A James Forrest double gets us over the line. With four games remaining, Celtic, with a win over Hearts, can effectively win the league by beating Rangers at home in the penultimate match. This was a twitchy match. Like many others we could have been out of sight or left reeling in injury time when Mellon missed a free header at the back post.
The Dundee plan was exactly what we’ve come to expect. Sit in, hit longish balls towards the forwards, focus on Taylor and Liam Scales side of things were Celtic are vulnerable to cross balls and corners in particular.
Celtic do what we always do. Started well with seventy or eighty-percent possession, with a few half-chances. Nicholas Kuhn and Reo Hatate threatened. The latter hitting the post with a wonderful drop of the shoulder, in the second half, but his shot hit the inside of the post. With Celtic two ahead that would have settled the match. Hatate is not back to his best, but he always tries to make a forward pass. He was the best midfielder in Scotland last year. Kuhn has had teething problems with his teeth and weight loss. I’ve yet to see him play a good game. To me, he is an empty jersey as he was again today.
James Forrest—yes I used to slag him off, but even a blind Rangers supporter would recognise him as our best winger in a poor bunch—match winner. Brendan Rodgers said something along the lines of he was the best winger at the club. Play him, many of us have been saying so for weeks. Palma looks good enough for backup. Yang may prove a good buy next season or the season after, but it doesn’t look good. Kuhn (sigh) I don’t understand why he keeps starting. I’m waiting for him to prove me wrong.
Forrest has nothing left to prove. But he’s only 32. His first goal on the half-hour mark was a belter. Kyogo teed him up from the edge of the box. A ball fired into the Japanese striker. He spun away with the outside of his boot. Forrest took it first time on the volley and fired it in the net.
Around the hour mark, after Dundee had started the second half strongly and corner after corner created goal scoring opportunities for the Den’s men, Forrest robbed a defender on the edge of their box. He played a give-and-go with Hatate and got on the end of it. Ricki Lamie and Portales played like Laurel and Hardy and Forest nipped in and nutmegged the keeper. That looked like job done.
Forrest, of course, comes off for Palma. Kyogo off for Idah. But it was the loanee Norwich striker that brought Dundee roaring back and looking for an equaliser. Mo Sylla and Jordan McGhee headed past the post and straight at Joe Hart. The Celtic defence looked to have cleared—yet another—free kick. Portaless’s downward volley was nothing like Forrest’s, but it hit Idah and wrong-footed Joe Hart.
Hart found time to get a late booking for time wasting. He deserved it. But it would be interesting to see if the same rule was applied when we play home and away and keepers take an eternity and opposition players fall down.
Man of the match by a mile, James Forrest. I gave him the man of the match for his contribution against Aberdeen. Let’s hope he’s a certain starter for the remaining fixtures. We still lose too many goals. McGregor still looks off the pace, but he’s still far superior to Iwata. If we can get Maeda back and Forrest on the other side, we’d be full strength for the remaining four league fixtures and the cup final. We’ll win the league, not the cup. I’ve been saying that for a while. I hope I’m wrong and we win both. Maybe Kuhn will get a hat-trick in the Cup final. Let’s just get over the line. Hearts at home. Home win.
Pre-match, We’d Never Work Alone was song by different-abled kids in sign language. Celtic in any language is our team. We’ve stuttered. Looked off the pace. Not today. Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest scored, but there was something extraordinary that we were only three goal to the good.
Joe Hart was angry when Connor Smith netted Saints’ consolation goal. Substitute Stevie May heading across goal, Hart making the save and Smith netting the rebound, in which was the away team’s only effort on goal.
There was still time added on for an Idah effort to be saved. Alistair Johnston to have a goal disallowed, even though he was onside and for Iwatta to miss a sitter, heading over by two yards.
Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the team that won against Livingston. Carter-Vickers comes in and so does Kyogo. Both improve the team. The difference was this was Kyogo of old. He could have hit four or five. He’d two goals disallowed for offside. Scored with a fabulous header with a dinked pass from Kuhn (also checked for offside). And set up the goal the effectively finished the game, with a minute gone in the second half, playing a ball across the goal for Kuhn to tap in.
We await the return of Hatate and McGregor then we’ll be back to full strength. Idah drops to the bench, because, quite simply, he looked like a Norwich reserve last weekend.
First twenty minutes, as we expected, total possession. Kuhn half-chance the only threat. Craig Levein is predictable. His sides sit in. Open and expansive isn’t going to happen. Sidibeh lands a quick long ball forward and took on Carter-Vickers. One-on-one. That’s what St Johnnstone were playing for. But there was only one winner. We were far enough ahead after seventy minutes to rest the American. Odin Holm coming on for him.
But it was the new-old boy, James Forrest that made the difference. O’Riley hunted down the ball in the last third. His ball across the box played in Forrest. He took his time and picked the corner of the net. He almost made it a double in the last few minutes. His shot blocked.
O’Riley, like his midfield partners, looked back to his best. He’d a late free kick tipped onto the bar.
Kyogo earlier had also lashed a shot off the bar. He’d an early one on one saved. In retrospect he should have played in Maeda for a tap in. He chested in one and scored another both offside. His run in behind from Greg Taylor’s pass was something he did all afternoon. The difference today was his teammates found him.
A chance missed as the ball bobbled about the box. Bernardo had a chance cleared from a first-half corner. Iwata had a shot cleared off the line. Kyogo just off target as he chips one over Mitov but also the bar.
