SPL Discussion Thread

[Junior]

You can't really expect to create much at Stamford Bridge but they did create quite a few clear cut chances. Miller had a great chance to score from a Pearson ball. Pearson had header saved superbly and also another great chance to score when free in the box but was saved. Riordan had a goal disallowed for offside. That's 4 clear cut chances off the top of my head and then the odd shot wide. Pleasing performance but there's still a few players obviously needed.

Well Chelsea are a team 3 or 4 weeks behind us in pre-season and had played a game 24 hrs prior, so I do expect us to create chances. Also what about at Tynecastle - we created 1 break aaway chance that resulted in a goal. We did create a bit more at home to St. Mirren on Sat, but no doubt about it in my mind we are not creating that many chances in front of goal. Im not saying we are not creating nothing, but we aren't creating that much that are not shots from the edge of the box etc.... A Riordan chance that was 2 yrds offside doesn't count in my book (despite it being a good finish!).

Miller unfortuantely missed a golden opportunity to kick start his tally on Sat- it was a terrible miss. Mcgeady continues his good start to the season, played very well IMO.

Both Hearts and Rangers dropping points was good, Celtic will get destroyed come CL unless we get at least a Left Back + Target Man (why was Hartson let go) + replacement for Petrov if/when he goes.

[RogerMilla]

in fairness hartson cannot cut the CL Mustard anymore but he should have been kept until a replacement was in the bag. hope macgeady plays a big part for ireland on wednesday

[geysir]

Interesting realistic and fair comment from Strachan in the Sunday Times about Sno
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2310689,00.html
“Evander Sno is probably the youngest in our squad, but because he’s a big lad people forget that. He still knows very little about playing midfield, but so far for £80,000 he’s looking a good buy. Whoever we sign isn’t going to be the finished article, I’ll take someone and work with him.”

£80,000 sound okay.

[Junior]

Dider Agathe cost £50k, and was one of, if not the, best performer for Celtic in our european campaigns. An absolute bargain. But for every £50k player that turns out like that you probably have 9 others that end up to be duds. Law of averages, you get what you pay for etc......

Sno looked good against Chelsea, Strachan was a fabulous midfielder and can pass on a lot. Fingers crossed eh......

PS: Most of that article, is a whiney scottish journalist having a petty dig at Strachan not wanting to answer questions re: Petrov.

[RogerMilla]

as i've said before on this thread , sno looks a right player , hopefully strachan can mould him into what the club needs , hopefully MON will stump up some serios bread for petrov now and the club can get spending

[geysir]

Most of that article, is a whiney scottish journalist having a petty dig at Strachan not wanting to answer questions re: Petrov.
I should have put a "whiney" hack warning beside the article link :)

Boruc has been dropped from the Polish squad by Beenhakker. Sensational enough considering his WC form.

[RogerMilla]

it's quite shocking actually , also beenhakker never contacted him , he is far better than dudek , you'd have to wonder whats going on there

[eirebhoy]

It's even stranger considering he was picking a Scottish first division flapper over premiership keeper Shaka Hislop for T&T.

btw - Where's Hibs4Ever? The thread isn't the same without him. :)

[CollegeTillIDie]

Hearts are whistling Dixie regarding advancing in Europe having crashed 1-2 to AEK Athens at "home" last week.

[Terry]

Dont know if this is mentioned elsewhere but it all looks very familiar

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/scot_prem/4796207.stm

[pete]

Genesis Consultants are scottish afterall. :o

[Junior]

Good win for Rangers yesterday v Hearts. From the highlights it looked as though, they battered Hearts, 2-0 going on 5.

Celtic were strolling today against ICT, 1-0 up, without playing that well (but again, not creating many clear cut chances - eirebhoy!!). But at 1-0, its always a dangerous game and it was no surprise that we conceded a late equaliser. Miller put in a decent shift, but again with no goal for his efforts though he did set up Pearsons.

