MATCH REPORT: CELTIC 2 ABERDEEN 0

PRE-MATCH COMMENT:
Good to be back at a full Celtic Park and congratulations to that set of fans in the corner of the North Stand and the Lisbon Lions who produced a great pre-match display.

BORUC 7 Everything he was asked to do he did so with great professionalism.

HINKEL 6 Improved as the day went on but his passing was woeful.

CALDWELL 7 He has been Celtic's most consistent player this season and put in another solid display.

LOOVENS 6 Did everything that was asked of him defensively but was another player whose passing was pretty poor.

CROSAS 5 Kept up his record of always being in a winning team but his performance was below his normal standard mainly due to his poor passing.

NAYLOR 6 Became more effective in the second half when he started to overlap.

NAKA 5 Perhaps his decision to leave Celtic at the season affected his game. His passing was so poor.

BROWN 6 Celtic's second most consistent player this season put in his usual shift of skill and endeavour but another player who requires more time on the passing aspect.

McGEADY 5 Showed some lovely skill but how infuriating when his final ball is so poor.

JVOH 7 MOM From the very first minute this was a revitalised player. He won a lot of ball in the air, did some great work in his own penalty area, set up McDonald's goal and scored the first.

McDONALD 6 He ran all over the pitch and took a lot of abuse from the Aberdeen defenders (nearly got himself a red card because of his justified frustration and not getting any protection from the ref.) Took his goal well.


Subs

HARTLEY 5 Was rightly brought on considering his potential involvement against rangers in the next game against Rangers.

MIZUNO 5

MALONEY 5 Can't understand why he was given only 3 mins after being out for so long.


Referee (McDonald) 3 One of the worst displays I've seen since the Rev McCurry cheated his way at Ibrox. He did not give a penalty for deliberate hand ball. He did not give one dubious decision Celtic's way but gave many in Aberdeen's favour. He was a joke!

GAME: 6 The half time cabal was split as to whether Celtic had played well in the first half (I was in the "No' camp)but there was a definite improvement in the second half.


COMMENTS: 1. The main object of the game was realised, i.e. 3 pts but I do feel that our quality of display this year has been the poorest since GS arrived. I see no improvement in passing, I see no improvement in the number of times we put pressure on the opposition goalkeepers, I see no improvement in out two most gifted players (Naka & McGeady), I see no improvement in our striking dept and I see no improvement in our central defensive partnership.


Goals 1 A corner, a bit of a scramble and JVOH pokes the ball home from 12yds.

2 A good move involving Hinkel finding McDonald who turns with the ball and feeds it to JVOH who in return plays the 'wall pass' back to McDonald who cooly slips it home.

MATCH REPORT: HEARTS 1 CELTIC 1

PRE-MATCH COMMENT:

Was not looking forward to this game with too much optimism and that didn't change when I saw that O'Dea & Naka were out but looking forward to seeing how Flood plays.  Would settle for a draw.

 

BORUC       6        Had very little to do and was beaten by a superb free kick but why, oh why does he always show so much of his left side of the goal to the opposition player?

 

HINKEL      6         He was up against Wallace and Driver and overall did well in curtailing their runs.

                          

 

McMANUS 5        Was correctly booked early on for one of his out of the box rash challenges and never really looked too sound but that may well be due to the ankle injury which prevented him from re-appearing for the second 45mins.

LOOVENS       6         Not a failure but one of those displays which make you wonder why GS paid 2.5m for him.

CALDWELL   6         Started the game in midfield (I don't think Celtic have won a SPL game when he started off in this position) and was o.k. but looked more comfortable back in his central position.

 

NAYLOR       6        Replaced the injured O'Dea and gave 100%. Was unlucky that none of his surging forays into the Hearts defence resulted in a goal.

 

FLOOD         4        Really disappointed that again he did not take the advantage to replicate his Dundee U form. Perhaps he's being affected by playing for the team he supports?

 

BROWN        5       One of his anonomyous games in which tried but had no real influence and what was happening around him. Lost out in the personal battle with Stewart.

McGEADY    6        Not his day, partly because he was tightly marked but also his inability to know when to release the decive pass.

 

JVOH           5          Even though he scored the all important goal I can't give him more than 5 simply because he very rarely showed the class that a Celtic forward should have.

