Imagine the scene in the Maribor dressing room, just before kick off last night….
” Hey boss, you know this boy Commons you telt us tae keep an eye on ? He’s no playing. ”
” Aw bollocks, just hang about at the back and hit them on the break. ”
Or whatever the Slovenian translation is for that.
Deilas decision to leave out Kris Commons blew any game plan Maribor may have had last night straight out of the water, which meant that by the time they had organised their plan B , Calum MacGregor had pounced to score his obligatory away goal in Europe after the keeper had saved an effort from a narrow angle by Jo Inge Berget.
Although the hoops lost a goal shortly after, this time the team, under the direction of third centre back Charlie Mulgrew , held it together. Both sides had their chances to add to their respective tallies, Johansen and Stokes in particular could have done better, and van Dijk was unlucky to hit Johansen on the line with a goalbound header, but credit has to go to Craig Gordon , who made a couple of superb saves to leave the tie balanced in Celtics favour. Not quite a Green Wall yet, but certainly proving a more than adequate replacement for that big English guy who went to Southampton.
Incidentally, Southampton are nicknamed the Saints, presumably because all their players move on to a better place
Anyhoo, I think its safe to say we are all happy with 1-1.
Not only the result, but the performance as well was a vast improvement on the Legia fiasco. Maybe its safe to say that particular game came a little too early for us.
Beram Kayal and Stefan Johansen gave disciplined, professional displays in midfield, Anthony Stokes ran until he was ready to drop, and Virgil van Dijk, having been given the beacon of UCL football to chase, looked back to his old self again. Although Ronny did tell him there was a guy from Newcastle in the crowd…
There was the occasional lapse from Emilio Izaguerre and substitute Efe Ambrose, who gave the ball away needlessly a couple of times, but if this level of improvement continues, then we’d better all be saving our pennies for after christmas, because by then we’ll be in the mix at the business end of European football…
That may seem a little outlandish after the start we made, but there are major differences between last nights team and the one that played in Warsaw.
It’s a team, for instance.
Ronny Deila showed a combination of relief and happiness after the game;
“It is true we learned our lesson in Warsaw. It was very early and I had only been at a club a few weeks. We tried things and they didn’t turn out so well.
“But it is not only about the system. The players are fitter now, more confident and know more what to do on the pitch.
“They know what is expected. A lot of things went into that performance tonight, that’s why it’s getting better.
“We were closer to winning the game than Maribor were. It was vital we got the away goal because 1-1 is a much better result than 0-0.
“We have to be more satisfied because we played away from home.”
“There are things to work on but we are looking like a team now. We are working hard and creating chances. This draw was a good result but we could have won.
“Maribor are a very good team. We knew we were going to meet a good side and knew how they would go into the game.
“We wanted to be compact and try to be good with counter attacks.
“We were organised and disciplined. We needed to be because Maribor are always dangerous in the way they play.
“The second leg is going to be a tough game. It could be they are more dangerous away than at home because they will play in the same way. We have to play with the right balance and attack them the right way.
“But of course we have the advantage of playing at Celtic Park and that’s what we are going to use to get through to the group stage. I have a good feeling we can reach it.”
So have I.
Deila reserved a bit of praise for the tireless Johansen, who looks like he is going to flourish at this level, and had special praise for his defending with his block for van Dijks header;
“He was the best defender for Maribor! It was a fantastic save. But Stefan was very good today.
“He’s working hard and is very good on the ball, he’s a leader on the pitch and progressing all the time.
“He should have scored a goal as well. So I was pleased for him.”
Meanwhile, spare a thought for this lass…
Marta Ostrowska , the Legia Warsaw administrator who made the mistake of incuding the ineleigible player in the squad at Murrayfield, has been fired. To be honest, after costing her club potentially millions of pounds, a written warning probably wouldn’t have sufficed, and she is no longer with the club.
At last thats what I think the articles say when you translate them from the original Polish. For all I know it could be her shopping list.
However, her incompetence in all matters concerning paperwork could see her find other work fairly soon, as one man in particular is keen to offer her work, as he feels she can improve things
Thats Stewart Regan, head of the SFA, pictured explaining the Rock Paper Scissors technique he uses when he makes crucial decisions.
Hang on-hold the front page ! Whats this ?
With Cameroonian international Jean Armel Kana Biyik’s move to Palermo nearing completion last night, two other sides have made contact in the last 24 hours.