The positive for me (and Ireland) however, was McGeady. He played Left Midfield and created plenty, nearly always got a cross in or won a corner, hardly ever lost posession even when faced with 2 or 3 defenders. His final ball still needs to improve though. He came in for some pretty heavy treatment, late tackles, shirt pulling etc... Probably 2 or 3 ICT players were booked as a direct result of not being able to deal with McGeady. I did notice he was a bit mouthy towards the ref and had a little kick out at one ICT player, I've not seen this before from him but I can't say I blame him because he was constantly being fouled. However we all know that this sort of behaviour can backfire, so I hope he can keep it in check. He also tracked back well, helping out Wallace and generally getting stuck in.

[eirebhoy]

Terrible performance today and they really need to improve. It's not nice seeing Rangers at the top of the table. :( It was the worst performance I've seen from Nakamura and Jarosik was poor too.

Hesselink is flying to Glasgow tomorrow to try and agree terms. It looks pretty much a done deal as his father/agent said a few weeks ago that personal terms will not be a problem. Great signing if it goes through. A left back and replacement for Petrov and hopefully it'll be a decent team for the CL. Maloney and Balde still to come back aswell.

[Junior]

Terrible performance today and they really need to improve. It's not nice seeing Rangers at the top of the table. :( It was the worst performance I've seen from Nakamura and Jarosik was poor too.

Hesselink is flying to Glasgow tomorrow to try and agree terms. It looks pretty much a done deal as his father/agent said a few weeks ago that personal terms will not be a problem. Great signing if it goes through. A left back and replacement for Petrov and hopefully it'll be a decent team for the CL. Maloney and Balde still to come back aswell.

The thing with Hesselink, is I just don't know much about him, he didn't really feature much in the WC - Is he really any good or is it just cause he has a (long) foreign name that people are getting excited. Got any stats/info for me eirebhoy.....c'mon I know you must have some:D

Petrov was badly missing on Sunday or at least that type of player, general lethargy was evident amongst most of the side.

[eirebhoy]

The thing with Hesselink, is I just don't know much about him, he didn't really feature much in the WC - Is he really any good or is it just cause he has a (long) foreign name that people are getting excited. Got any stats/info for me eirebhoy.....c'mon I know you must have some:D

Yeah, I've seen him a few times and he's exactly what Celtic need. Excellent header of the ball and at holding it up, bringing his teammates into play. I put a few clips of him online last night from Saturday's game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlGpGz6ue-w

The flick to Kone for the 2nd goal was excellent.

Scored 72 goals in 156 games for PSV and has scored more Dutch top flight goals than any player currently playing in that division. Sutton scored 63 in 130 for Celtic pretty much equivalent records with Hesselink playing in a stronger league.

[Junior]

Now thats service!! -cheers, eirebhoy.

Pierre was a great purchase from the Dutch league (NAC Breda) and as you say if he has a similar record to Sutton, thats a decent return, though you did get a hell of a lot more from Sutton than just his goals - in terms off effort, commitment, assists and generally taking the pressure off larsson - don't know if Hessilink would provide that.

As for the flick in 2nd goal, yeah looked good, assuming he wasn't going for goal!!!!

[Pat O' Banton]

Terrible performance today and they really need to improve. It's not nice seeing Rangers at the top of the table. :( It was the worst performance I've seen from Nakamura and Jarosik was poor too.



For patches in the first half I didn't think that it was that bad, we retained the ball well, moved it from side to side, but we are definately lacking something. To often we are asking Millar to come out from the front line and play someone in, meaning unless we are getting a few bodies in the box (which apart from Pearson's goal we were not doing at all) he is wasting his time.
We really fell apart when Zurawski came on. Not that this was particularly his fault, it just seemed that even with Jarosik doing not much in midfield he was at least occupying one of their players, without 5 in midfield they easily disrupt our passing. Which is worrying because it shows a lack of ability to be tactically flexible on the pitch.

But the bottom line is if you go one up and fail to kill off a game, or even to create chances to kill of a game you are always vunerable.

[eirebhoy]

Hesselink has just completed his medical and apparantly signed in the last few minutes. We should see some much better football from everyone with his addition.





Oh, and Naylor signed today aswell....

[Junior]

Hesselink has just completed his medical and apparantly signed in the last few minutes. We should see some much better football from everyone with his addition.

