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Hapoel vs Celtic : Player Ratings

Carlsberg Magners don’t do 2-0 gubbings…

Phew, talk about taking us all the way and back again…but all’s well that ends eventually.

How did the ratings fair…lets see:


 

Gordon – 5

In truth this ranged from 11/10 for the penalty save to 2/10 for soft hands at 1st and 2nd goal. I wasn’t too impressed at his “Don’t blame me, blame Janko” appeal to the Press either to be honest. Some good saves in the game though including that penalty but at the end of the day, the worries about the keeper continue including his ability to give the ball back to opposition as quickly as possible with silly straight boots up the park. If the new man from Notts Forest can get up to speed quickly, Craig could be on the bench tout suite.

Janko – 2

Abysmal. Only excuse I could make was the set up from manager had 3 at the back and Janko as right wing back so he might have got confused exactly where he should have been. Its a lame excuse I know. The tackiling, when in existence, was poor, late and weak and caused the penalty. The 2nd goal was embarrassing but Janko was covering an attacker and the resulting goal would have been avoided by the keeper using peripheral vision and just forcibly shouldering the right back-wing back out the way ensuring the ball was safe and secure at all times. Tried to get forward and did play a great ball which was wasted by Sinclair but its over for Saidy. We know, he knows and Brendan knows it.

Lustig – 5

Playing at centre half ( O’Connell who? – Ed), with Janko at right back…God only knows why Brendan thought that was the best use of those resources but worth noting both goals were from Celtic errors yes but not Central defence errors.. Had a header and shot at goal which went high and made one good tackle of note to stop an attack. I prefer his quality at right back myself.

Toure – 6

Once again, showed us you cant buy class, you can get it on a free transfer! Calm and assured and always trying to instil same in colleagues on a truly hectic night. Nothing particular to note bar some very good guidance and breaking up attacks when needed with a foot in here or header there.

Tierney – 5

Not one of the best nights but another lesson learnt, hopefully its where to be at corners.Restricted when it came to any surging runs given the constant attack from Israeli side and stuck in where he could but will need more composure nearer his own goal along with rest of the side.

Sinclair – 4

Another game where more flattery than activity really. Some nice dribbling here and there, which was good on a poor pitch, but end result was poor. Missed another chance at goal from a cross ball similar to first game so needs to work on his cross ball finishing. Will hopefully bounce back against Aberdeen.

Biton – 4

Rank rotten in the middle of the pitch alongside his captain. Never in command of the game and only piece of real action was getting cramp and helping to waste a few seconds.

Brown – 4

I could say Headless Chicken but that would paint the picture of a guy actually running around chasing shadows. Broony didn’t so much run as stagger from a fleeing red strip to red strip. Was it the heat? Was he fatigued from recent displays..who knows but this was a shadow of recent Scott Brown performances. Nice selfie with the fans though.

MacGregor – 4

Gets a bit of abuse and not always justified, especially when just as bad\good as colleagues round about him who people readily protect. This time the midfielder was as bad as his colleagues and the whole Celtic midfield were abject. Brendan now has plenty to ponder looking ahead.

Forrest – 4

Tried to get into the game but it just passed him by. Subbed and to be fair you could have made a case for at least 6 subs up to the 60 minute mark ( and folk in the Glencairn Club did, vehemently!). Maybe due a slight rest at weekend with Patrick Roberts  nearing full fitness.

Griffiths – 5

Not in the game but gets a point above midfield as the game was never actually in his  key area’s unlike the midfield. Subbed for Dembele who showed the difference a real physical presence can make especially with back to goal.


 

Subs

Dembele – 6

Could have wrapped the game up with a lovely run and curl shot that edged wide of the post when we all thought he had scored. Won the punts up the park and readily got involved. Played well and don’t be surprised to see  him to start over Griffiths away from home in the CL.

Rogic – 3

Did he touch it? Honestly, did he? Another I expect to bounce back on weekend against the Dons.

Erik the Viking – 5

Straight on and battered right into somebody. Which is exactly what we needed. Did well and hopefully can kick on and take up a place next to Toure in the centre.


Manager

Rodgers  – 4

A right big cry of “WTF Brendan?”. Playing Lustig at centre half was weird if Erik was fit enough for the bench. After the game he went all Football Manageresque talking about how he was using  3-5-1-1 then 5-diamond-1 formations with a floating player but in reality, his team were all over the place, least until the 75th minute. Did the manager over or under think this? Was his team caught between “Go for goal” and “Cover up”?  It certainly seemed like they hadn’t prepared for “Just get ready for a charge!” that’s for sure.

