No chance. That is not going to happen. People underestimate what the other teams have to offer in the SPL. Not saying it won't be comfortable. Take tonight's result for instance. Lenny made a few changes to the side & we got knocked - and deservedly so. Motherwell didn't exactly blow us off the park, but they capitalized on their few opportunities and dominated possession. Last week St J held us to a draw & have knocked us a few times this season. That is just 2 examplea. This weekend we play St Mirren in the Cup - a team that already knocked us out of the League Cup earlier this season. Scotland is a small country. Too small for 40 professional teams. There does need to be a restructure in the league, but anyone who underestimates any of the other teams in the league is not giving the other clubs the respect they deserve.
2-1 win over the Buddies in Paisley at the weekend & the Hoops now into the final 4 of the Scottish Cup. Now all attention turns to the trip to Turin, and support the Bhoys regardless. It'll take a minor miracle to overturn the 3-0 deficit that Juve were able to attain in the first leg. Let's hope the ref actually has a spine and cards a few of the Juve fouls this time, because set pieces are sure to be a big factor if the Hoops are to find a way back into the tie... that and Juve either resting on laurels or just being a bit complacent, thinkning that the tie has already been settled, done and dusted. For we are Celtic supporters faithful, through and through and over and over we will follow you!
http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/juventus-2-celtic-0-2/ Despite leaving the CL stage with 2 defeats & no scored goals, the Bhoys can keep their heads high in my eyes. Another brave performance at Juventus Arena with more possession and a few good scoring opportunities against one of the best defences in Europe ... the only real difference between the teams in both games has been called efficiency (Juve with the better strikers & the better goalie). Considering the "cruel" result over both legs (0:5), it's quite paradox to see Celtic leading all stats once again. To be honest, I didn't expect that (although I know that Juve's style isn't the most attractive in Europe these days). http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000348/match=2009595/postmatch/report/index.html#juventus cruise celtic victory http://espnfc.com/uk/en/report/358620/report.html?soccernet=true&cc=5739 Best scene of the game was the scarf exchance between a Juve & Celtic fan after the match. http://www.101greatgoals.com/
[quote="Borussia, post: 27363516, member: 82333" Best scene of the game was the scarf exchance between a Juve & Celtic fan after the match. http://www.101greatgoals.com/ [/quote] There just are not enough moments like that in sport anymore. Both those guys have done their clubs proud. Play the ninety, play like hell to win....but in the end thumbs up to the other guy and move on to the next match....thx for posting that. Two days in a row for good sportsmanship....it was tweeted that after yesterday's match between Utd and Real....which was Ryan Giggs' 1,000 competitve match (all comps), Giggs had enough sportsmanship in him to have all his united teammates sign his shirt and then had it shipped over to CRonaldo as a keepsake..........the two gents exchanging scarfs after today's match can join Giggsy in the sportsman category!
That is actually a pretty common scene, so far as Celtic is concerned, with virtally every club across Europe. There is a reason that Celtic fans hacve been awarded with honours from FIFA & UEFA for their behaviour when travelling. It underlines yet another gross misconception that the Hoops are the different side of the same coin with the former RFC. As for this European odessey, I'm proud of the way the Hoops have performed. To go through 2 qualifying rounds (v Helsinki & Helsingborg), get through a very tough group, including a win over Barca at home, almost holding on for a draw against Barca in the Neu Camp, wins over Spartak Moscow home & away, and a draw v Valencia, then com up against a Juve team that are an excellent counterattacking side and the toughest defence to beat in all Europe. 32 chances Celtc created over the 2 legs. Unfortunately the finishing wasn't great and Buffon is one of the best keepers in the world and has been for a decade. The thing is, the mistakes that were made were punished every single time by clinical deadly Juve forwards. The Hoops dominated those games in large sections in evewry department except the one that matters - the score board. Not taking anything away from Juve - they will be very tough for anyone to beat, but I am proud of what the Bhoys have achieved in Europe this season. Hail, Hail!
I think that Bayern Munich owns the best defence in Europe this season (after signing my ex BMG defender Dante last year). Nevertheless, it's still very tough to score against Juventus. Btw: You confused Benfica with Valencia. Yep, there's definitely a reason to be content with this CL campaign! This CL team might not have former "stars" like Henke ... but it definitely has a great spirit and can also play some decent football/soccer. Bonne nuit.