Im not counting my chickens on Hesselink

"Netherlands striker Jan Venegoor of Hesselink is in Glasgow for a medical and contract negotiations with Celtic." from BBC

It sounds like Celtic are way off in terms his wage demands as well.

[eirebhoy]

It's basically a done deal. The negotiations were done between Lawell and Hesselinks father over the phone on Monday and Tuesday and Hesselink flew over yesterday. He had his medical yesterday too and there was pictures of him leaving the hospital. Celtic Underground said yesterday that he signed from a very strong source. Radio Clyde also said this.

Only Celtic fans would get nervous at this stage of a signing. :)

/edit - just confirmed:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/5270280.stm

I doubt they have the correct figures though as the Celtic board pay the minimum possible fee for anyone. :)
/edit again, they've updated the link to change the fee to €5m.

[Junior]

cool, I thought it was £5m quid PSV were after??? wonder what his wages are?

[RogerMilla]

guys , don't ever ever heed what is posted on the bbc website as regards glasgow celtic, whatever about the BBC's reputation worldwide BBC scotland is a completely different animal and there are anti-celtic agenda's there.

welcome to Big JVOH hope he bangs them in in the CL and SPL ( and the cups as well!!) , big up to naylor as well hope he can nail down that left wing and let wilson say on his right side

[eirebhoy]

Press Conference:
http://www.celticfc.net/channel67/presser.aspx

[Green Tribe]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet. I assume it is allowed to be discussed, if not please delete. It is the carry-on up here regarding Boruc now having a criminal record because he blessed himself while at the goalpost position and some Rangers fans complained! :eek: He was charged with incitement to cause sectarian hatred or something like that. :rolleyes:
I think this is a disgrace, you see Italian players etc doing it going on to the pitch all the time. Sorry if this should be in Current Affairs!

[DmanDmythDledge]

Celtic are close to agreeing a deal to bring Gravesen to Celtic Park- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/5290454.stm

Good signing for Celtic IMO.

[Poor Student]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet. I assume it is allowed to be discussed, if not please delete. It is the carry-on up here regarding Boruc now having a criminal record because he blessed himself while at the goalpost position and some Rangers fans complained! :eek: He was charged with incitement to cause sectarian hatred or something like that. :rolleyes:
I think this is a disgrace, you see Italian players etc doing it going on to the pitch all the time. Sorry if this should be in Current Affairs!

GT, check the World Football rules. You cannae discuss this sort of thing.

[McGeady10]

Don't know if anyone saw the Celtic game at the weekend but McGeady was great again. Had a right battle with Hibs & Scotland U21 right back, Steven Whittaker, in the first half but in the second half McGeady had him on toast!

Set up the first goal with a great slipped through pal to Naylor who pulled it back to Zurawski. For the second goal he picked the ball up on the halfway line, drove by a defender and hit the post from 20 yards allowing JVofH to follow up and tap home. Had another few sublime moments. Hitting form at the right time :D

[RogerMilla]

agreed mcgeady10, i hope he starts on saturday not coming off the bench when its too late to save us.
gravesen is a massive signing , delighted
booked my ticket to lisbon for the benfica game

[drinkfeckarse]

McGeady played very well alright. Graveson is a good player and will add that bit of steel to the midfield. Pearson played in the centre on Saturday and did reasonably well too. I'm glad too as I rate him highly. I'm wondering if Strachan is seeing him as the natural replacement for Stan as he's got the same work ethic and having Graveson playing the holding role would see him have the licence to get up and down the park.

To be fair, the board are due credit for the money they've spent and allocated for wages. If you told me before the summer that Jarosik, Hesselink and Graveson would be signing along with all the Bosmans I'd have told you to seek help :D

[RogerMilla]

pearosn was fantastic in the uefa games against barca and did well initially , i like him and it would be great to see him play his way back in , lennon is now a liability far too slow

[drinkfeckarse]

Lennon is still handy at breaking up opponents play but I agree he is too slow especially for Europe. That's why I think Graveson and Pearson would be a good combination.

