Celtic - St Mirren Sunday 10th August 12:30pm KO its flag day. Rosemary Burns will do the honours of unveiling the flag before kick off. hopefully we can get off to a flyer, unlike last year when we had a boring 0-0 against Killie. this is the team i'd like to see take the pitch - ---------------------------- Boruc ---------------------------- Hinkel ---------- Caldwell ----------- McManus ---------- Naylor Caddis ----------- Brown ------------ Hartley --------- McGeady --------------- Hesselink ----------- Samaras ------------------ i feel that Skippy has been underperforming in pre-season by quite some distance and Samaras has linked well when paired with big Jan. also think that we need to make room for Caddis who has been absolutely outstanding so far this season. i haven't included Barry Robson as i think he may be injured. he was hobbling heavily when he took his seat in the dugout for last Sunday's game against Feyenoord. if Barry is fit then i'd imagine he'll slot into the middle and Skoosh will move to the right leaving young Caddis on the bench - Brown --------------- Robson ---------- Hartley -------------- McGeady i also think from reports that GS will stick with the combo of Hesselink/McDonald up front. i'm fine with that as long as Skippy hits the ground running. players that won't feature - Nakamura - injured Mizuno - injured Sno - olympics Killen - olympics Gravesen - useless..
Teams Celtic (from): Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Wilson, Scott Brown, Hartley, Robson, McGeady, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras, Mark Brown, Donati, Caddis, McGowan, O'Dea, McCourt. St Mirren (from): Howard, Barron, Haining, Potter, McGinn, Hamilton, Murray, O'Donnell, Mehmet, Smith, Wyness, McCay, Docherty, McAusland, Brighton, Robb, Ross. off to the match in 30mins. real football has returned at last.
when does this damn match start? i stayed up all night and i thought it was a 6:30 kick off eastern time. but channel 67 hasnt even started a pregam show yet. i guess it starts 7:30 here then. it is a 12:30 kickoff over there right?
Scottish Premier League Sunday, August 10, 2008 Celtic Park, Glasgow CELTIC… 1 (Robson (pen.) 62) ST MIRREN… 0 CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (Wilson 74); Robson (Caddis 81), S Brown, Hartley, McGeady; Vennegoor of Hesselink, McDonald (Samaras 76). Subs: M Brown, Donati, O’Dea, McGowan. ST MIRREN (4-5-1) Howard; Ross, Haining, Potter, Miranda; Murray, O’Donnell (Wyness 82), McGinn, Brady (McAusland 63), Brighton (Glierao 63); Mehmet. Subs: Smith, Hamilton, Barron, McCay. so a 1-0 win but it was almost a re-run of last season. we played the whole game at a sloth-like pace. what's the point in a pre-season when we start like this...? a fortuitous penalty won the day. i think the decision was correct it was the build up that was lucky. as in, there was none. the two St Mirren centre backs made a mess of an easy interception and allowed Hesselink a clear run on goal. Haining was tugging at Hesselinks jersey and as he sent his shot spinning wide the ref pointed to the spot. Haining got a straight red and still we did next to nothing with a one man advantage. the only thing to take from the whole match was the fact we secured the three points. Goalkeeper Boruc had a great save with the score at 0-0, touching a drive onto the post from Mehmet. his distribution and clearances were fine and he dealt with any high balls played into his box. Defenders before having to go off with an injury i thought Lee Naylor had a good game. sure he had the odd misplaced pass and cross but overall he was effective in both attack and defense. Gary Caldwell was our best centre half and got forward to support the attack whenever he could, particularly at the start of the second half. could and should have scored at the start of the second half with a header. McManus was so-so. he defended well at times and at other times he looked jittery. more is required from our captain. Hinkel also needs to show his qualities this season. i don't think playing Robson in front of him did him any favours today but he was mediocre at best. Mark Wilson replaced the injured Naylor and showed some silky skills on the left touchline late in the game. Midfielders Scott Brown was for me, our man of the match today. Ferocious in the tackle and tried to drive the team on whenever he could. passed the ball well and always looked comfortable in possession. just needs to get into the box a bit more. Hartley had a reasonable game defensively. didn't do a lot in an attacking sense, but then that isn't what hes asked to do. McGeady had a quiet start to the season by his standards. cut inside and pulled the trigger a few times but blazed high over the bar on every occasion. his crossing was fairly decent overall. i thought Caddis should have started in front of Robson today and after coming back from the match i still feel the same way. Barry looked off the pace for most of the game. he may have scored the goal that won the match but even then we were lucky the keeper never saved it. Caddis couldn't get involved in his short time on the pitch after replacing Robson. Attackers not a good start to the new season for Skippy. he looks sluggish and seems to be carrying extra weight which every fan is commenting on. hardly had a sniff at goal today and could come under increasing pressure from Samaras for his starting spot. big Jan worked hard leading the line without ever getting any clear opportunities. won the penalty, should have won a penalty before that and generally led the line fairly well. Samaras got about the pitch after replacing McDonald but again he couldn't get a clear sniff of goal as Celtic struggled to create any clear cut chances of note. overall it was a struggle and it wasn't pretty to watch but a win was achieved and hopefully we can move on to better things. we better... after match comments from GS -
You seen the highlights yet? I didn't see the later one but the consensus of the Setanta 'panel' was that the other one was much more of a penalty and the first one wasn't. When you see it from Haining's and VoH's back, it looks like a nothing incident. Either way, the league's got to be in the bag this year surely?