2 self inflicted goals including one from a set piece. Work needing done and once again questions regards John Kennedy’s role as Defence Coach were uttered, at least in my vicinity in the club last night. Decisions, decisions for Brendan….Can’t we get big Johann and Jamie Carragher in on a consultancy basis to help our lads develop.

In the end we are through but this was a Deila level Celtic and not what we have come to expect from Rodgers. We need to get comfortable on the ball and we need to play lightweight attackers when suits and play hard men when suits. Lets see the Board give him the cash to make it happen.


Fans

12/10

Utter brilliant, from the  amount raised and worldwide coverage of MatchTheFineForPalestine to Paul the Tim’s joyous tweets and Broony’s Selfie from inside the stadium, Bravo to one and all.

There is talk of a Stand Up at 15 minutes in salute to The Green Brgade at the Aberdeen game, lets hope it happens for it is richly deserved.


 

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7 years ago

Bang on a terrible display,but we got the result

7 years ago

Brendan almost had me completely won over and then came last night. Tactics were all wrong. Playing Janko was a mistake. He should have had Erik on from the start and Lustig at right back. And this was obvious before kick off. Janko is not a football player. How he has managed to get this far is a mystery. He is nowhere near the footballer that Efe Ambrose is and has the same level of focus and concentration. I cannot remember a Celtic player so bad at controlling a football. And James Forrest! People were slagging off those who had no faith in him a week ago saying he was back. He was as bad as Janko. It looked as if he had to be constantly reminded by the bench that he had to track back and try and win the ball back. But he has a new contract and that might be him for two and a half years. brendan got it totally wrong but better a lucky general than a good one. Saying that they were out on their feet by 75 minuyte. I was expecting an onslaught in the last ten but they didn’t have it in them. Delighted but lets hope that we never see another performance like this from Rodgers Celtic.

andybhoy
7 years ago
Reply to  john

James Forrest did more running and pressing throughout the 45 minutes than anyonre else on the park. You seem to see only what you want to see.

john young
7 years ago
Reply to  andybhoy

andybhoy James forest is physically incapable of dominating at this level as is McGregor who was invisble did you look at the opposition they were built for the job,athletic/strong/fast/technically good,we are a way short of that.

Dziekanowskis nightclub child
7 years ago

Bang on except Lustig, legs have gone so best at CB for me (still better than Janko) but if Erik was fit then he should maybe have started.

Vinnie
7 years ago

Great post. Marks out of 20 were about right. 🙂
Covers some terriffic points like John Kennedy as defensive coach and standing up for the GB. They really deserve some accolade and it sure wont come from our boardroom.
Well done, Desi.
HH

mike
7 years ago

Canny argue with any/much of that.
The penalty was never a penaly and the refereeing 1-10.after the good Slovenian refs great performance at Cellic Park,the Dutchman and his officialls were dreadfull last night.
From the sublime to the ridiculous last night,why who knows but its been this way for years.

mike
7 years ago
Reply to  Desi Mond

Thats cos we never turned up,with the exception of 2/3 players, the rest were embarrasing,this is not a new phenonomen,its been going on for years,well for a while,a lack of confidence perhaps or that the competition now in the SPFL drags us down.
It must be recognised that at least the Manager is picking the players and not the bean counters.It must be a difficult balance between the income we raise compared to bigger,ritcher leagues.

iain in alberta
7 years ago

Janko out of position for the tackle that resulted in the penalty and the second goal. He has a lot to learn and hopefully he does, I would have gone with a Lustig, Toure, O’Connell and KT backline or played Erik instead of young EO. The inrtro of Erik gave us the solidity we needed. I would give BR a 6 as he did change things up as the game went on. Yes we were lucky or Be’er Sheva were unlucky, one or the other. I would also give Gordon a 7 as he saved that penalty! I would give Rogic a 5 like the other mids as he was trying to hold the ball up a few times and create something. The worst game we have had since RD.

Wild Willie Cool
7 years ago

Not one of the best nights but another lesson learnt, hopefully its where to be at corners.Restricted when it came to any surging runs given the constant attack from Israeli side and stuck in where he could but will need more composure nearer his own goal along with rest of the side.

Why don’t you visit the UEFA statistics page before you give out ratings. Tierney e.g. was 54% on passes completed the lowest on the team except for Gordon. This means he gave the ball away every other time he attempted a pass.

charlie
7 years ago
Reply to  Desi Mond

he he

Monti
7 years ago

Every player apart from Sinclair and Toure was shite, but i’m going to give them all 10/10 because tbey fucking got us through and that was the objective after all!

