Celtic Diary Thursday July 30: Heard It Was A Good Game

A difficult and sometimes tense night saw Celtic fans on edge after the club decided to cut it’s nose off and hurl it at it’s face by blocking television coverage of the game against Qarabag.

Still, it was nice to re-acquaint myself with Radio Scotland, and even nicer to find that no matter what’s happening on the pitch, it’s always a classic on the radio.

Celtic took the decision not to sell the rights to the game to Azerbaijani TV station shortly before the game, presumably to make sure of a big crowd, which prevented those who follow streams from watching a link to Azeri TV, the station subsequently posting a statement;

Let’s hope Qarabag, who hold the rights to the second leg, do not recipricate.

Although Hullbhoy, on twitter,  has given us a glimpse of how Celtic TV would cover the game in that instance..

That’s fair enough from Celtic, a big crowd was needed, but we can’t all make it to Glasgow, it has to be acknowledged that weekend crowds consist of a fair proportion from England , Ireland and Wales. and so to offer only a delayed transmission on Celtic TV, thus upsetting the subscribers who pay £20 a month, is unforgivable.

Especially those overseas.

The reality, a word used by Peter Lawwell when describing the inclusion of no Old firm games in the Premier League as a “contract termination event “, is that people will use illegal streams. It costs less.

In the same way people will buy their replica kits from high street stores because they will save a tenner, but there are countless others who show their loyalty to the club by purchasing through the club stores, either on line or in person.

Those are the ones the club should reward, and not risk alienating.

Something which they did last night.

Celtic missed an opportunity to increase the subscribers list, or even to offer the game as a one off, and as such scored a massive own goal. The way forward is to accept that there are those who will hook onto the streams, but a massive push on quality and brand loyalty will move them into a minority. why take the risk of a dodgy stream when for a small payment you cab get guaranteed coverage ?

That’s how the movie industry fought the pirate dvd war.

Listening to the game, it’s hard to work out what’s happening, as the commentators have moved over to commenting on events rather than merely describing them. It’s not like the old days when you could get a decent idea of who is doing what and where, more time is spent on opinions, and as a hundred people could watch a game and have a hundred and one different opinions, it’s difficult to guage how it went.

but Celtic won 1-0, with a late goal from Dedryck Boyata , who has finally earned the right to have his name spelt correctly in the diary. Watching a clip of the goal, it’s remarkable that what seemed like a pernickity Austrian referee allowed it, as a Celt clearly impedes the keeper as the ball comes over.

The Celt in question ?

Leigh Griffiths, noising up the keeper in the way that Nadir Ciftci hadn’t, thus creating a little extra room for Boyata… He may not have scored, but that was an assist in my book.

Looking at the match stats, something which can give an indication, maybe tells the story;

Celtic                                Qarabağ
1        Goals                        0
 
 
55% Ball Possession     45%
 
 
85     Attacks                     46
 
 
52     Dangerous Attacks 25
 
 
0        Shots Blocked         1
 
 
4       Shots Off Target      5
 
 
4       Shots On Target      1
 
 
2      Corner Kicks             4
 
 
11     Free Kicks               16
 
 
6       Goal Kicks              13
 
 
2      Offsides                    1
 
 
25    Throw ins                25
 
 
14     Fouls Committed   10
 
 
3       Yellow Cards           1
 
 
3      Substitutions             3


Celtic didn’t create enough from 52 “dangerous” attacks, perhaps because  the two wingers were also given the task of stopping the full backs from venturing forward. At one point, well into the second half, Qarabag were leading on corners by four to one, which shows that Celtic lacked penetration and were a little vunerable to the break out. Mind you, it was the only other corner in the game that counted.

But it’s results that matter, and what is worth noting is that when Celtic went one up, there wasn’t a cavalier charge to make it two. The manager obviously happy to settle for the win. Which is almost unheard of in Celtic’s European history.

If you don’t count some of Martin O’Neills games. And he did okay in Europe.

Afterwards, Ronny Deila explained the reason he picked the misfiring Nadir Ciftci ahead of in form Leigh Griffiths, which turned out to be that Griffiths had been up all night with toothache, and his regular dentist, an American fellow, was unavailable as he was at home crying into his new rug.

“It wasn’t a hard decision because Leigh had struggled the whole night before with a tooth problem.

“He was at the dentist in the morning and hadn’t slept so the decision was easier. Nadir played very well while Leigh came on and was involved in getting the goal.

“But you can see he wasn’t at it like he normally is because he hadn’t had enough sleep.”

 Apparently , this dentist fellow had got himself into a bit of trouble, and may even face prison, having killed a popular lion, and soon it could be his turn to listen to people telling him to “open wide”.

