Celtic News
Balls to 6PM Kickoffs! St. Johnstone vs Celtic Match Report
Written by BoulderBhoy Tuesday, 12 April 2011 21:50
You had a feeling this was going to be an interesting match when straight after the opening whistle the pitch was flooded with about 20-30 soccer balls from outside the ground. In what also turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing Iain Brines left his whistle in his pocket and let play continue despite the obvious need to stop the match.Read more: Balls to 6PM Kickoffs! St. Johnstone vs Celtic Match Report
A new series: My journey from calling it soccer to calling it football.
Written by Banrionalainn Monday, 11 April 2011 22:57
You stand there for a moment and you are dumbfounded. You stand there as ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’ is played over the loud speakers in the newly built stadium overlooking a river. Without thinking about it you raise your green and white hooped scarf slowly above your head and hold it there for the duration of the song. You don't know much about the team or soccer but you know one thing you have fallen in love with a [strikeout]soccer [strikeout] football club.
Read more: A new series: My journey from calling it soccer to calling it football.
This is the story of me – a new Celtic supporter from the tiny state of Delaware. I'll take you on a journey of discovery of Celtic Football Club. A club who to borrow the Catalan saying "mes que un club" or the Gaelic speakers would say, "Níos mó ná club."
3 Points is 3 Points: Celtic 1-0 St. Mirren
Written by Boulderbhoy Monday, 11 April 2011 11:43
It wasn't pretty, in fact in the first half it was downright awful, disgusting, repulsive, etc. but Celtic scored one more goal and received all 3 valuable points for it. As soon as I saw the lineup I began to get a bit nervous about the game. On one hand I liked the idea that Lennon was resting some key guys, especially Brown who was in yellow card danger for the trip to the other side of Glasgow. The other part of me was terrified that we wouldn't be sharp enough to earn all 3 vital points. Then the match started.
The first half didn't do anything to calm my nerves. That is about all I will say about that. Luckily the team talk must have had some effect as the Bhoys came out as a completely different side in the second half. Even though Forrest was bombing forward and giving St. Mirren fits, we were still missing the vital goal. This probably had something to do with the fact that St. Mirren just stacked their 11 players in front of the goal making it impossible to do much of anything. After already removing Hooper, hopefully he isn't hurt, at the half Lennon made his second move bringing on Ki for Ledley. This was a great move as Ki was AWFUL all match. I like Ki and think that he has real potential, but today's match was a trainwreck for him. Ledley immediately helped Kayal bring some stability to the middle of the park and was a true impact sub.
Celtic was still not scoring though and the crowd was beginning to ratchet up the panic level that had been steadily building since the 25 minute mark of the first half it seemed. Then it happened, the turning point in the match. No, I am not at the Commons goal yet, I am talking about Mulgrew getting hurt. It looked a nasty injury. I couldn't tell you what exactly happened to him but it was clear that he was hurt. I thought for sure that our final sub, in a game where we really needed a third sub, would be burned on Rogne replacing an injured Mulgrew. It was not looking good. Then Mulgrew, somehow, gave the thumbs up to the bench and decided to gut it out. This let us bring on Commons for Ljungberg and the rest is history. After Maloney had gone on another run where I was literally screaming and spitting all over my computer imploring him to shoot the ball he laid off to Commons who promptly granted my wish and what a shot it was. Who knew that Commons dominant foot was his left? Another cracking and vital goal with his right saw Celtic, finally, take a 1 goal lead.
How a moment can change a match, in an instant the match went from being too short to being entirely too long as we tried to see it out. St. Mirren had their chances, especially when we decided to not mark anyone in the box, but when the whistle blew the scoreboard read Celtic 1-0 St. Mirren.
Like I said earlier, it wasn't pretty and it sure wasn't fun to watch. That said, there are zero points awarded for style and at this point of the season Celtic received a vital 3 points while resting some key players. The gamble by Lennon paid off and we are assured that Brown will not be suspended for the important cross city trip. Here are my ratings for the match.
Forester: 6, nothing much to do all day.
Cha: 3, poor effort. Wilson is a far better option at this point of the season. Cha is good cover at RB but nothing more at this point of the season. His crosses are terrible.
Loovens: 7, was pleasantly surprised by his play today. Was strong in the air and played some decent balls out of the back. Hopefully this form continues as it will be some time yet until Maj can make a comeback.
Mulgrew: 10, my MOTM. Not only did I think that he had an excellent day defensively, but his toughness and willingness to gut it out allowed the goal scorer to get on the field. I can not stress enough how vitally important Mulgrew has been to the second half of Celtic's season and that continued today. What a revelation having him play at CB has been.
Izzy: 6, poor effort from his usually brilliant self today. Played some lazy to terrible crosses and just seemed a step off for most of the match.
Forrest: 7, really enjoyed watching him in the second half today. Forced St. Mirren into a sub that deployed a second LB to his side of the field. Was a terror all day with pace and composure. He still needs to work on his final ball but we have a tremendous prospect here.
Ki: 1, Completely terrible. Even the workrate and ability of Kayal was not able to over shadow the horrendous effort from Ki today.
Kayal: 7, had to drag the deadweight of Ki along with him for 60 minutes which must have been awful tough. Played pretty well but it wasn't his best game by any stretch of the imagination. I love his workrate in the middle though, there are times where you know that he will simply not be denied.
