Well it wasn’t the prettiest but thinking positively it was a\u00a0 2-0 win, eventually, that also gave a few of the fringe players a chance to shine (hmmm – Ed) as well as help big Jozo get more game time to increase his match fitness for the busy period ahead.<\/p>\n
Player ratings below..<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gordon – 5<\/strong><\/p>\n Not a lot to do considering the opposition and whilst he held a few crosses and plucked a loose header out of the air, poor Craig wont be banging on Brendans door demanding a league or CL start on this performance. The keepers distribution was slow, one piece of goal mouth action saw him come out\u00a0to claim(punch) a ball\u00a0with more stops and starts than a Dembele penalty and that Schumacher style attack\/tackle sadly\u00a0summed up the current nerves of the under pressure Keeper.<\/p>\n Tierney – 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet again, the youngster was the best, or at least 1 of the best Celtic players on the park. Up and down the pitch all night, from by-line to by-line and now even getting so bored with the rest of his team mates errors that he is shooting on sight where possible. One 30 yarder rattled the bar and before the seasons out, we\u00a0could see a Goal of the Season contender from our young star.<\/p>\n Jozo – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n In for Erik who was on the bench and kept it straightforward with a nice comfort on the ball. Passed well and he looks to be the player to go beside Toure for the immediate if not long term future and hopefully wont bugger off to Torino come the January sales. Subbed for Christie as Celtic pushed for the opener but will be happy with game time and this showing.<\/p>\n Toure – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Calm returned, smoking the proverbial cigar and the Celtic defensive panic from Sunday was gone. Not a lot to do overall but it was a welcome return to our rock at the back. Hopefully Kolo can help Erik and Jozo find some defensive karma over the rest of the season.<\/p>\n Lustig – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Back at right back after his Centre back trip up in Inverness but did have a spell as part of a 3 as Celtic chased the game as the second half wore on. Not one of his most adventurous games and the match commentator mentioned he looks like he could appreciate a rest. Sadly that applies to quite a few of the side.<\/p>\n Roberts – 5<\/strong><\/p>\n The post injury form struggle continues and Roberts is starting to show signs of mental fatigue as he continues to try too hard. Had a few nice touches but he has to try and relax and take the ball for a gallus walk more to regain that cheeky confidence and composure. It will come, but at the moment it currently looks like he is putting himself under\u00a0heavy pressure. Rightly subbed for Sinclair at half time.<\/p>\n Broony – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n So many roles last night: Centre mid, Centre half, chief Note-reader ( what does Brendan write on those things..”Remember and get milk”?). Busy shift\u00a0 when our captain probably hoped for a lighter run out but finally got his team over the line. You can bet he wont be happy at the Alloa player leaving him looking silly with a\u00a0cheeky turn in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n Armstrong – 5<\/strong><\/p>\n First start since August and wont be getting another based on this performance. Kept himself busy enough but again looked like a player who felt the pressure to impress Rodgers and sadly lacked the composure in key areas when it mattered. Tried multiple times to curl the ball into the top corner but never came off.<\/p>\n Rogic – 5<\/strong><\/p>\n After recent fine form, it looks like all the efforts and recent travel to play for Australia are finally taking their toll on our Tom. His decision making was all wrong and his shots were high wide and certainly not handsome. Booked after playing\u00a0Dead Mans Fall when Jim Goodwin stepped on his boot whilst Rogic tried to dance through the 9 man Alloa wall.<\/p>\n Forrest – 7<\/strong><\/p>\n The best Celtic forward on the park by quite a distance. Not a perfect performance by any means with a few stray passes and blind alley runs but Forrest never stopped all night and ultimately got his reward with a great run and shot into the opposite corner to finally allow Celts to breathe world-wide. A great goal and a great way to celebrate reaching the 200 game mark Jamesie Bhoy \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Dembele – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n As the game closed out,\u00a0 this was going to be a “The boy looks like he needs a rest” and a rant about Brendan not having a 3rd striker option. How quickly things change. After a night of the ball being caught under his feet and our main forward going nowhere bar into a wall of\u00a0Alloa players, Dembele\u00a0 picked up the ball with his back to goal, did a sublime turn to lose 1 defender, advanced forward, beat another defender with a drop of the shoulder\u00a0and then lashed the ball high into the corner of the net for a brilliant goal.\u00a0Boom!\u00a0 The boy is back!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Subs<\/em><\/p>\n Sinclair – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Came on for 2nd half and thankfully made a real impression. With such a busy run of games, no doubt the Boss and the Player were hoping for a rest but Sinclairs trickery, speed and intelligence were needed after the first half saw no returns. Super Scotty soon stretched the Alloa backline and eventually helped wear them down.<\/p>\n Christie – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Made a great contribution and brought added intelligence to the attack ideas against a stout Alloa side. Some lovely dribbling and great passing would have impressed everyone watching and the boy must be a contender for more game time soon.<\/p>\n Erik\u00a0 – 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Came on for Rogic to help close out the game after Celtic finally broke the resolve of Alloa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Manager – 6<\/strong><\/p>\n The Celtic Manager will be happy with the eventual win but will be shaking his head reading the stats:<\/p>\n Home Team : \u00a0<\/span>Celtic<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Away Team :\u00a0 <\/span>Alloa<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Brendan wont be happy at that Number of attempts vs Shots on target (a poor\u00a032% return) and also wont be comfortable at the current lack of form or signs of fatigue with certain players.<\/p>\n Went for an attacking formation against Alloa and in playing 2 wingers hoped to stretch the game but it never really happened in the first half bar a few chances and errant shots.<\/p>\n Rodgers then made the correct substitutions with Sinclair and Christie. The manager also changed formation ( Was that really Scott brown at Centre half – Ed?)\u00a0to push on with the attacks and ultimately his side got their rewards and moved on to the semi finals.<\/p>\n Brendan has lots to think about though –<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well it wasn’t the prettiest but thinking positively it was a\u00a0 2-0 win, eventually, that also gave a few of the fringe players a chance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9940,"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\/2016\/09\/jamesie.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2A7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9927"}],"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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9927"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9951,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9927\/revisions\/9951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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