MATCH REPORT:  CELTIC  0  DUNDEE U 0 (Celtic win 11 - 10 on pens)

PRE-MATCH COMMENT: Wandering to Hampden I wondered: a) Would I be visiting the stadium again this year?

b) Would GS play Robson due to the condition of the pitch?

c) Would McDonald break his duck at Hampden?

BORUC ….……....6  Was steady throughout but the highlight was without doubt his penalty, it just proved what a talented, crazy guy he is.

HINKEL..... ……..6  Was up against the dangerous Conway and did o.k. but his weakness in the physical aspect of the game was highlighted on occasions.

CALDWELL......... 6 He did not have the composure that he has been showing for most of the season. His passing was more of the long punt variety ....maybe the pitch was too blame.

LOOVENS…. … ..5  Again failed to take the opportunity to show that he should be a serious contender for one of the central positions. His first 45mins performance was awful but I have to say that the longer the game went on so his performance improved.His lack of awareness in terms of marking is the biggest worry.

NAYLOR...….……6  A Jekyll and Hyde performance. He played some great passes and even scored one of the pens but he also slipped at crucial times, made a mess of some crosses.

CROSAS........... 7  MOM  I'm really going to enjoy this young player. he was one of the few who did not allow the pitch to affect his control and he sprayed some lovely passes around. Also the fact that he lasted the full 125 mins will have done his fitness level nothing but good.

BROWN…..…......6    He was up against a five man midfield and did not exert his normal influence.

McGEADY.... …….5  The pitch  1  McGeady  0

NAKA.................7 Even the pitch couldn't prevent Naka from showing off all his skills. His touch and vision were top class.

JVOH................5  The pitch should have suited him but he did very little.

McDONALD....... 6  Another one who the pitch had too big an impact on his ball control but he did score the two penalties and never stopped trying.

SUBS:

ROBSON ............ 6  Although played mainly on the wing in place of McGeady his strength and determination made a big difference.

SAMARAS............7 Replaced JVOH and immediately made a big difference with his control and clever running.

REF…………...... () 7  At the game I would not have marked him higher than 4 but after watching the game on t.v. I think he did little wrong.

THE GAME ……7 It was well worth the 24 pounds. O.K there were no goals but there were a lot of close things and what about the penalty shoot out?

GOALS ………. 

COMMENTS ….. 1. In over 50 yrs of watching Celtic I have never seen 21 penalties being taken and never of such high quality. I got it right in that I had said Wilkie and Loovens would miss but I also thought Naylor and Brown would fail to hit the target, Sammi would just side foot the ball to the goalie and hadn't a clue as to what the Holy Goalie would do!

                             2. It should be an interesting Final.

                                    

MATCH REPORT:  CELTIC  3  HIBS  1

PRE-MATCH COMMENT: The day started off  well with Andy Murray producing the best tennis that I have seen from a British player, then 'Walter' lost his courage and dropped Scotland's top scorer which resulted in only taking 1 point from Pittodrie. Surely Celtic will take advantage and stretch their lead to 4 pts?

BORUC ….……....5  So pleased to see him back and he wasn't troubled much throughout the game but still managed to fail to cut out the cross which led to Hibs goal.

HINKEL..... ……..6  In the second half we saw the best of Hinkel as he attacked down the wing but there is something  lacking from his overall contribution..

CALDWELL......... 6 Steady enough but not the dominant player he was earlier this season.

McMANUS…. … ..5 Guilty of poor marking at the Hibs goal and it is definitely time for him to be rested. If the story is true about Newcastle prepared to pay 4m for him I would take the opportunity to let him go. He is 100% Celtic and he put in some great tackles, his goal scoring record is high for a centre back but his lack of ability on the ground and failure to dominate in the air are his weakness.

NAYLOR...….……6  Glad to see him rather than Robson and in the first half he was impressive with his surging runs and link up play with McGeady but in the second half his inability to make a decisive final pass came back to remind us as to why he will never be the answer to Celtic's left back problem.

CROSAS........... 6 There were times when you forgot he was playing but then you noticed his calm approach in taking the ball and making simple but effective passes. He's a young guy but I do think he will be a big asset if he is given a run in the team.

BROWN…..…......8  MOM  It was a game in which he made very few poor passes and he maintained his performance for the full 90 mins. His contribution at the 3rd goal was of top European quality.

McGEADY.... …….8 In the first 45 mins he was unplayable! His skill level was back at his top level. He produced one bit of magic on the bye-line that had the crowd on its feet. In the second half when he was plying his trade on the GS part of the pitch his contribution dropped slightly and if only he would look up more his final pass would reach a teammate more than it just being an aimless ball. 

NAKA.................6 He was involved in all three goals and his use of dead balls was back to the high level of previous seasons. Surprised that GS doesn't sub him more than he does considering his forthcoming  international trip

JVOH................6  Should have scored a couple of goals but you can see the difference he makes when leading the line.

McDONALD....... 7  Scored two typical poacher type goals and continues his improvement in overall play.