When we consider the travelling, the heat and any other excuse i can think of…..the bhoys done it!

Tal!

ewanbhoy
7 years ago

the same happened last night as what happened against Astana too, our midfield totally lost control of the game, couldnt keep or pass the ball and were the real cause for our poor play. Janko was awful and despite the penalty save, Gordon was at fault for both the goals we lost.
2 new signings required, defensive midfielder and a right back.

Brendan did get it wrong last night but i think i can forgive him for that as we still qualified for the CL.

im a very happy bhoy though today HH

Mike Annis
7 years ago

Hearing that a few players were carrying a stomach bug, seems to happen to teams playing in Israel, on top of that, kicked all over the field on Sat, long flight to different time zones, hostile country of fascists, so understandable bit hope they deal with it and move on.

rebus67
7 years ago

Most of the salient points on the game have already been made. So, no point in sawing sawdust but here is my twopence worth.

Perhaps, it is all about expectations, but after the critique during the game, I was expecting a lot worse than I saw on the park. Firstly, Beer Sheva are a very good team. Just because they are not in the so called European elite does not mean they are poor. Much of our club’s legend is based on long distant performances so we should keep our expectations in check.

I think the 5-2 result and the fact that we won the three goal lead twice conditioned both Brendan and the fans to think that we could score at will. His initial formation suggested that. In reality, we had three realistic efforts on goal(two first half and one in the second). Both FBs were cruelly exposed by the initial formation. There was acres of space between Sinclair/Tierney and Forrest/Janko. HBS exploited that all night until we brought Eric on and changed to 5 at the back. By the time that we did that HBS were largely spent. They ran all night and have the ability to place the ball into space for a teammate to run onto. Our passes tend to be to feet or body. we need to modify this. We also need to up our retention statistics when we gain a throw in. They are poor.

For the first three quarters of the game, HBS showed us what we are missing. The answer is an Ogu type player. He controlled the middle of the park without breaking sweat. He broke up attacks and either short passed sideways to a teammate, or pinged the ball out to the wide areas. Ogu is a journeyman and not expensive but he has something that we really need. With someone like him we are unlikely to give the ball back to the opposition so quickly. He may not be the one but we sure as heck need this expertise. I do not know if any HBS player that we signed could play for us in the group stage..anyone know? However, putting my detective hat on, I did see Brendan talking to Ogu after the game!

I thought Kolo was immense both in his own performance and in marshalling the defence when we were rocked.

The penalty was not a penalty and the foul was committed outside the box, but the player dived into the box to emphasise the foul.

LG needs to learn to stay onside in games like this. He is experienced enough to know this.

It was Brown’s fault on the first goal. He hardly jumped. I do not blame Gordon for that one. ON the second, Yes, the keeper should have been more assertive in that area, but Janko was clumsy. It looked as if the ball struck his arm after he popped it out of Gordon’s arms. We could say it was a freak, but there is previous with goals being given away in this area.

Both teams gave their all.

Every manager will make mistakes. The thing about BR is that he can see it and make adjustments. It is not the fact that a manger makes a mistake that is important, it is what he does about it that really matters.

Rejoice in the outcome. Certainly, it was deserved over the two legs.

Rebus

john young
7 years ago
Reply to  rebus67

well put rebus and right on the button,we haven,t a cat in hells chance of doing well if we have players like Forest/McGregor/Biton and to a lesser extent Broonie/Rogic,ok for the SPL but when you come up against an athletic/strong/fast team like hapoel you are well exposed.

rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  john young

Agreed both played better in the first game. IN fact, everybody did!
I have a hunch that Bitton’s time at Celtic is coming to an end. Just a hunch.

Rebus

rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  rebus67

Fred,

I think his first formation was wrong because there was so much space between the wingmen and the FB that they were supposed to be protecting. The midfield three were too few. HBS swung the ball over to a player who got between the wingman and the FB usually one of their FBs. Given they out numbered our midfield, it resulted in their player having two options to pass the ball to, or to allow one-twos to bypass our FB. I think this contributed to Janko’s confidence lapses.

I do not see that the above was a result of stage fright, but, hey, I can be wrong.

I see Ogu is 28 and Nigerian and valued at 1.2 million GBP. He is not a current international so it would be difficult to get a work permit for him. Anyway, there are strong rumours of McCarthy coming. I have not seen much of him and what I have, he has not impressed me. However, he is one of those players that you only notice his contribution when he is not there!

