yeah it was essentially a second string team from what i saw which was only a few moments. sno, o'dea and balde all played
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yeah it was essentially a second string team from what i saw which was only a few moments. sno, o'dea and balde all played
Any comment on O'Dea's performance?
By all accounts Anthony Stokes was excellent for Falkirk last night. Good goal too I read.
O'Dea played very well lastnite was very impressed with him at left back, i think i would have picked him or sno for motm, McGeady changed things when he came on second half nd played very well alsoQuote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
o dea looks a very assured player but a bit slow , most likely he will be a centre half rather than a full back , sno was excellent
Didn't see the game.
Sno - Got the Celticfc.net MOTM
O'Dea - "looked assured at left back" but by the sounds of things didn't have a great deal to do.
Mcgeady - Come on for the 2nd 45 and seems like he created a few opportunities, though held on to the ball for too long on a few other occasions.
O'Dea was put through a few test last night. :)
Distribution - He did seem to hump it up the pitch a few times but he did put in a few decent crosses. When he kept it short he always took the right choice and looked very comfortable on the ball.
Defending - St.Mirren had a proper winger on O'Dea's side who didn't really get much of the ball. He ran at O'Dea once trying to trick him and O'Dea easily dispossessed him, leaving the St.Mirren player look like a fool. :)
Pace - A St.Mirren player ran down the byeline once and O'Dea's lack of pace was really shown up. He had to cut inside to get the ball off the Mirren player as if he ran right towards him he wouldn't have catched him.
Overall a decent performance but definitely lacks pace to be a left back. Might have a future at centre half though which is his position anyway.
Centre-halves need pace these days as well. The days of being up against lumbering centre-forwards are mostly gone and most forwards now are pacey.
McGeady did well but does overdo it on occasions.
I actually didn't think McGeady was too impressive when he came on. He could have beaten that left back all day as he was rubbish but he was back to the McGeady from last season. Choosing the wrong options, under or overhitting passes, getting caught in possession, etc. In saying that, he did change a dull match when he came on.
Thought McGeady's best moment came from a set play, the ball was played to him from a corner on the right, and he rifled in a low shot that went just wide of the post. Other than that he was average.
O'Dea was solid, but lacked pace. Thought he did well on the overlap a few times, but this left the left side of defence exposed.
Slightly off topic, why were the commentators pronouncing it O-Day? I went to school with a bloke called O'Dea who pronounced it O-Dee
Yeh like Cahill is K-hill, McGrath is Ma-Grat, Kinsella is Kin-SELA, Moran is Mor-ran etc etcQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
anyway roll on the game against scotlands third power on saturday
i predict 3-0 celtic
Again, couldn't see anything of OF game. No Setanta and missed all news bulletins. Saw Miller's goal on youtube.com. Neat finish but build up was all about McGeady. Papers say McGeady was excellent.
Anyone care to expand?
Had a game myself so only saw a little bit of it. Missed the first half but saw 20 odd minutes of the 2nd half and during that time Rangers were the better team although you could say for all their possesion they didn't hurt Celtic a lot.
In that time I saw Boyd hit the crossbar and Prso had a header cleared off the line so on another day it could've been 2-2.
At 1-0 Strachan took Nakamura off and replaced him with Sno which suggested he was content to try to hold on to the lead (something that I hate to see) and Millers goal seemed to me to have caught Rangers on the break.
Still, I wasn't complaining :)
First Half Celtic were by far the better team.
A Lennon cross, a great header from McGeady which was well saved, Graveson knocking in the rebound. Aiden also had a 25yrd drive that clipped the crossbar.
First 20mins of 2nd half, Rangers were the more dominant but Celtic rode their luck a little and Miller scored the 2nd at the perfect time, to kill the game off. Mcgeady ran with the ball for about 40 yrds and slipped a slide rule pass beyond the fullback, Miller slotted it home.
I didn't think it was a great match tbh, but very happy with the result. Rangers are a poor side, huffed and puffed but I didn't think the result was in any doubt.
It was a poor day for Rangers, they lost, Miller scored and Lennon/McGeady (depending who you go with) got MOTM!!!