SUBS:

LOOVENS ............ 5  Came on for the injured McManus but didn't do anything of note that would make you feel that he should replace the Captain.

SAMARAS............4 

REF…………...... (Colum) 7  He might have given a penalty and he might have decided that Bamba actions deserved two yellow cards but overall did well.

THE GAME ……8 Games against Hibs are usually worth the money and today was no different. Hibs started off with three forwards and Celtic played more of the ball on the ground.

GOALS ………. 1.Naka takes a corner, JVOH brings a good save from the keeper and McDonald pokes the rebound home.

                         2. Naka sends over another corner which causes a stramash in the penalty box and eventually our Captain scores.

                         3. A free kick fro over 30yds in not defended well and Boruc decides to come and then hesitates, result?...a goal.

                        4.  A lovely chip pass by Naka is met be the 'Gerard' type run of Brown who, with a lot still to do, beats the Hibs player on the bye line before setting up McDonald. A great move.

COMMENTS ….. 1. The first 20 mins were a joy to watch with football being played the Celtic way and Crosas was making the difference. A Dundee type hiatus threatened after Hibs score but Celtic ran out comfortable winners.

                             2. Now only 6 goals behind Rangers.

                                    3. Celtic have now conceded 25 goals in this SPL campaign, just one fewer than they conceded in all of last season's championship. Something has to be done to rectify this situation.

MATCH REPORT:      ABERDEEN  4   CELTIC  2  

PRE-MATCH COMMENT: The day started off so well. Found a lovely little church in Calahonda and then just up the road an Irish pub showing the game. The first cloud appeared when I learnt that Boruc had picked up an injury during the warm up and was to be replaced by Brown (I always associate him with the ICT game!). The second cloud was when the stat was read out that Aberdeen were going for six wins in a row (a feat last achieved when they beat Celtic several years ago to achieve the same feat.)

BROWN ….……....5  A top class goalie may have prevented the second and fourth goals but is the lack of a commanding presence that is the main reason that he will never be good enough for Celtic.

HINKEL..... ……..4  We only saw glimpses of the attacking player in the second half and it was down his flank that the first two goals came. In the first half he rarely, if ever, released Naka to attack from the wing, it was all hopeful deep crosses.

CALDWELL......... 4 One of his poorest games and he was the main architect behind the punt up field.

McMANUS…. … ..3 Couldn't win a ball in the air and couldn't pass a ball on the ground.

ROBSON...…. ……5  At the sake of repeating myself but his only real value to Celtic is in the hard tackling midfield role. It's not his fault that he was in at left back and he did produce a great bit of skill to set up the second goal.

HARTLEY......... 5 Had an anonymous game apart from putting a good chance over the bar.

BROWN…..…......7  Scored a goal as a result of his aggressive running but again he faded out of the game. He'll have to learn to pace himself.

McGEADY.... …….5 Produced only one spell of real magic to set up the first goal.

NAKA.................4 He didn't even manage one piece of magic.

SAMARAS..........4  Was very surprised that he started the game, he hasn't been in form for weeks.

McDONALD....... 7 MOM  Worked hard for the team and scored the goal I felt sure was going to lead us to victory.

SUBS:

JVOH............4 

REF…………...... (McDonald) 7  He might have sent off an Aberdeen player for a bad tackle but overall was sound..

THE GAME ……5 Exciting in terms of goals but in reality it mainly consisted of two teams firing in high balls all day.

GOALS ………. 1.A good cross from the left was cleverly lobbed over Brown. 

                         2. An immediate reply by Celtic which came about by some wonderful footwork by McGeady allowing him room to cut back the ball for Brown to score

                         3. A poor piece of defending by Robson and Samaras allowed the ball to be sent across our defence allowing Duff the opportunity.

                        4.  A great piece of work by Robson saw him deliver a great ball to McDonald which he headed into the net.

                        5.  Another foolishly conceded foul allowed Mulgrew to send over a cross which was not dealt with by the Celtic defence.

                        6.  Another foolishly conceded foul allowed a similar free kick from the other side to be bungled in.

                                 

COMMENTS ….. 1.  G.S. must take a lot of the blame for this performance. It was obvious that the team was playing to orders by their long ball tactics. Why was Crosas not brought on? Calderwood on the other hand got it spot on by recognising the blatant weakness in a lack of commanding presence in the center of our defence when asked to deal with high balls.

                             2. The time has come to rest McManus and play Loovens or O'Dea.

                                    3. I hope that our reserve goalkeeper (Mizun) gets to play at left back soon.

-- 
MARTIN

MATCH REPORT:      CELTIC  2  DUNDEE  1

PRE-MATCH COMMENT: McGeady in from the start and Rab Douglas back at C.P. ................pity about the atrocious weather.

BORUC ….……....3  The "Ho;y Goalie" is in danger of making himself into more of laughing stock rather than one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. His first bloomer was just awful but when he nearly threw the ball into the net with only a few minutes to go I dreaded to think what Keevins would say. Something is wrong in the guys head and I hope he redeems himself soon..

CADDIS...... …….6  Thought he put in a better performance than the average Wilson one and I do like his natural willingness to attack. Deserves a run.