Scottish champions Celtic and Dynamo Moscow have confirmed their interest in the Rennes player and it is possible that the Ligue 1 club are ready to stimulate a bidding war.
L’Equipe believe that the player is very much interested in Celtic in particular.
And whats this ?
Celtic are trying to brush aside Spanish competition in their bid to sign a player from the country’s second division. The Scottish club, explain Spanish newspaper AS, have put €3m on the table for Stefan Scepovic. That converts to around £2.4m but it’s not as much as the player’s current club want.
Sporting Gijon had been holding out for a little more but that could be just their negotiation stance to try and squeeze as much out of the situation as possible. There have been several interested clubs but Celtic were the first to put an actual offer down for the 24 year old striker. The competition for Celtic is Levante, Almeria and Rayo and they may find it hard to match Celtic’s offer.
They would almost certainly find it even harder to match the kind of wages Celtic would offer and none of them can offer Champions League football or even the realistic prospect of ever getting into European competition.
Scepovic has a very good scoring record for Sporting Gijon and Celtic would hope that he could transfer that to Scotland. There’s also the realistic prospect of making more money
when selling the player down the line, he’s already been capped several times by Serbia and will hope that increases with the platform Celtic would give him.
AS say the player ‘seems to have found a new destination’ which gives optimism for the prospect of a deal being done.
The former, the Cameroonian, is a defender who likes to get his hands dirty…
unless its been raining. Or its cold…
And I’ve no idea what he’s doing with them here…
So, what do we know about him ? Well, gather round, and I’ll tell you…..( or , rather, a Scouting assessment from the Bleacher Report will..)
Positives
Kana-Biyik is a 6’0″, 198-pound centre-back.
He mainly started alongside Sylvain Armand, the former Paris Saint-Germain stalwart.
Per Mertesacker is six inches taller than Kana-Biyik, yet they are both 198 pounds.
Kana-Biyik is a burly, powerful and tenacious defender, as is evident when he forcefully beat Bordeaux’s 6’4″ centre-back Lamine Sane to a header.
On the ball, Kana-Biyik can play out of defence, like when he galloped deep into Lille’s defensive half, dragged three players toward him and then played in Rennes left-forward Wesley Said.
However, it seems that the player is in need of a kick up the arse…or a “new challenge ” as its known…
Kana-Biyik has been steadily declining in defensive productivity, having once averaged 2.5 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per game during the 2010-11 season.
Has Kana-Biyik compensated by being more secure at the back? No.
Kana-Biyik commits farcical errors, which raises a red flag.
He hacked down Sochaux left winger Roy Contout, who was covered by Rennes right-back Romain Danze, to concede a cheap penalty.
Kana-Biyik imprudently followed through on Nice central attacking midfielder Valentin Eysseric to give away a pointless penalty.
Valenciennes central midfielder Tongo Hamed Doumbia did not complete his shooting motion after being clipped by Kana-Biyik, who gambled thinking he would get away with an unscrupulous nudge from behind.
It was a foolhardy choice, because Kana-Biyik knew any contact as the last man would result in a red card and a penalty awarded to Valenciennes.
This was not the first time Kana-Biyik was caught attempting an underhanded tactic.
He could not believe an innocuous trip on Nice centre-forward DarioCvitanich would yield a second yellow card, leading to another sending off.
Bottom Line
Kana-Biyik’s regression in form and lack of discipline mean Rennescould offload him in the summer transfer window.
And we should bring him home. He’s just the sort of player we need. Alright, he has a few rough edges, but I’m sure we can do something about that.
And he seems a little, well, either stupid or just petulant…
In July 2010 Šćepović joined Belgian club Club Brugge.[5] After suffering a goal drought in the first half of the season, he was loaned to Kortrijk in January 2011.[6] Belgian media also described that he was most remembered in Brugge for accidentally locking himself in a bathroom in Affligem hours before a friendly.[7]
But he can score goals. Since the start of the 2013 season, he’s scored 23 in 39 in the Spaish Second division with Gijon. ( Pronounced hee haw, which is a noise associated with people who manage to lock themselves into bathrooms. )
Vincent Tan on Malky Mackay back in February: “He’s the hero… when the truth comes out this will reverse”.
And then someone checked his phone, and it appears that MacKay is from the Ron Atkinson School of Management ( Or KKK for short )
Looks like he won’t be getting the Crystal Palace job either. Still, he might find work in America.
In about 1950.
But all that said, he’s not our problem. We’ve got our own man in now, and he’s doing quite well.