Celtic denied what looked like a stone-wall penalty after thirty minutes. Matt O’Riley whipped in lots of corners and we looked like scoring from most of them. Carter-Vickers had a shot on goal from ten yards, which was blocked. Maeda (as usual) got to it and whipped in the rebound. As expected, lots of players were on the goal-line and in the six-yard box. Kucheriavyi kept the ball out of the next with his hand. I don’t care if it’s natural of unnatural. If his hand isn’t there, it’s a goal. If his hand is there, it’s a penalty. No penalty.
Great to see Kyogo hitting top gear again. Maeda did what he does every week. Kuhn got man of the match. I’d written him off as a dud. I wanted to be wrong. Maybe Lagerbielke will also prove me wrong. The international break gives us breathing space to get our top men fit for Livingston and then Ibrox. If we can win those games—and I’m sure we can—then we should win the league. Today was high-tempo football was some great cameos. It was like old times. Disappointing to lose that goal and not score more. For those of us that remember Helicopter Sunday, we know goals for and against can decide who wins the league. We always need a wee bit of luck.
Celtic left it late to win the game. Two wonders strikes. The first from captain—and man of the match—Callum McGregor, the other from £40 million midfielder, Matt O’Riley, from outside the box with his weaker foot seemed to have secured victory. But it could so easily have ended up 2—2. Substitute, Turner-Cooke, with a free header from six-yards, passes up a decent chance to equalise after the ninety minutes were up. Joe Hart clawed it onto the post. A sweeping move involving fellow substitute Oh, ended with substitute James Forrest finding the bottom corner, as he usually does against St Johnstone, on added time of added time.
It’s easy to pick holes in this Celtic team. Jaiyesimi claimed the goal, just before half-time, but he had all manners of Celtic assists. Joe Hart claimed for a foul. St Johnstone’s tactics of crowding the box for free-kicks and corners is nothing innovative for Scottish teams, but came up trumps. They’d almost scored with their first attempt from their first corner. The Celtic keeper’s feeble attempt at a punch showed he was just not strong enough. O’Riley’s attempt a clearance brought the ball back into the play and his hook clear came off Jaiyesemi, practically, on the goal line. His leg got around Taylor and it was a goal. A dreadful goal to lose.
Craig Levin’s tactics of letting Celtic have the ball outside the St Johnstone eighteen-yard line was exactly what we expected. After the expected midweek disappointment, Brendan Rodgers goes back to the tried and untrusted. No need to worry about Europe. It’s the domestic double we’re hunting down now. Forrest drops out Palma comes back into the team. Bernardo, who only seems to play European ties, goes back into winter cold storage, more likely with every passing game to go back to his parent club, Benefica. David Turnbull comes back into the contention for the midfield spot currently vacated by Hatate. The former Under-21 player of the year had our one shot on target in the first-half. It was a top-corner dig and the St Johnstone keeper pulled off a great safe. Turnbull was hooked for Oh. And it was the second-half substitutes, including the South Korean, that helped make the difference.
Kyogo could have scored in under a minute. Palma laying the ball off, but the Japanese international’s shot went past the post. His later effort, after a mazy run from outside the box also came to nothing, but he could have been booked for diving for the follow-up effort. He’s having a bit of a drought in front of goal. Ballooning a cut back inside the box over the bar in the second half.
But many of his teammates have dropped down a gear or more. Yang looks sure for the hook. Caught offside too frequently—even when creating the offside goal for Turnbull—but also guilty of falling over and giving the ball away. Most Celtic goal-scoring opportunities came down Celtic’s left. Yang offered nothing on the right.
It makes you nostalgic for Mikey Johnston, who came off the bench and immediately made the team look more dangerous. I’m not sure we’ll see more of Yang. Johnston is on the rise, he could possibly pull off the Liam Scale scenario of being a first-team regular. But how many times have we heard that of Johnson?
James Forrest on the right wing. Mikey Johnston of the left wing. In terms of flow, the way Celtic moved and passed the ball in the last half-hour, was much better with these two in team. Celtic used to have a million wingers. When Maeda comes back he’ll start. But for now, as shown today, we might well need to resort to the tried and the ones we didn’t buy kinda guys.
Celtic took the chance to extend their lead at the top of the league to eight points. We score three goals and spend most of the game on the edge of the Ross County penalty box after Brown is send off for a tackle on Yang after ten minutes.
We’ve big game midweek, Champions League against Atletico Madrid. This was a very much changed Celtic team. Oh, who scored when he came on in midweek, led the line. He thought he’d scored in Dinwall too. After a lengthy VAR call, it was disallowed. Maeda judged to have been marginally offside when he crossed the ball. Normal service was resumed, but we just didn’t score that all-important first goal.
It’s make or break time for David Turnbull. He scored two against Ross County in the corresponding fixture. Brendan Rodgers was making encouraging noises. With Reo Hatate blowing more cold than hot the former Motherwell man must have though this is it. Like one of those late-night movies, he faded out.
His equalising goal against St Mirren was a thing of beauty. And it came at the right time (equalising goals usually do). He did it again today. Almost the last kick of the ball of added-on time in the first half, he found the top corner. What looked like a walk in the park finally began to feel like it.
Kyogo, O’Riley and Johnson on the bench. I read Chris Sutton’s column and the names he banded about and it’s impossible to argue that this time last year, we had a much stronger and better squad for the slough of matches coming up. Big money buys Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maiw Nawrocki have disappeared. I expect the latter to reappear at some later match. The former looks a dud.
