Celtic v Gretna

balde sounded very poor so maybe we will see a hinkel-gary-mick-naylor defence v them. Murdo seemed to think Deeks played well and maybe he was taken off as a precaution

 

Murdo was clearly on the wind-up when he talked about Deeks being taken off with the Rangers game in mind..

It did sound like Balde had a few scary moments though and Im worried about Donati facing Rangers.. Yes , the flicks are nice when they come off and when he joins in the linkup play from defence to attack he looks usefull but he just doesn't impose himself enough and his first touch got a slating at times on the radio again today.. Will need a really polished performance from him if he's given the nod on Wednesday..

 

I'd play Jarosik against Mordor's forces. Experience.

 

The Bhoys played well after the game had gotten going for a while. This ws a convincing win and a clean sheet should give everyone a bit more confidence going into the OF game. Sucks that the huns won too though. Hopefully they can take the momentum from this game and work on a few things in practice, to put on a good performance against the Rangers.

 

As much as I'm a fan of good football, I think the Old Firm is the place for pwoer and aggression, and Jarosik is the biggest nonce on the park (despite being a big lad). That said, I dunno who else I'd play...

 

Just back from the game, here how I rated them:

Boruc 6 - Should've dealt with some crosses better but gd he's back
Caldwell 6 - Tries hard enough although I'm looking forward to Hinkel
Balde 7 - Gotta stop trying to be R.Ferdinand though
McManus 6 - Solid enough
Naylor 8 - Fantastic passing and crossing in the 2nd half
Donati 6 - Should've scored when he was 1 on 1
Brown 8 - Tenacious as ever, great goal, silly booking
McGeady 7 - Not his best but constant threat
Riordan 5 - Drifts out of the game too much
McDonald 7 - Good goal, always pest, unlucky not to have got another
J'VoH 5 - After 3 really gd games he was too quiet today

Btw what's with the awful refereeing decisions we've been getting lately, it's been constant.

Anyway roll on the OF game

 

I hate going on about this but once again we were outnumbered in midfield. In the first half the only ball open to anyone was a ball passed back the way. Gretna dominated in the first half and if it wasn't for the Holy Goalie we would have been in big trouble.

In the second half we pushed Naylor a bit further forward and then managed to take control of the game and because we matched their mumbers Brown started to shine. I was very impressed with Gretna. They worked their knackers off and caused us a few problems.

I'm concerned for the Old Firm game as we look very lightweight in the middle.

 

McGeady was absolutely outstanding again. I dont think we're giving this guy the praise he deserves.

 

Double post

 

Easy win today and could have been more. Man of the match for me was Skoosh, the wee man was everywhere today, great energy and nice finish. And to all the JVOH critics I thought he played well today was mobile and making great runs, only thing was no * passed the ball to him. Really annoyed me that. That aside another clean sheet and a few goals and could have been more. Good to see Artur back and ready for the huns.

Send them on!!

 

Agree with most of your points aftershock, Brownie was smashin and nice to see him gettin a nice goal, it really should have been more. And for a bad day at the office (WGS and Keevins + Co.), 3-0 going on 6 is not too bad.
I have to disagree with the Jan thing though, i can't see much that he brings to the team, if you played with 10 men and left him at the side, we'd have performed exactly the same. i actually think Skippy's game is suffering with the burden of playing alongside Jan.
Anyway.

Send them on!!

 

Donati was MOTM IMO,but I'm still a bit worried about him in the Huns match.For all his quality he was abysmal at Ibrox.

 

was anyone overly impressed by balde today?

 

mcgeady was motm for me, crossing just needs touched up a wee bit

 

anyone have the goals?

 

Not overly impressed, but had a good game IMO. Couple of dodgy passes and some very confident moments. Big mick looks to have regained his composure with Bobo alongside him.

 

does anybody think donati gets a really hard time of the media?

 

Yeah your probably right. I thought he was ok today, sprayed some lovely passes about but is a bit lightweight in the tackle. He'll have to toughen up if he is playing on Wednesday.

 

I don't see Scottish media but I do think he gets a hard time off the fans.If Brown and Donati have exactly the same type of game then Brown will be rated above Donati IMO.

 

Possibly because he's been in and out of the team , hasn't nailed down a particualr role and often looks like he needs too much time on the ball.

His late goal against Shaktar has probably paid for his transfer fee and wages so Im not going to be too hard on him , and really want to see the guy become a star... I'd say he already has a cult idol status among many of our fans and hopefully one day he'll become a legend.. (Im thinking he'll become the mainstay of our midfield to help drive us to 10 in a row )