Menu Close

Celtic Diary Monday September 15: Well, We Won…

Which is always nice. Celtic beat Aberdeen 2-1 with goals early in each half, early enough for me to miss them both, which moves the Hoops to within three points of new league leaders Hamilton with a game in hand.

Thats right. Hamilton are at the top of the league, after a very creditable 2-2 draw at Dundee Utd. Inverness slipped up in Glasgow at Partick, going down 3-1 , so they drop to second. Dundee Utd complete the trio of clubs on thirteen points, while Celtic lead Dundee and Kilmarnock, all on ten points , but Celts have a much superior goal difference.

Supporters got to see Stefan Scepovic and Aleksandr Tonev, who made the starting line up, and John Guidetti came on in the second half, which gave the whole thing a sort of “let’s see if any of these new guys are any good ” rather than being used to specifically make an area of the team stronger.

Deila likes the idea of having plenty of players to choose from, he said;

“There will be competition for places but there has to be here. The players want to work hard and we want to improve them and there are a lot of games so we need a big squad and good training to compete in four competitions.

“We go into the Europa League a lot stronger now. We have progressed a little bit every game but I’m still thinking about development.

“There’s a lot to do but when I saw training this week and spells in the first-half against Aberdeen I saw good quality with good pressure and passing and that’s the aim – to be like that over 90 minutes.” 

 I’m still not convinced. After eleven games in charge the players don’t seem to know how to play the system yet, and they are not even sure if they will be chosen to play it.

 When the team was announced, at around noon, I asked everyone on the bus to name the side. No-one got it right. Tonev had thrown them. Now, you may argue that if we don’t know who he’s going to pick, neither will the opposition. Fair enough. But if the system remains the same, it won’t make any difference to the other sides plans.

Although Saturday did confirm what we already knew. Even a half fit Scott Brown makes a difference.

 Scepovic showed some good movement, but that was too much for the rest of the team, who obviously weren’t expecting it, so the service to the Serb wasn’t all that good, although there is certainly something to work on. Tonev helped Izaguerre a lot more than Berget had in previous games, but looked poor going forward. Giving him the benfit of the doubt, though. Maybe he’s getting used to playing again, on account of not actually playing football for the last twelve months or so.

John Guidetti relished his return to football, and Deila seems to like him;

 “I expect that we will get Guidetti to be quick, fit and sharp and then I expect a lot of goals. If we win games, that’s important, but he has a good attitude, he wants things and we have good strikers at the club who can take us up to the next stage and he is one of them.

“Salzburg will be a tough game. They are a very good team and it will be a tough challenge but we’re improving and I’m looking forward to that test.” 

 There is potential in Scepovic and Guidetti to be the strike partnership we haven’t had since the Martin O’ Neill days, but the system only allows for one at a time. Surely Deila is aware of that ? A 4-4-2 would see them utilised in a more sensible way, and with the old diamond midfield its quite possibly we’d have a more than enjoyable season after all..

 Back to Tonev, and he did make all the headlines though. Apparently, he made a racist remark to Shay Long of Aberdeen, something which Celtic have firmly denied, the player has firmly denied, but it’s his word against Longs….

A Celtic spokesman said ;

“We have spoken to the player and he has stated the accusation made is not true.” 

Aberdeen declined to comment, but they have complained to referee Bobby Madden, who made a note of it, and will report it.

We have seen his book, and it says;

Wan o’ they fenian bassas sayed sumhin to the Aberdeen guy  whit wiz raysist ” 

Special mention has to go to Craig Gordon, fast becoming the bargain of the century, as he put in another great performance, and gives us hope against the free scoring Red Bull Salzburg in Austria on Thursday.

Well, they used to be free scoring. Since losing their main midfielder to Southampton-that almost never happens- they are now on a run of three defeats in a row. We have won one in five, so no doubt the record viewing figures for a football match will be safe when this one is on.

If anything illustrates the difference in quality between the Europa League and the Champions League, it’s that.

These new strikers arriving mean it may be the end of the road for Leigh Griffiths, clearly out of favour with Deila, despite saving his skin at Dundee.

The much mentioned loan move to Hibernian appears to be a possibility again, and it’s a good job they are not in the Premier League, and hopefully we’ll avoid them in the Cup. Griffiths, should he move to Easter Road would score a dozen against our defence.

A lot of people left the game at half time on Saturday, in a show of support for the Green Brigade, who haven’t been allocated their old section back, causing havoc amongst the stewards as they try to reach their bonus payments by blaming anyone they can find for singing the wrong songs, waving the wrong flag or putting their seat down too loudly.

