Kasper Schmeichel

Pot.

 

His goal was being absolutely peppered last night. He wasn't the problem.

 

That angle is tight for sure and GK always will come in for flak being beaten on those angles.

But good lord, that strike was lethal, full on nuclear missile.

Reminded a little of back in the day the way Lukas Podolski could absolutely cannon a shot

 

The first one the shot vision for Schmeichel was blocked by the defender, but apart from that he couldnt even anticipate a shot coming from that angle, never saw it until it was blasting by his ear.

The one low down to his left, just another great strike.

 

Kasper Schmeichel hasn't been troubled in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic so far this season.


In his short Celtic career, the Danish shot-stopper has equalled a 118-year-old shut-out record by keeping six clean sheets on the bounce in the domestic league in Scotland. However, there are levels to this football game, though. Big levels, especially in the European arena.

Brendan Rodgers' Celtic found that out to their cost in the Signal Iduna Park Stadium as they tried to mix it and go toe-to-toe with last season's beaten Champions League finalists.

The visitors were up against it as early as the seventh minute when Schmeichel upended Jamie Gittens in the box and Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez awarded a penalty and a yellow card to the ex-Falkirk and Leicester goalkeeper. Schmeichel was helpless to prevent Emre Can from firing home the opener, Karim Adeyemi bagging a first-half hat-trick, Serhou Guirassy notching a brace and Felix Nmecha completing the rout on a night of misery.

However, Schmeichel believes that the 7-1 Champions League mauling can be used as a reference point for the rest of the campaign. The No.1 is keen to move on quickly and get the defeat out of his system and he will use all his experience in the game to turn the crushing loss into something positive for the team. Schmeichel reckons that something good might come of it in the future.



He said: "It’s a case of moving on very fast. The most important thing from a night like that is to learn from it. It can even be a good thing if you do. It’s something to refer to now – remember that night. Remember what happened, because if we are not 100 percent on it for every single minute, that’s what can happen.

“I’m hoping we can turn it into a positive. That’s our responsibility as the leadership group."

Schmeichel revealed he is not one to get too high or too low whatever football throws at him. He has a personal 'midnight rule' which he strictly abides by. Whether it is winning the English Premiership title and FA Cup with Leicester City, breaking century-old shut-out records with Celtic, or suffering Champions League hammerings, it's all the same to Schmeichel. It was all forgotten about by midnight but he admits that Celtic need to learn after being handed another lesson on their travels in Europe.

Now Schmeichel's focus is solely on Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday Schmeichel said: "That’s life, that’s football. This game has an incredible way of bringing you back down to earth sometimes.

“We also have to remember the big picture. We have had a good start to the season. This is a lesson we have to learn from. Football is an industry where you can have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows but you have to move on very quickly. Dortmund are a good team. We caught them on their best day but they caught us on our worst day. They had one of those nights where everything worked for them. We have had plenty of days like that ourselves this season already.

“That’s football sometimes. The most important thing is now we take our medicine. It’s all well and good when you take the praise like we have been doing this season. We also have to take it on the chin if we get a result like this. For me now, the big thing is the response. How do we respond now? It’s all well and good having a good start to the season, but now we have to feel this one because it hurts, but then move on to Sunday.

"Throughout my career, I’ve always had a rule where I allow myself to feel how I feel until midnight. That’s whether it’s joy from winning or devastation from losing but after midnight we move on.

“Now it’s all about Ross County."



For the moment, Bergamo and last season's Europa League winners and Atalanta can wait. One thing is for certain, Rodgers isn't going to be any more pragmatic when Celtic touches down in Italy in three weeks. The wily, old Schmeichel refused to be drawn into any kind of debate about whether or not the Celtic manager should deploy a different tactical approach next time out in the Champions League or if the gulf in class between the Scottish Premiership and elite-level European club football is too big a gap to bridge.

What Schmeichel does know is that this one result won't define Celtic's season. Schmeichel said: “There’s always a debate. That approach has been very successful for us this season. Sometimes you just come up against an opposition where everything goes their way.

"It was one of those results that can happen now and then. They happen. I’ve been lucky enough to be at the other end of some of them as well. Sometimes it’s like everything the opposition hits goes in. They get the luck or the rub of the green to get a result like that. It’s not one of those results that’s indicative of us as a team. We’ve had a very good start to the season and have to remember that. We just have to take it on the chin now. It’s not who we are or what we have been.

"You need to take the rough with the smooth when this happens. as we’ve been on the other side a lot this season."