Ljungberg: 5, glimpses of quality here and there but no final product. Forrest and Commons are clearly ahead of him when Brown returns to the side.
Hooper: 2, poor. No service in the first half to be fair but he was offsides and still missed his half chance of the half. Hopefully he wasn't subbed off due to injury.
Stokes: 2, poor. Was completely useless all day. Like Hooper he never got great service. Was disappointing to see the tandem suck so awfully after they looked so great midweek.
Maloney: 6, Setup the goal after somehow choosing not to shoot the ball. Actually looked decent for not playing in some 5 months. Could be an important bench player down the stretch.
Ledley: 8, An impact sub. Was a vast improvement over Ki and we immediately looked better after he came on. Ledley and Kayal are a tremendous tandem in the middle of the park.
Commons: 9, Another impact sub. Came on with a clear purpose and delivered with another smashing right footed effort. What a signing he was for pennies in January.
Lennon: 9, pulled all the right strings at the end of the day. Celtic has 3 points, some players got a critical rest and we will be taking a full squad to the game against them on Easter.
Match Report: Celtic 3-1 Hibs
Written by boulderbhoy Thursday, 07 April 2011 14:36
It was a fairly easy 3 points for the Bhoys today and that is fine by me. After briefly losing top spot in the league and this being the first match in some 18 days after a tough loss, I was happy to see the Bhoys respond well and come out flying. After a mere 3 minutes we were up thanks to a Stokes goal and the horrendous half for Hibs was only beginning. After Wilson was unlucky not to score his 4th goal of the season by finding the woodwork, a penalty was called for Celtic and Hooper finished in style to put us up 2-0. Hooper then grabbed a second before halftime and the three points were secured.
While this game was over in 45 minutes there was still a second half to be played. Celtic and Hibs both seemed uninterested to have to play a further 45 minutes and 2 of the softer penalties you will see in Scotland not involving "them" were called. Hibs PK was nicely finished after Forester was sent the wrong way and Hooper, well we are all allowed a poor touch here and there. Sadly, Hooper squandered the chance at earning the match ball but no more harm came from it.
I certainly hope that the Bhoys took advantage of the one half match tonight as they are certainly facing a bit of a fixture log jam over the next few weeks. It is a critical point in the season and we can only hope that the form we showed in the first half continues.
Ratings:
Forester: 6, had nothing to do really. Can't blame him for not stopping a PK.
Izzy: 8, another game which saw Izzy constantly going forward and making solid tackles. Celtic supporters everywhere stopped breathing for a few moments there as he laid on the field with an apparent knee injury but he appeared to shake it off.
Loovens: 6, showed good speed to beat Riordan to a ball late in the half. Didn't really have much to do.
Mulgrew: 5, was completely to blame for the soft PK. Was beaten badly and didn't recover well at all. He didn't have a ton to do so this contributes to the poor grade as well.
Wilson: 7, was unlucky not to score. Has really made the RB position his own since Cha got hurt. Always driving forward and providing good crosses.
Kayal: 8, picked up a harsh yellow but was once again the engine of the midfield. The guy is almost impossible to dispossess, wins tackles everywhere, is tenacious and also plays some really useful passes. I am glad that Lennon gave him a quick breather at the end of the match.
Ledley: 7, while he doesn't have the same flash that Kayal seems to have he is still a vital component to the midfield. Does a lot to help the team win that is tough to notice unless you are really looking for it.
Brown: 6, not a bad game from Brown, but he was somewhat anonymous. This is not a bad thing though as he was in yellow card danger for the Easter showdown and he didn't make any bad errors.
Forrest: 6, loads of pace from the youngster and it was good to see him in the lineup. His grade would have been much higher if he had managed a few good crosses but this is an aspect of his game he needs to work on. Was dispossessed easily a few times in the offensive third as well. Loads of pace and talent though and a great young prospect.
Hooper/Stokes: I am combining them because they were a great combo tonight, I just can't split them up. They were constantly looking for each other in the attacking third and watching them combine in the first half was a treat. Obviously the Hibs defense is far from air-tight but tonight's performance convinced me that the Stokes/Hooper partnership should be given a chance to succeed on Easter. Hooper's first PK was pure class as was his second goal. Stokes made his goal look easy as well. Hooper's PK miss was not class, but at least he got that miss out of his system.
Rogne: 6, Filled in well for Loovens, didn't have much to do. Glad that he got up and was able to carry on after banging his head.
Commons/Ljungberg: N/A, not enough time on the field.
Lennon/Mjallby: 7, I liked the subs and the way that the team came out. If it were up to me I would have gotten Kayal and Brown off at the half for yellow card concerns and to keep two of our harder working players fresh for the next couple of weeks, but this is a minor complaint.
As always, feel free to express your opinions at Na Dead Raibead. Here is the direct link to the match thread:
Hail Hail
Celtic crash out of irrelevant league cup
Written by T.D. Wednesday, 23 March 2011 15:59
The Celtic players on Sunday climbed the stands and received the finalist medals of the CIS League Cup. This of course meant that their rivals walked away with the winner medals and the cup.
However, the Celtic players should not be depressed as it was only the CIS League Cup. This cup is the least important and most irrelevant trophy that Celtic could win in Scotland during competitive play.
Joe Ledley continued his goal scoring ways with the only Celtic goal of the game. He scored three goals in five days for Celtic which is a remarkable number for a midfielder.
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