I don’t expect to take anything from the match in Madrid. We’ve a tendency to look at thing retrospectively. The team he started today, would probably be the team I’d put out on Wednesday. What matters most now is the measure of every game. Points in the bag.
The South Korean duo did well. Oh, in particular, reminds me a of a striker you probably don’t remember, a wee fat guy with a stinker of an attitude that played for the team on the other side of Glasgow. Allegedly, he was worth £30 million.
Kyogo is having a mini-goal drought. Of Celtic’s nearly 40 attempts on goal today he had around four and should have scored at least one. Laidlaw, the Ross County keeper, had a decent enough game, without all the usual clichéd superlatives flying about.
I’m not sure what to make of Luis Palma. He got the second goal midway through the second half. Knocked a Ross County defenders tooth out with a free kick, which would only be funny if it was a Rangers player and set up the late third goal for James Forrest, with a dink to the back post. But I guess his problem is he’s not Jota. He doesn’t seem to have pace. Doesn’t seem particularly skilful. But his goal to game ratio is fantastic. He might even outgun the Portuguese winger. I wouldn’t want Palma in the other team. That’s usually a rule of thumb. But I’ll wait and see.
I think most of us know what the team will be in Madrid. Kyogo will be in it. O’Riley will be in it. Johnson will be back for the ponderous Ralston. I still expect to lose. Interesting times. I’m wondering what team we’ll put out next weekend against Aberdeen. There’s a midfield spot up for grabs beside McGregor and O’Riley. Paulo Bernardo has been tidy, but done nothing exceptional to suggest he’ll take it. His free kick flying over the bar before half time sums up his contribution.
Turnbull has scored goals. If he sorted his feet out he’d have got a second goal today He took the majority of free-kicks and corners. They were terrific balls into the box. Liam Scales, in particular, Oh, even Carter-Vickers all had chances. What was different was the ball from corners didn’t come back to near the half-way line for recycling. Perhaps with Oh in the team we were looking at better odds on winning a header in the opposition box. But equally, bringing the ball backwards doesn’t seem to give us a better chance of scoring.
An outside chance of starting against Aberdeen is Thiago Holm. This guy has class. Just keep winning. Simple.
Whatever Kris Boyd says I usually think the opposite. But here we are agreeing on something. Whoever wins at Hampden on Sunday will win the Scottish Cup. For Celtic it’s the treble. And for Rangers, well, I’ll leave that to Kris Boyd.
Martin O’Neil got in the act. Standards in Scottish football have dropped, he said. The team he took to Seville would beat the current Celtic team. One thing he picked up on is this Celtic team is smaller. Carter-Vickers may be described as a tank, but Bobo was literally head and shoulders above him. Bobo, of course, couldn’t play football. Any ball below the knee was hoiked up the park with a pair of size 15 flippers, pronto. Midfield giants Lennon, Lambert, Thompson and Petrov could all play football, but rarely passed the ball backwards to Bobo. Most balls were played up the line or in behind. The Motherwell forward, Kevin van Veen, in the recent Motherwell draw at Parkhead, held off Greg Taylor and went on to score. It was a poor goal to lose. But imagine John Hartson up there. Greg Taylor would still be running around him until this Sunday trying to get the ball. Nobody was better than Chris Sutton at holding off players. Every shy up the line was onto his chest and back into play. Kyogo is good, he’s coming up for 30 goals in a season. I’d say that’s a minimum a Celtic centre-forward should expect. Even Scott McDonald managed that. Larsson regularly hit 50 or more. He’d just about everything, including an ability to hang in the air for ten minutes, no other Scottish player with the exception of Eric Black had that uncanny ability. I think we know the Seville forward line would absolutely murder a backline that includes Starfelt who is a poor man’s Joos Valgaeren. But blessed Martin O’Neil concedes this Celtic team is a joy to watch. And if you look at the statistics, the players that take the most touches tend to be Carter-Vickers and Starfelt. They need to defend corners and free kicks in the way the Seville team did, but they are also expected to play the beautiful game from the back.
We know who is going to play in defence. Hart, Johnson, Carter-Vickers, Taylor.
Midfield is harder to guess. Callum McGregor is an automatic first pick. Reo Hatate, is the ace in the pack, one of the best midfielders in Britain. Far better than the Alan Thompson of Seville fame. But Hatate been injured. And for all his ability, he’s had some poorish games against Rangers and Alan Thompson always played great against Rangers. I don’t think Hatate will start, but hope he does.
Aaron Mooy too was exceptional before his injury. He came back into the team that beat Rangers at Parkhead, but looked off the pace. He was the worst man on the park. I don’t think he’ll start either.
Matt O’Riley has had a mixed season. He scored two great goals against Kilmarnock, but the rise of Hatate and Mooy meant he spent much of his time coming off the bench. Odds on to start this match. I hope it’s the flamboyant O’Riley that emerges and not a player that too frequently disappears against our Glasgow rivals.
Tomoki Iwata came on for Mooy in the last Old Firm game and steadied the team. He hasn’t the flare of Hatate or Mooy, more a defensive midfielder, but the former Japanese player of the year is a great passer and, with our injuries, I think he’ll start.
We know Kyogo will start. His record against Rangers is one reason we keep winning. Daizen Maeda is our bullet train for closing down, and he scores goals too. He’ll start.
That leaves the right wing up for grabs. James Forrest is injured. So what, you might be thinking. Liel Abada has also been injured. We’ve all heard the stories linking him with clubs such as Ajax. That’s not our concern now. The only thing that matters is winning on Sunday. Abada has a good scoring record against Rangers, but I think he’ll be on the bench. Often he contributes more coming on as a substitute.