The objective for Schmeichel and Celtic remains the same. The men in green and white will qualify for the knockout phase if they finish in the top 24. With two down and six games of the Champions League league phase to go, Schmeichel won't be rushing to make any snap judgements. Despite what he labelled a 'freak result' in Dortmund the Dane still has faith in the process. He said: “I always say, nothing in football is easy. If it was easy then everyone would do it. You have to earn absolutely everything in this game. No one is going to give you anything.

“The other night we had the kind of result that we have dished out a few times already this season. It was a tough night but it’s been fantastic since I joined the club. The other night was an isolated incident, the kind of freak result that can happen now and again, but it’s not indicative of this season.

“Remember, this is the first time we’ve lost this season. It won’t damage the belief. We are two games into an eight-game campaign in the Champions League – there is a long way to go.”

Schmeichel didn't go looking for trouble in Germany, it just arrived in his six-yard box. Rodgers' men tried to step into the Bundesliga side's face and it backfired spectacularly. On a torrid Tuesday night in the Champions League in Dortmund, Celtic and Schmeichel had come to the wrong place

 

Adeyemi’s 2nd from that angle looks worse for Kaspar purely in slow motion. In reality, soon as that shot left his boot, the net rippled half a second or so later. The power was insane, was an angle you’d never expect a shot, he was anticipating the cross and he was beat by the time he could shift to it being a shot.


He conceded 7 last night, and I don’t think he had a bad performance, infact it could have been at least 10 without him. Take Scales and him out that team last night, it’d have been double the amount conceded. Even with Schmiechal giving away a penalty, I don’t think he had much more options to do for that one.

There was soundbites from us last night every mistake was punished. And it was far from it, 7-1 and our keeper kept out a couple of certain goals, and Scales infront of him stopped a good few from being punished. That’s how bad it was. That was the worst performance we’ve had in the CL for me. PSG 7-1 and Barca 6-1’s there was an element of the best players in the world and that can happen. Last night it was them being very good, aye, but on us being * awful.

 

talks about Kasper & Celtic around 1 hour 10 mins in

 

Peter Schmeichel put his heated relationship with former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane to one side so he could gush about his son Kasper's move to Celtic.

The duo were massive personalties in the United dressing room in the 1990s under Sir Alex Ferguson - but didn't always see eye to eye with the Dane and the former Celtic midfielder openly discussing their unseen clashes throughout the years. The goalkeeper joined Keane on Gary Neville's Stick to Football podcast to discuss their past rows at Old Trafford - but the duo spared a moment for Kasper Schmeichel and his move to Glasgow's east end.

The No.1 reunited with Brendan Rodgers in the summer having previously worked with him at Leicester City - and has enjoyed an impressive start to life in the Scottish Premiership while also making his return to the Champions League. When discussing watching his son play, Schmeichel Sr admitted: "When I am not able to watch the games, for example if I am working, my focus is there. Of course, he is back in the Champions League now

Keane - who spent six months as a Hoops' player back in 2006 - cut in: "Celtic is a good move, eh? Is he enjoying it at Celtic? It's a really nice fit for him

Delighted Peter responded: "It’s perfect. It’s perfect. With the manager he knows, the atmosphere around, I mean, Celtic is just a massive, massive club. You know that better than me, but the team they have, it’s amazing

 

Yeah, take his age and the age/speed of the attacker into the equation it is what it was - stonewall penalty. What I did notice about the penalty btw - albeit in slow motion replay - when Kasper dives for the penalty, it's almost as if he pulls his wrists back ever so slightly. Does that mean he'd have saved it? Who knows, just thought I'd raise it.

 

It's his job to anticipate that, though. That's what being a top goalkeeper is all about. If you react to shots even at SPL level, it's too late to save it. You have to already be moving when the ball leaves the striker's foot.

He should be saving that one. Arguably also the one where Daizen gave it away. I think Forster saves both of those. The other 5, I agree no keeper is saving them.

 

Don’t blame him at all. Yeah maybe he could have got to the rocket that went pin at the best post but he had absolutely zero protection.

 

Behave yourself.

It was a rasper of a shot. He's * 37 going on 38.

Some of the top keepers in their prime woukd have struggled to get down to even get near that shot.

 

I was going to include some of this in my match preview for Sunday, but it got a bit much, so sticking it here instead. Enjoy...

Start Keeping a History

If Kasper Schmeichel records a clean sheet against Ross County, it will be his 7th consecutive in the league.

This would set a new club record for clean sheets to start a League season, which he currently shares with Tommy Sinclair and the 1906/07 Celts.

In fact, Sinclair literally only played 6 times in the League for Celtic and did not concede a single goal in that run, through August & September 1906.

In a curious twist, Sinclair was actually on loan from R****** at the time! The first player to play for both clubs in fact.

