Afterthoughts

Ok so here my thoughts from the Newcastle game:

Positives:
- Donati shows gd range of passing - seriously his passing from deep is so accurate!
- McGeady shows glimpses of his ability, if he could just find some consistency he could easily be the best player in the Spl
- Brown showed how brilliant he's going to be, and overall did well from the midfield
- Unlike the tail end of last year we're creating lots of chances

Negatives:
- We desperately need cover for the full-back areas, Caddis did ok but still looks a bit raw so we need someone to push Wilson. Need someone as cover for Naylor so he can get a rest, seriously he looked like knackered.
- Overall our defending looked sloppy
- Although we created quite a lot of chances we only finished one and managed to get only a few other on target

Overall I thought although the score was 4-1 we didn't look awful and I'm not too concerned having seen pre-season last year. Some folk need to calm down and judge the team from competitive results. I'm confident our team will be 100% fit for the start of the season where we'll hopefully go from strength to strength.

From the pre-season games so far this is the team I'd like to see for the game against Killie! Btw haven't forgotten Naka I'd just give him 2 weeks rest as he's just finished up with Japan today

Boruc

Wilson Kennedy McManus Naylor

Brown Donati Jarosik McGeady

J'VOH McDonald

Subs: Brown, G.Caldwell, S.Pressley, P.Hartley, D.Riordan, K.Miller, C.Killen

As for transfers, i'd sell Zurawski, Gravesen and Balde and bring in a Rb and a Winger/Finisher

 

I agree the defence was rotten I think Boruc was injured, he defo had something wrong with him he could only use one hand, Jvoh was never on the ball, Zurawski was the same nowhere.

Our second half preformance was really good and we could have bagged a few goals but only got one becuase Given was great.

 

to be fair a thot we played well in the second half, hartley a just dont get at all and just when u think we were gettin back into it u hear 'celtic are about 2 bring on jarosik'. brown n donati looked gd, need a quick clinical striker and a decent rb and we'l be sorted.

 

i was not impressed with donati at all, what range of passing? is he a holding midfielder or what? as for paul hartley what the * does he do???? he is one of the worst celtic players i have seen in a long time, get him to *

 

a quick clinical striker take your pick from the bench mcdonald or riorden

 

Donati's a holding midfielder like Pirlo, I thought he was probably our best player in the first half, his passes create all our chances early in the first half, he did fade out of the game later on though.

 

It's hard to judge how the season will shape up from pre season matches. My observations so far;
We look good against average teams (QPR, Peterborough 2nd half)
We look average against half decent teams (Newcastle, DC United, Young Boys)
Whilst the squad has got 5/6 players who should be sold (to bring in 2/3 quality players) i still think we've got enough to make it 3 in a row! My fear is that we will be found out in Europe and will need a good draw to make the last 16!! But hey my pint is half full maybe we'll get a slice of luck along the way and go one better than last year

hail hail, bring on killie!!

 

just a thought but ahhhh is evry1 forgetting naka wasnt der?

 

Very unlucky with couple of the goals. Although excellent deliveries from Solano caused our back line so many problems, we didn't look comfortable atall at the back!!

Though Kennedy was by far our best defender on the night but as many before said, need full back cover. Feel Boruc should have came off earlier as he was struggling from early on, silly staying on when he cant kick the ball and is uncomfortable when the league starts nxt week.

Feel we played well in midfield, feel donatti was best player for us in first half, scott brown in second half. Aiden played well in my opinion aswell, missed nakamura big time as Hartley was horrible.........again.

Vennegoor was far from best and linked with zurawski it just aint happening for him atall. Looked more determined and the team looked way better overall when Miller came on.

Although it was a pre-season friendly, still seem to have same problem as last year, didn't look up for it in first half really. I think Strachan seems to have a problem motivating them before a game in the team talk.

Just my thoughts.

 

Aye , boruc should have been off straight away , dont know if that was his fault or strachans .

I seem to be the only one though that thinks hartley played well tonight , but i suppose we are so used to him playing * .

 

think the result doesnt really reflect the game as we created a few chances n a think boruc could have done better with a few of there goals(looked injured tho) i think we need a top class finisher with european pedigree to partner the big man up front and a full back if were going to make a impact in europe again . still think we lack pace aswell . dont c wot hartly n pressly bring to the team .



hail hail

 

we all say we are good enough to contend in the epl but that performance against newcastle is beyond relegation standards im all for getting behind the team but this stage in preseason should be stepping well up a gear i don't care if they are just off the back of america

 

no cohesion goin forward...no understanding at the back...newcastle had few chances but put them away....the amount of crosses we had comparded to newcastle was 10/1 yet they finished theirs an we just could not cut it...well done mcgeady for ur efforts!

 

Going forward you were good. Especially in the middle of the park.

The second half was better but we had Matty Pattison on the park so that was to be expected. Good game though.

 

Statistically speaking Caldwell & Mick are the best CB pairing that we have.
For the first three quarters of last season our defence was rock solid for that reason alone I think that this will be WGS first choice CB pairing for the season ahead once <st1:City><st1lace>Caldwell</st1lace></st1:City> is fit.
With that said we really need cover for RB & LB slots.

 

why dident,they just signal to each other,its not as if the ball wasent near our goal,,i noticed boruc holding his chest,[was that the problem] the bench must have noticed,,so i blame them,,mabye strachan did a lennon cup final ,that he will decide when a player comes off.. just a thought.

 

I am pretty positive. The result really does not tell the story. We had most possession and pretty good ball retention and passing. We just looked really rusty at both cutting edges- defense and striker - and that cost us dear. I thought on another day it would have been very close. There were mnay positives:

1. We passed well in tight situations
2. Donati and brown moved and passed far less square than our numpty central midfield last year. Brown looked very dynamic at times and looks like one day could be world class. Brown did some of the ultra-direct driving through defenses we have not seen since Petrov. Only worry was that there was sometimes a gap between defense and midfield and that is Donati's area of responsibility.
3. Aidan (credit where credit is due) played very well for the first time in ages although he would be far more dangerious if he had a serious shot on him (I know he hit ione good one)
4. Individually I was impressed by Kennedy and Caddis although the unit needs to play together for a few games without any changes to help them gell.
5. Kennedy made errors but looks very strong and I think he could be a star after he gets 3 or 4 back to back real games in a fixed unit under his belt.
6. Caddis is better than most of the right backs we are likley to sign. I saw him in the 19s and reserves last season and thought he was superb. Inexperienced but excellent wee player. Looked better than Doumbe.
7. Hartley played his best game in the hoops and looked to have his old Hearts energy levels back. If he keeps that up, he will do well in the SPL games.
8. JVOH was our poorest player and he has had a poor close season. In fact he has been slowly slipping from the very high early standard he set. A little worrying but hopefully just a blip.
9. Magic looked positionally clever and did some great running but his lack of pace, touch and finishing is a worrying carryover from last season. At the very least, he needs a few games. In fact it is realy important to pick JVOH's partner (whoever it is) and stick to him for 4 or 5 games. I would use Deeks or Skippy ahead of Magic personally.
10. Naka is still to come back and we had guys like Deeks on the bench so I think it is pretty clear who will win the SPL next season. However, we need to click very soon because of the CL qualifier.

Anyway that concludes the 'cup half full' happy summary of last night.

 

No, I thought Hartley was one of our best players. I think his really poor form last season is colouring the opinions of some. He played well, especially in the first half.