Celtic - Home 29th August - Discussion Thread

[Busta Nut]

Craigan and Reynolds are among the poorest central defenders in the SPL and their performance today was just awful. Reynolds can forget all about getting a move out of FP because he's going to be here as long as Craigan's been so he'd better get use to it.

 

 

Watch this space

 

 

see i disagree they are two of the worst SPL centre halves, but I agree about the reynolds thing.

 

Most people think he is something great when actually he is so average. he makes more mistakes than craigan yet is very rarely abused for it the way craigan is.

 

 

as for the game. it was balls.

 

How many times can Loovens and the other c**t at centre half for them push sutton/ blackman and go unpunished for it?

 

Maloney is a cheatin wee c**t, we already knew that.

Why it was a straight red I'll never know. he was goin' away from goal with two defenders on him?

 

 

Ref was fuckin miles away as 'well. Craig Broon noticed this tae

 

REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY soft pen

[Kmcalpin]

Today was dire.

 

While the hangover from Thursday may be a fator, it shouldn't paint over the cracks. We offer very little composure on the ball and have no craft or guile in order to unlock defences. As much as I like Craig Brown, the long ball tactics won't do us any favours this season.

 

 

That sums it up for me. We could only muster 2 efforts on goal all day (one off and one on). The side was second to every ball and the strikers given little in the way of ammunition. if players were mentaly jaded then surely some limited squad roration was possible? The midfield was ovverrun and couldn't compete and sat far too deep. The defence was left exposed and looked very shaky. Long running cracks re-apperared (Saunders is not a right back and Reynolds is no centre back).

[Finlay]

Totall agree with you on this one Lobey. This game had 0-0 all over it from the outset with two poor teams but Celtic deserved to win in the end - they had 70% possession and more efforts at goal than us. But we could still have nicked a point but for the inability again of our two centre-backs to defend.

 

Folk are on here foaming at the mouth about the penalty and Maloney this and Maloney that. They should get over it. It was a stonewall penalty. If it had been at our end I'd have been demanding the same outcome. What they really should be foaming at the mouth about is the part our two centre-backs played in it or rather didn't play in it. Craigan and Reynolds are among the poorest central defenders in the SPL and their performance today was just awful. Reynolds can forget all about getting a move out of FP because he's going to be here as long as Craigan's been so he'd better get use to it.

 

Agree with that....except the bit in bold. I'm not convinced that Reynolds will be attached to a club in England by dinner time Tuesday. I will say this though. If he isn't he could well be wearing the red of Aberdeen or tangerine of Dun Utd this time next year. Certainly no worse than what they have and they could offer more money to him than we could. His days as a Motherwell player are numbered. Those days might amount to about 300 though.

[fat_tony]

I've looked at it several times and don't see that. I saw him try to get the ball.

 

Aye, Saunders just tried to hoof the ball clear but Samaras nicked it away from him and took a boot because of it. No intention there, pretty harsh booking I thought.

 

And how about Samaras only getting booked for his late, high, studs up tackle on Craigan? Seen many a player get sent off for that. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked but from the Cooper it looked more like a red than a yellow.

 

It's disappointing to lose to a shocking penalty decision but on the surface of it, Celtic were worth their win. In saying that, our boys looked tired and the international break is probably a good thing, let them recover a bit before the next SPL game.

[dazamfc]

Anyone know the 50/50 numbers for today?

[Finlay]

Again, I don't see how the decision to give the penalty was shocking. I thought it was clear cut at the game and I thought it was a penalty when I watched it back on TV. As someone said previously, if we had been denied a penalty in a similar challenge we all would be absolutley raging....and rightly so.

[Lobey_Dosser]

Again, I don't see how the decision to give the penalty was shocking. I thought it was clear cut at the game and I thought it was a penalty when I watched it back on TV. As someone said previously, if we had been denied a penalty in a similar challenge we all would be absolutley raging....and rightly so.

 

Penalty for me as well. Not a red card though given the close proximity of Reynolds.

 

Regardless, it was schoolboy stuff to let Maloney through on goal from so far up the park.

[WellTiliDie]

Disappointing result and performance but it was not much of a surprise given Thursday nights effort. First half we posed no threat at all to the Celtic backline and were lucky to go into the break level. I thought we improved a lot in the second half but never really created anything to show for it.

 

Saunders should of hauled Maloney down long before he got near the box and take the red card for it there instead of giving away the penalty and the goal.

 

As has been said we're missing a creative spark in the midfield badly so hopefully somebody will be brought in before Tuesdays deadline.