I agree with the vast majority all over the country in being extremely proud of what we have achieved in Europe this season. However, lets not get carried away with the 'how many chances we created stat'. We are glaringly deficient of a genuine playmaker in midfield. Juve knew this and set themselves up accordingly. They put the onus on us to break them down and no matter how we try to dress it up the scorelines over both legs prove we failed to do so. I realise I probably sound like I'm on a whinge and I don't mean to be. But even in Scotland at times this season we've been crying out for a player to create openings. If our fullbacks aren't in full flow (and Izzy certainly wasn't last night) then we are very limited in other ways to create openings. On the scarf exchange thing - I got done twice against Milan. I gave a nice Milan fan a quality scarf that I had purchased specifically for the game (2-1 McManus, McDonald: Kaka) and he gave me a cheapo in return!! And at the San Siro (1-0: Kaka) got stiffed again, although the scarf was off slightly better quality so I still have it.
What do you mean? You think that Conte told his guys to grant the Bhoys a lot of possession because they can't use it ... and then catch them on counters? Hard to say. Let's not forget that Juve also granted Celtic many good scoring opportunities in both games (although the Hoops are missing a playmaker, how you mentioned) ... so I rather think that Juve expected Celtic more defensively (especially at Paradise) and therefore got surprised by Lennon's attacking tactics. For missing a creative midfielder behind the strikers, Lennon's guys simply had more possession & scoring chances as almost any expert had expected (let's not forget that the opponent was Italy's best team)! What killed the Bhoys - aside from the lack of efficiency - in the end, were the individual mistakes (you simply can't afford them on this level ... my BMG guys made the same lethal mistakes against Lazio). 2 blackouts from Ambrose at Celtic Park were followed by another 2 huge mistakes that led to goals in Turin (here's a great view). Well, do never exchange scarves with Milanisti!
What I'm saying is we did not create good scoring opportunities. A lot of our attempts were shots from distance. The scoring rate on that kind of chance is very low. The scoring rate on Juve's 2nd goal is obviously exceptionally high because its a tap in. Yes, Izzy was caught napping and missed Vidal's run but it still needed a good eye and a perfectly weighted pass chipped into Vidal's run. Obviously Pirlo is a phenomenal player but we are missing anyone even vaguely similar in that respect. As I stated, our main attacking impetus often comes from our wide players. We lack creativity in the centre of the pitch and it immediately puts as at a disadvantage when your opponent recognises that fact and plays against it. Of course that killed us. But, nevertheless, how many goals did we score over the two ties? How many excellent goal scoring opportunities did we pass up? For the amount of attempts at goal I think you'll find the ratio is very low to how many of those chances were actual good genuine goal scoring opportunities.
Again, if I could rep, I'd rep this. There were shots from distance, but there were a few close range golden opportunities that were wasted in both games. Last night Hooper just needed to stretch a little to get a tap in from about 2 yards out (if that) & Ambrose wasted another golden opportunity with that groundbound header that bounces over the bar... which he did in the first game also. Those 2 chances are taken... bang... Celtic are leading 2-1 on the night. The Hooper redirection of Commons long range effort falls into the catagory of long distance/little bit lucky, but let's not kid ourselves; the Bhoys did have their chances in both games, and Juve were clinical on the counter and made Celtic pay when they made individual mistakes. This is nothing new. Indeed, we are fortunate enough to get away with alot of these in domestic competitions here in Scotland, but as long as I can remember, we have been undone time and time again by silly individual errors that we get absolutely punished for on the European stage, where the sterp up in quality is reflected in the ruthlessness of the opposition to seize upon these. Ambrose and Hooper are just 2 in the latest line whose errors have been punished that have been stretches back as long as I've been following Celtic, including the likes of Caldwell, McManus, Gravesen, Agathe, Balde, Rieper, Blinker, Mahe, even right back 20 years and more, to Anton Rogan & beyond.
I'd love to agree with you but if you're going to use that rationale then you have to take into account the other good opportunities that Juve created that they didn't take. My point is we're putting an awful lot of pressure on our strikers and attacking players in general if we're going to use the mantra that you're only going to get one good chance and you need to take it. If we had a genuine playmaker in the side then, if he was good enough, we would surely increase the amount of genuine goal-scoring chances created for our strikers and, in turn, increase our goals output.