Lennon was superb yesterday and deserved MOTM IMO. Just goes to show, I thought he was poor against Man U, off the pace, but yesterday he was excellent, winning and keeping the ball, something that Graveson needs to get up to speed with doing!!
Atmosphere was pretty decent, and a long days drinking finished off with a kebab brought a great Saturday to an end:D
Junior, maybe you were a wee bit harsh on Lennon against Man U. :)
Is this the first choice starting midfield: Nakamura, Lennon, Graveson and McGeady ?
Could Jarosik not do a fill in job at RB or is Telfer bearing up ?
I'm really looking forward to the CL game at CP, it's been a long time coming.
Thats the starting Midfield alright. Maloney is fit again and was our player of the year last year so he will be chomping at the bit to get a first 11 spot. Miller has now got off the mark with his first goal and obviously Zurawski wants a starting place to partner J VoH. Jarosik is more of an attacking midfielder, so I've never thought of him filling in at RB, can't see it to be honest. Balde is fit again, not sure if Mcmanus (he has played leftback) or Caldwell could play out at RB?? they couldn't do any worse than Telfer thats for sure.
Telfer it is at RB then Im afraid. The distribution by both fullbacks (Naylor as well) on Sat was awful and that will have to improve, we saw what giving the ball away easily can do against Man U.
Nakamura is real quality, but does have a tendency to go missing in games, hopefully at CP he should be productive, but Copenhagen will be tough, no nonsense type players, it will be interesting to see how he copes with that sort of attention. Attackwise though, we have plenty of options and Im really looking forward to McGeady shining on the back of his great performance on Sat and not so good one at OT.
Its a sell out and should be a great atmosphere. Fingers crossed its 3 points on the board....
I think Caldwell might go to right back myself with Bobo coming in alongside "Mick"
drinkfeck , that would be a great answer to copenhagens physicality, i hope he goes with that and drops telfer.
Doubt it. Telfer is one of WGS's tried-and-trusted types (although Christ only knows what he sees in him) and so it's unlikely he'll make way. Strachan has used Caldwell as a centre-half only so far this season and IMO will be unlikely to switch him away from this role in something as high-stakes as a CL game. I thought he might have tried it in last weekend's stroll-a-thon instead... ;)
:ball: PP
well he cant drop caldwell so it will be bobo again on the bench , bit of a waste of his talent..
Bobo and "talent" in the same sentence... wonders will never cease.
:ball: PP
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy
Very true although he surely realises his limitations. I mean, Telfer isn't naturally first choice so it's not as if Strachan kisses his hole and if Celtic were in a Champions League semi final against Barcelona I doubt very much that Telfer would get the nod.
Still, the chances are that he won't change a winning team unless he has too.
Fcukin hell! Looks like every second or third Rangers supporter in this large section are doing a Nazi salute :eek:
http://i9.tinypic.com/34sksjq.jpg
yeah they were probably the only side making gestures and singing songs that dayQuote:
Originally Posted by viking
Isnt this against the rules about starting a thread about Scottish Football outside its own thread?
yep, thats why I merged it :)
Yeah, the general discussion on that kind of fan behaviour is also banned. Stick to the football.
Nakamura puts in one of his worst performances in a Celtic shirt and still gets a hattrick. :D Very slow start from Celtic but as soon as the first went in they got into their rhythm. It'll be interesting to see what Strachan does when McGeady gets back. Miller started on the bench today so I wouldn't be suprised if he fits McGeady and Maloney into a 4-5-1.
I really enjoyed the Edinburgh derby today which was live on Setanta. Hibs played some good stuff but Hearts fought all the way and nicked a draw in a 2-2 game. 9 bookings and one Hearts player sent off - good stuff.
Hearts have a really bad discipline problem. I think they've had close to 10 red cards this season already.
Is this the right place to discuss Celtic vs Benfica?
Very impressed by Celtic. I've only seen their CL games so far, no SPL games. Good mix of technical football & direct football.
Maloney & Miller were very impressive throughout.
That young guy Sno is going to be one hell of a player. He was far from perfect but you've got to cut a little bit of slack for a teenager making his CL debut up against a sophisticated team.