Yesterdays picture , posted originally on twitter by the Retro Celt, , was guessed correctly by Andy and er, the Retro Celt. It was indeed Jim Melrose, who famously played for Celtic in the eighties. although granted, not very well.
Who is this guy, and whats his significance to Celtic ?
Bawsman
Good result last night the manager and the team
deserve credit the turn around in form from the
game in Poland is down to a lot of hard work
No doubt Deadheid or Bogbhoy will be along in a
minute to say how crap we are and the manager should
be sacked and most of the players should be sold
ASAP come on you hurting hun lets be having you
Hail Hail
Kayal put in his best performance for some considerable time. Will be interesting to see if he can maintain any kind of decent form.
A chimpanzee could have worked out Craig Gordon on a free was a helluva coup.
After all form is temporary but class is permanent.
Craig Gordon was always class.
As for Van Dijk last night he looked lethergic,un interested and below par by his own standards to me last night I am hoping the noise at Celtic Park might just wake him up from the off.
The entire backline looked disjointed to me a bit panicky at times and not able to keep a decent line in defence.
Both Lustig and Izzy were found drifting inside way too much for my liking and thus created the space they needed out wide to keep slinging high balls into the area.
Where has the composure shown last Season gone too?
Denayer did well at the weekend but I am not sure he’s ready for a CL night under the light sat CP myeslf might be better going with Ambrose in there and a familiar back 4.
I’d be tempted to go with a back 3 and have Lustig and Izzy bombing up and down the flanks.
That way Berget can be moved in alongside Stokes or Griffiths up top.
Good work bhoys. Good choice of players as well. No complaints. I think we could have scored more but so could they. We shaded it. Celtic Park will make a big difference too. A good night’s work.
Brilliant first half performance last night but then again they did let us have the ball for 44 minutes of it, and the 1minute they had it they scored, thought Kayal, McGregor and VVD were top drawer, unlike izzy who looked lazy and caught out of position to often, we need competition at left back otherwise he will keep strolling through games knowing he’s picked again, be glad to have broonie back as Mulgrew doesn’t have the engine and drive to command midfield, but overall a much improved team selection and performance.. Onwards and Upwards..HAIL HAIL, KTF
The eagle eyed Uefa official who spotted Legias error?? If so, what a mighty man.
Just me or does anyone think that striker sounds like Bacho Novo?
Just on the defensive lapses by Izzy and Ambrose; when the play breaks down I expect my other defenders and/or keeper and/or captain to give him a bollicking. I’m all for a happy dressing room but abject acceptance of such ridiculous mistakes breeds complacency. The reaction of Schmeichel/Keane way back when to such mistakes would be biblical.
Maybe they are extreme examples but there has to be a middle ground, and the token offering of a sorry hand doesn’t cut it. The defence needs to be communicating better and I hope John Kennedy and Danny McGrain are working with them over the coming weeks as they sure knew how to play in those positions.
I was actually thinking the exact same thing when mistakes were made. Why wasn’t there anyone giving them a bollocking? Some of the players were actually high-fiving Ambrose after he gave the ball away! Maybe a bit of stronger leadership needed in there, (hopefully Brown can provide that when he comes back). But all in all a good performance and it’s nice to see steady progress, that’s all we can ask for! Let’s get into them in CP!
Mon the hoops!
Well I’m going to be a stick in the mud and say I was disappointed with the game. I thought in the first half we sat back far too much, a lot of the time we had the ball but 6 players in front of Maribor, all well and good if we want to keep possession but 5v11 in their half is asking far too much of those 5. Second half Denayer and Van Dijk seemed to notice this and made runs, unlike the midfield, but the midfield was still flat and only ran one way which didn’t help the team.
Wasn’t happy with Berget, he looks like a poor mans Sammi. Sammi used to frustrate me when he drifted wide as I like the tall target men to be a central target like a Sutton type, but at least Sammi was inside a bit to let the fullback overlap or play in a midfielder or striker. Berget is that far wide hes right on the line, forcing the fullback to hold back or run inside from deep. I think strikers should be in the shooting positions and the fullbacks in the crossing positions, not the other way about.
Kayal, Johansen and Mulgrew didn’t do enough running off the ball for me,while McGregor was far up the pitch and only got passes from deep though, he was, as well as Kayal, good in possession. Thought Commons could have made a difference there.