well said. and of course i agree completely. its good to see you acknowledge not only the depth of squad that we possess but also the ability of players within said squad.
It was as much an acknowledgement of the great depth but dire quality of the Rangers squad this year. How do you think you'll do in Europe this year? Obviously depends on the draw but do you think you're capable of winning a group or beating a seed in the last 16?
as it stands right now. not a hope in hell. we need strengthened in areas of the team that are glaring out for it and yet no signings have arrived of note. i felt a bit cringeworthy today regarding Crosas. the young lad got a fantastic reception but he cost all of £400k + add ons and he looked a bit taken aback by it all. already on forums they're talking about how he could be the missing link between defense and attack. this from people who haven't seen him kick a ball. heck, even GS admitted he hadn't seen him in the flesh. Naylor played decent today but we need a LB badly and another CB and, despite the amount of CM's we are stocking, an AM that can create things in the middle of the park. unless Naka is moved into that role. i'd suggest a top drawer striker as well for the better defense's in Europe but i doubt that'll happen. we've been in profit for the last three years and will be again after this season with all the CL pot money so where are the players we so badly require? hopefully on their way before the end of August to give us a chance of progressing otherwise i can see, depending on the draw, a 2nd place finish and another last 16 exit. that's if the draw is kind to us. it'll be interesting to see how we line up away from home in Europe this year. GS has dropped a lot of hints about a fluid 4-5-1 changing to a 4-3-3 when in possession. everyone is expecting something along these lines. we have a tremendous record at Celtic Park in the group stages but we need to start winning away from home sooner rather than later. i'm not sure we can carry on that impressive home record indefinitely. we shall see.
Honestly, I think our chance of getting to the last 16 is slim to none at this point. We have not signed a LB, or a striker that has a nose for goal. We are the same exact side as we were last year. I'm not very optimistic at this point in time but there are still less than 3 weeks left in the window so hopefully these two postions can be answered before its to late.
Dundee Utd - Celtic - Tannadice - Sunday 17th August - 2pm KO decisions decisions for GS after the uninspiring opening victory last weekend. Naka is fit and returns to the squad and new signings Crosas and Loovens are in the mix as well. not sure how many changes GS will make but i think there may be at least one as Barry Robson is struggling for fitness and may sit this one out. Lee Naylor is also reported to be struggling. maybe a start for Loovens? possible 11 - ----------------------------- Boruc ------------------------------ Hinkel ----------- Caldwell ----------- McManus ------------ Naylor Nakamura ---------- Brown ---------- Hartley ------------- McGeady ------------------- Samaras --------- Hesselink ------------------- I think Loovens and Crosas will start on the bench. Naka returns and with Robson not 100% he drops out. Samaras deserves a run in place of Skippy who doesn't look 100% match sharp or fit at the minute.
I've just seen the highlights on youtube as well ... and would say it was a harsh decision, but you can give the pk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9iyqG1rOMU Take a closer look at the scene ... and you can see that the Saints defender pushes JVoH's left arm, so the Celtic striker loses his balance. The scene from 5 minutes before was a much clearer pk, though. Pity for St.Mirren, since they obiously played very well and could have even taken the lead (hitting the post). Kudos!
yep. Marc Crosas was unveiled to the fans before Rosemary unfurled the league flag. in the squad for today but i don't think he'll start at Tannadice. i've heard though that his teammates have been very impressed in training with him so far.
Celtic team - 1. Boruc 2. Hinkel 5. Caldwell 4. McManus(c) 12. Wilson 25. Nakamura 8. Brown 11. Hartley 46. McGeady 10. Venegoor of Hesselink 7. McDonald
Watched bits and pieces of the game and 1-1 seemed a fair result. Got to say, I think Dundee Utd should have had a penalty when Caldwell took someone down in the box. I think the equaliser stopped Levein bursting a blood vessel and losing more money.
i'll post a more detailed post later on the game but i agree Gordon that it should have been a pen, however... i also believe there was a foul on McManus from the long ball before the ball got in the box.
Aye, that's what Strachan said too. Have to admit I didn't even see the incident so I'll take your word for it.
i think you know me enough by now to know i call it as i see it. having too much fun on Celtic forums having debates with the mineshafters atm. you'd think we'd lost the league today...