Jota would start if he was fit. He’s our most gifted winger that does the old fashioned bit of taking full backs on and dribbling.
Sead Haksabanovic started against Motherwell. We lacked width and penetration because neither of our wide men could take on the massed ranks of defenders. The Montenegrin has come off the bench and sparkled with some great goals and cameos. But on Saturday he was poor. His first few dinked passes failed to reach a team mate. Rudi Vata done more with the ball in his short time on the park. When it gets frenetic, Haksabanovic finds time and space. He’ll find more of that at Hampden. Here’s hoping he scores one of his wonder goals.
My ideal team includes obviously Hatate and Jota. And a fit-again Mooy. But I suspect none of this trio will start. Most pundits expect a high-scoring game. I think Celtic will win, 1—0. Kyogo to score. What’s your prediction?
Josip Juranovic is the last man standing in the World Cup. Paper talk tells us he won’t be at Paradise and will be sold in the January window. I’m not particularly worried. He’s a good enough player, but not irreplaceable, he’s not a Henrik Larsson. We know about Tony Ralston. Alistair Johnston from CF Montreal has come in as cover. He’s been called the spit of Danny McGrain. I wish. Danny was the best. He was like Ginger Rodgers, he could do everything Fred Astaire could do (Sandy Jardine) but do it backwards and both sides of the park.
We’re well served all over the park having a two-for-one deal on every position. And I understand Juranovic is under contract until 2026. The club hold the aces here.
Giorgos Giakoumakis is under a similar contract. The Greek striker has scored a goal-a-game. We know what he can do. Lots of the time I’d have played him in front of Kyogo. Postecoglou favours the Japanese striker. His judgement has been great. Postecoglou’s witticism that ‘he was more interested in what was for dinner’ that night than the appointment of a manager of the other Glasgow club was laidback and honest, with a bit of dig.
I’m sure they’ll win more games. There may be a bit of a bounce, but hopefully not. I don’t want them to win anything soon or later. Differences between the two managers isn’t just in terms of experience. Postecoglou came to the club with a to-do list and a fair idea of the players he wanted to help him and Celtic recover from the debacle we put ourselves in. The market we’ve been shopping in has been bargain basement. As Japan showed in the World Cup, we’ve brought in some real gems that don’t need much polishing.
Kyogo didn’t make it into the squad. Daizen Maeda did. He scored against Croatia and had a goal disallowed earlier in the competition. His main attribute seemed to be (as we have seen) closing down defenders. I don’t think he’s that great. But he’s a useful player to have on the bench and bring on.
Reo Hatate has been, for me, the best player in Scottish football. He faded towards the end of last season. But started this season with a bang. I certainly don’t want to sell, but he’s worth whatever they pay for a top-class midfielder in the top-tier of English football.
Matt O’Riley was a steal. Like Hatate he oozes class. I prefer him further forward. Aaron Mooy had a decent World Cup. I’m glad for him. But these guys are better.
Calum McGregor will be back. The ball moves quicker with him in the team. Cameron Carter-Vickers got a game in the World Cup. The American coach said he selected Carter- Vickers because Iran used ‘a low block’. What he meant by that was they played with ten men behind the ball for most of the match. Carter-Vickers playing for Celtic did that week in, week out. He has an old head for that kind of game.
Carter-Vickers had a good defensive record with Carl Starfelt. I’m not a fan of the Swedish international. I think he’s average at best. Moritz Jenz is not much better. I wouldn’t be too worried if we didn’t pick up on him after the loan deal is done. In contrast, Carter-Vickers and Jota were great business. They agreed to stay and, the good thing about a loan deal—try before you buy—they added stability and class. But then again, I was a critic of Greg Taylor and he’s been outstanding this season and most of last. I guess this is a hangover of remembering what Kieran Tierney brought to the party. Taylor has seen a slew of others, including Boli Bolingoli (money wasted) and is holding off Alexandro Bernabei. The young Argentinian looks very decent on attack. But like Taylor, he’s tiny, but unlike Taylor, he’s not proven himself defensively.
I don’t think Stephen Welsh is good enough for Celtic, but a good backup.
Yuki Kobayashi has agreed to join Celtic from Vissel Kobe on a five-year contract and it seems he plays on the left side of defence. That would give us balance as Carter-Vickers favours the right. If Kobayashi is half as good as Hatate we’ve got another steal on our hands. He’s played for Japan at under-20 level. I’m sure he’ll be cultured on the ball, but it’s heading the ball he’ll need to be good at. Lumping the ball forward, we lose most of our goals domestically from corner and free-kicks. He’ll need to get used to the nitty gritty, but I’m sure he’ll get his chance, but it’s up to him to take it. I’m hopeful. Japan being so successful during the World Cup has made Postecoglou seem more and more like a genius for his bargain buys.
The exception has been Yosuke Ideguchi. He’s been very unlucky with injuries. He’s been very unlucky Celtic have so many brilliant midfielders. David Turnbull, for example, was first pick week in and week out when Postecoglou inherited a squad that proved itself not fit for purpose. Turnbull was Scotland’s Young Player of the Year. He looked to make that next step. He got injured. He no longer is a first-pick, but that may change, and the only way it will change is if he adds more goals to his game. He looks capable of that, but until he does, he’s behind McGregor, Hatate and O’Riley, but in front of Oliver Abigaard.
