The treacherous nature of playing teams half way through their season, in July, was amplified as Celtic struggled against a well organised Norwegian champion. Off the field events had dominated the headlines in the build-up, but on the field, there were worrying echoes of the Deila reign in Europe as the game started slowly, then … [continue reading]
Archives for July 2017
Right Side, Wrong Balance?
As Celtic prepare for Rosenborg, the Linfield games highlighted the extent to which the attacking connections were left side dominant. Here is the Pack Pass Map for the 1st leg. Note that this is not a map of ALL passes. It is a map of all passes where at least one opponent was taken out … [continue reading]
No Alarms and No Surprises
At least on the pitch. The Scottish Champions opened the home campaign with a straightforward 4-0 defeat of part-time Northern Irishmen Linfield. Magical There was no doubting the Bhoy of the Match. Sinclair’s speed of thought and movement lit up the match. His two goals hopefully some recompense for the own goal awarded Linfield last … [continue reading]
Unpacking Armstrong, and Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance
The Stuart Armstrong “will be / won’t he” sign a new contract saga rumbles on. Rumours of interest from English Premier League sides persist, and why not? After scoring 17 goals last season in winning the treble, the 25-year-old is maturing into the complete central midfielder, and carving an international career. I have no insight … [continue reading]
Celtic Play The Blues
The Celts were there at Windsor Park as the 2017/18 season started with a win over Linfield in the Second Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The Northern Irish Champions are one of those clubs fond of World Records, and 24 domestic doubles is undoubtedly impressive. If there is a World Record for having more … [continue reading]
We Need To Talk About Leigh
The received wisdom for many years is that teams need four good strikers to choose from. Celtic have had two. This apparent folly was called out by fate when both Dembele and Griffiths were injured at the same time in January. An invincible treble suggests the squad coped – will it again? In the final … [continue reading]