My motm would have to be Stokes, he played well enough upfront, practically on his own and his delivery from the corners is a major improvement from last season when Commons couldn’t beat the first man, we got some of our better chances from corners but Maribor made more and Gordon was the busier keeper. We had at least one legitimate penalty turned down but if you need the ref to win then you don’t deserve to win. Looking for further improvement as Maribor were there for the taking.
Funny how the defence has become leaky since delia arrived
Lots of people wanted kayals head before last night,maybe he getting back to full fitness at last after that disgusting tackle by elbows mcculloch
we still need a striker who can hold up the ball away in europe and commons should have played dropping our best outfield player and biggest goal threat was ridiculous
Commons does not track back or dig in enough to justify him starting in such an important game that’s why he sat on the bench.
Too lazy at times all too often and he will struggle with an up tempo Celtic I fear.
Great goal threat etc but as a midfileder you need more than that in Europe.
I’m being told that I should’nt bite…..?
But hey, let me say it again.
GET TAE FUCK AFF THIS SITE!
You certainly know how tae depress the fck oot o’ everybody on here.
Very pleased with last night and Saturday’s performance. Good to see Kayal return to the form he produced in his first season with us. I am feeling very positive for success this year and especially a better CL showing. Only negative is the missing Green Brigade whose absence on Saturday was very noticeable. We will need them next Tuesday if we are to scare the bejesus out of a dangerous opponent. Come on PL, get the standing area sorted pdq and get the thunder roaring again.
Joc,
Celtic Park does not need the GB on a European night. The atmosphere will take care of itself for a fixture as vital as this.
Correct.
Great result to bring back to CP….Is it me… or can you not pick up a newspaper and read about the great result last night without the Legia result constantly being mentioned… paragraph after paragraph…move on you lazy useless so called journalists…taking the shine of a great result for scottish football…
Hail,Hail
Good result last night, defence looked abit dodgy at times but got the job done. Craig made a few wonder saves. Stokes is a crackin player but needs to be puttin them away in the CL, I was hopin to see abit of Pukki to see if he could get on the score sheet. Good job anyweay and lookin forward to Tuesday. £20 mill babayyy come at us. Hail Hail
And welcome to Kana-Biyik Quick News!
Have to say I am delighted in the turnaround from the double disaster of the Legia tie. We have made clear progress although there is still a million miles to go yet. Hopefully now we have the Ghodlike Danny McGrain back to coach the defence we will see a marked improvement as, and I am in complete agreement with Ralph, Doc and others on the subject, the defence still looks very shaky and vulnerable at times. I knoe VVD and Jason have only played one game together before last night and need time to gel before VVD buggers off to the EPL in a weeks’ time, but against the sort of attack we could be facing in the CL should we get there we could be in trouble.
Still, delighted that we had the amazing fortune to be able to put the Legia debacle behind us and move on, altough as Honest Hoops says we will never ever be allowed to forget this by the Scottish (and certain English-I’m looking at you Durham you twat) sports meeja. Who cares? let’s just revel in their beeling-ness!
stefan scepovic is the son of sladan scepovic, who scored the goal that knocked us out of europe in the 5-4 game against partizan belgrade in 1989.
sounds like a headbanger anyway. no thanks!
Can we entitle the comments’ section of the diary ‘Pravda’? It appears that any one who is off-message about the team is immediately branded a Rangers supporter by some. God forbid that people are entitled to their own opinion!
ah disagree O’Kane, there has IMO always been a healthy debate on the team, thats a good thing. Of course when you get trolls then it takes a wee while to suss them out then personally ah treat them with the benighn neglect they deserve.
oor wee friend the inconstant administrate( office temp? ) looks mair like Charlie Drake, well she certainly made the green half of Scotland chuckle..
Just finished reading the ‘wee blue book’ its an AYE-opener if ever there was one.
MON THE HOOPS !!!
I will take the 1-1 draw but I would prefer to take that poor sweet unemployed Polish administrator lass out for a night on the tiles. Just tae cheer her up mind.
she looks like tom baker wi a wig on. Glad shes as thick as tho…
happy overall but the defence was exposed by the midfield on a number of occsasions. Izzie needs a rest.
Simply put, of course i’m glad that the last 3 results were positive – last night’s a definite improvement, even if still miles off where we need to be – they do not make us a good team.
I suppose that makes me a hun, going by recent comment postings on here.
Re Malky McKay – He could get a job with the Ferguson Police Force starting XI. imagine a place named Ferguson being linked with racist behaviour. they should have been more careful naming that town.