Youth/Development Team Thread

F.T. 1-0 the hoops.

 

Brilliant! Well done Celtic. 5 games in hand jeez that's a busy schedule.

Cheers for the updates Priest, shaun

 

Good win for the youth team tonight

I was away watching my Cousin at training tonight

thought I would have been back in time to post updates on the hoops game.

 

Match report from tonight's game

NADIR Ciftci’s early second-half goal was enough to seal a narrow 1-0 victory for Celtic’s Development Side over St Johnstone in Airdrie.
The Turkish striker headed home from Regan Hendry’s cross after a goal-less opening 45 minutes at the Excelsior Stadium.
Although Leo Fasan was subsequently called into action on a couple of occasions, he never looked like being breached as the Bhoys saw out the closing stages to maintain their unbeaten start to the domestic campaign.
Ciftci was joined by senior players Tyler Blackett and Derk Boerrigter in the starting XI to give the trio a chance to garner some game-time.
In total, there were seven changes to the team who triumphed so impressively in the UEFA Youth League tie with Puskas Akademia last week, with Fasan, Connor McManus, Joe Thomson and Innes Murray also coming into the side.
Conor Hazard, Dan Higgins, Aidan McIlduff, Theo Archibald, Aidan Nesbitt, Calvin Miller and Jack Aitchison are the players to drop out.
Although the fixture was being held in Airdrie, this was a home game for the Perth side, who had the first effort on goal inside the opening three minutes after a favourable break of the ball, but Jamie McCart raced across to make the block from Liam Caddis’ shot.
Ciftci replied with a low curling shot that was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Ben McKenzie, while Boerrigter and Murray also delivered inviting crosses into the mix, with no takers.
Celtic were bossing possession, but an errant pass from Fiacre Kelleher allowed George Hunter to shoot over in the box.
Most of defending was being done by the hosts, however, and a sublime switch of play from Thomson gave Blackett the chance to reach the byline down the left. His cross missed Ciftci but found Murray, who couldn’t force the ball home.
Although the Bhoys were fashioning some promising positions, particularly down the flanks, creating clear-cut opportunities were proving elusive.
Hendry did hit the target from 18 yards but it was straight at McKenzie, and it was the home side who came closer through Hunter’s angled effort that trundled past the far post.
As half time drew closer, McIntyre’s side did manage to engineer more space in the attacking third, with Boerrigter involved in both moves. The Dutchman’s run and cross was fired wide first time by Hendry, before the former Ajax man linked up with Thomson, with the winger’s final attempt blocked by a defender.
The youths upped the tempo as the second half got underway, pressing with more pace and purpose and moving the ball around with greater vigour.
A swift interchange of passing gave Ciftci a sight of goal, his shot from an acute angle deflected wide for a corner. But the striker wouldn’t be denied as he opened the scoring in the 53rd minute. After an incisive Celtic breakaway, the ball was eventually worked wide to Hendry, whose pinpoint cross was headed home from close range by Ciftci.
It was only a slender advantage, however, and Fasan had to make an excellent reaction save to touch Gregg Kerr’s glancing header away following Caddis’ free-kick.
Jason Kerr’s foul on Ciftci on the edge of the box presented Blackett with a chance to shoot from the resultant set-piece but the wall did its job.
St Johnstone were showing plenty or spirit, though, and Fasan had to make a smart save from Craig Thomson after quick counter attack.
Greg Page then flashed a shot wide from distance, before the Italian goalkeeper thwarted Craig Thomson, Page and Hunter. However, the shot-stopper always looked confident and secure as the Perth outfit ran out of ideas as the clock ran down, while Celtic threatened to add to their tally on the break.

 

Thanks for the report Crow and hope your cousin had a good game

At first when I seen the team sheet I thought you must've been away to see big Derk :smiley-laughing002:

It sounds like he had a good game actually, he can get a decent cross in.

Not bad result considering 7 players different from Puskas. Chelsea game is a big one.

 

I thought about going to the youth game but no * wanted to go with me :smiley-laughing002:

 

Glory hunters! :smiley-laughing002:

Impossible for me to make a game but I'd like to see them in the Uefa or International Cup games. Be quite a high level. Plus it would be great to celebrate a goal against Chelsea.

 

Thinking of taking my Dad to one of these games, his Dad was a scout for Celtic way back when and I think he'd really enjoy going along and seeing what the youth squad can do how do you find out about tickets and venues etc.

 

Any idea if there will be any streams for the celtic v Chelsea game on Fri...when's ko?

 

Kick off is 7:05 As far as streams don't think so anyway.


If it's on Chelsea TV you should get streams

 