Oliver Abigaard is a more defensive midfielder, he’s big and great in the air. I think he’s on loan, I don’t think he’ll become a permanent fixture. He isn’t in the Celtic team, but probably just in front of Ideguchi and James McCarthy when the manager looks at his bench.
Sead Haksabonovic can play on the left or the right, or drop off into the number ten role. He’s a standout in any position. What a brilliant buy. Now he’s scoring a goal a game.
Jota on the left, Liel Abada on the right. The young Israeli has been a great buy. But he’s not guaranteed a game. Haksabonovic has played there. Jota has too. Maeda has floated from one wing to the other and played through the middle. James Forrest has found himself fit and ready to go, but is least likely than any of the above to start a game, but sometimes he comes on and scores. For Neil Lennon, James Forrest was irreplaceable. The Celtic team has moved on. He’s been replaced.
There’s talk of replacing Georgios Giakoumakis with South Korea international Cho Gue-sun. I don’t know anything about him. Speculation that Al-Ahly playmaker Magdy will also be joining us has made the back pages. I’m not concerned if he does or doesn’t. We seem to be on track. Peter Lawwell’s return as Chief Executive after the ten-in-a-row debacle has been criticised. Dermot Desmond likes him. It’s our football club, but he owns it. He does what he wants. He appoints who he pleases. Celtic is not a democracy. It’s his ball, and if we don’t like it, we can lump it.
This was a twelve can game. Four cans before half-time. Six in the second-half (when my can counting gets muddled). Ange Posecoglou makes changes to the team that started against Motherwell. He usually does. He calls it having a squad. During an interview when a reporter asked him about his best team, he replied, ‘maybe, you’ll let me know’.
His best team for today includes Ralston, Bernabei, Maeda, Forrest and Giakoumakis. All of them have a case for being in our starting eleven. They have to prove their point on the park.
And it was Forrest yet again who scored the first goal in 14 minutes. The ball popped up in front of him after a Ralston cross from the bye-line was whipped up into the air by a defender and took out ex-Celtic keeper Craig Gordon.
Celtic had dominated possession and continued to do so. Hearts fed on scraps and loose balls. Ironically, a minute before Forrest had put us ahead, Robert Snodgrass rode a challenge and came in at the near post and toe poked it, but Hart came out to make a save. He’d also to make a save from an early Barry McKay shot.
Postecoglou said he wasn’t a fan of VAR. The Hearts fans certainly were after they were awarded a penalty just before half-time. Carter-Vickers was late in the tackle on Devlin. Referee Walsh allowed the game to go on, before calling it back. There was just enough time for another few renditions of the Billy Boys, before Shankland scored from the spot.
What is VAR is for?Anthony Ralston had also scored a goal from ball into the box which would have made it 2—0, midway through the first-half, which was chopped off for some infringement, who or what wasn’t clear, but the game went on.
In VAR added time of the first-half, Celtic should have had a penalty. Postecoglou, who isn’t given to be overly dramatic couldn’t believe it. Forrest put a ball into the box and Smith clearly handled. No penalty.
At the start of the second half, Hearts took the lead. Lawrence Shankland scored his second goal of the game, but his only goal not from the penalty spot. Bernabei failed to stop Ginnelli from putting a cross into the six-yard box. The Argentine defender struggled at Tynecastle to do the basics and defend. I thought Ginnelli got the better of him. He was replaced by Greg Taylor, who went on to score the winner. And I never thought I’d be saying that.
Carter-Vickers held his hand up for offside. Shankland got in front of him to bundle the ball home. VAR showed he was onside.
Five minutes later Mooy missed a sitter. Played in by Hatate. Open goal. But he put it wide of the post.
In a crazy five-minute spell, we scored another two goals to take the lead and gave away another penalty.
Giakoumakis hadn’t been in the game, but he’s a goal-a-game man, and he always scores against Hearts. One chance, one goal, like all good strikers he got away from his marker at a corner and powered a header into the net.
Level and then ahead, two minutes later. Mooy’s shot from the edge of the box was parried by Craig Gordon. Poor goalkeeping. Maeda was first to react. Bundling it into the net.
Celtic ahead for two minutes and then Hearts leveller. Like Carter-Vickers, Jenz was late and caught Devlin in the box. Penalty.
Joe Hart saved Shankland’s penalty, but like Maeda’s goal, Ginnelli followed up to score. VAR showed he’d encroached. Penalty retake and Shankland sent Hart the wrong way to level the game at 3—3 with twenty minutes of normal time remaining.
Postecoglou made the changes that won us the game. Maeda, Bernabei and Forrest substituted, Abada, Giakoumakis and Taylor come on.
Abada’s shot it deflected into the path of an onward rushing Taylor in the six-yard box. He makes it 4—3 with 76 minutes gone.
There was time for a Abada goal to be ruled offside by the referee and VAR on injury time, but it was close. Hearts almost snatched a draw. Their fans chanted VAR before half-time as if it was an onfield player. I think overall it will help Celtic get more decisions. Today an obvious penalty was overlooked and what I thought was a good goal also chopped off. That old saying, it’s only as good as those watching and analysing. But there are no longer any hiding places. Chris Sutton’s prophecy that VAR is run by amateurs proved true. But transparency favours the attacking rather than defending teams. And we are by far the most attacking team in Scotland.
Back to league business after our disappointing defeat to Leipzig on Tuesday. We didn’t hit seven, but we did hit the woodwork three times and James Forrest hit a hat trick to win man of the match. Giorgos Giakoumakis hit a double. And Daizen Maeda ended his goal drought to hit the sixth with two minutes of normal time remaining. Substitute, Kyogo, had time to miss another chance and his relative goal drought continues. He did hit the post and also managed to get in the way of a Mooy shot that looked goal bound. That’s the sort of luck he’s having and until today, Celtic were having, creating lots of chance.