[eirebhoy]

I don't agree on Pearson, I thought he was as poor as Lennon on Saturday. Lennon spent most of the match in midfield on his own because Pearson has very little positional sense. Pearson doesn't come back to help out Lennon and doesn't pick out any passes. He's not a great player imo.

He has a great work rate and will always bomb forward but he's no central midfielder. A backup player for a 30 minute cameo or a wing role but certainly no central midfielder in a 4-4-2 imo.

[drinkfeckarse]

I don't agree on Pearson, I thought he was as poor as Lennon on Saturday. Lennon spent most of the match in midfield on his own because Pearson has very little positional sense. Pearson doesn't come back to help out Lennon and doesn't pick out any passes. He's not a great player imo.

He has a great work rate and will always bomb forward but he's no central midfielder. A backup player for a 30 minute cameo or a wing role but certainly no central midfielder in a 4-4-2 imo.

I suppose we'll have to see what Strachan has in store for him, interesting how contrasting the views are...

[Stuttgart88]

What's the latest on Gravesen? I hear the medical cast doubts on the move.

When the CL draw was made I feared the worst but having Jan Vinegar of Van Hooijdonk's Cufflink and Gravesen on board, maybe with Balde back fit, would make a big difference I think.

[DmanDmythDledge]

There was rumour of that this morning but it has been finalised now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/5290454.stm

[The Legend]

Gravesen is a solid signing for Celtic, but will they miss the attacking flair of Petrov, im not sure.

[eirebhoy]

Petrov is sold for up to £8m. That's about the same price as Nakamura, Zurawski, Boruc, Wilson, Jarosik and Gravesen combined. :)

I'm excited about Europe now. The team looks very strong.

[drinkfeckarse]

Great bit of business in the end by the board for Petrov.

[londonirish17]

Petrov is sold for up to £8m. That's about the same price as Nakamura, Zurawski, Boruc, Wilson, Jarosik and Gravesen combined. :)

I'm excited about Europe now. The team looks very strong.

It does indeed. Tonight will be a tough test however...
2nd place should be within reach. Really hope so!

[eirebhoy]

I wouldn't be too disappointed with a 1 goal defeat tonight, anything else is a bonus.

[londonirish17]

I think that Celtic's performance wasn't that bad yesterday. It was even outstanding for 45 minutes...than we conceded a cheap goal. Afterwards we witnessed some poor passing and nervousness for 15'. At the end of the day I have to agree though that United deserved their win since they got the better chances over 90'. The Ref was quite poor. There was never a penalty on Giggs! And what to say about the yellow he brandished at Boruc? Ridiculous. Despite being involved in the 3rd goal Gravesen performed quite well ass did Jan VoH. Boruc outstanding!

[OwlsFan]

I think that Celtic's performance wasn't that bad yesterday. It was even outstanding for 45 minutes...than we conceded a cheap goal. Afterwards we witnessed some poor passing and nervousness for 15'. At the end of the day I have to agree though that United deserved their win since they got the better chances over 90'. The Ref was quite poor. There was never a penalty on Giggs! And what to say about the yellow he brandished at Boruc? Ridiculous. Despite being involved in the 3rd goal Gravesen performed quite well ass did Jan VoH. Boruc outstanding!

The ref was ok - Boruic made contact with Giggs and then pulled his arms away afterwards. Peno - soft but a peno.

[drinkfeckarse]

The ref was ok - Boruic made contact with Giggs and then pulled his arms away afterwards. Peno - soft but a peno.

You're about the only one who thinks that OwlsFan, even the analysts didn't think it was a penalty.

I thought Celtic applied themsleves well, yes Man Utd had the better chances but that's always going to be the case at Old Trafford regardless of who they are playing.

McGeady was disappointing and I'd have hooked him before Jarosik who although himself was quiet, at least offered himself a little more for the ball and was also a physical threat.

Graveson done a power of work and while I thought he was ok his lack of games was evident in his distribution.

The defence did well when they had to although McManus and Caldwell let Rooney and Saha come for the ball and turn to them far too often. I was pulling my hair out every time as it's only inviting trouble and they sat back too often. Naylor put some great balls in and Hesselink showed his class.

