Champions League Round of 42

He was rank. He did nothing. He hid for the first half hour. Then he dropped deep but still played with his back to goal and he stood out on the wing near the end. He is not a natural striker and his workrate is shite and he doesn’t play any decent passes when he drops off. Their left sided centre back, Suler or whatever his name is, is worse than Ambrose. And yet Stokes didn’t have a shot on target, didn’t create a chance and never took on the cumbersome ungainly slow centre back. Dreadful.

[QUOTE=“Ebeneezer Goode, post: 1007058, member: 1785”]Ill occasionally check the Sunday papers to see how that team does during the year.
[/QUOTE]
You might be better off checking the Monday papers mate.

We’ll have a few Sunday games now due to our Europa League commitments

[QUOTE=“thedancingbaby, post: 1007136, member: 48”]You might be better off checking the Monday papers mate.

We’ll have a few Sunday games now due to our Europa League commitments[/QUOTE]

No, ill have to ask a scottish lad in my workplace for the weekend scores. I refuse to buy Monday papers in Oirland due to the pages and pages of that fuckin rogbee shit in the sports sections and I only buy red tops and the like at weekends.

Thought his dead ball delivery was good infairness

Is he any good at line balls?

One of Ned’s Wed night “5” a side gang makes an annual trip to Leeds with a few Malahide lads.

They’ve done it for years and I’ve often threatened to join them but Celtic trips always took up football weekends away.

Following Tassotti vids I think I’ll do Elland Road this year. Jimmy Saville banter for 90 mins has to be better craic than a non descript game at Celtic Park.

I thought Stokes was pretty shit. His dead ball delivery was fairly good and he set up the chance where McGregor hit the bar but he was totally ineffective for the vast majority of the game in open play. Maribor are really crap and were pretty poor over both ties yet Celtic barely mustered an effort on target in the second game. Obviously it’s a collective issue with Celtic being useless rather than down to Stokes in isolation but he’s not up to it either. Others were much worse than him tonight though. Ambrose, Izaguirre, Mulgrew, Johansen and Berget were beyond shambolic.

[QUOTE=“Ebeneezer Goode, post: 1007150, member: 1785”]One of Ned’s Wed night “5” a side gang makes an annual trip to Leeds with a few Malahide lads.

They’ve done it for years and I’ve often threatened to join them but Celtic trips always took up football weekends away.

Following Tassotti vids I think I’ll do Elland Road this year. Jimmy Saville banter for 90 mins has to be better craic than a non descript game at Celtic Park.[/QUOTE]

Leeds is a great city for boozing in too

I find it a bit rich from you criticising Stokes for his work rate when you continually stuck up for Hooper’s dismal European displays. Celtic were awful tonight but Stokes was one of the few who looked like he either gave a shit or could make something happen. He created our best chance of the match when he teed up McGregor with a great bit of skill. He played in Commons with a nice ball who dragged his shot poorly wide. His delivery from set plays was very dangerous. He pressed and showed for the ball and actually competed well with the balls lumped up to him this evening.

I find it incredible you can single him out for criticism given you were the one praising Gary Hooper’s inept displays and crediting him for “occupying defenders”. When lads were hiding from receiving the ball all night Stokes was the guy who was looking to get on it.

I can’t believe people are criticising Stokesy-wokesy.
He’s in the ra, you tremendous cunts.

What’s with this “our” stuff here Totti. I thought you had signed out earlier, surely “their” is the correct term…

[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 1007160, member: 2533”]I find it a bit rich from you criticising Stokes for his work rate when you continually stuck up for Hooper’s dismal European displays. Celtic were awful tonight but Stokes was one of the few who looked like he either gave a shit or could make something happen. He created our best chance of the match when he teed up McGregor with a great bit of skill. He played in Commons with a nice ball who dragged his shot poorly wide. His delivery from set plays was very dangerous. He pressed and showed for the ball and actually competed well with the balls lumped up to him this evening.

I find it incredible you can single him out for criticism given you were the one praising Gary Hooper’s inept displays and crediting him for “occupying defenders”. When lads were hiding from receiving the ball all night Stokes was the guy who was looking to get on it.[/QUOTE]

Hooper scored important goals in Europe whereas Stokes has 0 goals in 18 European games for Celtic. Stokes isn’t good enough for Europe but neither are our other attacking options at present.

And neither was Hooper.

He was. He’s a vastly superior player to Stokes.

No - he wasn’t and no he isn’t.

Hooper has scored one goal in 8 months, he’s a fat useless cunt.

[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 1007168, member: 2533”]No - he wasn’t and no he isn’t.

Hooper has scored one goal in 8 months, he’s a fat useless cunt.[/QUOTE]

Stokes’ record is far inferior to Hooper’s, but Hooper’s gone and he’s irrelevant now. 0 goals in 18 games is a pathetic return for Stokes though. Hopefully Scepovic can provide a threat in the box.

Hooper is better suited to being a flat track bully who can profit when we have a lot of the ball and are creating chances but he is an utter passenger if you are up against a team where we can’t get a foothold in the game. His touch and control was brutal, his work rate and movement were non existent, he simply did not want to put a shift in.

Stokes brings so much more to the team with his workrate, creative ability and willingness to run the channels. There’s no doubt we need another striking option who can score goals but Hooper is a far better option than Hooper at this level. For those of you that are bashing Stokes - don’t forget that only for a bit of magic from him in the last minute against Karagandy last season we may not have had CL football at all. Stokes was one of the only players that could be defended tonight so to see some people singling him out shows that there is an agenda at work.

Lads, ye act like ye’re surprised.
They are a two bit outfit playing in a two bit league, with a two bit manager, what else would you expect from them?

[QUOTE=“Distended Red Anus, post: 1007173, member: 2648”]Lads, ye act like ye’re surprised.
They are a two bit outfit playing in a two bit league, with a two bit manager, what else would you expect from them?[/QUOTE]

They were playing at home against a similarly two bit team so I didn’t expect them to be thoroughly outplayed by them.

[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 1007170, member: 2533”]Hooper is better suited to being a flat track bully who can profit when we have a lot of the ball and are creating chances but he is an utter passenger if you are up against a team where we can’t get a foothold in the game. His touch and control was brutal, his work rate and movement were non existent, he simply did not want to put a shift in.

Stokes brings so much more to the team with his workrate, creative ability and willingness to run the channels. There’s no doubt we need another striking option who can score goals but Hooper is a far better option than Hooper at this level. For those of you that are bashing Stokes - don’t forget that only for a bit of magic from him in the last minute against Karagandy last season we may not have had CL football at all. Stokes was one of the only players that could be defended tonight so to see some people singling him out shows that there is an agenda at work.[/QUOTE]

Hooper has left and was a much better and more valuable Celtic player than Stokes, as his goalscoring record shows. Again, there is absolutely no point in bringing him into a conversation about last night other than to state that the downsizing and failure to adequately replace the likes of him, Wanyama and Ledley is a key factor in being outplayed by a poor side. You mentioned creative ability, workrate and willingness to run the channels as regards Stokes but he didn’t do any of them effectively over the two games. Clinging to one piece of play over the tie doesn’t give him a pass either. Berget set up the goal in Maribor and he’s rubbish. Stokes isn’t fast, doesn’t offer a consistent threat in the box and isn’t a good focal point when playing upfront on his own. He has 0 goals in 18 European games and he’s clearly not good enough at that level.