Strachan looks & sounds like he really knows what he's doing. I read before he joined Celtic he worked really hard for a year going around Europe, taking in games, learning systems and taking courses. It looks like it's paying off.
Too early to get excited just yet though. Even a point in Lisbon will be a tall order, likewise you can't assume they'll get anything at home to United, even if United has already qualified. Winning in Copenhagen will be critical.
Am I right in thinking that if Celtic & Benfica tie, Celtic are in the driving seat due to a 3-0 giving them the (likely) head-to-head advantage?
Yeah, I think so. I'd put Celtic favourites for the Man U match. I think that's actually the easiest out of the 3 left as I wouldn't know what to expect from Copenhagen and home and away matches are different worlds for Celtic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Miller was superb. He seems to really play well on the European and international stage, probably because most wouldn't come up against a similar player.
Boruc had 1 easy save to make from about 30 yards out so credit to McManus and Caldwell.
Naka was his usual world class (imo) self. A joy to watch. I'm losing count of the amount of pundits that have called him a genius in the last 3 CL games. :) I felt he should have played more balls forward when they went 1-0 last night but he just wanted to keep possession. If you had 6 Nakamura's in front of the defence then you won't be getting the ball off them if they wanted to keep possession but I'm always still nervous at 1 or 2 up so wanted to keep going for more goals. :)
As for Strachan. It didn't take me long for him to win me over and I was backing him through the Christmas period when around 80% of fans wanted him out. Top, top coach and you can guarantee he'll get the best out of the players at his disposal. Like Kerr, I never really disagree with anything Strachan says or does. ;)
Strachan also went to Australia to study fitness techniques of Aussie rules teams.
I also thought Miller was excellent last night. He really harries defenders and nips at their heels. His ball control looked to be a lot sharper than usual and his finishing for the second goal was excellent. Very composed display by Celtic. They kept their heads after Benfica rode the initial storm and took control for a while. The next two games away will be very telling. A couple of draws are needed at the very least but I'd be hoping for 4-6 points.
i would take 1 point from the two away games and 1 from the united game to be honest and hopefully it would be enough if man u put benfica to the sword . benfica game was a great performance but i await with interest the game in lisbon , massive massive game. taking a beating there would change the whole shape of the group and put the momentum with benfica
Nakamura's confidence is sky high at the minute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1auktvxJVsk
That vid doesn't include his 2 excellent assists.
What do you all think about this guy. Telling his players that they will all be sold if they don't beat Dunfermline this weekend? Is not as if their playing bad 2nd in the league ahead of Rangers. He reckons he will play a youth/reserve squad again Celtic next week(How is that going to make anything better?)
I can see this kinda thing happening more and more in the future as big business men taking over clubs and taking power away from fans of the clubs.
He owns the club so really can do whatever he wants.
I am sure many Hearts fans delighted when he came in pumping in the cash but theres always a downside to selling your sole. Suporters trusts are the only way to stop people gaining total control of clubs.
Romanov seems to be a bit out of order but I also think some footballers pampered & overpaid so could do with a boll%xing now & then.
I honestly think Hearts have over achieved last season and so far this season. Romanov has came in and conned a lot of people. He hasn't put any money into the club. Racing Club Genk have reported them to FIFA for non payment of the £850,000 record signing Mirsad Beslija and contrary to opinion, Romanov has NOT paid off any of Hearts reputed £17m debt. All he has done is transfer it to his own Lithuanian bank.
They have signed a lot of foreign players but over 50% of them are loan deals and the others were free and none of them are players you would recognise. At the end of the day, if you want quality it's going to cost you more often than not.
I remember an article in the papers over here shortly after the World Cup where Romanov was bragging about being close to signing a "World Cup Star". Turned out it was a Togo international who played for a 3rd division French club :rolleyes: :D
whatever about romanov himself , the coach molofiev is a right nutter !! mad interview on setanta yesterday sayiing all was well in the camp!
Yeah, he couldn't speak a word of English either. Crazy man. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerMilla
Interesting to see Evander Sno in the provisional Dutch squad so soon.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/1101/sno.html