Talking "shite", aye? What did the establishment do to prevent Celtic winning this time? The red card was harsh, I thought both should have been cautioned at most and Lafferty certainly made the most of it. Both sides had penalty claims, in fact I remember Edu being bundled down in the box and from where I was sitting (copland rear) it could very well have been given. I thought we did well, and the only low point was Lafferty, the boy is a woeful excuse for a footballer and his "performance" only served to give his detractors more ammunition. For me Rangers deserved to win. You, and probably fraser will disagree. I think I'll leave it at that as we could go round in circles with this.
"And so the end is near..." That'll be that then for this season. The rumour mill has already begun on TM future. As for the match, I thought there was nothing between the two sides in the first half. But Rangers dominated the second half. Before and after Brown's red card. And with that in mind they deserved the win. Hard to take but that's what I watched. Lafferty conned McDonald into the red card. I'm not blaming the whistler for that one.
Falkirk 0 Celtic 2 (Keane 34, 79) Falkirk Stadium Scottish Premier League Sunday, March 7, 2010 Attendance: 6,792 FALKIRK (4-5-1) Olejnik; Barr, Scobbie, McLean, Twaddle; O’Brian, Arfield, Flynn, Lima (Moutinho 80), Healy; Showunmi, Subs: Wagenaar, Lynch, Compton, Duffie, Davidson, Bloom CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc; Hinkel, Thompson, O’Dea, Braafheid; McGeady, Crosas, NGuemo, Samaras (Wilson 90); Keane, Rasmussen (McGowan 90) Not used: Zaluska, Naylor, Ki, Zhi, Caddis Watched it in the pub today with a few others so missed the finer points of the game. +points. Keane had two sharp finishes. Rasmussen linked up well with Keane at times. Particularly for the first goal. O'Dea had a good game at CB. Crosas was back in the team. Boruc had another good match. Roll on the Scottish Cup on Saturday lunchtime.
Really need our Maloney back I think or give McCourt another run out when he's fit again (I believe he's injured?) Two good goals though, hoping he stays now but meh... we will see.
i like what mccourt can do off the bench but he can't really tackle and he can't run for more than 20 minutes. i think maloney is done for the year. why mogga played samaras on the left wing does my nut in. he insists on playing him every game. does sammy have incriminating pictures or somethin?
I agree to some degree, but personally mate - Even though I feel Kamara does it better Samaras can dribble the ball quiet well at times and make some good runs and (as it has been proved) can be quiet pacey. It's just a shame his end product is poor but he's decent to have on the bench I think when he's up for it. But yeah, he has been poor as of late and isn't being used properly. I liked seeing Crosas back on the park to be honest, with N'guemo. I'd just let to see if he can, if he could and would, be able to bully the midfield. Then again, Iniesta doesn't bully the pitch much but works it. I'd like to see something like that from our Barca boy. I just think they two can play from the midfield and let the wide players and strikers (Rass + Keane are my main choices) do the work ahead of them. For our wide players, we have McGeady and Kamara but I want Mizuno back....
Looks like Fortune, Hooiveld and Loovens will be available for the tie with Kilmarnock. I'm actually really excited for this game. I'd like to see MAF come off the bench and i'd like to see hooiveld play
I'd certainly prefer a Hooiveld/Thompson partnership over a Loovens/Thompson one. Loovens season has been a bit of a disaster and I think it's too late for him to turn it around for this campaign. My first choice CB pairing would be Hooiveld/Rogne if the youngster was fit. Thompson has impressed but Rogne looks to be an even better prospect. He looks a little more composed on the ball and has more pace than the young Englishman. Other than Hooiveld coming in for O'Dea I'd keep the same team as last Sunday. Rasmussen and Keane looked like they could strike up a good partnership, given the chance and the midfield looked more balanced with an NGuemo/Crosas combo in central midfield. But we've been saying that all season and TM still changes it. Scott Brown should be available for this game and I'd like to see him on the right with McGeady on the left which would allow the central area to remain intact. Don't see it happening though.
