Youth/Development Team Thread

2-1 Saints

 

He was at Queens Park

 

Ralston is still on loan. I think with development loans he can play for both

 

The Under 19s will be playing Valencia soon in the UEFA Youth League competition in the play offs

 

St Johnstone reduced to ten men after a straight red card, but Celtic still 2-1 down with a few minutes to play.

 

Oh *, come on the Hoops!!!

 

Full time, Bhoys go out

 

match report from today's game


DESPITE taking the lead through Jamie McCart, Celtic’s defence of the Little Big Shot Youth Cup came to a disappointing end against St Johnstone at Station Park today, the home side progressing to the fifth round of the completion after a 2-1 victory.
McCart headed the young Hoops in front in the 22nd minute from Regan Hendry’s corner but they failed to build on that platform as the Perth side quickly restored parity through George Hunter’s venomous long-range shot.
And it was the Hunter who grabbed what proved to be the winning goal early in the second half, the striker forcing the ball home from Paul Simpson’s corner.
Although the visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages, they couldn’t find get the goal that would have taken the match into extra time as the Saints celebrated their passage into the next stage of the tournament.
Tommy McIntyre made three changes from the team that dispatched Inverness Caley Thistle 4-0 in the league last week, with Anthony Ralston – who had enjoyed a profitable period on loan with Queens Park - Aidan McIlduff and Mark Hill coming into the starting XI. Sam Wardrop, Tyler Blackett and Connor McManus were the players to drop out.
On a crisp winter’s day in Forfar, it was the home side who threatened first when Eoghan McAawl volleyed well over from the edge of the box after the young Hoops had only partially cleared a free-kick from the right.
The Bhoys replied at the other end in eighth minute after a neat piece of skill from Aidan Nesbitt saw him evade the attentions of Aaron Comrie down the left. His low cross into the box was left by Luke Donnelly but Joe Thomson was unable to capitalise.
As the visitors started to string more passes together, they started to fashion more opportunities. A precise ball through the middle from Donnelly found Calvin Miller in some space 18 yards from goal, but he was unable to apply the finish, dragging his shot wide.
More good work from Nesbitt down the left then set Thomson scampering into the box. The midfielder’s flashed a clever ball across goal but there were no takers.
St Johnstone were still a force in the match, however, and McCart had to make a timely block to Kyle Lander’s effort following a cutback from Hunter, sending it over for a corner.
Back came Celtic, and the home side had goalkeeper Jordan Millar to thank for keeping them in the game in the 21st minute.
Donnelly threaded a pass through for the advancing Aidan McIlduff inside the box. The full-back looked up and picked out Miller in the middle, whose low attempt was turned behind by the Saints shot-stopper.
Their respite was short-lived. From the resultant corner, Hendry delivered the ball into the box and McCart thumped home a header to open the scoring.
The Perth Saints were undeterred by this setback and they responded with a free-kick from Liam Gordon that curled narrowly over, before Hunter fired over at the near post.
And it was the striker who levelled the match in impressive style. Collecting a knockdown around 30 yards from goal, the Saints No.9 strode forward before unleashing a rasping drive that flew beyond Conor Hazard.
That left the match evenly poised as the second half got underway, but it was the Perth side, boosted by their equaliser, who had the momentum.
Winning the race to a ball over the top, Hunter managed to loft a shot over Hazard but McCart was back to quickly to hook the ball off the line.
Ten minutes into the second half, they completed the turnaround. Paul Simpson swung in a corner from the right and Hunter managed to bundle the ball in at the near post.
Although the Bhoys tried to respond, getting into some promising positions on either flank, they weren’t able to test Millar meaningfully. Instead, most of the goalmouth action was still taking place in front of Hazard, with Gordon and Jason Kerr heading over and Hill making a timely block to prevent Lander from reaching Hunter’s cross.
Nesbitt came close to bringing the scores even in the 69th minute after the ball was worked to him in the box. But, having crafted some space, he couldn’t keep his powerful drive down.
As the game entered its closing stages, McIntyre’s side began to apply more concerted pressure, forcing the Saints defence into some hurried clearances.
A red card for Simpson for an off-the-ball incident left the Perth outfit with 10 men for the final few minutes but the young Celts couldn’t take advantage, despite a late salvo in stoppage time.

post match interview with the manager

A DISAPPOINTED Tommy McIntyre felt his young Celtic side produced their worst performance of the season in Thursday night’s Youth Cup defeat to St Johnstone.
Jamie McCart had put the Bhoys ahead at Forfar’s Station Park, heading home from Regan Hendry’s corner in the 22nd minute, but a goal in each half from George Hunter saw the home side prevail and book their place in the fifth round of the competition.
The loss ended the young Hoops’ unbeaten domestic record this season, extinguishing their hopes of retaining the trophy they won at Hampden last year.
Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, McIntyre said: “I’m really disappointed. We didn’t play as well as we have been playing.
“We've had a lot of praise in how we're playing, and rightly so, but we have to take the criticism as well because we didn’t play well in the areas of the pitch where we have been really good in the past couple of weeks, and the players know that.
“Take nothing away from St Johnstone but, from our point of view, it was our poorest performance of the season.
“St Johnstone had a game-plan and we had highlighted a lot of how they would play on video, and they did that. They made it a cup-tie, and there are occasions where you need to roll your sleeves up.
“On the ball, I felt we did reasonably well and created one or two good chances but off the ball, but we didn’t work as hard as we should do.”
“We scored a great goal and it was something we had worked on in training. We had highlighted through the video analysis how we could exploit set-plays in particular. It was a good start for us, but we never built on that and they got back into the game so it made it more difficult for us.”
In the closing stages, the young Celts piled on the pressure but were unable to fashion a leveller and their frustration was evident at the final whistle.
McIntyre and the rest of the coaching staff will be ensuring the players learn from the experience and then switch their focus to bouncing back in their league outing
“We did put a sustained amount of pressure on in the last 15 minutes of the game but that’s not good enough for us,” he said. “We have to make sure we do that right from the start.
“The disappointment is we never played as well as have been playing over the last couple of weeks. It’s a sore one and they need to learn from it, and we need to bounce back.
“We are straight back into it. We have a couple of big games coming up but it will be good to reflect on the performance.
“There are one or two things maybe we could have done better but we are big enough to take that and so are the players. It’s a learning process and this is part of their development.”

