Glasgow Celtic

[salty]

As so often in the past plenty of kites were flown before the window closed but we. kept all our stars thankfully. Conte says no offer for Dembele French sources say otherwise. Take your pick. 

 

KT was never a runner. Seems to be a very sensible young man who is living the dream at Celtic and would have no wish to leave . In 4/5 years maybe who knows. Moyes should never taken the MU Job. Always likely to be a poisoned chalice after Ferguson.

 

The worrying aspect in the short term is both our main strikers are out of action. With a 25 point lead hardly a concern in the League but could be costly in the cup.

 

Another win last night over Aberdeen. If there is such a thing as a comfortable 1-0 win this was it. The rejuvenation of DB continues a pace. Another superb header for the winner. Great delivery by Sinclair who also hit the bar. Away to St. Johnstone at the weekend. It could be a difficult one if none of the injured return.

[salty]

Another win for Celtic over the Saints 5-2 but a huge slice of luck when we were 2-1 down early in the 2nd half. A penalty for Celtic which was a  travesty of justice. In addition a clumsy challenge in the area by Brown could have been penalised. Dembele on as a sub converted the penalty and Celtic were really motoring after that. Dembele 2 and Sinclair gave Celtic a flattering winning margin. Not surprisingly Tommy Wright was raging.

 

In the first half the busy Henderson gave Celtic the lead but we failed to build on it with Mackay-Stevens very poor when in good positions. The Saints although having a limited amount of possession made it 1-1 from a corner. Woeful marking from  Biton,. and they went ahead after an excellent cross. Boyata too slow to get back headed an og under pressure. Gordon was very poor here and should have able to deal with the situation.

 

It looked dodgy at HT 2-1 down but the Celts looked far more menacing in the 2nd half especially after the ineffective Mackay-Stevens was replaced.

 

 

 

 

 

[hackjam]

Totally agree about Biton, was like a cardboard cut out at the first goal. He is so one paced, predictable and no bite in the tackle. McGregor is a better option, hope he learns to see a pass, too often he gets in great positions but fails to see that killer pass. But he is young enough to add that to his game. Henderson showed a lot of hunger and was encouraging to hear NL & BR speak positively about him.

Last goal was a cracker.

Boyata shows both sides-prone to blunders but lots of adventure carrying the ball out of defense. 

Roberts needs some help on the right. GMS not taking his chance.

 

[salty]

Meanwhile at Parkhead another easy victory over Inverness Caley who were very poor it has to be said. Another treble for Dembele together with goals for both full backs and Brown.

 

Terrific display by Celtic and we await the draw for the last eight.

[hackjam]

At the end of the day, another 3 points in the bag. I guess expectations were high in light of the hammering dished out by Aberdeen, only a few days rest and Celtic with a weeks rest after a fine performance in the cup, we all expected an avalanche of goals. But it never came. Celtic looked a bit flat but still had enough in the tank to see off the Motherwell, who played well enough and actually had a go in the second half.

Good to see Armstrong back. As expected, looked a bit rusty. Henderson not really grabbing his opportunities. Overall, lacked a bit of spark in midfield. Wee James was on fire, great performance capped with a fine goal. Not sure what the story with Roberts is, not making the squad for the last few games. Will be good to have LG back next week-should have a point to prove too.

[salty]

Not likely to be game of the season . Mindless challenge on Dembele for the penalty and excellent goal by Forrest. Horror "challenge" on young Kieran should have resulted in red card. Thankfully he is ok but if it was his standing leg.?

 

Brendan is making noises about the pitch being unsuitable for fast flowing football. It is noticeable in many cases that the players have difficulty in instant control which gives defences time to close down.

[salty]

Another win on Saturday over Hamilton. A superb Dembele goal on the stroke of half time put us ahead. Apart from Armstrong hitting the bar when he should have scored the visitors were dealing comfortably with Celtic. We were not helped by an early injury to Forrest replaced by the underwhelming Mackay-Steven.

