Tag: Lewis Morgan

Celtic go down meekly to Hibs. Meanwhile, it’s Valencia in the last 32.

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First things first and that’s Celtic’s performance away at Easter Road yesterday. Truth be told the team looked exhausted –  not surprisingly after being run ragged against Red Bull Salzburg during Thursday night’s emotional rollercoaster – and as a result pretty devoid of ideas.

I wrote a piece over a week ago about how the players looked out on their feet away against Motherwell. We dropped two points that night as we wilted badly in the second half but recovered pretty sensationally to bury surprise table-toppers Kilmarnock 5-1 at Celtic Park a week ago on Saturday.

Thursday night though saw us come up against easily our toughest opposition of the season and for me the best team we’ve seen at Celtic Park since PSG clinically dispatched us 5-0 in the Champions League group stages 15 months ago.

Each one of our three domestic defeats this season have come in the weekend after a midweek European game and all have been away. So the taxing effects of  European football definitely plays a part but our away record, in general, this season has been pretty awful with 15 points dropped from a potential 27 in the league and only two wins from seven away ties in Europe.

Hibs have themselves been struggling of late having gone through a period of no wins in seven league games which saw them lose four times. They arrested that decline with a 1-0 win away at Hamilton Accies last weekend but generally weren’t given much of a hope yesterday. So much so that their prematch decision to reduce the Celtic away capacity so as to allow more Hibs fans tickets looked utterly absurd as half of the stand where our support usually sits was left virtually empty.

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Another great call from Rod Petrie.

Brendan decided to really utilise the squad and even went for three at the back with Ajer brought into partner Simunovic and Benkovic. Kieran Tierney was rested and in came Emilio Izaguirre with Scott Sinclair being asked to cover a right wing-back role in the absence of the injured Lustig and Gamboa.

In midfield, Ryan Christie was missing after being stretchered off with an ankle injury on Thursday night and Tom Rogic was also left at home to recover from his recent exploits. In came Brown and Ntcham to replace them with McGregor, Forrest and Edouard all retaining their places.

The last three, in particular, were noticeably quiet and looked a little jaded.

Apart from the fatigue side of things the likes of Brown and Ntcham never clicked all day and Izaguirre, who had been so impressive when he came in against Kilmarnock, really struggled with Sinclair looking pretty lost in an unfamiliar defensive role.

Hibs hit a lot of cross-field passes and balls in over the top which cost us no end of trouble and we were ultimately undone by two excellent though preventable finishes from Slivka in the very first minute and Kamberi in the second half.

The introductions of Lewis Morgan and Mikey Johnstone brought some urgency and penetration to the play in that second period but ultimately was too little too late. Johnny Hayes also appeared but did nothing of note which is pretty customary of his appearances in the hoops.

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Kamberi finally finds some form. 

The result meant that Rangers returned to the league summit due to a narrow win at home against lowly Hamilton and Kilmarnock also remain above us after a comfortable 3-1 home win against Dundee. We do of course have games in hand and no one’s really worrying especially as we can go top again if we beat Motherwell at home on Wednesday night and Rangers drop points at Easter Road which is as we’ve just discovered no easy place to go and get a result.

The likes of Boyata, Lustig, Rogic, Tierney as well as the inform Christie will also all be back soon – some as early as Wednesday night apparently – but even with that we clearly need reinforcements in January.  Up front plus at right fullback are two key areas we definitely need to address.

Earlier on today there was also the draw for the Last 32 of the Europa League. Being that we would be up against one of fifteen seeds we could only hope for something winnable and I think we got that when Valencia came out of the hat.

On paper, the Spaniards did well in their Champions League campaign to gain 8 points in a group that included one of the tournament favourites in Juventus as well as the once mighty Manchester United. But the truth is they were out by the time of the final group game which they won against a struggling Man U side who had already qualified. Valencia recorded a 2-1 home victory but for anyone who keeps up with English football that’s not that great an achievement these days considering the stumbling form Joe Mourinho’s side have shown this season so far.

In La Liga, they are struggling with only three wins from 16 matches and an incredible ten draws. Two of their defeats have been away from home and they only have two wins from nine home matches with six draws and one loss. They have only 19 points and are in 14th place, four points above the drop zone.  The goals have hardly been flowing either with only 15 so far in this campaign whilst conceding 13. In Europe, they have scored six and conceded six.

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The Mestella is where we are headed. 

