Just to begin with the vibe of this post would be very different if Celtic hadn’t pulled this out of the fire via a fantastic Leigh Griffiths headed finish in the dying embers.
This was, to be honest, more of the same from what we’ve seen by and large this season from the Hoops.
Despite having scored 27 goals in an unbeaten 10 game run which featured nine wins Rosenborg did what every team seem to do now when they play Celtic – with the notable exception of the elite – by sitting in and letting us play in front of them.
Brendan Rodgers commented afterwards that the Norwegians surprised Celtic by sitting in and playing a diamond formation which they hadn’t attempted before in any previous games they had studied.
That may be so but Celtic are nothing if not predictable at the moment. As was the case in last Friday’s game against St.Mirren – and just about every other game bar a few this calendar year – we continuously pass back with an instinct to constantly recycle the ball showing little to no width outside of Tierney on the left-hand side and trying to ominously play through a packed middle where both Rogic and McGregor appear to contradict each other with their similar playing styles.
In fairness, Rosenborg gave nothing past the halfway line. They were blatantly here for the point and would have had the team coach parked in front of the goals with all of the players on board if it was allowed.
The last time they came to Parkhead they went a goal up and were the better team for 20 mins before we went through the gears and proceeded to rip them apart for the rest of the game-winning 3-1 when it should have been far more. So you argue they had learned their lesson but still, considering how dynamic they are in their domestic league their total lack of ambition here was pretty disappointing. Thye it almost worked. Almost.
Celtic created chances with Rogic gliding through the middle in the first half and setting up Edouard who fired over the bar and not long after the visitor’s goalkeeper made a wonderful double save from both the Australian and the Frenchman.
In the second half, Mikey Johnston spurned a great chance as he fired over the bar shortly after coming on a sub. Scott Sinclair, who’d also come on a sub, also went inches wide. But it just didn’t seem to be our night until another sub, Griffiths, popped up in the 88th minute to head the ball intelligently down off the turf and past stranded keeper André Hansen after a diagonal high ball to the edge of the box from Brown had been won superbly by the towering Boyata which placed it into the danger area and Leigh nipped in like only he can.
LG stoops to conquer.
It had been a frustrating night for the home crowd as an air of expectation – understandable considering we battered Rosenborg here only two short months ago on a balmy summers evening – turned to frustration as much fuelled by the lethargic and monotonous passing game as opposed to the lack of finishing.
Indeed many had departed the scene or were in the process of doing so when Leigh scored leading to streams pouring back into celebrate. You’d think with Celtic’s history of late goals folk would have learned their lesson but alas.
Anyway, it was a vital three points if we are to maintain any serious ambitions to qualify. Especially considering our next two games are away against both of the Red Bull clubs because let’s be honest expectations will be pretty minimal for both of those trips, Salzburg in particular.
Tierney was the star of the show. I used to think the comparisons with Danny McGrain were somewhat unrealistic but he really does look an increasingly impressive talent.
Edouard needs to pull his socks up. The guy cost us over £9 million – confirmed by the new financial results for any of the doubters – and one goal in six and looking generally ineffective just isn’t good enough.
One major plus is new singing Benkovic. He easily looks a far more composed, dominant and complete defender compared to Jack Hendry, Šimunović and young Ajer. Admittedly there wasn’t much coming at him but there were no bomb scare moments.
Anyway, five clean sheets in a row. That’s good. We just need goals and to stop passing the ball to death endlessly as part of a cunning plan to bore our opposition to sleep.
I don’t know about you but I’m struggling to contain my excitement about tonight’s game with Norwegian Champions Rosenborg.
It’s always nice to experience something a little different on the European front.
And could anything be more different and exotic than Rosenborg…..from Trondheim……..who we’ve already played four times over the past 13 months?
We could have been running out in the Amsterdam Arena last night as part of the Champions League instead but this is much better.
Though sarcasm aside I am actually pretty happy that we’re in the Europa League this year. Yes, there is a cash benefit to the Champions League group stages that dwarfs anything on offer in the Europa League but outside of that we are literally bringing a blunt knife to a gunfight every year and I take no satisfaction is seeing us slaughtered by near cricket scorelines by the likes of PSG and Barcelona.
Rosenborg themselves are actually going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment.
They have gone 11 games unbeaten since losing to us 3-1 at Celtic Park back on July 25th at Celtic Park.
Six of these have been in the league and five in Europe including one against us – the 0-0 game on their patch – with the other four in Europea league qualifying. It’s also included nine wins from the eleven games with five wins and a draw domestically and four out four in the qualifiers.
They swatted aside Irish Champions Cork City 5-0 on aggregate and then dispatched Macedonian title holders Shkëndija 5-1 over the two legs. So pretty plain sailing there.