PLAYING against top opposition in the Premier League International Cup (PLIC) is an important learning curve for Celtic’s young players, according to Fiacre Kelleher.
The Development Squad captain and his team-mates have travelled to London for tonight’s (Friday's) group-stage match against Chelsea, and the centre-half believes that such high-level matches are helping Celtic’s young players pick up valuable lessons that can push them towards the Hoops first-team.
“You just want to play against top opposition because they are the ones that will show you the little things you need to improve on,” said Kelleher. “Things that will make you that bit better.
“I’ve already learned that you have to be a bit cuter when you come up against attacking players at this level and you need to try to get your body in between the man and the ball. It’s all these little things that add up and give you a better picture.
“The pathway to the first-team is becoming more accessible with the likes of KT (Kieran Tierney) and Joe Thomson, who’s made his debut for the first-team too, so we know it’s there for us and games like this are the ones where you want to show you can make that step-up.
“John Collins and the gaffer have been there at the last few UEFA Youth League games as well so it’s great if they can see we can do it at that level, and it gives us even more of an incentive to get involved at first-team level.
“We’ve been playing well week in, week out and we’re a lot more consistent this year, which is really good.”
Celtic began their PLIC campaign with a narrow 2-1 loss to Benfica but they have a game in hand over tonight’s opponents as well as fourth-placed Liverpool.
Victory over the Blues could move the Bhoys from third to second place in the group and Kelleher said the Celts are looking forward to the tie.
“I’m excited for the match against Chelsea,” he said. “They’re going to have great players so you’ve just got to factor that into it.
“It was a tough game against Benfica but it has been good for us. Benfica have such a high standard and playing in the UEFA Youth League has helped us get up to that standard.
“They had a lot of good players and a couple of them have played for their first-team so it was a really good experience for us to play against them.
“We want to perform against Chelsea but we want to come here and get a win and we’ve been talking about it all week in training. The mood is positive and we’re all feeling good after the UEFA Youth League win against Puskas Akademia.
“We’re playing with confidence at the moment and we want to take that into this game.”
Playing as part of a settled central defensive pairing alongside Jamie McCart has bolstered Kelleher’s optimism this season, with the Bhoys undefeated in the Development League in Scotland and through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Youth League.
The Irishman added that consistency in team selection has helped Tommy McIntyre’s side’s success so far this season and he is keen to continue that with a positive showing against Chelsea.
“It’s brilliant like that because you start to build relationships and you start to learn what certain players do,” he said. “Team-bonding is great too and we get more confidence from that.
“Since the start of the season, if we look at our progress, it has been huge and these games definitely help to show things that we can work on together.
“I’m building a good relationship with Jamie and we’ve been keeping a lot of clean sheets lately. We know both our games well and where we’ll be on the pitch.
“That’s just started since pre-season but we’re more settled and it has been crucial to our success in certain games.
“Things can only get better for us as a team. It’s really good to play against older boys and we take great pride in being the young team. We don’t use it as an excuse if things don’t go our way.
“We still want to go out and win and Tommy always says that, no matter what age you are, if you’ve got the talent then you deserve to be there.”







Celtic Development Squad coach Tommy McIntyre is looking forward to another testing night for his side as they prepare to take on Chelsea in the Premier League International Cup tomorrow
The Celtic Under-20s have travelled to London to take on the Chelsea U21s in their second group match of this year’s competition, and McIntyre said he expects his young side to come face-to-face with an experienced English team full of youth internationalists.
The Bhoys sit third in the group behind tomorrow night’s opponents following a narrow loss to group leaders Benfica in thier opening fixture, and in an exclusive interview with the official Celtic website, McIntyre said he believes the match will be the perfect platform for him to gauge the Celtic players' development so far this season.
He said: “Chelsea will be a top team full of internationalists and a real test for us. We’ve had a look at their game against Benfica and against Liverpool so we’ve picked up one or two things, but in the main I’m more focused on what we do and how we approach the game, and how we adapt to the challenge of us being a very young side. That's something we look forward to.
“The opportunity the players get in this tournament is invaluable for them and is part of their development. It's even more so in this game because with so many injuries we’ll bring in one or two other young players.
“That is a positive because it gives them an opportunity to show what they can do. We’re really positive in how we look at the game, how we adapt to the challenges and also how the young ones coming in handle it too.
“No matter what age they are, if they're doing well they will be promoted and that’s the essence of development for us – getting to the next level and getting close to the first-team.”
Celtic’s recent progress in the UFEA Youth League, coupled with the club’s participation in the Premier League International Cup, has given McIntyre’s players a host of challenging platforms on which to prove themselves in their quest for first-team football at the Scottish champions.
And while victory in these tournaments is always a key goal for the Bhoys, the Development Squad coach explained that games like tomorrow night’s against Chelsea are as equally important for measuring the development of the club’s young stars.
“There is a really positive outlook at the club for developing young players and developing the Academy players,” he added. “You only need to see the ones who have gone in and got the opportunity to train with the first-team and experience the standard they need to get to and be consistent at.
“It’s something that’s there for them and it’s a good time for them to showcase their talents, take the challenge and get to the next level. That’s the big thing about the Development Squad – getting them to the next level.
“We want them to take the opportunity and then there are others coming in to our team taking a chance and that’s a healthy situation for us to be in from an Academy point of view.”

 

Fasan; Higgins, Kelleher, McCart, McIlduff; Breslin; Nesbitt, Hendry; Archibald, Boerrigter, Miller


Celtic Subs: Wardrop, McCabe, Murray, Payne, Johnston, Lafferty.

 

Derk the overage player tonight

Fasan; Higgins, Kelleher, McCart, McIlduff; Breslin; Nesbitt, Hendry; Archibald, Boerrigter, Miller
Subs: Wardrop, McCabe, Murray, Payne, Johnston, Lafferty

 

Nesbitt.. Disappointing

 

Why he was always going to start tonight anyway

 

Why was he always going to start? In my opinion he should have been starting for us tomorrow. How many times do I have to explain this :smiley-laughing002:

 

Big Derk :smiley-laughing002: * playing him just let youngsters play, I understand it with Ciftci etc but not the * glass man.

 

This is a big game tonight for the hoops so he was going to start.

He will get his chance No need to Rush him anyway

 

No chance he would start for us, at most a 15 min run out which I think he'd manage after playing tonight. Exciting player but you can ruin some players development throwing them in the deep end too quick, no need to rush him in the team got all season to feed him in.

 

I like to believe that there's a player in there somewhere, and if he can go on a run of being healthy he'll regain his confidence and can still do a job for us.