I don’t think he’s a good enough finisher/striker of the ball to threaten that mark. He should be aiming for 10 goals though - think he got 7 or 8 last season and Mowbray’s team should be more fluid and provide him with more opportunities to break forward.
Paddy McCourt reckons he’s going to get a good crack at the whip now that Naka has packed his bags, I wonder will he be in the squad.
Mowbray bid for him last summer before Celtic came in late after he looked set to join West Brom so he’s obviously had him scouted and watched him previously and been fairly impressed.
Aye I was reading that. Maybe he’ll make the step up.
Bought those tickets Bandage.
They’re being delivered to the gaff I sold last year unfortunately. That might be a problem.
[quote=“Rocko”]Bought those tickets Bandage.
They’re being delivered to the gaff I sold last year unfortunately. That might be a problem.[/QUOTE]
You fucking creamer. How did you manage that?
[quote=“Rocko”]Bought those tickets Bandage.
They’re being delivered to the gaff I sold last year unfortunately. That might be a problem.[/QUOTE]
i hope your man sells them back to you on ebay at a grossly over the odds price…that would be karma…:guns:
I guess I never updated my details. And the ticket office is now shut for the evening - hope they don’t go into the post automatically at 9am.
Fell out with the guy who bought the gaff too, so it’s stop them at source or nothing.
So Celtic are at home to Dynamo Moskva on Wednesday night. Mogga flew over to watch them play in the derby on Saturday against Lokomotiv and reported that they play with one up top, a withdrawn striker behind him, two wide players and a deeplying holding midfield player / playmaker sitting behind a traditional centre midfielder.
Their captain, Dmitri Khokhlov, usually performs the holding role but he’s suspended on Wednesday night and he’s meant to be a very good player. Their other main players are the striker Kerzhakov, who joined from Sevilla after a previous prolific spell with Zenit, and the defender Kolodin, who was centre half for Russia in Euro 2008.
Celtic will be 4-4-2 but with much more freedom and fluidity than under Strachan. Mowbray has given McGeady and Maloney licence to switch, roam, come infield and that was very noticeable in the pre-season games. Plus, we’re looking to move the ball with more pace instead of going backwards and sideways al Paul Hartley.
N’Guemo looks very adept at manufacturing a yard for himself and getting the ball out to the wide men pretty sharply. That obviously benefits the two lads are they’re getting more 1 v 1 situations, as opposed to facing a wide midfield player and then the full back. Donati has also been given another chance by Mowbray and he should start. Fortun will lead the line, with McDonald playing off him.
whats the story with crosas this season? why is donati higher up the pecking order
Not sure. It just seems the manager has been more impressed with Donati - he mentioned not knowing the full details of what went on last season with the previous manager but he’s encountered a very fit, focused and talented footballer in Donati. Crosas was caught in possession twice in his own half yesterday but sprayed the ball around very nicely at times. Donati’s performance was a mixed bag at Cardiff last week but his display and goal against Al Ahly probably put him in line for the start in midweek.
[quote=“Bandage”]So Celtic are at home to Dynamo Moskva on Wednesday night. Mogga flew over to watch them play in the derby on Saturday against Lokomotiv and reported that they play with one up top, a withdrawn striker behind him, two wide players and a deeplying holding midfield player / playmaker sitting behind a traditional centre midfielder.
Their captain, Dmitri Khokhlov, usually performs the holding role but he’s suspended on Wednesday night and he’s meant to be a very good player. Their other main players are the striker Kerzhakov, who joined from Sevilla after a previous prolific spell with Zenit, and the defender Kolodin, who was centre half for Russia in Euro 2008.
Celtic will be 4-4-2 but with much more freedom and fluidity than under Strachan. Mowbray has given McGeady and Maloney licence to switch, roam, come infield and that was very noticeable in the pre-season games. Plus, we’re looking to move the ball with more pace instead of going backwards and sideways al Paul Hartley.
N’Guemo looks very adept at manufacturing a yard for himself and getting the ball out to the wide men pretty sharply. That obviously benefits the two lads are they’re getting more 1 v 1 situations, as opposed to facing a wide midfield player and then the full back. Donati has also been given another chance by Mowbray and he should start. Fortun will lead the line, with McDonald playing off him.[/QUOTE]
McGeady’s interview on Sky before the game yesterday was interesting I thought. He went out of his way to praise N’Guemo and commented on how he gets it forward and wide quickly while others have been passing sideways instincively. Seemed like an obvious reference to Hartley.
