Celtic v Ajax 22 October 7.45pm KO

Very pleasing. Just about had a heart attack after all the build up between getting the penalty award and actually hitting the * thing in the net! And we were due a bit of luck after what happened in Milan, so Kayal getting that goal was good. I reckon we can beat this mob in Amsterdam, they didn't look very good. The only reason they had a lot of the ball was because for the first 25 minutes of the first half all they did was pass it around their defence and back to the goalie, so * boring. A * version of Barcelona basically.

 

Izaguiree was phonomenal......it was like a flashback to the 2010/11 season for him and Kayal

Thought Stokes and Pukki worked there arses off too

 

I remember an outstanding header by Chris Sutton in that match. Hope you could repeat that result.

 

We did put in a good shift tonight but I still feel we saw the best from us in Milan.

Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining on any level whatsoever as a win was the priority tonight.

 

We got lucky there :smiley-laughing002:

They should have had a few there. Thankfully they have some very average players when it comes to finishing.

It was about time we got the luck we deserve so much

 

not to mention if forrest put in a couple of better balls we could have easily been 3 or 4-0 up.

 

H fckng H!

 

I saw a few seats getting chucked as well as other objects. They made a move to get into our end, the Polis & Stewards held them back. Blows were traded and I saw a few of their fans take a baton to the head.

 

We were the better team by a distance despite Ajax bossing possession

 

It is easy to dominate possession when you pass it between your centre halves and your keeper on the edge of the six yard box every time you get a goal kick. Their keeper must've had a higher number of passes than Iniesta or Xavi in an average game.

 

Forster = good
Lustig = good/solid as always
Ambrose = played well
Virgil = not his best game but still solid
Izzy = thought he done really good
Kayal = played well and even better after the goal
Mulgrew = did what he had to do, average. still don't like him in the middle.
Samaras = not his best game but always tried something
Forrest = had some good moments but some frustrating ones. all in all done well.
Stokes = thought he was one of our best players. worked his * off, won the pen and was good on the ball
Pukki = fairly quiet but had a few good touches and like Stokes worked his * * off! Pleased with him

Tbh I thought we were really poor in the first half. We couldn't keep the ball at all but seemed to grow into the game? But we kept them quiet and they didn't have a lot of quality.

I do think however we will need to improve a lot in the next few games. I'm very happy with the result but the creativity we lacked tonight was a bit worrying. If we progress we NEED to retain the ball better than we have been doing. Hopefully this will change when Commons returns but its been like this for a while so i don't know. 2nd will be very hard, I'm hoping for 3rd but yea a good win tonight!

 

I thought that was a great, disciplined performance, at no time did I feel we were losing that game.

I don't know what De Boer was watching but at no time were they considerably better than us. They had absolutely nothing to change the game, his substitutions did * all.

We defended well, very well in fact and that is a part of the game just as much as attacking. Big Virgil must have done his chances for a call up the world of good. For me, that was his best performance for us so far.

Ambrose, Mulgrew, Kayal and Izzy all had very good games, too. We didn't hold the ball very well in the final 3rd and we desperately need a target in the box. Not a target man, just a target to hit.

I saw nothing form Ajax tonight that made me wary of the next game. They will play the same way and so will we.

 

Sky Sports have a bad rep on here because they throw so much money at the EPL, but have been extremely positive about Celtic for the last 18months or so.

The panel they had on tonight (including Ray Wilkins) all agreed that we had a very good chance of progressing.

Jamie Redknapp in particular couldnt speak any higher about the job that Lenny has done/ is doing.

He came out with a great quote about Sameras too, sumed him up perfectly.

On a unrelated note who do we think Steve Bruce was looking at tonight?
Stokes or Kayal maybe?

You mean apart from one of them actually scoring a cracking goal?:icon_mrgreen:

 

Van Dijk was outstanding. Never put a foot wrong all night.

 

* sake you are very conservative with those assessments.

Van Dijk for a start was colossal.

 

Anyone got the highlights?

 

Eh? Virgil never put a foot wrong.

 

I meant as in changing/influencing the game.

 

Think they should throw some of that money at the guy putting up the formations graphic before the game. :smiley-laughing002:

Forster
Lustig Ambrose Van Dijk Mulgrew
Forrest Kayal Pukki Izaguirre
Stokes Samaras
​

...is what they had tonight. And it's not the first time they have made an * of our formation but that one tonight really took the biscuit.