I only watch Rangers when they’re playing us or they’re going to get beat, which I hope is much the same thing. Most of their balls in the game against Liverpool went back to McGregor. He lumped it forward. Route-1 fitba. It worked against us last year when they bullied us and it worked to a certain extent against Liverpool in the first half. This is the pattern teams on Scotland adopt. It worked for St Mirren. You could see it today with Hibs looking for something from long throws and free kicks. But it didn’t work. They were three goals down, and despite four half-time substitutions lost six goals by full time. For Celtic to lose to opposition using these tactics usually they need to score first.
Giakoumakis could have put us ahead in the first four minutes with one of his trademark headers. But it was easy for former Celtic keeper. Sead Haksabanovic picked him out with a lovely pass. Two minutes later he pulled a ball out of the air and played in Reo Hatate, who put a ball across the box. Alexandros Bernabei added to the trio of attacking threat, with most of the space being found of the left, but most of the goals coming from the right.
Forrest’s ninth minute goal settled the nerves. Haksabanovich again played a lovely ball in. Forrest lurking at the back post found space to put it away as he’d did in a Celtic shirt for the 98th time in over 400 appearances. He needed a hat-trick to join the 100 club, like Celtic legend Frank McGarvey.
Bernabei’s cutback to Giakoumakis was met perfectly for a first-time finish. The game looked beyond Hibs. After thirty minutes it looked more like how many Celtic would score.
David Marshal had a hand in Celtic’s third and Forrest’s second. Matt O’Riley’s shot was blocked but it fell to Forrest just inside the Hib’s box. His shot was powerful but straight at the keeper. Marshall flung the shot he’d blocked out of the net, but we didn’t need VAR to see it was in.
Ryan Porteous has been linked with Celtic. I can see no good reason why this would be the case, although he did have a good game while playing for Scotland. Here he spent a lot of time falling over. A tug on Giakoumakis just before half-time wasn’t give as a penalty, but it was clumsy.
Saed Haksabanovic was replaced by Maeda at half time. The Montenegrin who can play on either wing or through the middle as number 10 was the pick of the bunch in the first half. Alexandro Bernabei played the full ninety minutes and he wasn’t that far behind him.
Hibs started the second half better than the first. Their closing down pushed Celtic backwards, but their high line was almost punished when James Forrest missed a good chance, only for substitute Thody Elie Youan to run onto a pass from Celtic fan Martin Boyle and beat Joe Hart at the near post. 3—1 down, they’d thirty-five minutes to make a game of it.
Two minutes later and it was game over, again. Nohan Kenneh miskicked in his own half. Aaron Mooy played Forrest galloping in from the right. A deflection helped it into the corner of the net. 4—1.
Giakoumakis had went down injured. He signalled to the bench he wanted off, but found time to spring up and hit his second and Celtic’s fifth with 17 minutes to go. Let’s hope it’s not another injury.
Kyogo hit the post when he came on and got in the way of Maeda, but not enough to stop the Japanese forward scoring. Celtic were still hunting for that seventh goal in the 92nd minute. When we score early against Scottish teams, we score big.
We’re in the draw for the next round of the League Cup and it’s Motherwell away. There’s always that anxious wait to see if we get Rangers.
Celtic hit the bar twice in quick succession. A Welsh header from a corner and David Turnbull’s free-kick hitting the defensive wall and then the bar.
But we also scored two goals in the first half. An early scare with Ross County almost scoring in sixty seconds from a ball knocked on from a shy.
Calum McGregor got our opener. He’d held his hands up to show he was unmarked from a corner. Turnbull picked him out. His shot was deflected but went in. Twenty-one minutes gone. A changed Celtic team with Liel Abada and McGregor the only players to remain in the team that beat Dundee United on Sunday. Abada patrolled his usual right-wing beat, but McGregor played a more advanced role, with Aaron Mooy dropping deeper and taking the ball from defence.
Giorgos Giakoumakis missed Sunday’s game. He’d a point to prove, and he usually does, coming up with a goal. He’d a bit of a tussle with Alex Iacovitti and took a few knocks going down injured after a poor first touch. But he got his goal near the half hour mark. Tony Ralston was the provider. A lovely touch on the edge of the box (the full back was in the striker’s position) and he laid it off. Giakoumakis dipped his shoulder and took the ball into his right foot and curled it into the bottom corner. Like the United match, it looked like game over. The Greek striker hobbled through the remainder of the half. He was unlucky with three headers, the last one on the brink of half-time. Three goals for him the season. He’s always looking for more.
Ross County had more of the ball in the second half, but Celtic still dominated. The goal the Staggies scored in sixty-seven minutes was a shocker for the Celtic defence. A long punt from the keeper, Eastman, into the Celtic box. Substitute, Carl Startfelt came on for Welsh, who went off injured. The Swedish International was too easily beaten in the air by Jordan White. Iacovitti took time off from fouling Giakoumakis to wander into the six-yard box and stoop down to header it into the goal. Moritz Jenz was nowhere.
Daizen Maeda restored the two-goal lead five minutes later. McGregor had a shot from the eighteen-yard line spilled by the keeper. Maeda was there to pounce.
Sead Haksabanovic came on for Maeda. His first dribble, he ghosts past Johnstone, his touch and cross of the ball nearly gave us another goal. Even in the short time on the park he looks a class addition.