sadly one never knows what's going on with this gaffer. i agree with everything you said though. i don't rate loovens at all as i feel that he doesn't use his size and pace and isn't as aggressive as i'd like. he has one good game out of five and that's not enough for us. i'd like to see more of hooiveld and i'm looking forward to seeing the young rogne return. anyway, time to avenge the loss to kilmarnock a month ago and move us on a step closer to winning the cup. hail hail
dear dermot: you see it with your own eyes. push the boat out to keep keano. you know it's the right thing to do plus it'll continue to put fannies in the seats. and in spite of the fact that, today, samaras didn't play like half the donkey he usually is, please sell him in the summer anyway. cheers. allegrabene
Quality finishing coupled with terrific movement results in goals. That's what Keane gives us. His first and third goals were outstanding. I thought that we struggled in the first half in all areas of the pitch. Our two center backs struggled at times, although Thompson was a lot better in the second half. Andreas Hinkel had problems defending cross balls deep to his side of the pitch. Landry NGuemo looked strangely off the pace in the first 45mins as well. But we came out a different team in the second half. We got a grip on the game and went on to win it comfortably. It was a difficult pitch to play on once again and with that in mind I thought the 2nd half performance was very, very good. I'm not going to have a whinge at Sammi this week because credit has to be given when it's due and both he and Fortune had a positive impact on the match from the substitutes bench. Two clean sheets in a row!! Woot!! Zaluska, covering in goal in the absence of Boruc who had to return to Poland for family reasons, was a little hesitant at times. But both he and his defenders put up another 0. If we continue doing that then we'll win a large majority of our matches that are remaining now that Keane has the measure of football in Scotland. Oh and the less said about Brines the better. Another shocking performance from him with poor decisions that hurt both teams. He's a shocking excuse for a referee.
thoughts and prayers out to king artur. hope everything comes good in poland and he can make a speedy return to scotland. we need the big man down back and on form over the next several weeks
Celtic Park Scottish Premier League Saturday, March 20, 2010 Celtic 3 (Thompson 15, Keane pen 67, Samaras 87) St Johnstone 0 CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Zaluska; Wilson, Thompson, O’Dea, Braafheid; McGeady, Crosas (Ki 57), NGuemo, McGowan (Zhi 86); Fortune (Samaras 71), Keane Subs not used: Boruc, Hinkel, Caddis, Rasmussen ST JOHNSTONE (4-4-2) Smith; Irvine, Grainger, Duberry, Mackay; Millar, Davidson, Sheerin (Craig 57), Deuchar (Reynolds 15); Milne (Morais 70), Swankie Subs not used: Main, Connolly, Gartland, Falkingham Wasn't at the match. Family commitment meant I had to give my ticket to a friend so I can't comment on how we played. From what I can gather we were average in the first half and upped the tempo in the second 45 and generally looked comfortable throughout. I've been told that McGowan had a very good game. Whether he'll be seen on Wednesday against St Mirren remains to be seen. Nice to see Josh Thompson get his first goal for the club. Also good to see us secure another clean sheet. Goals below - http://www.kirkintillochemerald.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3173
To be honest, I'm not even shocked ... but more amused (having given up the title hopes a very long time ago). It's better losing 1:4 in the derby against my 2nd fav Scottish club (especially, as I grant such events to smaller clubs whose players earn less money but have a good mentality) than in the Old Firm ... isn't it? Robbie Keane must be feeling like being the main actor in a horror show these days... Can it get any worse at Celtic Park? Bonne nuit.