[DEWELL]

Yep today was grim. A shake up required. Hopefully get another midfielder and striker in (i wish) during the window. I'd drop Saunders too as he's not quite ready yet and i've said it before on these forums a million times REYNOLDS IS CRAP!!! My mate actually pointed out to me how crap his passing is too. In the 1st half an attempt to play the ball out left wing landed 30 yards up in the East Stand. When does Hutchie get a game for us??? Anyway hope we come back from the break fired up. <_ . massive home games in a row for us ends dissapointment.>

[star sail]

Many people talking about Thursday eve as being a reason why we did not perform today. Can someone who knows a bit about sports science, athlete recovery etc explain why professional football players cannot perform in two competitive games per week?

 

Also when is the tipping point between not being match fit/sharp and being burnt out? Seems like only a few weeks ago the players were not match sharp and had not had games under their belt, now they need a rest because they have played too many games? It's a bit confusing. <_>

[Malky79]

Many people talking about Thursday eve as being a reason why we did not perform today. Can someone who knows a bit about sports science, athlete recovery etc explain why professional football players cannot perform in two competitive games per week?

 

Also when is the tipping point between not being match fit/sharp and being burnt out? Seems like only a few weeks ago the players were not match sharp and had not had games under their belt, now they need a rest because they have played too many games? It's a bit confusing. <_>

 

Spot on, only a few in particular Lasley looked anything like what expect from them and the housewifes favourite no spring chicken these days. If players are looking after themselves away from the club surely to hell we're giving them the right care when they are there. Thursday was a hard shift no doubt but I suspect any training in the meantime wasn't overly heavy!

[mon_da_well]

Loving the doom and gloom merchants on these boards. Today was shite, shite games happen.

[star sail]

Loving the doom and gloom merchants on these boards. Today was shite, shite games happen.

 

Last Sunday was shite too, we just happened to be less shite than Killie, the Sunday before that we lost having been in control of the first half at home against a crap Hibs team. Are you fairly relaxed with that?

[Orinoco]

there is no way our players should be tired after only playing a few games into the season. It's just an excuse to another poor performance. As much as i dislike Maloney's antics, had murphy been as street wise last Thursday, few of us would have grumbled, and we would probably be in the group stages.

 

We have a good solid squad of players, and if Brown would only trust our youths more, we can have a good season. However, these players need to work even harder, take responsibility, show the hunger and determination if they want to improve and have another crack at Europe next year.

[Motherwell Football Club]

Last Sunday was shite too, we just happened to be less shite than Killie, the Sunday before that we lost having been in control of the first half at home against a crap Hibs team. Are you fairly relaxed with that?

 

It's the SPL, everyone is shite on different levels. Some folk need to realise this.

 

We didn't go 5-4-1 at anypoint, which I've seen someone post. Hateley was man marking Maloney until McCourt came on, so after then Maloney had free reign, which left our defence fucked.

 

Today we should have started Blackman and Casagolda up top, two new boys with no pressure on them against a team we are 'expected' to lose too.

 

Jennings was apparently feeling unwell, I saw him take a knock to the head just before half time, was holding his head for the last couple of minutes.

 

Celtic were visibly fitter and more aggressive than us, that, more than anything, is what won them the game.

[fat_tony]

Celtic were visibly fitter and more aggressive than us, that, more than anything, is what won them the game.

 

That's to be expected when you have a squad the size of theirs and can afford to rotate a few players. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury and for whatever reason, Broonie felt it was better to start with our "first XI" despite them having thrown the kitchen sink into Thursday night's game. It's not like we have 6 or 7 ready made replacements who can step in for alternating games.

[gordy]

At least we won't hear about conspiracy theories tomorrow.

 

Every single 50/50 decision went to them and as for the penalty the arse hole who was masquerading as a referee was so far behind play there was no way he knew that Saunders was last man.

 

Easy decision to give a penalty to the IRA lovers (90 minutes of bile, will that be mentioned)?, and send off a diddy player.

 

Just a shame we have no referees in Scotland with the baws to be honest.

 

Yes we weren't good but did not deserve to be beaten by dishonest players and referees who have not got the guts to give honest decisions.

[Wellarmy]

One possibility would be still tired from the inserts in the EL and perhaps a little disappointed, because they must say "goodbye" to Europe. (IMHO)

 

I know they put ALOT of effort the other night but it didnt excuse such a poor performance. I thought things should have been freshened up. As MFC has posted, Blackman and Casagolda shouldve started the match. But we dont have enough squad depth to do anything else. Hopefully someone can come in the next couple of days.