LOOVENS......... 6 Was steady throughout.

McMANUS…. … ..6 Had little to deal with.

NAYLOR...…. ……5  Gets an extra point for his superb pass which allowed McGeady to break away and score but that apart he was his usual hopeless self.

CROSAS......... 5 The conditions didn't suit his game but even allowing for that I was disappointed with his overall passing.

BROWN…..…......7 MOM  Was his usual dynamo for the first 70 mins and scored a very good goal but his tiring coincided with a scrappy last 10 mins by Celtic.

McGEADY.... ……..6 Scores a peach of a goal and had some other good runs but overall still not back to last years form.

NAKA.................5 It wasn't a day for the skills of Naka and was very surprised he was allowed to stay for the full 90 mins.

JVOH.................5  The game will help get him back to full match fitness and it wasn't as though he made many mistakes it was more that he had no real impact.

McDONALD....... 5 Did a lot of good work outside the box but he should have had a couple and made another couple. When he came any way near goal he was never going to pass .....it was his goal or no-one else's! 

SUBS:

ROBSON............4 Proved again that he is just a squad player.

SAMARAS ............... 4 Too cold and wet for Sammi.

REF…………...... () 5  Not impressed.

THE GAME ……5 Difficult to judge because of the atrocious conditions but Celtic were always in control as long as the ball did not go near Artur!

GOALS ………. 1.Can't even begin to describe Dundee's goal.....unbelievable! 

                         2. A very smart piece of inter passing allowed Brown to drive into the penalty box and score after picking up a McDonald miss.

                         3. A brilliant pass by Naylor freed McGeady down the left flank and when he cut inside you knew he was going for goal and a nice little curler it was too.

From the Sydney Times "our strikers

"Celtic's Socceroo Scott McDonald has been rated the 11th-best striker in the world, according to the International Football Federation of History and Statistics. McDonald's 25 goals for Celtic last season pitched him above marquee names such as Fernando Torres, Luca Toni, andMartin Palermo. Still, McDonald can expect no love from strike partnerGeorgios Samaras. The worst-kept secret in Scottish football, The Times reports, is the Celtic pair can't stand each other and refuse to celebrate each other's goals."

                                 

COMMENTS ….. 1.  The 20k+ who turned up deserve a medal and a free Bovril for the rest of the season.

                   2. The Dundee support was big in numbers and loud in voice.

MATCH REPORT:      CELTIC  2  DUNDEE U  2

PRE-MATCH COMMENT: Sorry for the delay in posting but I'm having problems with my eyes and what is normally a 20 min job has turned out to be a 2 hour one!

BORUC ….……....6   Had little chance to stop either goal.

WILSON...... …….5  Was subbed at half time

CALDWELL......... 7 (M.O.N) Suffered in the general second half decline but was still much more impressive than his partner.

McMANUS…. … ..5 A rash tackle (his second of the match) gave away the free kick that led to the goal and he did not cover himself in glory for the second one either.

NAYLOR...…. ……4  Thought for the first 45 mins this was a new man but the second 45 just proved what we all know......he's not Celtic class.

HARTLEY......... 5 Was another who started off well but lost their way in the second half and his poor pass led to the free kick.

BROWN…..…......6 Had a magnificent first 60 mins then virtually vanished from the scene. Oh, if only he could pass and shoot well.

ROBSON.... ……..3 I've mentioned before that playing him out on the wing is a waste of time and so it proved again today. Amazed G.S did not sub him.

NAKA..........6 Showed some lovely touches but none of the decisive passing which we require from him.

SAMARAS..........5  The greatest enigma in the Celtic squad! His running off the ball is top class, his control of the ball is sometimes amazing but he would benefit from a heart transplant. In the second half he frustrated his team mates and the crowd with his capability of making the wrong pass most of the time. To score the two goals and only get 5 is indicative of his performance.

McDONALD....... 5 Tried hard and linked well but did not have a shot on goal.

SUBS:

CADDIS............5  Failed to make the impression he is capable of.

MIZUNO ............... 5 A difficult time to come on but never the less should have had a greater impact.

JVOH .................. 5 No real impact.

REF…………...... (Conroy) 5  Another ref who failed to give Naka the proper protection.

THE GAME ……7 For the first 45 mins it was a Celtic display that delighted the supporters, i.e hard tackling, quick passing, surging runs, etc, but the only team in the 2nd half who played this type of football was Dundee Utd.

GOALS ………. 1.Great tenacity by Brown and a good pass which allowed Samaras to score. 2. Good free kick by Naka found an unmarked Samaras into the net. 3. A brilliant free kick left Borac with no chance. 4. A hopeful ball into the penalty area was not dealt with which allowed the Rangers supporter to equalise.

                                 

COMMENTS ….. 1.  It's hard to believe that such a Jekyll and Hyde performance would have been possible after the previous sterling defensive play against Rangers

                   2. The tide always turns and G.S will be well aware of it after his decision not to include McGeady in the squad. He would have been the perfect sub for the ineffective Robson.