All this after blowing over €126 million on players in the summer which included the €40 million capture of 21 -year-old Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes from PSG and veteran French striker Kevin Gameiro from Atletico Madrid for a mere €16 million. Belgian international striker Michy Batshuayi is also there on loan for the season from Chelsea and that deadly strike force has delivered a rather pathetic return of six goals in all competitions and their most dangerous marksman currently is, in fact, Spanish striker Santi Mina who has six this season and 35 in 114 appearances for them.

The other big summer singing was French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia who cost them €25 million from Inter Milan in the summer having previously cost the Italians €40 million from Monaco. He was injured at the weekend though and will be out for between eight to twelve weeks so there’s a good chance we won’t have to worry about him at all.

The star man is, or at least was, striker Rodrigo who’s 19 goals in 44 games last term earned him a place in the Spanish national side for the past summer’s World Cup. However this year he’s hit a measly two in twenty games and is bang out of form.

Backed by billionaire Singapore business magnate owner Peter Lim they could go on a spending spree this January in theory but based on their previous transfer dealings they have actually already spent double what they had spent in total over the two previous seasons combined plus they have only brought three players in, in total, during the past two winter transfer windows, two of which were loan deals.

All in all……….it’s doable.

There is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and February 14th when they visit Celtic Park in the first leg but as of now, it’s a tie you’d take especially considering some of the Leviathans we could have drawn in the next round.

Let’s just hope that eight and a half weeks from now we’re top of the league, playing well with a stronger squad and that Valencia are pretty much in the same predicament if indeed not worse as they are now.

I guess that’s what I’ll be asking Santa for, for Christmas. Well, that, a pair of Diesel jeans, a significant financial windfall and a win at Ibrox.

 

Post-match analysis: Red Bull Leipzig 2 – 0 Celtic. More misery on the road and rumours off the pitch abound!

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A depleted Celtic side were easily dismissed by a more or less second string Red Bull Leipzig.

For 30 mins Celtic looked okay and Odsonne Edouard nearly even scored but thereafter it was the usual as we were battered senseless in the last 15 mins of the half conceding two goals and it could have been more.

In the second half, Celtic played to keep the score down looking passive and content with it staying at two-zip. Leipzig accommodated us by and large barring a Konrad Laimer run where he skinned half of our team whilst running from midfield before shooting just past the post and a moment when Augustin cracked a long-range shot off of the same stick.

Ntcham broke through on goal late and if he’d passed to his right to McGregor it was a certain goal but he went for glory and cannoned it off the keeper’s legs. Even if it had gone in there is little to no chance that we’d have equalised as the Germans would have just switched on again.

Right from the off all looked lost as we were without the suspended James Forrest, injured Scott Brown and in the days leading up to the match, Tom Rogic and Filipe Benkovic were also ruled out. Added to that Leigh Griffiths still isn’t available and Mikel Lustig was deemed not fit enough to start.

This meant starts for forgotten men Cristian Gamboa and Eboue Kouassi as well as the rarely seen Lewis Morgan and serial bench warmer Ryan Christie.

All that combined with our long-standing, pretty atrocious away record on the content meant that our chances were pretty much slim and none and slim had just left town.

Leipzig themselves were without their injured midfield playmaker Emil Forsberg as well as star striking duo Timo Werner and Yussuf Poulsen who were rested on the bench but still had far more firepower on the pitch.

Of course, we helped them with an awful attempt at a clearance from Kouassi resulting in a fresh air miss so bad it also confused Boyata whose own attempt also missed and it fell to Matheus Cunha who couldn’t believe how much time he had to control it and lash it home.

The second saw Marcelo Saracchi dart down the wing after a wild suicide sliding tackle from Gamboa was skipped over with ease and his resulting cross saw another woeful attempt by Kouassi to clear once again befuddle Boyata and resulted in Bruma lashing it home.

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A familiar sight on the continent as our players trudge back to the centre circle after conceding another goal. 

It really was comical stuff. Kouassi had a blinder in just how bad he was though incredibly John Hartson labelled him as one of our better players at halftime. I actually kept an eye on him and he was passive throughout with his shoulders dipped and looked lost. Basically a carbon copy of his display earlier in the season against Hearts.

Boyata was also awful in the centre of defence. In the second half, he needlessly gave the ball away on numerous occasions, something he’s well known for, and was left in the wake of the rampaging Laimer when he nearly scored which saw a pretty pathetic attempt by Boyata to stop him.

That aside just about everyone in a Celtic jersey struggled with McGregor, in particular, going missing for much of the game.

It’s really all we’ve come to expect away in Europe under Brendan. Nothing changes tactically and his record now reads 4 wins from 19 away games with 10 defeats and an incredible 38 goals conceded.

We can’t keep a clean sheet away from home against anything resembling quality from the continent and outside of Edouard don’t to appear to have much of a goal threat on the road either.