Are you old enough and wise enough to remember the “Ghost”, John White of Spurs and Scotland? People used to say why is White in the Scotland team? When he was prematurely killed by lightning, we notice the effect he had on the Scotland team. This is when Scotland had a team.

Rebus

rebus67
7 years ago

Long post gone missing. Hopefully, it will appear. Away for a coffee.

Rebus

rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Desi Mond

Desi,

May be it got it correct!

Rebus

Cartvale88
7 years ago

Wearisome in Europe, the team needs a quality midfielder that can control the play, at times chasing shadows, no one to take the ball and hold it. Gordon cannot kick the ball out, he sclaffes it. Overall Toure, Sinclair and Forrest good, the rest imitated headless chickens, never mind we are through.
Now is the time for Brendan to strengthen, also you can allow his errors!

jrw
7 years ago

I agree with much of this – some other factors came into play: the burden of expectation and fear of yet another CL failure; the heat and humidity when you are not aclimitised; the travel time and time differences – it’s worse going from west to east; playing against a good team motivated and really up for it. If roles had been reversed we would all have expected a full Celtic Park to have worked in our favour and given the players that extra yard and energy. But we got through in the end – and that’s what matters. If the shortcomings are remedied, then all that emotional anguish last night won’t have been in vain!

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  jrw

Jrw,

Yes, the conditions played a part. Probably we could add the heavy schedule that Celtic have had recently. We have a few first teamers who probably will be affected by 2 games a week. Brown, Toure, Lustig come to mind.

I wonder what effect last nights game will have on the Aberdeen game.?

It is amazing how random the computer draw is for the seasonal schedule. “Rangers” get bottom six teams initially and we get top six teams initially. Well,mis that not the definition of randomness…..each possible outcome has an equal chance of turning up!

This stuff, plus the inconsistent reffing, plus the unequal treatment of fines owed by individual clubs makes me dispair for Scottish football. Makes me consider quiting it altogether!

But where else can I have a good moan!

Rebus

jrw
7 years ago
Reply to  Rebus67

Rebus

That’s no doubt one of the purposes this site – to let off steam to a largely sympathetic audience!

iain in alberta
7 years ago

Rebus67 I agree with much you said about the game and I thought Ogu was the best player on the field last night. I think young Ralston should be given a chance on Saturday. Not sure if Lustig can handle 90mins twice a week so start lustig and bring in Ralston for last 30mins. Keep Toure fresh for CL games and rest him at w/ends. The league will even itself out and we will be top soon.

Rebus67
7 years ago

Ian,

Agreed. Ralston looks a robust player. I wonder if BR is reluctant to have two very young FB. Although Janko is also young.

Are you really in Alberta? I used to do work for Athabasca University teaching on their EMBA and their DBA.

You have even more of a time gap to deal with!

Rebus

paul moody
7 years ago

Took me while to workout that the ratings weren’t minus before the number, ha ha!

Atlantabhoy
7 years ago

Surprised no-one mentioned the Hun blue goalie strip…WTF

Being petty? Probably, but we shouldn’t have any blue strips, the cheap looking black and pink ones are bad enough

HH

iain in alberta
7 years ago

Rebus, Yup in Alberta a place in the deep south called Lethbridge. Atha U is a Comp based uni? So you don’t have to be in Alberta for that then. Usually watch the games on CTV a bit latter than the live games due to work or not getting up at 4am!! So glad for BR and this young team we have.

rebus67
7 years ago

I know Lethbridge. They have a uni there. A former colleague used to be the dean of the business school there. Athabasca is an online university mainly. The business school is based in Edmonton.

Cheers,

Rebus

corktim
7 years ago

Through but a lot of questions raised,Janko not good enough,and our midfield is very lighteight,as said previously mcgregor is not up to standard,need right back and midfielder if we are serious about group stages

Admin
7 years ago

I blame the black shirts. No one will ever score above 6 while wearing a black shirt.

Tim Buffy
7 years ago

Talking of big, robust players. Doesn’t Calum Patterson fit that bill?

Una
7 years ago

Atlanta Bhoy is spot on about the blue keepers top I was thinking about that to, and came to the conclusion, the kit designer is a cream bun

Macca
7 years ago

Lots of noise about Paterson. Wigan bid of 700K rejected by Hearts. 21 year old ready replacement for Janko? 900K would seal it. Would love to see McCarthy sign but cant see us affording the wages.

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