Just on full time, James Forrest nicked a fourth. Ralston made it (two assist and McGregor having one) with a cutback to Forrest in the box. He too looks sharp.
The worry for Celtic is we still get bullied by big centre forwards. But this is less of a worry in Scottish football because we have more of the ball. In Europe, teams don’t go back to front. Transitions and losing the ball at the back and midfield is the big worry. But out team, our squad is lighting fast.
Team that will play against Rangers: (my guess). No real shocks. Hart, Taylor, Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Hatate, McGregor, O’Riley, Jota, Kyogo, Maeda.
I’m no fan of Startfelt. Jenz has strolled through a few games, but I think Postecoglou prefers Starfelt (what do I know?) Similarly, Reo Hatate edges out Turnbull. The Japanese player is quite simply wonderful and looks to have extra time on the ball, which can be a problem when he loses it. Kygo is on fire. He’ll start ahead of Giakoumakis (that is no longer a debate). Liel Abada scored a hat-trick at Tannadice. He’s made a good case for starting, but Maeda’s closing down work and his pace means he’ll start ahead of the young Israeli. Postocoglou has taken Maeda wherever he goes and obviously rates him highly. Jota, certain started and ace in the pack. Forrest is down the pecking order. Hasbanovic—we’ll wait and see. I guess he could be another cracker. Celtic to win 4—1 against our Glasgow rivals. HH.
As the song goes, Celtic, Celtic, that’s the team for me. I’ve no great interest in what other teams do or who they play or sign—apart from Rangers.
Even if it’s tiddlywinks, I want Rangers to lose. They’d won the league by 25 points, and stopped us winning the ten. One of the highlights of the season was watching Ryan Kent miss a sitter in the closing minutes and Aaron Ramsey missing that penalty. I joked that my pal’s dad had died, but at least he’d lived long enough to see that. It was a season when Rangers’ fans felt they did well reaching a European final and winning the Scottish Cup.
But when they were giving out awards it was Ange Postecoglou picking them up. Hard to believe, we were chasing Eddie Howe as our new manager and it just seemed a matter of getting the deal over the line. He walked away, citing concerns about having concerns. Ange Postecolgou came in. I’d never heard of him. Most of us agreed he’d need time to rebuild. He didn’t cite concerns about not having his own backroom staff. He was willing to work with the dross that was there. We’d give him time. I was even uttering strange things like he’d have at least a season, or maybe two, in which he wouldn’t be expected to do much, and spluttering into my pint that Rangers were still shite. I was hoping somehow we’d turn it around. In our pre-season games there was little evidence that would be the case. In the qualifiers for Europe, and in Europe, generally, we were out of our depth against mediocre teams (like us).
We lost to Hearts at Tynecastle, Kyogo came on as a sub, played wide, but did nothing of note in the few minutes on the pitch (shades of Henrik Larrson coming on as a winger against Hibs). We were chasing Rangers in the league. It was a race I didn’t expect to win. But the equivalent of muscles-memory of the mind sets in. Odsonne Edouard left for Crystal Palace. I was glad about that. Ryan Christie to Bournemouth. Kristoffer Ayer went to Brentford, where he’d be reduced to talking a good game. He was fine when he didn’t have to defend.
Now here we are again. I’m far more optimistic. We’ve signed seven new players, which include mainstays, Jota and Carter-Vickers. The Portuguese winger dazzled last season and this pre-season. Carter-Vickers in pre-season hasn’t looked great. He got bullied for the second goal against Legia Warsaw, for example, losing a bread-and-butter header I’d expect any centre-half to win and getting turned far too easily. That’s nit-picking. He too has been a success. But you’re only as good as your last game is a truism.
Joe Hart has been a great signing. He’s made vital saves. He’s our number 1, keeper. But we know he’s going to lose stupid goals, when he’s trying to play sweeper-keeper. It’s just a matter of how many and against whom. Teemu Pukki almost caught him out in the friendly match against Norwich. The ex-Celt is not the quickest, and not the best, as we all know. Hart might beat him in a footrace, but I’d rather not find out during a match. Joe Hart, vice-captain, Certain starter.
Benjamin Siegrist, of what I remember him, was decent for Dundee United. He’ll push for the number-one spot. Uncertain starter.
Greg Taylor started against Norwich. I wasn’t a fan of the former Kilmarnock full back. But over last season I’ve come to appreciate him. He wasn’t Kieran Tierney. Emilio Izaguirre when he first came into the team was also a revelation. Taylor is not at that level. And now he has serious competition. *Certain starter when season begins.
Josip Juranović will not be going over to play on the left as he did at Ibrox because Ange doesn’t trust the likes of Liam Scales, for example, to do a job. The Croatian has established himself as our first-pick right back. Certain starter.
Scottish international, Anthony Ralston—and I never thought I’d say that without laughing—is backup. But he too will be pushing for a starting spot. Uncertain starter.
Argentinian, Alexandro Bernabei, I think looks to have more attacking flair than Greg Taylor. *Certain starter as season progresses.
Celtic supposedly paid around £6 million to Tottenham for Cameron Carter-Vickers. A snip based on last season’s performances (and not this pre-season). Certain starter, under Ange.
I heard Carl Starfelt was injured while on international duty with Sweden. He’d miss the start of the season. I wasn’t bothered. Like Ajer, Starfelt is decent when he doesn’t have to defend. He’s too easily bullied by muscular forwards. Most of the goals we lost last season came from free kicks and corners. The most common argument I’ve heard is we’d the best defensive record in the league. We also won the league. Therefore Starfelt must be better than mediocre. He isn’t. But he’s good enough for now. But Ange trusts him. Certain starter.