All in all, nothing to fear as I thought and I expect a similar game at Celtic Park.

Scholes was excellent for Man Utd and ran the show I thought.

[geysir]

I'd be curious to listen to Beenhakker's justification for dropping Boruc.

The ref's penalty decision was debatable but doesn't deserve the opprobrium.
DFA, on RTE there was consensus about the ref's decision.
I overheard Dunphy reach for his clichés going on about Gravesons' mistakes as in he can get away with that in Scotland but not at this standard.
Graveson has played once in Scotland.
He will get sharper and Lennon can complement him. I thought Lennon was very good.
Strachan's post match interview was a sight, his brain was mush, all wires were crossed and out came a series of jittery disconnected phrases. Credit due to him for the way the team was prepared.

[Stuttgart88]

Although I don't think it was a penno, I can easily see why it was given so I wouldn't fault the ref. Only in the replay did I see Boruc withdraw his arms. Silly goalkeeping to even give the ref a chance to get it wrong. Do Celtic always lose 3-2 when that ref is in charge?

If John O'Shea had put in a midfield performance as bad as Gravesen, or even Carrick, last night could you imagine the hysteria on here? He actually looked the part last night (don't shoot me).

Although I think that Strachan set his stall out far more effectively than Stan did in Germany (easier to do with a CL quality target man I suppose) I think there are similarities between Celtic last night & Ireland in Stuttgart. Good, game performance, good goalkeeping & clearly second best but ultimately a big taste of regret left in the mouth. If only this, if only that...

I'd also like to hear if those clamouring for McGeady to start in Stuttgart still see Stan as a "coward" given his poor showing last night.

Still Celtic are in good shape I think. 4 points against each of Benfica & Copenhagen may well secure second even if they lose to United again.

A couple of other points:

Scholes is 10 times the player that Lampard is.

Did anyone else "know" Nakamura was going to score? I just knew it. I bet eirebhoy did too :) Unfortunately, I felt Boruc would save the penalty (he nearly did) as he's as good against penalties as I've seen.

[Poor Student]

Did anyone else "know" Nakamura was going to score? I just knew it. I bet eirebhoy did too :) Unfortunately, I felt Boruc would save the penalty (he nearly did) as he's as good against penalties as I've seen.

Yep, knew it too. His best position to strike them is about 5 or 6 yards right of centre, 20-25 yards out. Weird though to see that Saha was the only one who didn't jump and it skimmed inches over him. Can't believe Brown wasn't booked for the foul on Jarosik leading to the free.

Celtic played a fairly decent game. Strachan set the team out well but some players didn't match up to it. Graveson had a nightmare, looked very rusty. He did make a few great trackings back, but a missed tackle and misplaced pass lead to two goals. I thought it was a penalty as Boruc chaged at him and collided with him. A foul in the box no matter how great or little a chance is happening and no matter where the player appears to be headed is still a penalty. I thought Jan VoH had a great game. Hold ups and lay offs are very good, took his goal excellently. Unfortunately he was well knackered by the end. I thought the centre half pairing looked very suspect as both of Gravesons's mistakes resulted in United wlaking right through. Full backs were ok. Thought Naylor's distribution of the ball is very intelligent. Often he looks like he's about to punt it down the line then plays an intelligent accurate ball into the forward's feet. There was positives and negatives. Hopefully Graveson's display is down to rustiness and unfamiliarity.

As for McGeady, his use of the ball is very poor so often. He'd be great is he could learn to pick the proper pass. Maloney is ten times more effecitve. He looks as sharp as ever, can't wait to see him back. The difference with him returning could be immense for Celtic.

[drinkfeckarse]

You're about the only one who thinks that OwlsFan, even the analysts didn't think it was a penalty.


I suppose having seen it again at lunchtime I was maybe being harsh. I still don't think it was a penalty myself but can see why it was given however soft it was. If you rush out like Boruc did you're inviting trouble.

[Junior]

Disappointed with the result, but heartened by the performance and after hearing that the Copenhagen v Benfica match didn't have too much quality in it, I see no reason why we shouldn't get out of the group.