 

McDONALD    5        The little guy tried hard but there were too many instances when his one touch control and passing was so poor.

 

 

Subs

CROSAS      6  MOM       Came on at half time as a result of McManus being injured. Brought a composure to the team immediately by his calmness and ability to be 'friends' with the ball.

 

MIZUNO        5       Had one chance to score the winner and although he struck the ball well he just did not put any bend on the shot.

 

NAKA          5      Brought about an improvement to the quality of Celtic's play but I wasn't upset as a result of GS's decision to rest him. Had a chance to score the winner on two occassions

 

 

Referee   (Thompson)       6         His big mistake was in not awarding Celtic a penalty when Stewart raised his arms to prevent the ball hitting his chest.

GAME:                        7         One of the best performances I've seen from a Hearts team particuarly in the first half.

 

 

COMMENTS:               1.  I think the decision by GS to omit Crosas was a key factor in the way the game panned out.

                                   2.. I can't remember a 45mins in which Celtic were so outplayed, outfought and outmuscled. The game ended up with Celtic only having 45% possession (the lowest fig for this year and probably the lowest since GS took over).

                                   3. A draw was a fair result and will be surprised if Rangers do any better when they visit Tynecastle.

 

 

 

Goals   1    A good ball into the box by Hinkel which was met by JVOH's leg and within 30 secs Celtic were one up.

 

             2   A doubtful free kick resulted in a wonderful strike by Aguilar which Naka could not have improved upon.

           

MATCH REPORT: CELTIC 4 FALKIRK 0

Was pleased that we were going with the same team and my only concern was the fact that Higdon was starting for Falkirk as he's a player who always gives our central pair a lot of problems in the air. Also interested how the four ex-Celts, plus the one who had hoped to be one, perform

 

Boruc       7        A very competent, assured, competent display.

 

Hinkel      5         His distribution was very poor, his confidence appeared low but he performed a brilliant piece of skill which led to McGeady scoring a great goal.

                          

 

McManus  7        Made one mistake but that apart he was rock solid.

 

Caldwell   7         Was up against Higdon and to start with he was founding it a handful but went on to have him in his back pocket. Made a typical trademark goal stopping tackle and then went up field to score the opening goal.

 

O'Dea       6        Another defender who started nervously but he settled down and scored a good goal.

 

Nakamura  6        His main contribution was in his superb deliveries but I doubt if there was another player who covered the amount of ground he did.

 

Brown        7         The only blot on a typical non stop performance was his booking. Almost certain to miss the Rangers game.

 

Crosas        7         Celtic have never lost a game when he has started a match and it is easy to see why. He makes himself available to take the pass, he very rarely misplaces his own pass and he brings an element of class to the whole team.

McGeady    8   MOM     Right from the start he was up for it. His pace, his attacking runs and of course his superb strike mad him the automatic choice. That's three goals in four games.....not bad.

 

Samaras    5          Only lasted about 15 mins before going off with an injury which rules him out of the Hearts game.

 

McDonald    5        He seems to have lost that wee burst of speed since returning form Australia and, although he did some good linking work, his first touch and passing were often atrocious. 

 

 

Subs

 

Mizuno        5       These little cameos will hold him in good stead for next season

 

Venegoor     5      It is amazing that for a Dutch international striker how little pace he has, how poor his first touch is and how lacking in the physical side of the game he is. He did give a lot of effort, he did win a lot of balls in the air and he was very unlucky not to score with a great header. His goal was slightly further out than his one on Sat!

 

McCourt          5        He's not fast but he is very comfortable on the ball and will look forward to seeing how he performs next year.

 

 

Referee   (Collum)       5         Let too many tackles go unpunished.

GAME:                        7         After a shaky first 10 mins, Celtic took control and turned in a very professional performance.

 

 

COMMENTS:               1.  The first time this season that Celtic field an unchanged side, unfortunately it will not be 3iar.

                                   2. You have to back to the Hibs/Hearts games to find two consecutive clean sheets in the league.

                                   3. After the half time score at St Mirren it was good to hear that our goal difference had improved to 4 and that our goals scored is 10 better. This might be the difference at the end of the season.

 

 

 

Goals   1    A delightful free kick by Naka which was flicked on by McDonald to allow Caldwell to smash it into the net.