There was a good interview with Hartley in one of the Sunday papers. He was absolutely overjoyed at playing for Celtic and really lived his dream. But last season he played with no conviction in possession and it hurt us deeply.
It’s a tough one that. Which is better - the Milan side of 3 years ago or the Barca side of last year? Both have their merits but at the moment Mowbray is favouring the Italian and it’s hard to argue.
Is a central midfield pairing of N’Guemo and Donati not a bit lightweight? Add in the fact McGeady and Maloney are the widemen and it appears a midfield that is very good with the ball but shit without it? Suppose with Brown and Robson likely to be out not as if Mowbray has many options other than Crossas and McCourt who are similar style players
Yeah two factors:
- Mowbray is going to play a lighter midfield than O’Neill or Strachan did.
- We don’t really have any strong holding players that are fit at the moment but after Robson I’d say N’Guemo is probably the next most defensive midfielder in any sort of tackling style.
N’Guemo’s small in stature but quite strong and robust. Fortun said in an interview last week that he’s similar to Lassana Diarra of Real Madrid in terms of having that type of physique but also possessing decent technical ability. It probably was a decent enough comparison. Overall, it looks like a light enough midfield but the wide players were getting up and down over the weekend and helping their full backs and Fortun’s a good out ball and seems to be quite strong and good at holding the ball up and then bringing others into play as we break.
Mowbray’s press conference from today. Appears to realise our defiencies without the ball. One major difference between him and Strachan is that he seems a lot more confident in squads ability.
http://www.kirkintillochemerald.co.uk/showthread.php?p=3139#post3139
[quote=“larryduff”]Mowbray’s press conference from today. Appears to realise our defiencies without the ball. One major difference between him and Strachan is that he seems a lot more confident in squads ability.
http://www.kirkintillochemerald.co.uk/showthread.php?p=3139#post3139[/QUOTE]
or he is more unrealistic about the teams ability:thumbsup:
As we saw in the pre-season games, Mogga is willing to let Aiden roam far and wide. Hopefully he’ll do the business tomorrow night - looking forward to it now; the dawn of a new era and a European night at Celtic Park. Ah lovely.
Licence to thrill: Celtic winger McGeady is told to terrorise Euro foes
Tony Mowbray has urged Aiden McGeady to grasp his chance to become a Celtic great.
The Englishman will hand his winger a free licence to terrorise Dynamo Moscow, as the Parkhead side seek a decisive Champions League lead to take to Russia for the second leg.
Identifying the Republic of Ireland winger as the kind of player who can take his place amongst the very best in Britain and Europe, Mowbray waxed lyrical about a player who endured a tense relationship with Gordon Strachan.
[b]'I don’t think great player is too strong a description for Aiden McGeady, having watched him in the first few weeks, because he is an exceptional talent.
'I’ve never seen quicker feet in a footballer than Aiden possesses and there is no point in me caging that up. I have to let him go and express himself on a football field.
‘And I will structure my team around the fact. By having such quality, imagination and ability, you have to harness your team around it. You have to build your team around that quality. Let him go and win us games and create us chances, but make sure it doesn’t weaken the team in the process.’[/b]
Against a rigid, disciplined side who know their roles and are already midway through their season, Mowbray is wary of being caught by a sucker punch.
Roared on by a home crowd, however, the new manager senses that McGeady is ready to push on towards the next stage in his Parkhead career. Asked if he can establish himself on a European platform, Mowbray added: 'I think he can.
'I experienced the English Premier League last year and had a group of players who at times held their own and at times found it difficult.
'But we felt the strength and power of the Rooneys, the Tevez, the Torres, the great players. I just think Aiden McGeady, one on one against just about anybody, is capable of causing them a problem.
'You have got to get him in the right areas of the pitch to do that, you have got to give him confidence and belief, that he can go past people, jink inside people, come back, leave people on their backside.
'I know he can do that because I have seen it.
'As a club, we have to go out to win games, Aiden has to go and find the consistency of performance himself that you would not ask questions like that about him.
'It would then be a given that he could do it.
‘As a club, we have to get him on to that platform I would suggest, and then he needs to go and do it.’
[quote=“Bandage”]As we saw in the pre-season games, Mogga is willing to let Aiden roam far and wide. Hopefully he’ll do the business tomorrow night - looking forward to it now; the dawn of a new era and a European night at Celtic Park. Ah lovely.
TV arrangements for tomorrow - if any?
Not on the box.
On Celtic’s online PPV channel - some lads might hook up a stream from there onto justintv, adthe.com or somewhere though.