 

Young Kieran had laid on the chance for Armstrong and early in the 2nd half His searing run into the area saw him fouled. The main man converted the penalty with a very short run up which always unnerves me . I feared one of those silly dummies as in Barcelona. The 2 goal margin was always comfortable as Accies rarely posed a threat except at the end when Gordon had to be alert to tip over a header. Good to see the reappearance of Griffiths for the last 20 minutes.

 

The poor state of the pitch was very noticeable on Saturday. After Brendan's criticism last week a new pitch in the summer looks a certainty. A return to Inverness on Wednesday. The home team will be gung ho after their 1st win in 4 months and will be keen to take more points off the Bhoys.

 

 

 

 

[hackjam]

Outstanding result/performance in the Highlands last night.

CG had little to do, still produced an outstanding tip over the bar.

Back 4 were solid, KT again the stand out, what a player.

GMS worked hard but needs more penetration, surely LG would have been worth half a game there. The right wing has been the poor relation all season mainly because they will always be compared against the left.

Captain Brown walked through the game, never had to get out of second gear and got a nice breather.

Still not convinced by Bitton, far too casual, clumsy in the tackle and cannot pick out that killer pass, like the one KT played for MD second goal, just think hw would be more suited to an away European tie, where we needed to keep things tight, or maybe BR is just giving him game time in the hope of a summer sale.

Next up a cup tie at home on Sunday.

[Jockstar]

If you lose all your games and Aberdeen lose a few. We then need to win all ours and we win the league.

[salty]

A sad day in a sad week for the Lisbon Lions. Yesterday the full back wth dynamite in his boots Tommy Gemmell died. RIP Tommy.  Earlier in the week revealed Billy McNeill has lost the power of speech from dementia.

 

Now 4 of the eleven have left us.

[salty]

Missed the game on Wednesday due to travel. Terrific result which "avenged" our only domestic blip this season. Looks like our usual suspects did the business again.

[hackjam]

Celtic 2 games away from treble, but not at the races for the first hour against St Mirren. Center half's found wanting and usual suspects not performing. Very disjointed performance in first half but GMS could have had a few goals, this may have been his last chance in the hoops. Game changer was introduction of PR at half time. After ML had leveled, a trademark Sinclair special followed by a great team goal engineered by Sinclair, who had one of his quiets games so far, finished with a MD tap in. Glad to see NB hooked after another typical non dynamic display. I just reckon we cannot afford to carry passengers like GMS & NB, when we have other options. Fair enough if we were down to the bare bones but looking at squad, seem to me there are better options. LG looked sharp when introduced & rewarded with goal. Nice to see Kouassi debut and great that Captain Brown got MOM.

Saints did put it up to us for an hour, hard to believe they are fighting relegation in second tier, all due credit to them, seems like they had Boyata figured out, dreadful distribution.

Looking forward to Old Firm next week and hope we get Rangers in the Semi Final also

[salty]

You got your wish hackjam. Drawn against The Rangers in the semi final in late April. Hopefully the referee will not be Beaton who was a disgrace yesterday. So 3 Glasgow derbies against them in next 2 months.

 

As for today's game it was comfortable in the end against St Mirren. But we were very poor in the 1st half and they almost gave us heart failure early in the 2nd half when the ball spooned up off Dembele and off the underside of the bar before being headed over when it was still 0-1. Thankfully GMS had been taken off after a dreadful 1st half. Saints goal well taken availing of GMS asleep and ball watching by Boyata. They hung on doggedly until half time with several of our big names well below par. Once Griffiths came on for the uninspiring Biton things changed. Lustic glanced in well taken free kick by Roberts and a Sinclair special almost immediately restored blood pressure to normal. Very comfortable from then to the end.

 

Hopefully Brendan will sideline GMS and Biton for remainder of the season. We need a full 11 focused guys on the ball.

 

 

[hackjam]

Yes, great draw for semi final.

One aspect of Celtics game that I feel needs improving is corner kicks. OK I think Boyata got a few and Dembele also against Rangers but for the amount of corners we get, we should be getting more goals. Deliveries all season-as evident yesterday- have been poor, too many players in the 6 yard box instead of attacking the ball. Some teams-like West Brom-are great at corners and score regularly. Armstrong's deliveries were poor yesterday and PR was much better with his in the second half.