This arrangement came to be as part of a compensation deal, after Celtic goalkeeper Davie Adams had his hand badly injured by an exposed nail in a goalpost during a pre-season testimonial held at Ibrox between the two clubs, which ruled Adams out for the first few months of the season.

Upon Adams' return to the side in October, Celtic were so close to extending that run, but for conceding a 90th minute consolation in the 2-1 win against Aberdeen.

So Schmeichel and the Bhoys will need to go the full distance to better the 1906 mark.

It was a remarkable feat for someone who spend so much of his career as a spectator. After the brief loan spell Sinclair returned to his parent club but was traded away shortly thereafter.

In total, Sinclair made just 17 more professional appearances over the remainder of his entire career, spending 6 seasons at Newcastle Utd (playing just 8 times), followed by spells for Dunfermline (6 games) and Kilmarnock (3 games) before retiring in 1917, illustrating how he was almost always the understudy throughout his career.

As it happens, only one other Celtic 'keeper has managed to keep 6 clean sheets in their first 6 league games (although not at the start of a season) along with Sinclair and Schmeichel.

Carl Muggleton joined Lou Macari's Celtic in January 1994, and made an immediate impact when he was brought in to take over from Packy Bonner. With those 6 league clean sheets, Muggleton had provided a platform, but the team struggled to make the most of this, winning just 3 of those games, with the other 3 finishing as goalless draws.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before things started to sour though, and coupled with the team's weak defence, saw them shipping far too many goals. These events were co-inciding with the club's very existential crisis was happening at the time. the moral of the team would've been low and even after McCann took over the club, the team continued to limp to the end of the season. Muggleton ended up being dropped in favour of the man he had replaced but the team continued to ship goals with Bonner between the sticks, so how much of that could be entirely laid at the GK's?

Hopefully Schmeichel's legacy surpasses both of these to being little more than the trivia. ​

 

I disagree with the should be saving it, the good thing about experience is that he anticipates where he should be. He got it wrong, and Adeyemi released an accurate * bomb of a shot. He adapted to it very quickly, just not quick enough, and that’s ok. It’s only the slow motion replay that makes it look worse, but full speed as it happened then nah, don’t blame him at all. It’s not one I expect to save, one that if he did I’d be praising it so much. I think it’s a shot that he could save not outwith the realms of his ability but expecting it to be a bog standard sort of save? Not for me. He pulled off a couple of crackers the other night as well, which is overlooked a bit.

 

I don't think he's to blame or that Hart or Gordon would save it; but I'm convinced that Forster (1.0 or 2.0) saves 2 of those 7 goals. I do agree with Schmeichel redeeming himself second half, particularly the 1v1. He had no right to save that against that quality of opponent.

 

Forster saved things I had zero expectations could be saved. As did Boruc. Those two some of the * they done in the CL or just in general was insane. I get what you mean though, I don’t think you expect the save there either, but same as me don’t think it’s not unsaveable.

Trade off having his experience though, they anticipate play more and shape up for what they think is happening, rather than rely on covering themselves or relying on reflex. Kaspar has a healthy mix of using his experience or relying on ability though.

Forster at his best, Boruc at his best when they have one of they games they were just monstrous they would save that yes but they also conceded goals that you’d think they could save on another day. Every keeper does, but when we compare it’s to the Forster against Barca or Cup Final form, not the FF who got chipped whilst on his line still off Derek Riordan… a glorious goal and not FF to blame but one he could save another day. Time makes us forget the ones they didn’t pull off.

 

Fun watch! Ta!..Kicks in at 1:12:13!

 

It’s sad how much I like that he’s watching us as a fan cos his boy now, loved the guy when I was younger. Had the green Man Utd keeper top that had the plastic zip thing and everything

It doesn’t matter a jot but I like it. Always annoyed me the real Hagi would be like that cos his son with them, childhood hero, I don’t want that

 

Lol..but hey..'Peter S gets us lol!'

 

Boruc was the best keeper I've seen at Celtic; but for sheer shot stopping, Forster was peerless. I'm convinced if he'd been born a generation earlier, he'd have been considered world class. Forster made saves that still give me goosebumps today. The one at the end against Lazio at CP, for example. I still can't believe he saved that. I'll always remember the first thing his teammates did when the whistle went for full time was run up to him and scream in his face. The video embedded below should play from just before the save.



I don't think we disagree on that much here, mate. I do think Schmeichel was a good signing. I just think there's been a bit of hyperbole regarding his signing. That said, if you'd told me in May we were signing a keeper who was about as good as DeVries with his feet, about as good as Hart as a leader and about as good as Gordon at shot-stopping (which is roughly how I rate him at his age), I'd have bitten your hand off.