In the league, they are currently top of the pile with a two-point advantage over Brann after playing 22 games thus far. If they do retain their domestic crown this year it will be their fourth on the spin. Safe to say they are back to being the all-conquering domestic powerhouse of Norwegian football after a relatively lean patch from 2005 to 2014 where they only won three titles. Previous to that they had claimed 13 in a row.
They are coached by, on an interim basis, for now, Dutchman Rini Coolen. He took over on the eve of our last home game against them after his predecessor Kåre Ingebrigtsen, to whom he’d been an assistant, was pretty surprisingly sacked. Ingebrigtsen had led the Rosenborg revival since his appointment in 2014 winning the aforementioned trio of back to back league titles and capturing seven domestic trophies in total. Though in fairness Rosneborg’s pretty imperious form since then would indicate it has been the right call, albeit harsh.
Interim boss Rini.
None of Rosenborg’s strikers’ are particularly prolific – indeed none of them are anywhere near the top goalscorers charts in the league so far – but there’s no doubt their star man is Danish internationalist and former Arsenal marksman Nicklas Bendtner. He has 109 career club goals with 30 of them coming in 72 games for his current employers. He was particularly profligate last year with 23 in 43 appearances, however, this season he’s only hit the net 9 times in 23 games. Three of those strikes have come in Europe.
Talk of Bendtner though in regards to tonight’s game could be academic as the word is he’s likely to miss the game through injury.
It should be a tough game what with the run they are on but considering we ran over the top of them the last time they came to Celtic Park with a 3-1 win that was going on 6-1 and now have more games and sharpness in our legs there really is no excuses. As he did in the last home encounter against them French Eddy really must shine and begin to justify his huge club record transfer fee which was just confirmed in the clubs latest accounts.
More of this tonight, please.
We’ve not been particularly great this season and indeed since we spanked Rosenborg have had a pretty patchy record from 11 games with only five wins, four draws and two defeats across all competitions. There’s no point in analysing our from though. We’re all acutely aware of it.
A win tonight is vital if we are to retain any genuine hopes of advancement to the last 32. For a start, it’s at home and secondly, it’s against opposition we know we can beat.
Last word on Rosenborg their last match was in the last this past Sunday. They won 3-2 away at Vålerenga who are coached by the one and only Ronny Deila.
In the past few months over in America, I noticed that chat show darling Ellen De Generis has rolled out George W Bush like he’s some old cuddly darling grandad of American politics.
This is, of course, an attempt to use the political elite to have a go at Donald Trump’s presidency. Like we need George W to tell us how much of a shit show that all is.
In amongst all the fawning over the ‘good ol’ president’ everyone conveniently forgets of course that Mr Bush and his UK cronies took us all into an illegal war in Iraq which cost the death of hundreds of thousands and created the legacy of Isis and complete destabilisation in the middle east. And all based on a huge lie as confirmed in the Chilcoat report which has also been conveniently forgotten about.
It’s funny how easily and selectively people forget.
In the past few days, it appears George Peat has emerged from his crypt.
Good old George eh?
He was president of the SFA during that glorious period for Scottish football between 2007-2011 just in case you forgot.
Right before he did his latest interview with BBC’s Sportsound which was broadcast via their podcast on Monday I swear I could hear the Adams Family theme playing in the background as we once again got a glimpse of Scottish football’s very own Uncle Fester.
As the interview unfolded George wheezed out all the old dust that had accumulated in his lungs over the past seven years and then wiped off some of the cobwebs from his SFA / bowling club blazer to give us his earth-shattering insights into the state of Scottish football.
George being ‘ironic’.
To sum up the highlights………he negotiated a big SFA TV contract with Sky before he left his role the money from which has not been used satisfactorily – if at all, the current SFA are incompetent, he threw Gordon Smith – his appointment as SFA chief executive – under the bus and then claimed a prominent Scottish club chairman had contacted him requesting the SFA didn’t help Rangers as the 2007/08 season reached its climax.
That last one in particular really stuck in his throat apparently.
George wouldn’t identify the chairman directly of course. Instead, he relied on winks, nudges and general innuendo.
But then Goegoe once said that he was the “kind of guy if someone asks me a question, I will give them an answer”.
That is until the question is: “So who is the chairman you are making these rather serious allegations against?”
In this instance, the reply is: “I’m not saying but you can guess.”
Yeah, the thing is that isn’t an answer George. But then George always was a coward.
Originally an accountant by profession he spent 22 years on the board of Airdrieonians FC. They, of course, were liquidated due to financial mismanagement.
“Then the club went out of business. And the ultimate irony is that far from being held responsible for a club going to the wall, Peat pulled another club’s blazer on at Stenhousemuir, kept his privileges with the SFA and went on to become the top man in the game.” – ex-Airdrie defender Chris Honor, Daily Record, 12/06/2011.
