Pics from the game and the festivities in and around the city: http://pangborn76.smugmug.com/gallery/24704531_nS77m2#!i=2020134739&k=3w77sz2 And more from the game: http://www.phillysoccerpage.net/2012/08/12/in-pictures-real-madrid-2-0-celtic/
Ross County - Celtic 12.15pm KO Celtic Team (3-5-2) Forster Lustig Wilson Mulgrew Matthews Kayal Wanyama Ledley Izaguirre Commons Samaras Subs - Zaluska, Rogne, Watt, McGregor, Slane, Keatings, Chalmers Injury sees as without Stokes, Hooper, Murphy, Brown, Forrest, McCourt, McGeough and Bangura and with the crucial Champions league qualifier looming midweek we'll be hoping for a clean bill of health as well as the 3pts that are on offer.
Kris Commons spares our blushes with a 93rd min equaliser in a 1-1 draw in Dingwall. Not the best preperation for Tuesday. Suffice to say I'd imagine NL has hit the nail on the head when he stated that a lot of the team looked to have one eye on Tuesday's match. At least we have no new injury worries ahead of that and players such as Brown, Hooper and Forrest will come into contention to start.
Way to keep the thread going Fraser! Rest assured, you are not alone in your support of the Bhoys here! HUGE game in about two hours. Unfortunately, I will be coaching my son's flag football team and won't be able to watch or really even sneak a peak at the score. Maybe that's for the best as I tend to get worked up about two things: Celtic and Texas Tech football.
Great win for Celtic today! I caught some of the highlights on Footytube and it looks like we played an outstanding game overall. Interesting to see that aspiring US International and former Rangers player Alejandro Bedoya was playing for Helsingsborg. Appears that the game was pretty wide open and could have been something like 4-2 or 4-3 but for some nice saves from Forster and a couple Celtic shots off the woodwork. Heres to a safe injury-free game next week to conclude the tie and move on to the group stages!
We had the perfect start to the match with Kris Commons taking his volley beautifully. But Helsingnborgs dominated the rest of the 1st half but were forced to go in behind at HT due, in combination, to an excellent performance from Fraser Forster and their inept finishing. We were much better in the 2nd half and it was pleasing to see NL make a change right at the start of the half by bringing on Forrest for Kayal which made a big impact in the 2nd 45mins. Neil has been accused of tactical naivety. This switch proves that the manager knows more than he is given credit for at times. James was a great outball and forced their left back onto the back foot for the remainder of the game which gave us a far more even foothold in the game. Sami's goal was the icing on the cake but, and it may have been a little harsh on the Swede's, we should have had a 3rd. Never mind the fact that we hit the bar twice and James forced their keeper into a good save, Sami should have squared across goal for Commons to tap in after a great run. Forrest was the star in the 2nd half, Forster in the 1st. But after HT our big keeper didn't need to pull off any big saves as the midfield and defence got a lot tighter to each other and the introduction of Forrest meant we carried far more threat going forward. Only worry now is the injuries which seem to be mounting up. Ledley had to go off, as did Commons and apparently Scott Brown and Kayal have tweaks as well. But Victor and Paddy McCourt will be available for the trip to Inverness on Saturday.
Yeah. Poor result for you guys at home mate although, admittedly, against very strong opposition. Any hope for the return leg?
Great to see people are actually back on this forum; glad that not only is the SPL back on American TV, but now have 4 footie channels. It appears that Ross County actually gave Celtic a proper match last week. Caught the highlight show last night; Dundee derby had some fine goals.
There were some nice goals last week weren't there. Brittain's free kick was a peach. As was Russell's strike. But there were a few other well worked goals. I think last weeks matches averaged 3 goals per game. Not a bad average to have if it can be maintained.
Nice 4-2 (was 4-0 until late) win for the Bhoys today up at Inverness. Lenny rested some normal starters and went with a starting lineup that included Lustig, Wilson, Twardzik, McCourt and Watt. Watt had a great game, scoring twice and nearly scoring a couple others. Nice to see Paddy in the starting lineup, I have to admit I'm one of "those" who are enamored with his style. Young subs came on to include Bangura, Forrest and Chalmers so it was a great experience for a lot of the regular bench players. No injuries in the game that I saw I'm probably the only one who wasn't aware of this, but at least some UCL qualifying games are being broadcast on the main Fox Soccer channel. Imagine my suprise when I turned on my TV last week and found the replay of the Helsingsborg game playing in glorious HD! Hopefully next weeks game will also be shown
Any thoughts on Ki being sold to Swansea? The guy was a deadly long-range shooter but I can't say I think he was any better than the other center mid players esp. Kayal and Ledley who I believe were the main contenders at his position (I could very well be wrong though because I'm still trying to figure out who plays where and it seems to change a lot) 6 million pounds paid I believe, so a pretty good price. From what I am hearing, Wanyama will NOT go in this transfer window.
The 2 goals let in by Celtic were lazy/ball-watching defense. I loved the Mulgrew (3rd goal), straight from the training ground.
I'm glad to see NL giving Tony Watt a chance to impress and even happier to see him taking it (so far). I'm also a Paddy fan but I always got the feeling he got too carried away with the crowd at times and tried to do too much on the ball. Still, in full flow, he is a lot of fun to watch. I think Ki offered a better option whilst in possession. He had excellent technique and, other than Commons, was the best creative option from the middle of the park. However, it looks to me like NL wants a physically strong 3 man midfield (Brown, Wanyama, Kayal, Ledley) and the creativity to be left to the wide areas or the no.10 position (Samaras, Forrest, Commons). With that in mind, it makes good business sense to sell Ki on and hopefully, use the cash to buy an experienced CB. I'd hope NL will be making sure the players are well aware of this. Complacency is one thing we cannot afford tomorrow night.
http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory?item=3000 Mo Bangura joins AiK Stockholm on a 6mth loan deal. That transfer looks like a complete waste of money at this point in time. I'll be glad to be proved otherwise in the future.
It was a good result from a professional performance. 4 games played in the CL so far with 4 wins. That wont last but I'm looking forward to the draw later today to see who we get.