I don’t think Ange was happy at all with the performance during the week. Don’t think many of the Plan B options worked out at alll. We haven’t played the XI that defeated the huns since and I wonder if we’ll see that lineup today.
Rogic was sensational away to Hibs the last time though so wouldn’t be surprised if he started ahead of O’Riley.
Disappointing on GG.
Good call @Rocko on Rogic. O’Riley off the bench if needed a lethal option too.
Prediction 2-0 Celtic, Jota and Maeda
No striker on the bench so I guess Abada is our emergency for that role. Could do with a big game from Maeda
Hopefully Porteous head is all over the place after his antics the other night. Cunt usually puts in a decent shift against us
We could do with Kyogo and even Turnbull getting back to fitness soon. The dip in performance levels since we beat the huns and followed up with a thumping win at Motherwell the next weekend has been quite stark. Obviously we were fairly dire in both European matches but we’ve gotten away with it to a degree against Aberdeen and Dundee in the league and Raith in the cup.
The likes of O’Riley and Hatate have regressed a bit after blistering starts and now Giakoumakis must be injured. We could do with a few more options and to add some freshness/class to the pot.
Ange said the other day that Kyogo wouldn’t be ready until around the international break in March. That would be a full 3/4 months out and Turnbull must be behind schedule too because he was meant to be out for 8 weeks when he got injured a week before Christmas.
Long story short, we either need to click back into the January/early February form or we’re not going to keep getting away with it in the league.
It’s probably a big of a worry that there isn’t a plan B for Geo when he’s injured? He is hugely effective in his role.
Thought Gio endured a very frustrating night on Thursday … he seemed to be on a totally different wavelength to his teammates , you could see him making numerous good runs and lads just opting to pass sideways instead …
The results have been better than the performances recently. Even then we’ve been scraping by in results lately and were badly exposed in Europe. But I can’t see Ange accepting that and I hope we start to push on again now.
Neither the green away kit or the white away kit was suitable today for some reason.
Huge early chance there.
This is very poor. Safe to say the 7 changes haven’t had the desired effect. We’ve started very sloppily and look off the pace. Basic passes being misplaced, knocking it 5 yards behind or in front of the target. Heading it away aimlessly when we could take it down and build pressure. Players seem quite inhibited and everything looks difficult.
We’ve let the pace really drop and the passing has been very sloppy.
Constipated football.
Better pace about us now
Better last 15/20 but still not clicking and a general lack of urgency. It’s all pretty lethargic and not enough chances being created. Jota was brighter as the half progressed and it looks like he could open them up. Hatate had been brutal but upped it a bit. They haven’t had a chance but they’ve been comfortable.
Not sure if it’s confidence or tiredness or arrogance but that was a really poor half in terms of effort and execution for the most part. All our best performances have been when we’ve played with a high tempo but we were lethargic and very passive for large periods there.
And it wasn’t really any individuals - it was a quiet performance across the board. But we did seem to improve as it went on and hopefully we can sustain that in th second half.
I’d like to see a bit more ambition in our passing. Was impressed by how often Bodo picked us apart through the middle over the two games. We’ve just been shuffling it out wide a lot recently. A few low passes into the feet of Maeda would be more ambitious than just feeding the wingers out wide when we have no height for crosses anyway. They’re happy to see us moving it wide each time.
Id add that after an arrival bounce, it’s hardly surprising that players like the Japanese and o Riley level out a bit. They’ve an awful lot on. Lots of games in rapid succession, so little rest. No room for error. New city/country, new home, no local social network.
Fatigue in general is perfectly normal.
Also teams start to figure how to close down Ange.
Draw at best
