Huns are really dominating against Hearts so far and look like they’ll go on and win comfortably. Templeton is the big hope for Hearts and he nearly gave them the lead there. He’s causing Whittaker lots of problems but play is all going one direction.
Fuck that. Miserable goalkeeping.
delete the thread please
Flicked away after the second. Down to Dundee United and Killie now. Running out of what semblance of hope remained.
I’m not a great fan of blaming everything on management, but do they have to shift the majority of the blame for the mid week result?
I think we started with the wrong team (Maloney is no longer good enough as a winger but can be effective in a central role) and would be more concerned about the changes. We went for a direct style in the second half, presumably influenced by the poor surface, but that backfired badly and we didn’t look like going on and beating them or even drawing. So I’d say there were errors in team selection and in tactics. But the defence for Lennon is that we conceded 3 stupid goals and there was very little he could do about that.
Lennon inherited a team with no capable centre backs other than the promising, but frequently injured, Rogne. Unlike Strachan and Mowbray he took steps to address the situation and Majstorovic was a stopgap solution but at least he held it together for much of the season. Mulgrew was another emergency deployment and he’s been much better than expected but unfortunately he’s not really good enough either. From talking to Lennon back in February he confirmed that they were close to signing a centre back on transfer deadline day but it fell through at the last minute. In other words, we have a problem with our defence and he’s trying to rectify it but we got burned on Wednesday.
If Celtic win their remaining games I think we’ll end up with a points total as good as anything we’ve achieved in the last 6 or 7 years. We had a worse domestic season in the year we got to the UEFA Cup Final. So there has been a marked improvement. But Rangers have a much more settled team who are far more experienced and look like they’ll win the league with a very big points total. There were errors on Wednesday from Lennon, and more from the players, but presuming we come second, the league was ultimately lost elsewhere.
[quote=“Rocko, post: 586865”]
. We had a worse domestic season in the year we got to the UEFA Cup Final. [/quote]
97 points is worse?
A grim situation but they need to be brought to the last day anyway. Kayal and Ledley are out for the season and Stokes and Samaras are suspended tomorrow.
If as looks likely now, Rangers win to extend their World Record domestic League title haul to 54, on a personal level it will be Walter Smith’s 10 title, drawing him level with Jock Stein’s managerial haul of 10. Both men mind you well behind Bill Struth’s 18.
Clearly not! I read that stat the other day but it’s wrong. Apologies for the confusion.
Rumours doing the rounds that there’s a match fixing scandal going to break involving two Hearts players.
Here’s a completely unrelated article that mentions the absence of two of their key players from today’s game:
Mystery surrounded the absence of Hearts captain Marius Zaliukas after he missed the 4-0 defeat to Rangers in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
The defender was left out of the squad for the visit to Ibrox, with Jambos boss Jim Jefferies revealing he only learned today the player was unavailable.
However, Jefferies refused to divulge any more details when quizzed after the match, saying only: 'He wasn’t available for selection - that’s as much as I’m going to say on it.
Asked if he will be back for Wednesday’s visit of Celtic, Jefferies added: ‘No idea.’
The omission of Zaliukas follows the absence of goalkeeper Marian Kello, who has not played for Hearts for a number of weeks due to a ‘private matter.’
Celtic:
Forster;
Wilson, Majstorovic, Rogne, Izaguirre;
Forrest, Brown, Ki, Commons;
Murphy & Hooper.
Subs:
Zaluska, Juarez, Maloney, McGinn, McCourt, Mulgrew, Cha.
Natural enough team I suppose. Maloney really played himself out of contention for the wing spot or the role up front with his performance during the week. Murphy has actually acquitted himself quite well when he’s come on recently but it’s a different job doing it from the start and trying to play football through him as opposed to just punting it up to him.
Big test for Brown and Ki in the middle of the park too. Brown needs to keep his discipline in there but we’re missing the energy of both Ledley and Kayal so he’ll need to cover the ground. Important he does it in a measured way though, he was poor in his positioning in midweek and we’d be more exposed with Ki there than Kayal.
Not surprised by the change at the back either. Mulgrew was just too timid the other day and Rogne deserves a chance again.
Yes, there was no real genuine alternative in the middle of the park other than Juarez and he was unlikely to start in there given the complete mystery of his season. Still, I’m concerned about Brown and Ki playing together but it’s a team along expected lines. There were reports that Mulgrew also picked up a knock the other night but he’s fit enough for the bench anyway.
Awful performance thus far.
1-0.
Brown doing well there to get on the end of it.
Very poor performance thus far however. Midfield lacking shape and tempo, Ki and Brown have picked up yellows as they have left themselves exposed badly in the centre of the park. Rogne has been solid at the back today, probably out best performer which isn’t saying much mind.
Yeah, there’s a lack of cohesion and we’re not playing well. There wasn’t many alternatives but I don’t like 2 in midfield and we’re struggling in there. Murphy is trying hard, and the goal came from his cross, but he’s very limited. Juarez might be an option in the second half to shore up the middle but I think he’ll probably bring on Maloney or McCourt ahead of him and keep the same shape. The loss of Ledley can’t be underestimated - it was his injury that prompted Lennon to change back to two wingers and bring Brown inside. He’s been a big miss and was having an excellent second half of the season. They’ve had a few dangerous attacks when Izzy has been caught upfield and nobody’s filled in for him so we need to be more secure in our defending.
Good goal from Brown. Was hooper definitely offside earlier? My tv was acting up. Murphy showing well again if he could use the ball just a bit better.
Yes from the initial freekick. Not sure for the rebound from Dan’s header, which would have constituted a new phase.
Nice turn by Murphy there but he is limited indeed. Good tempo and we seem to be getting players forward. Vital not to get caught out though obviously