Christopher Jullien is still at Celtic. For how much longer? He picked up the captain’s armband in the pre-season friendlies. But he’s an uncertain starter. If any club fancies him, he’s free to go.
Back-up to Carter-Vickers and Starfelt has been, until now, under-twenty-one Scotland captain, Stephen Welsh. He’s no better than Starfelt, and often worse. Uncertain starter.
Moritz Jenz from Lorient is we hope better than Starfelt and will leapfrog Stephen Welsh into the team. Loan deals like Jota and Carter-Vickers gives us a chance to try before we buy. Uncertain starter, for now, but his time will come. And if he’s good enough, we’ll keep him. Win-win. Uncertain starter, for now.
Callum McGregor, the Celtic captain, and Scottish Player of the Year plays most games. Simple. Never stops. Certain starter.
Reo Hatate came into the team and started with a bang. Goals against Rangers are often a great way to introduce yourself to adoring fans. He didn’t disappoint. But the end of the season he was disappointing. He was never rubbish, but didn’t shine. Pre-season he’s looked at back to the level he was when we hammered Rangers 3—0, and that old joke, they were lucky to get the nil. This was the pivotal moment in the season, when we leapfrogged them in the league. We did it in Celtic style. Hatate was the man. Certain starter.
Matt O’Riley played in that number-ten role when Tom Rogic didn’t. Usually, they switched like doppelgangers, with one getting sixty minutes, the other thirty minutes, or thereabout. A terrific acquisition. He has added goals to his game. Certain starter.
David Turnbull played every game for Celtic under Ange, until he got that injury, just before the League Cup final, which Kyogo won for us. Turnbull has had a good pre-season, scoring two goals. Sharp and strong. Goal scorer. Ready to step in and stake a place. Uncertain starter, for now.
Daizen Maeda starts most games under Ange. He’s played at centre-forward, most recently when Kyogo was taken off against Legia Warsaw and Giorgos Giakoumakis wasn’t available for selection. But Ange prefers to play him on the wing. Usually it’s the left wing. His pace troubles defences, but his closing down work is also a stand out. He scores goals. Certain starter.
Jota has a problem when Maeda starts on the left, because he’s pushed to the right wing. Maeda is all pace. Jota is an old-fashioned winger. He ties defenders in knots and scores for fun. It was a long and protracted deal with Benfica, with shades of the Eddie Howe haunting us. Bargain buy at £6 million. Certain starter, on right or left wing.
Kyogo Furuhashi hit the ground running. Apart from his injury, he’s not stopped running since. His speed of thought and movement would give any defence problems. The first and best of the Japanese internationals to arrive. Certain starter.
Giorgos Giakoumakis was the opposite of Kyogo. He hit the ground not running. Then he took the ball off Juranovic (I think it was against Aberdeen) in the last minute and missed a penalty which cost us two points. Without actually being Albian Ajeti (or Pukki), he’d all the makings of a dud. But he scored twenty league goals. When Kyogo was out, we didn’t miss him. The Greek international did the business. Uncertain starter, for now.
Under Neil Lennon’s tutelage James Forrest could do no wrong. He was brought through the ranks. Made his debut in season 2009-10. He was hitting twenty goals a season and has more Celtic medals than anyone at the club and has now signed a new contract. It’s hard to believe he’s not fifty-five. But for the first time in his Celtic career he’s not an automatic pick. Jota is ahead of him. Arguably, Liel Abada is also ahead of him. Uncertain starter.
Liel Abada scored a stack of goals and assists. Let’s for a minute consider the way he sneaked in behind the Rangers’ backline and scored at Paradise. Even now, it brings a smile. He’s ahead of Forrest, but not Jotta or Maeda. He will get game time, most often as a substitute. Uncertain starter.
Aaron Mooy plays for Australia. Ange knows him and brought him in. Whether he is to replace Tom Rogic or to sit in as a defensive midfielder for Callum McGregor is unclear. Maybe a bit of both? I’ve not seen him play. Uncertain starter.
Yosuke Ideguchi (Guchi) the Japanese internationalist picked up an injury early in his Celtic career. He’s not been able to find a spot in the congested Celtic midfield. A very decent showing in our pre-season friendlies. Uncertain starter.
James McCarthy was said to have struggled in training when he arrived. Might be lies. He has struggled to get into the Celtic team. Not sure he adds much. But that might change, as it did with Giakoumakis. He’s been brought on very late in pre-season games, usually to replace McGregor. Uncertain starter.
Mikey Johnston, remember him? Tricky winger, could go outside, could go inside? Scored goals? Had that wow factor? Looked rotten in pre-season matches. He’s still got an outside chance, but he’s fading fast.
Scott Bain. Backup keeper, for the backup keeper. Ball boy. Uncertain starter.
We’ve got enough to win the league. Games against Rangers will decide the title. They bullied us in two games last year, both of which we lost, one, admittedly, in extra-time. We can’t let that happen again. The real beauty of winning the title is no qualifiers for the Champions League. £40 million in the bank. We’ll play some fantastic teams. We’ll take some terrible doings, but it’s not that I don’t care, the glory is being there and we’ll get better. We won’t win the Champions League and we won’t win the treble. But I’ve been wrong before. I didn’t imagine winning the league this time, last season. Eddie Who?
odonnellgrunting 