The loss of some of our best players was definitely a factor and was felt sorely but it somewhat negated by Leipzig resting so many of their top performers yet still looking streets ahead.

The mistakes at the back happen time and again and the players brought in are clearly not good enough. Not only that but most are also Brendan’s signings.

Tactically we are way too open and the moment we concede panic sets in and our shape collapses.

Leipzig visit Glasgow in a fortnight and it literally is a must-win game. If we lose and Salzburg win in Norway as expected then we are out. That’s right we’ll be out with two games still to go from Europe’s second-tier competition. That’s the same competition where Rangers have gone unbeaten in 11 straight games so there really are no excuses.

Inevitably in the fallout, more rumours have surfaced about Brendan’s relationship with the board which seems to be par for the course after we record a negative result.

One of the main fuels to the fire was this tweet by BBC correspondent and self-confessed Rangers fanatic Richard Wilson:

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If there’s any truth in this then next week should be interesting. I mean what else could ‘serious upheaval’ mean other than heads rolling and whose heads would they be?

Thes semi-final of the League Cup on Sunday against Hearts now takes on even more importance as a negative result will likely lead to further rumours of things coming to a head.

There seems to be an attitude prevalent amongst Celtic fans that Sunday was the priority which I found a bit incredible considering Europe is where we want to be but maybe shows the mentality that has crept in in recent years. That being that Europe is perceived as a pipe dream where making any significant progress is fanciable and we are almost willing fodder for the big clubs.

Anyway onto Hampden we go and on and off the pitch I think we can expect some fireworks in the coming days. Should be interesting at least.

Post-match analysis: St.Johnstone 0 – 1 Celtic. Better in the Betfred!

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Not the greatest performance by any means but a win and a deserved one at that.

As predicted the Saints sat in still licking their wounds from a 5-1 pasting at Ibrox on Sunday.

In an action replay of Celtic’s last half dozen or more displays, Celtic lacked tempo and mainly passed the ball aimlessly around at the back for the majority of the first half as the Perth side rarely ventured into our half.

Despite that, both Leigh Griffiths and on the stroke of half-time Callum McGregor passed up stick on chances as Leigh headed straight at the keeper and Callum raced through one on one only to clip it past the far post.

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A whisker away. 

In the second half, Celtic came out like a team clearly given a boot up the backside by Brendan during the half-time team talk and played like a team determined to actually win.

It was all one-way traffic with Zander Clark producing some fine saves in the opposition goal and Leigh Griffiths passing up a few more chances you would usually fancy him to bury.

The men in blue did break away on a few occasions and David Wotherspoon was unlucky to see his curling drive from the edge of the box whistle just past the post but that apart Celtic were dominant.

Just rewards were delivered as Griffiths pounced on a loose ball in the box to bury it and give a deserved lead and eventual winner on 83 minutes. His third goal in as many games and it was good to see him not give up the ghost after a frustrating evening.

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If at first, you don’t succeed……

That was pretty much it bar Boyata getting a senseless straight red card moments later for dissent towards referee Steve Beaton. Replays showed Beaton originally planned to only dish out a yellow but the Belgian internationalist refusal to A) walk over to him when asked and B) keep his mouth shut leading to the claret-coloured one instead.

Scott Bain, in goal for the night with Craig Gordon on the bench, then had a rush of blood in the last few seconds and came for a ball he was miles away from almost resulting in disaster but thankfully it came to nothing.

Aside from that Bain literally had nothing to do all night bar gather up a few speculative crosses and shots from distance.

On the whole, the second half was more like it from Celtic. Showing determination and a real will to win they created chance after chance and it was inevitable one would eventually be taken. It really is amazing what injecting a bit of intensity to the play can do.

Lewis Morgan came on and looked good once again and he is starting to cement a pretty solid case for a starting place.

To the minus points though and the man Morgan came on for, Edouard, again looked ineffective showing very little and there would appear to be slim hope of a partnership with LG up front working as both are way too similar.

Boyata’s straight red rules him out of the semi-final which is cause for concern though it can be appealed. However, I’d hold out little hope of it being successful.

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Boyata walks. No one looks surprised. 

As for the semi-final we got Hearts which is a refreshing change from Rangers who we’ve been drawn against in three out of the last four cup semis.

It brings up the also potentially controversial situation of either ourselves or the side from Govan having to play their semi on the afternoon of Saturday the 27th of October, just 40 hours after a scheduled Thursday night Europa League match.

Rangers are at home in their game against Spartak Moscow whilst we’ll be away to Red Bull Leipzig.

