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Post by carntyne on Sept 12, 2010 8:33:37 GMT
It was nice to get back to league business after the break for Scotland's international matches, and what better fixture than Celtic v Hearts to resume the chase for SPL points.
Meetings with the Tyncastle side both home and away have traditionally been difficult games but on this occasion only one team looked as if they would win.
There was a minute's to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Jock Stein, and the fans got to their feet as one man in fitting tribute to the greatest manager this country has seen, or is ever likely to.
The inclusion of latest signing Anthony Stokes meant a new striking parnership with Darryl Murphy joining Stokes in the firing line.
CELTIC
Forster
Cha Loovens Majstorovic Izaguirre
Forrest Brown Ledley Maloney
Stokes Murphy
For the first twenty minutes or so, Celtic looked comfortable enough without really threatening the Hearts goal and for their part the visitors seemed happy to feel their way into the game, although they did have one or two half chances.
The game burst into life in the 28th minute.
Celtic got a real scare when a strongly hit shot from Suso sizzled past goalkeeper Forster's outstretched fingertips and smacked against the outside of his right hand post.
From the rebound Maloney collected the ball and sent a neat pass through to Murphy who was ten yards inside the Hearts half.
Murphy didn't hesitate. He ran straight for the Hearts goal and once inside the box looked as if he would try to score himself, but instead chose to slide the ball across the goalmouth.
The ball struck flailing defender Darren Barr and was deflected into the path of the inrushing James Forrest and ended up in the net.
1-0!
Cue predictable referee rage from Jim Jeffries who was banished to the stand by match official Collum!
More on that later.
In the 44th minute a lovely pass from Stokes put Maloney in a one on one with the goalkeeper and the diminutive striker duly rounded the stranded keeper and tapped the ball into an empty net.
2-0!
There was no further scoring until the last minute of the game, but by that point Celtic should have been another three goals ahead.
Maloney managed to dither and stutter on the ball from only three yards out and allowed the desperate Hearts defenders to somehow clear.
Samaras, after a lovely run from just over the half way line had the ball in the net, but the effort was ruled offside.
The same player was through one on one with the keeper another two or three times but somehow managed to avoid scoring.
In the last minute Paddy McCourt, who'd come on as a substitute in the 75th minute, collected the ball on the left and didn't just beat three Hearts players, he ghosted past them like a phantom, and then cheekily dinked the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.
3-0!...and game over!
It just wouldn't be Jim Jeffries if he didn't have a moan and whinge about Celtic after a game, and sure enough the torn faced Hearts manager didn't disappoint.
"The first goal in a game is the most important, and Celtic's first was offside" he claimed.
"Ah'm gonnae report the referee...ken whit ah meen?"
Aye, we get the drift Jim!
On the way home I tuned in to Radio scotland and Gym Trainers surprisingly told us that after watching a re-run of Celtic's first goal that Murphy was actually onside, so Jeffries had no cause for complaint!
Frank, the guy sitting next to me summed up Jeffries perfectly.
He said..."If his team is beaten 5-0 by Celtic he'll go through every goal and have an excuse as to why each and every one shouldn't have been allowed."
"If his team is beaten 1-0 with a last minute penalty by Rangers he'll say...'Rangers wur awsome the day...ken whit ah meen?'"
Yes Jim, we understand only too well!
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Post by masterson on Sept 12, 2010 8:41:38 GMT
good wee read C, thank you, my own view is that we were head and shoulders above hearts in every department, special praise i thought goes to big murphy, i thought he was outstanding in his ball retention and won almost every header that came his way, also thought the bhoy at left back was superb, oh! and also paddy was ...just paddy..if messi had scored that goal it would be in every sports programme in europe.
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Post by patmac on Sept 12, 2010 8:42:42 GMT
good job mate
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Post by Sassenach on Sept 12, 2010 8:47:27 GMT
Iguerra (sp?) was superb, a great defender, great passer and moved forward with pace and skill. And Big Maj is starting to dominate
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Post by torquaybobby on Sept 12, 2010 8:48:58 GMT
Good stuff there Carntyne,
Jim Duffy summed up Jim Jeffries like this......"he would still be moaning if he had free tickets to the Playboy mansion !".....nice one....
He really hates the Celtic with a passion does JJ !
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Post by dan3 on Sept 12, 2010 8:55:29 GMT
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Post by carntyne on Sept 12, 2010 9:24:11 GMT
Great wee read C ,well done on your efforts,just one point, JJ moaning for no good reason? surely you have that wrong Definitely!
You're right!
He is not moaning for no good reason.
He has a very good reason.
He's a Hun of the first order!
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 12:34:29 GMT
Excellent read, good to see a match report which doesn't try to play us down and the opposition up. The simple fact is that we were the best team on the park, by a long way and we could and should have scored more. The goals will come though. Feck, there's a complaint we are averaging over 2 goals a game and I'm saying the goals will come.
Perhaps the most satisfying thing was another clean sheet, that's 4 in a row now, quite a change from the leaky defence we read about so often last year. Special mentions to Izzy, for another excellent performance, Kayal, for coming on and taking control of the midfield and the big keeper who looked assured and dominated his area.
As to Paddy's goal, what do you say to something like that. It's a kind of magic!