 

             2   Goalkeeper fumbles a cross from Naka, it hits big Jan's knee and goes into the net.

           

             3   Brilliant work by Hinkel sets up McGeady who drives a superb 20yarder into the net.

   

             4   A made in defence goal with Caldwell and McManus involved in the build up. A great cross into the box by McManus finds O'Dea powering in to score.

I was unable to get to the game due to my insistence that we stayed in Mallorca to witness the 8th day of consecutive rain! Fortunately Michael (Hugh McIlvaney) K. helped out.

 

As I watched the players warming up I was impressed by the size of the Hamilton players and wondered if this would be a real physical battle.  As it turned out, they were sheep in wolves' clothing.

 

Boruc       7        Disturbed me when he fumbled an early pass back but then had nothing to do the rest of the afternoon apart from one fine save when the game was already won.

 

Hinkel      6         Had little defensive duties as Hamilton rarely attacked effectively down his side of the field.  Despite many forays forward he did not deliver any telling crosses, tending to cut

inside and be closed down but redeemed himself with a great burst to set up Venegoor's goal

                          

 

McManus  7        After his exertions with the national team he was lucky that he was up against a team with no great pace up front and he gave a sound, mistake free performance.

 

Caldwell   8  MOM  Strolled through the game not putting a foot wrong and positive going forward.  His demeanour on the park made him look more like a captain than McManus

 

O'Dea        7        Carried out his defensive duties effectively as he was up against the only player in the Hamilton side who offered any threat.  A beautiful through ball in the first minute almost led to an even earlier opening goal.  Has not the pace to be an attacking wing back so cleverly used quick forward passes instead.

 

Nakamura  5        Apart from a brilliant cross field pass to set up McGeady's goal  and a few good corners, he did not make any real impression on the game, losing out in tackles and giving

slipshod passes.  Rightly substituted.

 

Brown        7         Would have been 6 but considering his international duties and his involvement in the drinking fiasco he showed amazing levels of energy and dominated in midfield due to

Hamilton retreating to a back five giving hin total freedom to charge forward.

 

Crosis         8         I liked his performance in  the holding role.  Not as biting in the tackle as Hartley and Robson but always in the right position, able to find space and distribute accurately. Not pacy but reads the game well.

 

McGeady    8         A constant threat and scored a good goal which could have been more.  Tended to come inside at times and be crowded out but set up several chances when he went down

the outside.

 

Samaris     8          At last he added finishing to his games with 2 good goals.  Would have been man of the match if he had shown better control when in possession and in a position to either

score himself or set up an opportunity.

 

McDonald    5        Perhaps it was jet lag but little worked for him today.  Greedy on two occasions when he could have given Samaris a real goal scoring opportunity. Rightly subbed.

 

 

Subs

 

Mizuno        4        A lively little spell from him, showing lots of pace  and eagerness to get on the ball but without any direct threat on goal.

 

Venegoor     5      Still cumbersome and slow but used his height and muscle well against the defenders and, at last, got the monkey off his back when he used his strength and positional sense

 to be in the right position to finish off McCourt's cross.

 

McCourt           3        After watching him for 10 minutes I was disappointed  -  he ran with the ball but appeared to have no idea where he was going, never looked up  so was unaware of the

position of his team mates.    Seems reasonably quick.

 

 

Referee       6         Had an easy game since the it was played without animosity and there were few incidents.  Did not recall any important mistakes although one of his linesmen did make one

                               to give Hamilton a rare chance at goal.

 

 

A tension free game as Celtic scored early and controlled affairs from then on.  It could have been seven again but never mind, a satisfactory performance with no bookings and apparently no

injuries.   Hamilton disappointed, especially young McCarthy  who was largely anonymous.

 

 

 

Goals   1    Samaras beat the offside trap, controlled the ball well and slotted passed the keeper as he came charging out.

 

             2   Delighful switch of play by Nakamura sent McGeady free to run in on the goalkeeper from the left hand side and an accurate shot across the keeper found the right hand corner.

           

             3   Good close footwork from Samaris carried him into the box on the left side and from a tight angle he slotted it into the far corner.

   

             4   McCourt showed good pace and control to pass 2 defenders and although sheperded almost to the goal line, cut the ball acrooss goal to give Venegoor an easy finish.