[FJ-94]

Broon - Tactically got it wrong when he changed to 5-4-1 - thought we came into the game more imo

 

Randolph - couple of good saves , best player of a bad bunch

 

Saunders - looks like a decent prospect but like today he'll make mistakes and cost us points

 

Reynolds/Craggs - ok

 

Hateley - Poor performance for me.

 

Jennings - Looked way off the pace, carrying and injury?

Blackman - Gash!

 

Lasley - 100% effort as usual

 

Humphrey - total passenger today

Forbes - as always decent on the ball - you've got to be kidding he came on and made a few 5 yard passes

 

Hammel - shame he got the injury cause he had Forrest in his back pocket -hammy was playing right in front of me and seemed to be struggling with forrest

Page - did alright although got skint a few times by Forrest

 

Murphy - Ok

 

Sutton - Big guy was getting fouled all day , but tried his best

 

just my opinions

[Motherwell Football Club]

That's to be expected when you have a squad the size of theirs and can afford to rotate a few players. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury and for whatever reason, Broonie felt it was better to start with our "first XI" despite them having thrown the kitchen sink into Thursday night's game. It's not like we have 6 or 7 ready made replacements who can step in for alternating games.

 

Of course, however, After seen the Motherwell vs Motherwell game a few weeks back, I think some of our youngsters are fearless and talented enough to be thrown into the deep end on occasion.

 

It pisses me off that a guy like Forbes, who everytime we've played Celtic has had Brown in his back pocket, doesn't get a start when we have 2 midfielders who clearly need a rest. Even more annoying was that Humphrey was kept on/in position when it was clear that their left back had his number.

 

Brown has said himself that he sees Casagolda as a creator rather than a goal machine. It was pretty clear in the Killie highlights that he had no problem coming deep and spraying passes aroun, as well as getting his head onto the ball from crosses. I had thought he would start for sure. Now we're crying out for a creative midfielder/striker when we could have on in the shape of Casagolda.

[kmmfc]

Casagolda was absolutely dire at Kilmarnock last week so only deserved a place on the bench. Hopefully, he can get his fitness levels up quickly and become the creative player we need, however, I'd very much doubt it!

As for Reynolds, the only thing that lets him down is his poor distribution and lack of composure on the ball. Apart from that, he is a very good centre half and never seems to be out-paced.

[dosser1886]

Like most people have said, awful game. no-one really deserve to win. Two poor teams we had a bit more of an excuse than them after our exertions on Thursday night and their squad size and quality but CB should have freshened things up a bit.

 

IMO never a penalty, Saunders leaned on him a bit but didn't barge or foul him and Malony did what he does and will always do so well, we were all waiting for him to go down and down he went much to the referees delight, only going to get fouls if refs are taken in and give them though. Craigen was having a good pop at him in the first half diving at the corner of the box to win Celtic a free kick, fuckin embarrassed for the wee dick, good player but has to go down at every opportunity it was the only way that they were going to score - sore one to take.

 

Was it a straight red, I thought that Saunders had been booked earlier for halfing Samaras?

 

What really fucked us at the penalty was that we had just made a substitution and Craigen, Saunders etc. were still getting formation changes barked at them from AK they were so busy concentration on this that they fell asleep, Celtic took the ball quickly, Maloney split the defence as was bearing down on goal and the inevitable happened.

 

Anyway, onwards and upwards C'mon the Well.

[Welldel]

Easy decision to give a penalty to the IRA lovers (90 minutes of bile, will that be mentioned)?, and send off a diddy player.

 

According to Murdo Mcleod after the game on Radio Scotland, the Celtic support were magnificent from start to finish. No mention of them all joining the IRA every 2 minutes or the Ooh ahh up the Ra singathon.

 

Snivelling c**t that he is, I reckon Dunga must have caused som brain damage afterall.

[Spiderpig]

What the team is crying out for is a strong midfield player, time after time Celtic just ran through our midfield yesterday. Jennings, Hatley and lasley are all defensive mid, we need to get someone in who can win the ball and get forward to create chances for the forwards.

[real dosser]

Apart from the usual Irish folk songs coming from the South Stand why the F**k were the "Green Brigade" allowed to stand for the whole game and not just stand but stand in the passageways that are supposed to be used in the event of an emergency.

 

Anyway shite game; shite ref.

If the penalty hadn't been given we could still have been playing now waiting for a goal.

 

Whether it was a penalty or not is debateable but there is no way McDonald's position on the halfway line gave him a view to make the call and deem it a red card. (Reynold or Craigans nearness doesn't have any bearing on the decision. All the talk about last man is bullshit. The rule is if a player is denied a goalscoring opportunity its a penalty.)

 

Onwards & upwards.

 

Mon the Dossers