Rodgers has Celtic purring
An astute appointment you have to say. 4 points ahead of their rivals after 4 games on a shoestring budget
So much to enjoy about that game.
We are unlikely to ever start with that defence again but they kept a clean sheet and battled through difficult moments. Lagerbielke made mistakes but didn’t hide. Scales struggled under the direct ball but grew into the game and stood tall. Taylor had some shocking moments but ran himself into the ground. Johnston not as steady as usual but similarly committed and loves the physical stuff. Bernabei even learned to defend by the end of his spell on the pitch and Ralston was aggressive and tough.
Midfield were terrific. McGregor from start to finish and O’Riley beside him was equally impressive. Two of them made a ton of interceptions and used the ball really well. Noticeable that O’Riley played noticeably deeper than recent weeks and it worked very well. Rodgers got his tactics spot on. Turnbull wasn’t as good but still involved in lots of our passing in the first half. Holm came on then and was excellent. Won the ball back a couple of times and his passing and running with the ball was really promising. Cracking performance for a 20 year old.
Maeda had his wild moments but by God they must hate him. Flying around the place disrupting all their build up and caused them lots of problems on the ball too. He’s invaluable in those games. Abada was quiet enough but unlucky with his crossshot and Kyogo should have played him in later. Yang looks very good too. Has really quick feet and was going past Yilmaz with ease. Kyogo didn’t have his best game but that was a thunderous finish. And great to get Oh back on the pitch.
An Irish manager and Irish centre back is a great bonus.
I forgot Hart. He was terrific too. He’s had some dodgy moments recently but stood really tall today and made big interventions when required.
Jaysus lads, that’s a cracking win. If you told me a month ago we’d be 2 points ahead of the Buddies going into the international break I’d have snapped your hand off.
World class goal by Kyogo. 
That fat traitorous Aussie pudding Ange would have gone to Ibrox with a makeshift back four & tried to play fancy stuff. Now we have a world class manager in the great Brendan Rodgers who cut his cloth accordingly. Thank you Brendan.
The second half was a little bit dodgy after we were much the better team in the first. Kyogo would ideally tuck away at least one of the first two chances before scoring the belter. We also comfortably controlled the possession & tempo of the game - best McGregor has been this season.
Second half was backfoot stuff for large spells. Again you’d like us to be less panicked in possession but they managed to pin us back & have some bouts of pressure. Nothing too clear cut created though & Hart was assured when called upon. The first goal is usually crucial in these games, we had something to hold onto & they became ever more desperate.
Fair play to Scales, he performed well above my expectations & was the better of the two by far. He was solid & determined & did the basics well for the most part despite being caught out with a couple of direct straight balls. LagerBike was pretty ropy, to put it mildly. We could have put the game to bed earlier on the counter though, some really promising positions squandered. It’s mad that we ended up with a back four of Ralston LagerBike Scales & Bernabei & still kept a clean sheet.
It’s a bit cuntish to focus on negatives but the cameo by Yang, who’s actually looked good in his appearances so far, was Haksabanovicesque. Fannying around & not working hard either. I was screaming at the telly when Oh messed up that flick around the corner on the break & Yang stood there motionless with his hands on his head for around 10 seconds while the hun left back launched an attack. Bernabei was quite a hazard too.
As I said pre game, now it’s down to the management team & coaching staff to get to work on the training ground after the international break. We’ll hopefully have some first choice defenders & Hatate back but that was a terrific win in the circumstances.
No away fans takes away massively from the fixture generally but there’s something beautiful about recent Celtic Ibrox goals being met with total & utter silence. Kyogo’s class essentially the difference between the sides.
I thought Yang was good. I get the Haksabnovic point but I thought he opened space much better and looked like he’d create chances.
But both he and Bernabei struggled with the pace of the game when they came on. I’d be more worried about Bernabei who has made that mistake before and just jogged after the first ball into the corner and round himself in trouble. But he did step it up after that.
You’d want to check out Boyd’s salary.
Laces through it.
Jesus, I thought he was brutal. Shoved off the ball in our left back position & lay down for his first involvement. Did well once or twice after that but made some terrible decisions I felt. Had that fairly inept hun reserve x2 left back easily beaten for pace but kept running infield into traffic instead of going round him on the outside into space. Was also lazy defensively & constantly let lads run off him. It was the latter that irked me mainly but lookit he’s young & will develop hopefully.
I forgot about that first involvement in fairness. I’ll downgrade my rating accordingly
This hun politely encouraging the Celtic players to get off the pitch at full time was gas.
Ooofffttt. Simultaneously posted the same thing.
https://x.com/paulthetim/status/1698304211832692837?s=46&t=0sQkcb7z4szDmx1-2Xlm0w
The Rangers TV co-commentator is amusing here.
Proper hun meltdown here:
