{"id":5915,"date":"2014-10-29T23:04:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=5915"},"modified":"2014-10-29T23:04:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T23:04:10","slug":"john-guidetti-a-new-celtic-star-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=5915","title":{"rendered":"John Guidetti – A New Celtic Star Is Born"},"content":{"rendered":"

I noticed a distinct air of confidence in Ronny Deila\u2019s tone this week. He\u2019s always been a positive type but recently he\u2019s not quite looked himself. A lot of criticism has come his way with much of it non-constructive and quite vitriolic from ex-Celts like Chris Sutton. Deila is only human and there comes a point when no matter who you are self-doubt creeps in, particularly if criticism is shared so publicly and so often.<\/p>\n

Victory’s breed confidence and yesterday he had the look of a man who had a large weight lifted from his shoulders and an assertive glint in his eye.<\/p>\n

On the back of three very recent wins Celtic took to the field tonight looking to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup, a competition Deila has made clear he wants to win. We\u2019ve been particularly rubbish in this tournament in recent seasons with defeats against the likes of Morton, St Mirren and Kilmarnock denting what should have been a period with far more cup silverware.<\/p>\n

So how would it go? Six and easy!<\/p>\n

Thistle started brightly playing some pleasing on the eye football but not creating any opportunities. Celtic seemed to get by their usual sluggish opening fifteen minute period\u2026please sort this out! Great work for Mikael #Tache Lustig saw the masquerading Swedish pornstar cut inside and fire a beautiful left foot cross into the penalty area. It was inch perfect for Stokes but he headed wide when it looked far easier to score. A cross from the other side this time seen Lustig arriving at the far post and his goalbound header was blocked by Thistle keeper Fox. Celtic were now starting to play better and just on the half hour mark opened the scoring.<\/p>\n

As he made his way to the edge of the penalty box Guidetti\u2019s ankles were clipped. From the resultant free kick he curled a powerful effort over the wall and into the back of the net giving the keeper no chance. A great strike.<\/p>\n

Celtic were on top but then on the stroke of half time a stroke of madness from Stuart Bannigan was to end any chance Thistle had of getting back into the game. Guidetti collected the ball on the touchline near the Thistle bench and as he passed it Bannigan came lunging straight into the back of his legs with a horrendous challenge that could have caused serious injury to Guidetti. Thankfully he recovered after treatment but Brannigan\u2019s game was over as he gave referee Clancy the easiest decision of the season by showing the Thistle player the red card.<\/p>\n

Half time saw one change with Wakaso coming on for McGregor. This change saw Stokes move into a preferred central area behind Guidetti and Johansen moving to the right.<\/p>\n

The second half had barely begun when the formation changes were immediately rewarded. A flick over the top saw the now central Stokes glance the ball on and there was Izzy of all people to throw a right foot swinger of the ball and power it into the net. To say he was happy with his goal is an understatement!<\/p>\n

Five minutes later saw the third goal that was fit to win any game.<\/p>\n

A free kick was awarded to Celtic 25 yards out directly in front of goal. Guidetti had scored his two previous free kicks. He couldn\u2019t make it three out of three could he? You better believe it! He lined up fired an unstoppable curling effort high into the top corner of the net with a shot that two keepers would have struggled to save. It was a strike of extreme beauty and while not quite in the Nakamura v Man Utd mould it was of a level of the upmost quality from a gem of a player.<\/p>\n

The game was over but Celtic\u2019s desire for more goals wasn\u2019t and a handful of minutes later saw the Swedish striker secure his hat trick. Another rash challenge from a Thistle defender saw Guidetti stupidly fouled when there appeared no imminent danger. He grabbed the ball and fired a top class penalty into the corner of the net.<\/p>\n

\"celtic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Griffiths (on for Stokes) grabbed Celtic\u2019s fifth when a quality cross from Izzy saw the striker power a beautiful header into the corner of the net. A few minutes later and it was six when great pressing from Griffiths put keeper Fox under pressure and his clearance ricocheted off Griffiths foot and into the net.<\/p>\n

Five goals in an incredible 23 minute spell!<\/p>\n

In between the fifth and sixth goals manager Deila subbed Guidetti for Scepovic. Those in the stadium rose to a person and offered a standing ovation not seen for a Celtic player in many a day. He was that good.<\/p>\n

The game was long over and Celtic were safely through to the semi-finals were they will play Aberdeen, Dundee Utd or Scotland\u2019s newest club Sevco.<\/p>\n

The final act of the night was left to John Guidetti. He was subbed a good thirty minutes before the end but at the full time whistle alongside Izzy he made his way over to Section 111, an area traditionally where the Green Brigade could be found. He applauded the area for their continued support but rather than stop thirty yards away he continued walking towards them. He removed his heavy club jacket and then took his Celtic top off, walked towards the support and threw it to them.<\/p>\n

This traditionally is the act of a player about to depart a club but in Guidetti\u2019s case it\u2019s very much different. It\u2019s October and he\u2019s going nowhere. This was the act of a player WHO GETS IT. A man who fully understands the vital importance of player and supporter connection. While one lucky fan acquired John Guidetti\u2019s hat-trick Celtic top, tonight saw a new and very real hero emerge at Celtic Park.<\/p>\n

Step forward John Guidetti. A Celtic star is born.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I noticed a distinct air of confidence in Ronny Deila\u2019s tone this week. He\u2019s always been a positive type but recently he\u2019s not quite looked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Guidetti-points-to-fans-celebrating-Oct-2014-e1414623742377.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1xp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5918,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions\/5918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}