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Post by carntyne on Sept 12, 2010 14:09:26 GMT
Excellent read, good to see a match report which doesn't try to play us down and the opposition up. The simple fact is that we were the best team on the park, by a long way and we could and should have scored more. The goals will come though. Feck, there's a complaint we are averaging over 2 goals a game and I'm saying the goals will come. Perhaps the most satisfying thing was another clean sheet, that's 4 in a row now, quite a change from the leaky defence we read about so often last year. Special mentions to Izzy, for another excellent performance, Kayal, for coming on and taking control of the midfield and the big keeper who looked assured and dominated his area. As to Paddy's goal, what do you say to something like that. It's a kind of magic! I like your avatar Liam. Have you been on your holidays?
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 14:15:30 GMT
I've just noticed what it says beneath my avatar as well.
Thanks for that Sean.
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Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 12, 2010 16:17:09 GMT
Good read Carntyne, we should have scored a lot more goals, when brown was replaced we upped a gear again and looked like scoring in every attack.
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Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 12, 2010 16:17:39 GMT
I've just noticed what it says beneath my avatar as well. Thanks for that Sean. Sorted
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 16:28:41 GMT
Good read Carntyne, we should have scored a lot more goals, when brown was replaced we upped a gear again and looked like scoring in every attack. I'm starting to think that Scott may be having a bit of a rest in the near future. Ledley, Juarez, Kayal, Forrest, Maloney will all be fighting for 4 places in the middle. With Stokes, Hooper and Murphy competing for 2 up front. Some decent competition for starting places there and that's not mentioning Paddy or Sammy.
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Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 12, 2010 16:39:03 GMT
Its getting obvious that Lenny is getting sick of his antics and takes him off before he gets himself either sent off or booked, thats 2 games in a row thats happened, a Celtic captain should never be substituted and should lead by example.
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 16:44:46 GMT
Its getting obvious that Lenny is getting sick of his antics and takes him off before he gets himself either sent off or booked, thats 2 games in a row thats happened, a Celtic captain should never be substituted and should lead by example. I totally agree. I think it's the first sign that someone is going to lose the captaincy, when they start getting substituted because of form and not injury.
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Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 12, 2010 16:50:20 GMT
About yesterdays attendance,the papers said 49023.There was not 12000 empty seats yesterday, i thought the attendance was a lot higher than that,P.S.that was the smallest Hearts support i've seen in years at Celtic park.
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 17:04:52 GMT
Great to hear that people are coming back CC. Top of the league, scoring goals, clean sheets and a genius in the team. That kind of sounds like ... Celtic.
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 18:05:00 GMT
According to Football365 these are the statistics to date. If we keep going the way we are they will hopefully keep rising.
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Post by Hollowgreen on Sept 12, 2010 18:38:31 GMT
It was another super performance by the team, that is four clean sheets in a row, and Forster looks like the dominant goalkeeper we have craved for years.
I wouldn't read too much in Lenny substituting Brown as I felt he was giving him a break after his midweek international exertions, and giving Biram Kayal some game time. We will need Brown's all action style and limitless energy for tough matches, including the four Old Firm games.
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 18:43:03 GMT
I don't understand your logic there. If the team consistently performs better without him, and we know that he can have issues with his temperament, why would we need him against the filth.
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Post by carntyne on Sept 12, 2010 20:41:26 GMT
Good read Carntyne, we should have scored a lot more goals, when brown was replaced we upped a gear again and looked like scoring in every attack. I think that's right.
I didn't mention Brown in the report because it seems every time I mention his name it's in a negative way.
I wish he was contributing better for the team, but he just isn't and you're right that we looked better when he went off.
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Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 12, 2010 21:01:03 GMT
Good read Carntyne, we should have scored a lot more goals, when brown was replaced we upped a gear again and looked like scoring in every attack. I think that's right.
I didn't mention Brown in the report because it seems every time I mention his name it's in a negative way.
I wish he was contributing better for the team, but he just isn't and you're right that we looked better when he went off.He made a couple of slack passes in the 2nd half but he fought hard to win the ball back again, Samaras also played well when he came on, he looked dangerous and had more chances than Stokes had.
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Post by candyball on Sept 12, 2010 21:21:37 GMT
I think that's right.
I didn't mention Brown in the report because it seems every time I mention his name it's in a negative way.
I wish he was contributing better for the team, but he just isn't and you're right that we looked better when he went off.He made a couple of slack passes in the 2nd half but he fought hard to win the ball back again, Samaras also played well when he came on, he looked dangerous and had more chances than Stokes had. To be fair to Stokes he was playing out wide,while Samaras played through the middle when he came on.
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Post by gerry on Sept 12, 2010 21:59:59 GMT
The great thing is we are arguing about the minutiae after having beaten the mini huns 3-0 and going top of the SPL, with 4 wins and 4 clean sheets.
The way it should be.
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Post by barney on Sept 12, 2010 22:38:01 GMT
Great report on the game. I also believe Brown was taken off after a tough stint in midweek.
Most of us on here see the fight for places as a bonus and hats off to Lenny for making this happen. I just hope we keep the concentration and also dont become complacent. The way refs are in SPl, we need to be beating teams comfortably making thier "honest mistakes" insignificant.
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Post by mccaffery on Sept 13, 2010 10:28:29 GMT
I believe as well that Brown was taken off because of midweek. Great team effort,they are playing for one another, Great report, rather read that as it was what I saw at paradise. The media always see something else
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