Glad you seem to be enjoying it my friend. As for TM, he'll be put out of his misery today at some point. I've been working in Newcastle all this week and didn't manage to see the game tonight. But I did talk to a couple of mates who were at the match. They were gutted by the lack of fight and desire shown by both the management team and the players. The general consensus of opinion was that even before HT it looked clearly obvious that TM has chucked it. And if that's the case then it's inevitable that the players are going to end up acting in a similar way. But TM isn't the only person to blame here. Time for the so called SSM(Peter Lawell) to fall on his sword. He has systematically weakened the squad over the past two seasons to the point where we are miles behind Rangers. Neil Lennon may be taking over the reigns until the end of the season. We need to get the next managerial appointment spot on or we could fall further into the mire. There are too many questions swimming around the club right now. Was TM given false promises by Lawell over transfer budgets both in the summer and in January? Why has Andreas Hinkel been relegated to the bench in favour of a far inferior player? Why leave Boruc on the bench now when he was playing as well as he has been over the past few months between the sticks? Probably as good as he has played over the past year. Why isn't Rasmussen being given the chance of a run in the team to prove he can be a genuine, consistent goal scorer in the SPL? I had envisaged a 4-0 scoreline tonight. So much so that I put it on the prediction thread. Just got the teams mixed up though.
why was aiden mcgeady, one of our most potent offensive resources, playing fullback? none of it makes sense but it sums up our entire season. nothing makes sense. i think lennon can do the job for the remainder of the year, mogga can't recover from this. he's lost the dressing room and lawell has lost the supporters. the constant signing of asian players to sell shirts? where's zheng zhi? where's koki mizuno? why couldn't anyone see that ki has no idea on how to tackle? why did we blow our load on 3 strikers while buying a central defender that nobody has heard of, who hasn't played since november and wasn't match fit? then they buy a 19 year old who might not be ready yet? we already have one of those. all 11 players on that pitch with the exception of maybe 2 should be ashamed. this side needs neil lennon to explain what it means to wear that shirt. only silver lining was a nice win by dundee united.
I can't argue with that anymore (Sorry Fraser). He fielded a lesser team tonight and it's cost us any chance of a come back this season even if Rangers slipped up. The midfield was flowing sometimes even on a bobbling pitch but it had no fight and we were bullied off the ball. McGowan maybe one for the future, but he didnt have any impact tonight and Samaras was useless at the best of time. The CBs didnt seem to have their heads on properly once rattled there was so much space it was unreal. Rassmus should have been on, Crosas instead of KI and someone brought forward who naturally plays on the wing rather than Samaras... (sorry Sammi) like Muzino or something... ---- other than that lads, let's look to next season and hope the manager gets in some higher quality players for what we need. CBs, Wingers and maybe one dominant midfielder.
Well, why not granting the small but brave Saints an unforgotten night when they deserve it? After all, I'm not Glaswegian ... so I don't feel the rivalry as much as you. Because TM obviously had no idea what he was doing (he already lost my credit after the Hamburg home game). But well, he's history now ... although he got the players he apparently (or not?) wanted.
I have no problem with that. Kudos to them for a terrific result. But I take no pleasure in seeing my team perform to that level regardless of the performance that the opposition put in.
So do you really think it was a "pleasure" for me when I noticed the result in the online version of "Scotsman" (which initially and wrongly even had a 1:4 in the headlines)? I was just a little bit amused by the fact that this team can even concede 4 goals in a derby against the "small" Saints. Have a good night.
I'm really gutted today. I feel quite back for Tony. I started following Celtic around the time when TM's wife passed and I always really admired him. I was hopeful that he'd be able to instill an attacking style of football to complement the toughness that the bhoys had displayed over the years. His philosophy didn't work out in Scotland but what eventually did my head in was the substitutions and lineups he had which made no sense at all. I really do admire him as a man and I sincerely wish him the best. But the best for him is not to remain at Parkhead. All the best in the future Mogga. YNWA!
Sorry if I picked you up wrong but in your post I was referring to you stated that you were amused by the result. I have to admit, that was not the first thought that entered my mind while I was keeping up to date with the game.