Official Celtic vs Killie Pre-Match Thread

TOTAL BOLLOCKS! This sort of performance has been what we've had to endure since before last seasons split. The last two Old-Firm games were a wake up call that strachan hasn't taken seriously. Pre-season was a joke and too many of our squad ain't good enough, it's that simple! Even worse, the players we'd consider Celtic class are not producing the goods. If you think that's acceptable fine, I * don't!

 

Don't think so. With Brown and Donati we got 2 very good players in and Donati played today more good passes forward than Lenny in his whole career. Both will be very valuable once they have got used to eachother.
I don't look at the preseason games, we had different lineups all the time, even Real Madrid lost to Hannover 3-0, or Liverpool to Mainz 0-5 one year ago.
rudiments were there and I'm sure after 1-2 more games we will see a great celtic team with some nice football. We need some more patience, about 2-4 games.

 

Since there are too many not-celtic-class players, do you want me to change your username?

 

Yeh! Like I'd change my surname because some wee hun thinks he's a Celtic player.
Ref: Donati passing forward more than Lenny, he lost possession today more tham lenny did in his entire Celtic Career. This has been a regular feature to his game since he joined.

 

At least Donati tries to create something when he has the ball.Lennon had no idea what a forward pass was so he would take the easy 5 yard square pass.

 

Maybe thats cos he is not a holding mid.Strachan seems to buy players and then try to turn them into something else.

Hartley was a good player running by defences and what not but now he just wants him to sit or go to right-back.The man is clueless.No Tommy your not an attacking mid,your a sitting player.No Jiri your not a central midfielder your a striker or even better today your a left mid

 

I hope your optimism is an infectious disease

 

Donati is a very decent player, I'll give him time to settle and haven't compared him to anyone, just saying he consistently gives the ball away. I'll say it again, we have not played well since before the SPL split last season, worse still, there is not many signs it will get better. I am also concered that certain players have not been shown the door when it's obvious they have no future at Celtic.

 

My team rating:

Brown-Didn't have to make a save.6
Wilson-Got up and down the flanks well,especially in the first half.Delivery was was quite poor.5
McManus-Pretty solid but got caught for pace once or twice.6
Kennedy-Again quite solid.Surprisingly good on the ball for a defender.6
Naylor-Poor distribution and crossing,Was lucky not to be sent off.4
Hartley-Worked hard but was non-existent on the ball.4
Brown-Tenacious and OK on the ball.Was one of our better performers but thats not saying much.6
Donati-He's a classy player.Always looking for an opening but was quiet today.6
McGeady-Wasn't in the game.Tried too hard and made some rash challenges.5
JVOH-Was impressive in the first half.Looked sharp and held the ball up well in the but faded in the second.6
Zurawski-Good first ten minutes but was crap from then on.Should have had two goals.4

Riordan wasn't even on the bench..He should leave for the sake of his career

 

magic played better than jvoh
hartley played better than a 4 and gave the ball away less than donati. yet he gets a 6

 

Hey there Celtic, greetings from Spartak fans

've just seen highlights of your match vs the killies. nice.
as for us, we've had a 3-2 thriller right now, having scored 2 goals in the last 7 minutes of the match. at such moments you wish that the competition your club played in was something like SPL, where you'd have just 2 derbys a year. not so fascinating maybe, but far less nerve-wrecking

 

bear you know little of the spl. we dont play two derbys a year.

 

Did you watch the game?Zurawski was non-existant and Hartley did nothing on the ball and wasted every set piece

 

Ah, true. Your system is a bit different. One way or the other, I'm just kidding

Btw - who normally plays with the Dutch striker in the attack? Should it be the Polish guy, he produced a bit lacklustre impression.

 

errr, who normally plays with him... good question

we are in the middle of finding him a partner.

Miller was his main man last season but went crap.

think it will be scott mcdonald but it wont be him against moscow.

hes banned, i think it'll be killen against you's or miller


my ideal team,(while staying realistic, i.e. riordan aint going to be playing.) i think would be

boruc
wilson--mcmanus--kennedy---naylor
nakamura-brown-donati-mcgeady
jan vennegoor of hesselink - miller

though wouldn't be suprised if hartley was in there next to mcgeady and jvoh up there on his own

 

We don't have a preffered partner for him yet.Don't be surprised if the Dutchman plays up front on his own in Moscow.

 

magic had 3-4 chances.

 

And he missed them all.He contributed nothing to the general play after the first ten minutes.

 

Insane overeaction. The team showed some really good passages of play in the 1st half against a very defensive setup. Sure it broke down and was patchy but these players need to gel. Our lack of fitness showed when we fell away in the 2nd half and Donati in particular looked really tired. The main problem IMO is just that all the players were lacking that 10-20% sharpness that only comes with serious games and this means that a lot we tried did not quite come off. We had new partnerships all the way down the spine - i.e. a new centre back partnership, a new central midfield partnership, a rarely used striker partnership. These will not gel completely for another month and not in time for the CL game. On the bright side, we played a lot better than Rangers did in their 3-0 win yesterday.


Brown-Has a really solid feel about him but looks a little iffy at kicking.6
Wilson-Look good today. Think he will do very well if he stays fit 7
McManus-Pretty solid but not his best game.6
Kennedy-Soild and nice touches but still looks a little iffy at the ball OTT. 6
Naylor- Did OK but needs to realise you dont have to melt the ball with every cross.6
Hartley-The whipping boy of TC played pretty well if you watch him off the ball. Not Hearts form but an improvement 6
Brown-Great first half then fell away.7
Donati-Classy forward passing player (little of the Lenny 'crab' play) but not sure he really is a sitting midfielder. Very badly tired in the 2nd half which is why he and not Hartley went off. 6
McGeady-As one of his biggest critics I have to give him credit for another excellent performance.7.5
JVOH-Great holdup play but his lack of pace means he needs a fast partner not Killen.6.5
Zurawski-As usual clever running and positional sense was combined by total lack of sharpness in front of goal. He really faded in the 2nd half too. We cant afford to wait around to see if his sharpness ever improves. If he doesnt score then he is a far worse bet than Kenny who at least contributes to the teams forward drive 5
Naka-Nice touches and deadball as usual - 6
Killen-Actually showed some nice touches when he came on but too similar to JVOH. - 6

Overall the main worries were IMO

1. There is a gap between central midfield and the centre backs that has been noticeable in several games and cost us dear against the Toon. Think ithe problem is that none of Brown, Donati or Hartley naturally like sitting there. I have a feeling we may see Sno in that area soon with one of Brown or Donati beside him rather than both. We will certainly need to throw Sno in there in the CL if we play a 4-5-1.

2. Our back 4 need a few more games together before they will totally gel. The centre of the defense still looks very vulernable on the deck (especially passes inside the CBs between then and the full backs) although I think it will come good.

3. Our strikers often get fed passes with their back to the goal but then take too many touches back towards our own goal. We need someone fast who can spin and turn quickly up there. We would score a lot more if we had that sort of striker. The golden oldies on TC may remember Paul Sturrock of Dundee United in the 80s who was a master at that sort of play. He is the sort of player that we need. Skippy maybe can do that job but nobody else in our squad looks suitable. I think this needs a signing to fix.

4. If Aidan gets injured or goes back to the dire form of 2nd half of last season then we will have no pacey width at all. That also can only be fixed by a signing.

 

err confused so edit