- JVoH, great game, held the ball up well, made Rio look like a fool on a few occasions - Took his goal well but should also have buried the header. Think he could be a big star for us.

- Never a Penalty. I don't blame the ref, I blame Boruc absolutely no need for him to be out there, rush of blood and a rash attempted challenge. Good effort with the Peno but couldn't quite keep it out. Made ammends with some excellent saves later in the game.

- Gravesen. He'll be very disappointed with the two costly mistakes, rustiness or whatever it was will go and he'll be a great player for us, very unfortunate that on both occassions the ball fell to Scholes, who knows how to pick out a pass!! Gravesen did however, cover a lot of ground and made some important challenges, didn't do as much going forward as he did against Aberdeen at the weekend, for obv reasons.

- Lennon. I've been a big fan & supporter of Lennon, despite his many celtic fan critics. However, last night I was disappointed, sooooo off the pace, relied on team mates far too often to do the tracking back and recovering the ball (Gravesen on a few occasions for starters). I know he put in some decent challenges but it wasn't enough for me, the game largely passed him by.

- McGeady, really disppointing considering his season so far. Not to worry he's a great player, he's young and will learn and get better. Im sure Aiden was one of the players Strachan was referring to when he said 'creative players didn't perform' on the night

Defence - Played great IMO. Pity Wilson got injured, he was playing great as was Naylor who whipped in plenty of very dangerous crosses, we just didn't get anyone on the end of them. Great moment in the first half when 3 Celtic defenders threw themselves at the ball to block a Man U shot. The Centre pairing looked a little open at times and Balde will be looking to get back in now that he is back playing in the reserves, perhaps Caldwell might move further up the field??

Atmosphere - Cracking!!!! 6,000 In the Celtic end, plus plenty in the home end as well, great non stop noise, pity we didn't at least get the draw. Its a great stadium, 76k attendance I think.

Scholes/Saha - Brilliant on the night I thought. The rest looked average.

Heres hoping we can build on the performance, Copenhagen in Glasgow next up.

[Pat O' Banton]

I'd also like to hear if those clamouring for McGeady to start in Stuttgart still see Stan as a "coward" given his poor showing last night.



Wasn't his best showing but considering his season so far are you seriously doubting that he isn't better then what was on display in Stuttgart.

I'm not having this penalty was Boruc fault stuff, did Giggs go over deliberately? If so whose fault is that? Did the ref incorrectly give a penalty, whose fault is that? To blame someone who doesn't make a foul for a foul doesn't make sense, Boruc ultimately did not want to take the chance he can hardly be blamed for that.

Overall disappointed because I felt United were very weak at the back and we failed to create enough chances to really exploit this. You don't often get these opportunities to get something out of games at OT in the CL so you have to take them when they arrive. (Esp given our away record in the tornament)

[eirebhoy]

Did anyone else "know" Nakamura was going to score? I just knew it. I bet eirebhoy did too :)
Oh without a doubt. I also "knew" Saha would shoot to the left, as did Boruc. :) The freekick actually had me thinking of how few freekicks Celtic get in that position. Since Nakamura has joined Celtic I can't remember ever hitting the wall and if the ball was placed where it was last night he'll score 9 times out of 10. It might aswell be a peno for him.

I know this sounds silly but if I was offered last night's outcome before a ball was kicked I'd have taken it. Mainly because the other match ended 0-0. Naka will hopefully be back to his best now after a goal and decent performance. Hesselink's confidence must be sky high, what a take down for the goal. 2 goals in Old Trafford and it makes the players believe they can play with the best teams. Especially considering McGeady, Gravesen, Jarosik and even Nakamura can all play much better.

Next couple of CL days:
Celtic v Copenhagen
Benfica v Man U

Celtic v Benfica
Man U v Copenhagen

Celtic can definitely get 6 points from the next 2 games. United have a revenge match in Lisbon and should comfortabely beat Copenhagen at home. Let's just hope Man U run away with the group and Celtic could be 5 points ahead of Benfica/Copenhagen after 3 games. :)