years ago?) or really go for it against any team that is vulnerable. In the group stage, I think we should strive to get an away point against the Pot 1 and 2 teams, which would do wonders for our confidence. If that means 5 at the back, so be it. I know it is Wednesday morning quarterbacking, but a back 5 last night of Lustig, Eric, Kolo, O’Connell and Tierney would possibly have lessened the need for beta blockers throughout the game. There has been a lot of well intentioned criticism of Janko, but I think James Forrest could have helped him out a lot more. Janko often reached the touch line opposite the 18 yard box and had no one open for a pass. Inexplicable.
Others have raised the huge importance of retaining possession in away games, yet we still resort to the long throw up the line which consistently squanders it. This is simply basic. Hapoel did not lose possession once from their own throw ins, with constant movement offering the thrower multiple options. Too many times, we are static beside a defender offering nothing for the thrower. Last night, for example, Tierney was often forced just to throw it as far as he could, and we lost it every time. Surely Brendan will sort this out?
I await Brendan’s transfer target with intense interest, but on the evidence of our last three ties, where we have lost no goals, one goal, then 2 goals at Celtic Park, and scored only one goal away to Astana, with our only shot on target, I think we need more than one.
Lastly, forgetting last night’s performance for a moment, Brendan has done wonders for Forrest and Brown. Could he do the same for Boyata, who has a lot of pace? There’s a player in there somewhere.
IniquitousIV
Tradionalist88
Thanks for the reply.
One poster suggested Roberts and Denayer for 10M, another thought 15M would be a good deal.
I think these posts are pie in the sky, like everyone, would like to see money spent on strengthening but I’m a realist and try to read between lines.
Brendan saying that the board have already pushed the boat out is one sign.
Our way of operating since after MON is another.
I think the strategy will be a couple of significant loan deals, to strengthen but not the burden of cost, with maximum of one permanent signing or fees no more than 3-4M.
All evidence points to this and happy to have another chat upon closure of transfer window.
Fergus McCann “I only payed off the bank, I didn’t have control of the shares or the company”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/37173239
If you scroll down to 11:28 there is a clip that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up