Paddy McCourt

if lenny did rate him he would have started aginst st johnstone in the cup aberdeen last weekend, hearts midweek instead of samaras and mcginn and he would have came on before mcginn today

 

absolutely ridiculous statement, the only game paddy has played against is rangers and was brought on with 20 minutes to go when we were already beaten, and 20 minutes against arsenal when we were beaten. All this * about big teams is a myth as apart from them two teams we havent played a bigger team!! and he can only beat whats put in front of him

 

i'm not about to scoff at a guy who had a huge role in our nicking a win against st. * mirren. he hasn't scored a wonder goal against rangers. how many games has he featured in against rangers. are we going to start holding our noses at him because he only beats the "minnows". * sake, today we were so * that it looked like we were going to leave two points in paisley and he stepped up. i think he deserves full credit

 

It was obvious from the Huns game that McCourt was short of match fitness, the state of the pitch against St.Johnstone wouldn't have suited him plus was an injury waiting to happen, Aberdeen Lenny thought was going to be a tough test but did put him on and told Stokes to give him the penalty, hearts away wasn't the right game to give him some match time, probably could have started the day but with Ki, Maloney and Juarez probably thought midfield was a bit lightweight, as I said if he didn't rate him he would have sold him.

 

Agree totally with what you've said there man. I mean some people come on and slate Paddy with ease, they ask what has he done for CELTIC and make little that many of the AMAZING goals he has scored has been against the so called "MINNOWS".

The truth is, if the Minnows are such cannon fodder how come any of our starting 11 aren't banging in the goals against these teams?

Paddy is a player with AMAZING skills, we just need to find a formation in our team, that encourages us to make the best use of his talents rather than the fear of playing him because of the negative points of his game. IMO he should be tried out just behind the 2 strikers, so rather than being continually asked to provide defensive cover, he can play a role where his attacking talent is maximized.

Lenny are you reading this?

 

One thing I noticed today was that his positional sense was truly awful. He was supposed to be playing left-wing but most of the time he was jogging about the centre of the pitch and there was one point when both he and McGinn were standing out on the right wing.

I don't buy the idea that he isn't fit. But in difficult games against tough teams, he tears apart the structure of our side and that outweighs the creative genius that he brings.

For that reason, if we're playing him, it MUST be in a free role behind the striker(s), either in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-1-2. I could imagine this formation working quite well:

Brown - Ki - Ledley​

McCourt
Stokes - Hooper​

Or:​

Ki - Ledley
McGinn - McCourt - Maloney
Hooper​

The problem, obviously, is that to include McCourt in the starting line-up, by necessity we have to lose another important player. In my examples, we're losing either Maloney or Stokes. I think this, above any other consideration, is why he's not getting started. When we're desperate for a goal and can afford to throw attackers at St. Mirren, by all means bring on Paddy and let him have a go. But starting a game against Hearts, or Rangers, or Dundee Utd, or Hibs, particularly away from home, we sadly need to prioritise workrate and tactical nous above his individual brilliance.​

 

Paddy McCourt has achieved much more for Celtic than Derek Riordan ever did. McCourt is also not an utter ned.

 

Exactly. How anybody can compare McCourt to Riordan is beyond me. One being a stupid ned, the other one being a Magician.

 

Who set up the last min winners against dundee utd and st mirren, scored 2 wonder goals and has hardly even played this season

over rated my * *.

i might agree however that he isnt the fitest player in the squad

 

if a guy trains 5 days a week and cannae get fit then there is a serious problem
my mate works 40 hours a week (min) trains with a first division club nearly 9 hours a week (after a shift ) and plays his 90 mins on a sat and a wed night

when push comes to shove paddy is a lazy * .........we know it and every team in the english premier league knows it (or they would have snapped him up)

 

Well no thats ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with his fitness, there was when he first joined however thats no longer the case, people are just dragging it out. He is injury prone but he isnt given the chance to prove his fitness.

In preseason he played 3 games in 6 days, your mate didnt even do that.

 

no but he has played 2 games a week (plus training) since august :bbpd::bbpd:
if he is injury prone ....................that means he is not fit for the job in hand

 

Well its not Paddys fault that Neil doesnt pick him. You can judge a players fitness when he doesnt play.

 

sorry mate ..but if he is not picked (on a regular basis)to start the game
the management don't feel he will complete the game

 

Well i dont agree with that, he has come out himself and said he is fit and he doesnt understand the things that are being said. I just think that because he is injury prone that the management keep him wrapped in cotton wool to prevent injury, and only seem to use him in cases where we need goals, such as yesterday.

 

I would like to see McCourt and McGinn start next game.

 

As long as we don't play another two attackers with them because Dundee Utd will pack the midfield and take advantage.

McCourt should start. His end product is better than anyone at the club. McGinn is hit or miss.

 

Using that reasoning, Crosas,Hooiveld,Murphy,Juarez and Zaluska musnt be fit either....

 

There is obviously something fundemantally wrong if Paddy cant seemingly play games in a row.

There's been too many times for my liking that hes had a decent enough performance then what do ya know hes injured the next game. There's obviously something not quite right.

As ive said before he does have natural talent but thats just not enough. We need players with dedication and who are gonna run themselves into the ground for the cause. Paddy doesnt seem too be of that mould and quite frankly a luxury we probably cant afford.

I would have snatched the 500K Blackpool offered for him in the summer IMO. Half a mill for a player who cant last 90mins in this day in age? Yes please.