As well as GMS and Bitton, I would also like to see Boyata hooked, and JS back in at the back. we need more penetration through the middle, ball playing center half's.

Hopefully Forrest will be back soon, a half each for him and PR would be any left backs nightmare.

Looks like CG has penned a new deal-great news, should be that position nailed for the next 3 or 4 years.

[hackjam]

Not a good performance by Celtic and in the end, draw fair result. CG saved our bacon a few times and was unlucky for equalizer.

Browner had a good game but most of the usual suspects did not perform. Center half's looked unsure at times, our tempo was OK but lots of over cooked passes. Bit of a reality check. Sure we had a shout for a penalty at the death but no joy. Result will lift Rangers for cup tie.

[salty]

Poor display by Celtic and easily the best display by The Rangers against us. Our 2 big names Dembele and Sinclair made little contribution. Not that surprised at the poor first touches by Dembele but he had a few powder puff efforts and one or two ludicrous attempts from impossible angles when he should have been aware of his colleagues. Our centre backs were both dodgy and were bailed out twice by Gordon. He and Armstrong were easily the best of our side. Armstrong as well as putting us ahead hit the post with a free kick and produced a great effort well saved by Foderingham. Brown offered trojan support but Biton as always was poor and  it was with relief that he was pulled at half time.

 

Celtic were on the back foot for the first 25 minutes giving away a succession of free kicks which came to nought. From then to half time we began to get a grip bringing the lead goal from Armstrong. MgGregor as expected was a big improvement on Biton and Celtic had the upper hand until about 20 minutes to go when Armstrong was subbed by Griffiths . Roberts just before had come on for Forrest.

 

But with Armstrong gone (Injured?) Celtic just seemed to collapse. The Rangers took complete control and it seemed like they had 2 extra men on the field. Gordon had saved again from Waghorn but Hill scored an inevitable equaliser with a few minutes to go. It was annoying to see Celtic taking the finger out for the last few minutes when they had done nothing for the previous 20 and Hill was lucky to avoid conceding a penalty for a foul on Griffiths.

 

Dropping 2 points is hardly a tragedy but I would agree The Rangers will take great belief from this result for the semi final. Hope fully it will serve as a wake up call for Celtic and let several of them know they cannot afford to ponce around and expect to make the final.

[hackjam]

Next up is Dundee, would expect a tough game, can clinch title if Aberdeen loose at home to the Jambos.

Hope to see McGregor get a run of games and see what he can do, I have high hopes for him, just needs a run of games. Am sure BR has learned from Rangers game, a few were found wanting, would also like to see LG get some more game time.

[salty]

An Aberdeen win today so we will have to wait a few weeks to get over the line. Like most much prefer McGregor to Biton but with Rogic now close to a return he may have to make most of his appearances from the bench. Both centre backs especially ES very dodgy last week so hopefully Jozo will return.

 

i thought Dembele was poor last week and would also like to see more of Griffiths as an impact sub. It seems we are both singing from the same hymn sheet.

[hackjam]

Indeed, and would echo the opinion of most Celtic fans I come in contact with.

At the end of the day, we all have an opinion of who should play/where a guy should play/who should move on etc. etc....... its the beauty of football. But BR knows best, so in BR we trust and support whoever he puts on the park. Saying that, if a player underperforms, as fans, it will be highlighted, especially if there are better options available.

We are in a good place-sure there will be setbacks from time to time.

Great times to be a Celtic fan, club is in a good position on and off the park, future looks rosy. We only have to look across the city to see what a shambolic mess miss management can leave a club in. We were nearly there to, not so long ago but for a fan called McCann. 

[hackjam]

Great display by all 6 Celts last night for Scotland.

I cannot remember 6 players from the same club starting for an international team.

Set up now for a cracker against the English in June.

[champers]

England v Luxembourg 1977 had 8 Liverpool players. Spain have had 6 or more from Barcelona in the last 10 years or so many times. Plenty from Bayern Munich for Germany too. Juve for Italy 70s and 80s.