The possible solution is to play both matches on the Sunday with one at Hampden and the other through in Edinburgh at Murrayfield. Outside of that, I don’t really see how it would work. Playing one after the other at Hampden on the Sunday will be kyboshed by the police and having one semi remain on the Saturday will lead to outcry from either half of the Glasgow divide claiming bias.

Watch this space.

Post-match analysis: Kilmarnock 2 – 1 Celtic: Oh dear!

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I held off on reviewing this one in the immediate aftermath mainly because everyone was losing all perspective including myself.

To be honest I wasn’t so much angry as vaguely disappointed as truth be told I wasn’t surprised.

Kilmarnock are an effective team under Steve Clarke who has done an incredible job there – it’s just a shame more of the locals don’t turn out to see it – and via keeping together the squad that worked so tirelessly for him last season he has a bunch of players who you feel would run through walls for him.

Losing the late goal was one of those things. I believe Chris Burke wanted to play it short so as to waste time for a point and with the Celtic defence switched off he was instead encouraged to swing it into the box where ex-Celtic defender Stuart Findlay got his head to it first and sealed the points for the Ayrshire club in dramatic fashion.

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Finlay returns to haunt Celtic. 

What was far more concerning was the preceding 90 mins where once again Celtic looked one-paced and totally devoid of ideas.

As was the case in the last two games – and most others before that come to think – the constant obsession with continuously recycling the ball from side to side in defence whilst the opposition sit in their own half and watch was once again on show.

Simply put our opponents know what we are going to do and are set up to deal with it.

Scott Sinclair got a rare start but is now a shadow of his former self, lacking any self-belief and looking somewhat disinterested.

Jack Hendry was put back into the starting line-up after Benkovic pulled up with an injury in the warm-up and that pretty much sealed an end to Celtic’s run of five previous clean sheets.

Hendry is a Dundee calibre defender running around in a Celtic shirt. It really is that simple. And he seems more aware of it than anyone else.

Ntcham was of course suspended with McGregor, Rogic and Forrest on the bench with Brendan bizarrely opting to revamp the entire midfield featuring Brown alongside Christie and Mulumbu with the aforementioned Sinclair out on the right. It proved completely ineffective.

Mulumbu had a decent enough first half but then got sucked in by ex-teammate Aaron Tshibola’s tough tackling in the second half and lost the plot. Looking like a red card waiting to happen he was hooked on 70 mins for McGregor.

Mikey Johnstone produced more of the same with a lot of effort but little to no end product. He went off on 79 mins for Edouard but French Eddy hardly got a touch of the ball and his baron spell continues.

Celtic somehow took the lead via chaotic defending in the first half as Broadfoot sliced a speculative Tierney cross resulting in Greg Taylor cracking it off his own post and Leigh Griffiths swooped to conquer as he headed Celtic into a 34th-minute lead.

We should have got a penalty as Boyata was wrestled to the floor by Broadfoot also in the first half but Craig Thomson was having none of it.

In the second half, Kilmarnock pressed and rather than taking advantage of the extra space in their half Celtic retreated into their own shell instead. On 64 mins Burke lashed in the equaliser from 25 yards showing the kind of endeavour which is non-existent amongst Celtic’s personnel at the moment.

And then the ending but I’ve already discussed that.

Al in all an awful day with the only bright spark being Lewis Morgan’s substitute appearance for Sinclair on 65 minutes. He looked bright and effective showing the kind of determination and desire that is generally lacking at the moment. Ryan Christie also produced a moment of sublime skill in the second half as he weaved his way into the box and almost curled into the net only to be denied by a superb save from Jamie MacDonald.

Anyway onto Wednesday night we go as we play St.Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in the League Cup quarterfinal. They got taken apart 5-1 by Rangers on Sunday so, in theory, should be there for the taking but then they probably think the same about us.

Brendan has been cuttingly honest in the last few days admitting that Celtic fans “should be worried” which has raised some eyebrows but for me, he’s just being honest.

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He looks concerned. 

It’s our worst start to the league in 20 years since the days of Dr Jo Venglos. Though the real issue is our away form. We’ve played eight home games this season winning seven and drawing one with 16 goals scored to three conceded. Away, however, it is only two wins from eight with three draws and three losses. Nine goals have been scored away and seven conceded. Though six of the goals we have scored came in the two away wins to Alashkert and Partick Thistle.

Rugby Park and Tynecastle will be tough places to go this season but we should still fully expect to win there no matter if it’s on plastic or how long the grass is. But I also fully expect other clubs around us to drop points at those grounds as well.

I’m not panicking just yet. But I’m close.

1998 – 1999: THE HANGOVER AND DR. JO.