 

Tickets now on sale for the UEFA Youth League game against Valencia, £5 adults £2 concession, game is at Celtic Park on Wednesday 10th February with a 5pm kick off.

 

the Green Brigade will have a section for this tempted to go to this.




anyone wanting to go the guys will be taking payments in the CSA tomorrow.

 

Going to the game on Wednesday straight after college. Looking forward to it, hopefully they get a good result!

 

CELTIC’S Development Squad are preparing to take on Valencia in the play-off stages of the UEFA Youth League next month, and captain Fiacre Kelleher says there could be no better place to take on the Spanish giants than Paradise.
The Bhoys were paired with the La Liga youth outfit for their one-off tie after making their way past HJK Helsinki and Puskas Akademia in the qualifiers, and they’re now just one win away from making it to the last 16 of the competition.
It’ll be the first time Kelleher has stepped out on to the Hallowed turf at the home of the Scottish champions for a competitive game and the 19-year-old believes home advantage could be a massive factor in helping the Young Hoops reach their goal when they take on Valencia on Wednesday, February 10.
And in an exclusive interview with the official match programme, the Young Celts captain said he is relishing the chance to impress at Celtic Park in the crunch European fixture.


How did you feel when the draw was made?
Happy. I know they’ll be a good team but out of all the teams we could have got they were one of the smaller teams in a way because there were sides like Manchester United in there. But we’re really excited now and the fact that it’s going to be played at Celtic Park makes it special.



Have you ever played at Celtic Park before?
This will be my first time so it’ll be nice. I can’t wait. I hope there’s a good crowd there because that could really add to it. I wasn’t a Celtic fan growing up but since I’ve been here I’ve become one. I’ve been at Celtic for four years so I understand the significance of playing there.


What would it mean to you to play there?
It’d mean everything. It’d be class. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I came here so it’ll be nice to be on the pitch. I was in the squad for the Partick Thistle game in the New Year and did the warm-up but that’s it. There was a good crowd there and a good atmosphere so it was nice to experience it.
Have you thought much about playing at Celtic Park? Is it a dream for players here?
It would be nice to play there and hopefully one day I can do that for the first-team. If I keep dreaming about it hopefully it happens.
The game against Valencia is a one-off so what’s the mood going into it?
Everyone is just buzzing really. The fact that it’s a one-off just adds to it. So far everything has been over two legs so having it as a one-off adds that extra element. I can’t wait now. There are no nerves right now but closer to the time there will be. Everyone is just looking forward to it just now.
The Valencia match is still more than two weeks away but are you thinking about it?
Sometimes you think about it but just now we’re focusing on the league. I’d say in the week building up to it it’ll be all I’ll be thinking about.

How do the European ties differ from domestic games?
This time we’ll feel more pressure because it’s a one-off game but that’s the only difference. It’s such a prestigious thing if you go far in Europe so that adds an extra element but these are the moments you’re living for at Celtic. It’s the kind of game you dream about playing. Obviously you want to do it at first-team level but this is a good learning curve to get to that.

What do you know about Valencia as a team?
The management team have looked into them and they’ll know a lot but they’ll keep that from us until the week building up to it as we have to focus on our Development Squad games in the league. We’re unbeaten in the league and we want to keep that going.
What would it mean to you to get through the match with Valencia and make it to the last 16?
It’d be amazing and it’d be great for the club as well. I was involved in the Youth Champions League when we had Ajax, Milan and Barcelona in 2013 but I only played against Ajax so this is my first real consistent run at it.

 

Will the game be on Celtic TV?

 

just had a look can't see anything about it being on Celtic TV.

 

Disappointing

 

at least you might get highlights online after the game

 

today's game against Aberdeen has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

 

No, they've stopped showing the development sides games on Celtic TV, they only put up two minute highlights now. Numpties.

 

Aye knew that but hoped that cause this is a fairly big match I'd be able to see it! Hope therell be a a decent attendance though

 

I can't quote for some reason.

Cheers for the interview Crow

It will indeed be an exciting night for the lads, with the Green Brigade being there that could be a special night.

I would love to be able to go but I can't. But at least we'll get to see it this time, on TV or a stream.

From live-footballontv.com

Celtic U19 v Valencia U19
UEFA Youth League Play-Offs
17:00
BT Sport Europe / BT Sport Europe HD

Mon the Hoops!