I see where you are coming from, but by that same stretch WGS's teams with Naka, McGeady etc still required strikers like Skippy to take advantage of the few opportunities that were created. Even if we throw back to the likes of Lubo, as wonderful a player as he was and the nights, like the 4-3 Juve night in 2001 that he completely lit up, there is a pressure here in the Scottish game and in fact by a large section of the Celtic faithful that grill these players when it didn't work and get slated because they are not particularly aggressive or robust. We've all seen it. Nake copped this type of flak. Lubo copped it, McStay copped it. And all 3 of these (and more besides) were terrific players and whilst in hindsight they are appreciated universally as such, however I hate to think of the endless number of debates I would have with others at the time in battling ignorance over this very topic. We do have to work within our means, and if we are to draw much of a conclusion from Lennon's post-game comments, it's likely we could be losing a number of players in the current squad that will need to be replaced. So while a playmaker might be the final piece in the puzzle it seems that this will hardly be priority #1, come the summer. On an different matter, have just found out that next year Celtic will need to go through 3 qualifying rounds, just to get to the group stages. That sucks. We make the Final 16 in the competition, yet have to go through 3 knock out rounds even before the group stages and one poor performance could spell the end of the campaign before it even starts. Not saying that we are a protected species, but surely the co-efficient should be reflective of how the teams perform the year before.
Every player on every team at some point in time cops some flak. Football fans are fickle and love to dish out the abuse. However the players you've mentioned where all held in high regard by the vast majority of the support and the teams they played in carried their own particular whipping boys. And it certainly wasn't any of them. Who suffered more abuse at the hands of our support Naka or Evander Sno...? I don't remember ever stating otherwise. It's an open secret that Hooper will be leaving. Wanyama too, as long as the price is met for him (which I imagine it will be). I'm not advocating spending £10mill on a playmaker. Maybe we already have him in Tom Rogic...? But what I am stating is it is a deficiency in our team that needs to be addressed. We've needed a top notch CB for at least 4-5 seasons now. Hooper will need to be replaced, unless Tony Watt is ready to play game in game out, which, whilst he definitely has loads of potential, I'm not sure he is. As I've said before I agree with everyone else that our European adventure has gone beyond expectations this season and both the players and the management are to be rightly applauded for that. But also, should we not be trying to learn as well as grow...? We were brilliant in certain areas but lacking in others. And the playmaking position most definitely falls into the latter category imo.
I guess the hangover from the European exit in midweek is still having it's effects... 2-0 up (including Mulgrew scoring direct from a corner), to finish up losing 3-2 to Ross County. Credit where credit is due. The Highlanders have been the form team of the competition since the turn of the year, and added to that yesterday to be on level pegging at the break and then finding the winner in time added on at the end of the 90. Not taking anything away from them. They deserve the plaudits, and should they carry on this form going into the split and beyond, there will not be many that will fancy a trip up to Dingwall. That said, the Hoops were given a terrific start after some poor goalkeeping by the man between the sticks for the homeside. Mulgrew scoring direct from a corner and then the poor effort to try and deny Hooper gave the Bhoys the best possible start. Throw in hitting the woodwork on a couple o other occasions meant that Cektic possibly should have been even more comfortable. The worry is the way that Ross Co were able to get back into the game so easily - although one of their goals was a bit special! The way the winner came about though was quite poor. Hopefully the Hoops can pick themselves up and get back into the swing of things, close out the league title, and then start thinking about blooding in some youngsters and keep sharp for the Scottish Cup.
I haven't seen any highlights yet but no doubt it was a disappointing result. NL should have used the same mindset he did in our last trip up to the highlands. That worked out a whole lot better than this result.
I would recommend looking at the video through splayed fingers, on account of some of the defending - on both sides.. That said, how often do you get the chance to see a goal direct from a corner, like the legendary Charlie Tully? And one of the Ross Co goals was a pretty exceptional volley.
Wow, what impressive catch-up against Aberdeen yesterday (4:3 after 1:3 deep in the second half)! http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/celtic-4-aberdeen-3/
Great comeback from the Hoops. Never make it dull, do we? lol. Considering we were 1-0 up after about 15 seconds, could & probably should have been more in the first half - and to hit the break when the Dons levelled just before the break, 1-1. By the hour mark it was 1-3 down and not looking good. Mulgrew pulls one back about 7-8 min later, and finally the equalizer about 3 minutes before the end of the 90 - typical Hooper poaching, and then Sammy - what a way to cap the comeback, awesome goal, back over his head!!! 4-3!!!
Good comeback by the team. But TBH, our open play was poor. The 3 points were saved by well-take and lucky set pieces.
I'm not saying it was beautiful football that was played in order to get back the deficit, but I would challenge anyone to say it was boring, lol. The noise around Paradise when Sammy's goal went in was deafening - the loudest I've heard in a league game this season.
Btw: It must be real ecstasy for any player to score such a last-minute beauty (as Samaras did) after an impressive catch-up.
1-1 v St Mirren... and both Lennons are pissed at the ref over absolutely disgraceful display of officiating. Danny Lennon pissed over the decision not to award the penalty after the Sammy handball (which NL concedes was a penalty), and Neil Lennon pissed over the Wanyama red card (which DL agrees was never a sending off). So many really piss poor decisions in this game by the ref.