I went with them, and watched the second half in the pub with a chap from the gloriously named Cowdenbeath Flying Column, a which I think is the military wing of the Fife Shamrock CSC.

cfc flag

 

 

I might be wrong about that, but in my defence I had already had a bit to drink, and I was far more interested in the barmaid in the red vest….but, of course, it’s true when you get to my age you become invisible to women, and I hadn’t got any chloroform on me.

One thing about Deila, he’s certainly got the support talking to each other.

Anyway, give the Green Brigade back their seats, so the rest of us can get on with watching the football. Except the guy with the drum.

As you may have heard, Dr. the Rev. Ian Paisley died on Friday. During the trip to the game on Saturday, fellow traveller and diary contributor Chris recalled a story he had heard on the Jeremy Vine show…

As I told the coach I tuned into the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 on Friday. Joined the show as a commentator was talking about the death of Dr. Paisley and a little bit about his life and career. He explained to the great British public how Paisley was a firebrand rabble rouser and they included a recording of his famous “never never” speech A Drumcree
However as we all know he apparently had a “Paul” moment and embraced the peace process with his new best buddy Martin McGuinnes, indeed they became affectionately know as the “Chuckle Brothers”
 
During the eulogy they went to great pains to explain that while the great man endoubtably hated the Roman Catholic Church and its Institutions he did not resent individual Catholics to illustrate this point the BBC wheeled on a lady to recount her experience of this saintly man.
She duly told this tale, which I quote “ad lib” since it was on on Fridays show anybody could get it word for word on the BBC I Player
She recalled that  she and her family  were from Newry and that her father had been a headmaster in the town during the height of the “Troubles”  Her two brothers gained entry to University and her parents were very worried that they would not be able to keep in touch withe the boys during these worrying times because  CATHOLICS IN NEWRY WERE NOT ALLOWED TELEPHONES.
She went on to explain that her Father contacted Dr Paisley asking him for his assistance in getting a phone installed. The Father explained that he was not a constituent of the rev and that “shock horror” he was a Roman Catholic. No problem says the rev and lo and behold a few days later the house was connected. Not only that a couple of days later the bold Ian calls Mr. Tobin to ask if everything was OK (something he could not have done the week before!)
Ipso Facto he liked Catholics.
 
Here is my gripe:  At no time during the slot or after during the phone in phase did anybody question the statement regarding the “no phones for taigs” policy.(They were probably lucky to get electric, gas and water).A policy no doubt perpetrated by Paisley and his ilk .

Makes you think.

 

And heres something else to think about. Whats the missing word-or words – here ?

 

EXCLUSIVE: I am not a ———-,

says Celtic’s Aleksandar Tonev

 

One more thing to think about. How about this from Amido balde at the weekend ? From the TalkinBaws site.

Balde goal.

Thats probably the goal of the season throughout Europe.

 

 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
9 years ago

I am not a Celtic 2015 calendar candidate,
says Celtic’s Aleksandar Tonev

Bhoris
9 years ago

“Good player”. The 10/15 mins in the 2nd half where we were under the cosh a wee bit our defence were shocking. From the midfield to the full backs it was headless chicken stuff. Needs sorting. Efes an accident waitin tae happen all the time. Think we should get rid?

holy sea
9 years ago

Ralph,
Totally agree with playing 2 up front,especially at home in domestic matches.Young McGregor missed too many chances.
McInnes moaning as usual.Funny how, he never mentioned the foul on Efe for their goal,or the push on Commons as he was about to head the ball in the net.
As for Salzburg,a draw will be a good result.As mentioned before,Soriano,soon to be 29,is their dangerman.A player Lenny wanted,but was refused,due to his age.
Lastly,Some say the devil is dead….he is now,the Bigot Paisley
will rot in Hell !!

elcormaco
9 years ago

Growing up as a “taig” in Norn Iron, Paisley was a bogeyman, eventually just a blowhard and in the end a Damascan covert to peace. A family member used to work at Stormont, where Paisley had an annex bar built as he didnt want to assemble in a place where alcohol was served. Said he was a very civil and polite man in private, but his public persona as I grew up had me shiteing myself and wondering what was so bad about being a Catholic. His role in perpetuating religious intolerance and societal seperation in my home land should never be forgotten, no matter what he did in his later years; there is blood on his hands imo through others carrying out actions driven on my his words.