So, Ciftci joined his fellow ex Dundee United team mates up front, and the thought crossed my mind that more than a few of us would have been a little underwhelmed if this time last year someone had told us not to worry, because next year we’ll launch our champions league campaign with the then Tannadice front line.

However, at this stage, it’s all about results, and a 1-0 win is not a bad start against a side who sounded organised, physical and not short on ability.

There are positives to take from the result, after all, Qarabag need to score two without reply at least, and that’s not going to be easy, considering that Virgil van Dijk and Dedryck Boyata played very well last ight, as did Nir Biton , when it came to snuffing out their attacking threat.

They only managed one shot on target, as they packed the defence, and as they will have to come out, it may allow a little more space for the pacey front men.

Kris Commons made a telling return to the side, taking the corner that lead to the goal, and perhaps his experience and guile may be utilised in Baku. The thing is , Ronny has options, and proved with his apparently bizarre substitutions that he isn’t afraid to gamble.

It paid off last night. Here’s hoping it does next week.

After the game, the manager was realistic about the chances of progression;

we will need a very strong team performance to get through and we will have to get to the level of our Inter Milan games.

“The tie is definitely not won yet but I believe in my team and we have put ourselves in a good position.

“European football is so tight but if we score they have to score three.

“Are we favourites? It’s hard to say, anything can happen in football.

“We have speed in the team to help us counter-attack and hard-working players in midfield.”

But there was praise for the players, especially the centre halves;

 “The central defenders were class in this game and Boyata has settled in. He also scores goals!

“It was an even game, although we had some more chances than them.

“We had three or four chances, we got one goal and the result reflected the game.

“I’m very happy we didn’t concede anything because we met a very good team who were very hard to play against. 

“We knew it was going to be tough and the most important thing was to get 100 per cent effort .

“We got that, everyone worked really hard.

“Defensively, we were solid. Offensively, they were hard to break down.

“In the first half the ball went too slow and we didn’t create enough two-against-one situations on the side and get enough crosses in.

“In the second half we got better. We had possession and pressure.”  

He sounds less than confident, but certainly optimistic.

Goalscorer Boyata had the same cautious optimism, once he finally stopped celebrating his goal;

We scored a goal and so we go there with the advantage but we still know there are 90 minutes to be played and we know it will be really hard.

‘Before the game, we knew they were a really good team on the ball. They held it a bit, sitting in and then looking for opportunities. But they have to score over there.

‘For us, it’s about choosing the right tactic and coming up with the right result

Another indication of the team spirit ? “We ” scored….?

‘We have the quality to win the game over there.

‘You never know what can happen in the next 90 minutes but we can come back with a good result.’ 

The day had started with the excellent news that Craig Gordon, perhaps seen as a gamble this time last year, has signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2018.

Deila was predictably delighted, as were the support. In the past we’ve had keepers who would have dropped the fucking pen.

“This is brilliant news and we’re all delighted that Craig has extended his contract at the club.

“He was my first signing as Celtic manager. He has been an important member of the squad and he’s made a great contribution to our success.”

And so was Gordon, the new deal capping a remarkable first season in the Hoops. Well, technically he doesn’t wear hoops, but I still fancy a job in the MSM, so i like to put in occasional lapses of veracity.

“I am absolutely delighted to extend my contract with Celtic, such a fantastic football club. I have enjoyed my first year immensely at Celtic.

“It has been great to enjoy success already and I’m looking forward to giving everything to bring more good times to our supporters who have given me such a tremendous welcome to the Club.”

Long term thinking ? Well, thats Gordon, Boyata, Janko, Brown, Johansen, Mackay Steven, Armstrong and Ciftci all tied in for a while.

Biton next ?  

For those of you with a little spare time on your hands, and perhaps an urge to put something back into your community, there’s always this;

Glasgow City Police are looking for part time special constable, known colloquially as “Consts ” -i think i heard someone say, and helpfully tweeted this pic , which shows where the new Peelers will spend most fo their time on duty.

Well, I suppose whatever floats your goat.

I genuinely once got turned down for the police, apparently my , er , past, would make me an unreliable witness. Despite passing all the entrance exams.

Fancy that, a policeman being an unreliable witness in court.

Anyway, there’s been a bit of a social media outcry about that bloke who killed that wild animal for fun, so if you see him, kick him in the conkers.

Yesterday we asked for your comments on Murdo MacLoeds terible pass to johann Cruyff, today, a little more difficult.

Anyone know anything about this game ?

By the way, these programmes, recently featured in the Diary, are tweeted by Celtic Programmes. Give him a follow. There’s some cracking memories in there.