George doesn’t talk much about his time at Airdrie. I wonder why.
Many years back I remember writing an article for the Celtic Underground. It related to George’s handling of Neil Lennon’s six-match ban which had just been handed down at the time.
Here’ an insert:
“Perhaps Celtic should devote more time to their own responsibilities and discipline than questioning others.” George Peat.
Are you being serious George? What like how you dragged your heals over Hugh Dallas’s sacking, relegated Dougie McDonald to 4thofficial status for a few weeks after he’d admitted to doctoring post-match reports and how no investigation was conducted into the circumstances surrounding the resignation of assistant referee Steven Craven amid claims that the head of referee’s (the aforementioned Hugh Dallas) bullied and intimated Scottish referee’s and asked him to lie in his post-match report in regards to the previously mentioned incident involving McDonald? – Celtic Underground, 13/01/2011.
Apparently, the events above didn’t stick in George’s throat too much.
But a chairman having the temerity to request that he was “not to help Rangers in any way” did.
The thing is George that you were the president of the SFA. You could have moved the cup final – which would have seen Rangers’s opponents in said cup final Queen of the South go without a competitive game for four weeks in the lead up to it by the way but I guess that’s life eh? – but being that you had no involvement with the SPL at the time you couldn’t have done anything to reschedule their league games. Nothing at all in fact.
The SPL, under the leadership of Lex Gold did, in fact, extend the league season by four days, with the final games played on Thursday 22 May, instead of the previous Sunday.
So to sum up George has decided to conjure up a ten-year-old issue for nobodies benefit but his own. You see George always did love the attention.
“He’s now trying to portray the SFA changes as some kind of victory for him. Yet he doesn’t see the irony that his stewardship contributed to the game needing a total overhaul. All that tells me is he never loved the game – he just loved the power.” ex-Airdrie defender Chris Honor, Daily Record, 12/06/2011.
George’s selective memory doesn’t stop there. He also has a dig at the current SFA leadership for the way they handled the failed Michael O’Neill appointment. Yeah George, because your appointment history was just bang on, wasn’t it? Let me see. First, you appointed George Burley and then it was Craig Levein. Both were unmitigated disasters but why dwell on that when you can have a dig at the current men in power?
No love loss.
Then there’s also his recollections of Gordon Smith’s time at the SFA. Smith has persistently claimed that his decision making power was limited when the chief executive of the SFA.
So, does he regret taking the job?
“No, I think I was right to.” Adding in his experience in business, he thought he was well-qualified. “If I hadn’t taken it, I think I would have regretted not having a go. The one regret I have, what I didn’t check beforehand, was the scenario regarding how much control you actually have as chief exec.”
Does he mean how little?
“Well, an awful lot – nearly everything goes to committees or the board. I mean, I was able to offer my opinion on certain matters, and I was happy that a lot of things were accepted, but if I’d known about the procedures I might have thought: if I’m going to do this job properly I’d like to have a bigger say. I didn’t get the final say.”– Gordon Smith, The Scotsman, 02/10/2010
George though remembers it different of course.
“I thought it would do Scottish football good to get a football man in. Unfortunately, it didn’t come off because Gordon lacked the business experience………”
How much power does that man actually have?
“He has a lot of power. At the end of the day, a lot of the decisions have to go to the board. But if the chief executive strongly recommends something, nine times out of ten the board will approve it. It’s only if something unforeseen happens that the board would turn down a recommendation.” – George Peat, BBC Sportsound, 17/09/2018.
George also claims that Hampden needs an overhaul. The thing is George it needed the same overhaul ie: bringing the stands closer to the pitch, back in 2007-2011 too but you did sod all about it.
He also takes credit for securing the Sky TV deal before his departure. Though the sum part of George’s involvement was signing off on the offer that Sky had made the SFA. Any delusions by George that he was a tough mediator locked in a room all night with hard-nosed negotiators from Sky’s London office trying to get the best deal for Scottish football are utter fantasy. I believe the meeting went something like this:
“Come in George. Sorry for the delay.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I was just admiring your marble staircase and how it reminded me of ……..”
“Okay so sign here please.”
“Eh, yeah. I mean everything looks in order. Can I…..”
“Just sign it George.”
George glances eagerly at the large oak table in the middle of the room on which a buffet lunch has been laid out.
“Yeah, sure. Are the sandwiches and mineral water free?”
Anyway, George has grabbed the headlines once again in a sad attempt to live out former glories.
He’ll be relevant for a few days and then it’ll all calm down.
Rangers will make some noises about it but there’s little they can do because, as they are often keen to point out, this is really a matter for the ‘old club’.
....Always A Tim! 