Saw the game, there is a major problem with midfield- when we lose the ball there are vast spaces to go and attack, so our defence looks exposed and vulnerable, but mainly I believe beacause the midfiled balance is wrong and we can be got at quickly after a turnover. Brown did make a differnce, this is the same player many would have been happy to boot out after his red card against Barca last season, maybe a sign of the decline of our team that he is now our brightest light in midfield. Id think about giving Biton a run to sit in front of the back four and screen, Kayal, well he has been better of late, but he really isnt up to the standard

Sceopivic looked okay, no more, a left foot shot in the first half was shocking, Guidetti had a bit of flair, and a bit of timber, when he came on, but I would still look to Griffiths – former top scorer in Scotland, scored for us last season, is he worse than the players getting in ahead of him? I dont really give a hoot if he has a can of Irn bru, he looks a fit boy and scores goals -end of.

liatroimbhoy
9 years ago

Granted I grew up a few miles on the Southern side of the border in the 70’s and 80’s but the no phones for Catholics policy is news to me! My cousins on the Northern side all had phones in fact long before we had on the Leitrim side (1988 our first phone!).

I had a grand-uncle a Priest in Paisley’s constituency. Now this man was a Rabid Republican (hence why he was “banished” to a parish with fck all Catholics in it by that weasel Cathal B Daly) but he did always say that Paisley was incredibly proactive in terms of serving his catholic constituents and that he was a different man in private to the public firebrand. However, it cannot be denied that his theology of hatred inspired the murders of many innocent people and regardless of his “conversion” that is something he will have to answer for on high.

Wouldn’t judge the new guys just yet but none of them looked like Total Turkeys on Saturday at least. Any result in Salzburg will be great but I still expect it will be 3 or 4 games time before we can properly judge the new guys and indeed the new manager; Keep the Faith in the meantime!

Jocsoc
9 years ago

Why have the Green Brigade not been allocated a section of the ground? Is it something to do with the delay in being allowed a standing area, or is it something more sinister? But for the Aberdeen fans on Saturday it would have been as quiet as a church yard.Did Neil take the “Thunder” with him? If not, can someone find it and bring it back?

Nowthatsapropertool
9 years ago

The first 20 minutes or so was an improvement, basically due to Brown showing the required levels of commitment and attitude. It tailed-off drastically in the 2nd half to the point where I was expecting an Aberdeen equaliser.

McGregor, apart from his assist, was anonymous. Tonev ran about, but to no great effect. Scepovic showed some nice touches and movement but seemed too isolated to make it count. Denayer showed up well again. Hopefully, we can hold on to him for next season as well. Again, Gordon looked like our best player. That’s how well this new ‘system’ is working.

For me, it was another totally unconvincing ‘performance’.

Two up front is a must but I’d like Griffiths to be one of them. The thought of him being loaned out like the others (who merited it) is alarming. Griffiths is too useful to us to send him out. What happens WHEN Deila gets his jotters?

Stunning goal by Balde. Worth a look if you haven’t already.

Devoy45
9 years ago

Tonev: “I am not…a winger…but Forrest is!”

Paisley? Even Bernadette Devlin liked the guy…sort of. People are complicated.

There are players but not systems. Griffiths can score goals. So can Stokes. It’s simple really. Question: But what’s wrong with our defence? Answer: the midfield.
Gordon looks pretty solid though.
Fact: The team who scores the most goals wins, not the team with the lowest body mass index.
Deila, man, 4-4-2 and let the team play…and relax. Calm doon!

yestim
9 years ago

I am not a player to be judged after one outing. This could also go for Scepovic, I thought his movement was first class and if Mcgregor had got his head up, Scepovic would have had three chances in the first twenty minutes. This could also have went for Commons, who on a couple of occasions took pot shots from outside the box when others were in better positions. Still I thought they all looked a bit sharper .and Brown’s return looks to have given them a bit more dig in the middle of the park. also thought that Kayal made a decent contribution when he came on.

Buckie1967
9 years ago

Green brigade back on Sunday would have been back on Saturday but seats for game had been sold thought everyone new that.
Saw it online beginning of last week.

Doc
9 years ago

What about the 4-2-2-2 that France used in the 80s? Always liked the diamond but neither Commons or McGregor deserve to be dropped.

Should we change the players to fit the system or change the system to get the best from the players? The former is a long term goal with our lack of signings.

Aberdeen found it too easy just to play through us, chances a both ends. MOTM: Gordon, don’t like the guy but he made a few class saves.

Dom The Bomb
9 years ago

“Ronnie” must be a bad word in Ralph’s vocabulary. He doesn’t use it once in this article. “Deila” gets 6 mentions.

Checked the Etims archive before posting.

Interestingly the previous manager was routinely referred to by Ralph as “Neil Lennon”.

daviebhoy
9 years ago

Tonev ” I am no a Villa fan”
I was a wee bit happier with the performance against the sheep. There is gradual improvement each game and I am sure our new strikers will do the business.
HH

Follow us on Twitter @ETimsNet