[salty]

A great day for all Celtic fans as we wrapped up the 6th title in a row at Tynecastle. And fittingly it was done in style with a 5-0 win over Hearts. No Dembele or Griffiths we were under pressure for the first 20 minutes but 2 rapid superb Sinclair strikes both set up by Roberts swung the game in our favour. After that The home team never had the same belief.

 

An early Armstrong goal in the 2nd half made sure they was no comeback and a terrific 4th from Roberts followed. Sinclair completed his hat trick from the penalty spot.

 

After a few iffy performances of late it was good to see the Bhoys back in full flow again. Great days for all the faithful and hopefully a few more to come.

[hackjam]

No MD or LG up front. First 25 min Hearts gave a good account of themselves, pressing Celtic, not allowing midfield to control the game, both sides had chances-CG bailed us out with some top drawer goalkeeping, showing his worth to the side. Celtic turned the screws with class moments from PR & SS to give 2 goal advantage at break. Added 3 more in commanding second half display, SS netting penalty - now that's the way to take a penalty.

One unsavory incident saw a Jambo having a pop at ML, who never reacted. That's the second one this season- a punch was thrown at SS earlier in the season. Their mouthy Chairperson normally has quiet a bit to say about fans behavior in general, lets hear what she comes out with this time.

I, for one, don't give a dam about records like unbeaten runs/points totals etc., so if big guns are rested, so be it. Saying that, if the like of Gambo, Izzy, Biton, Toure, Henderson were to come in midweek, I would still expect us to beat the like of PT.

Good to see CMcG getting a few game run under his belt, certainly more dynamic than NB.

[Bredbury Blue]

So what's your opinion on the City ex- and current loan players?

[hackjam]

PR will be back at Man City at the end of the season to try make a go of it. Not sure he will make it there, teams like MC demand instant results, hard to see him dislodge RS or KDeB, although he would be a great impact player to bring on. He has potential but needs to step up now, a season in MC reserves will set him back the way.

Being selfish, I hope he does not make it at City and would welcome him back at Celtic.

 

Always felt with DB, that there s a decent player in there. And as I always say, players need a run in the side-and that's what he has got over the past few months and he has done well. I am starting to like him and think at 1m, it is money well spent. If he is not first choice, then he is a good back up to have. Right now, he seems to be first choice center half, so well done to him for taking his chance. As a center half with Celtic, needs to be a better ball player and step into midfield and pick out a pass-that's one of his weakness, not great distribution.

[Bredbury Blue]

^cheers for your reply.

 

Roberts is definitely talented as Clichy learnt but whether he has enough to become a big player or not time will tell but he has loads of potential. 

 

Boyota when he broke through he looked like he had it all then quickly lost confidence. There's a very decent player in him though and at 1M a bargain. 

 

[hackjam]

2 points dropped but no big deal, bit of a hangover result. 5 changes meant BR found out more about squad. Kouassi looks the part and hope he gets a decent run and remember, he is only 19. The performance was more important than the result.

 I actually thought we played well up to the goal and when they equalized, then the game opened up which normally suites us but it never happened. PT were well organized worked hard, we just could not brake them down. Eric the Dane continues to look unsure but Joso was outstanding. Great to see Aussie Tom back, good to rest Brown, maybe Kouassi can be long term replacement.

 

[salty]

Not on tv here just saw the goals. Brendan looking ahead to the semi and aiming to have the best starting eleven in the best nick. Celtic news now gave the lowest rating on the side to Biton. With Rogic back hopefully Biton will rarely feature. Eric the Dane appears to have been culpable for Thistle goal. He has been expressing his frustration to the Danish Press but he now looks well behind the other 2 centre backs. 

 

Thistle played well well and well worth their point it would seem. 

[balo]

I picked the wrong date to bet on Celtic to win .  Oh well , maybe next time. 

[salty]

Brendan  Rodgers has signed a new 4 year deal with Celtic. Up to now he was on a year long rolling contract. Neil McCann will be disappointed.