Jonny Hayes left Celtic Park for the last time at the end of May to curtail a 3-year career that saw him part of winning every trophy his side entered domestically with the exception (yet) of the current years’ Scottish Cup. 8 out of 8 is some record. He made 67 appearances, 2976 minutes, completed … [continue reading]
Hayes
Midfield Red Flags
The mid term reports focus now on the midfield and wingers. I covered Brown in Brown: A Never Ending Story as he has a unique role in the side. Let’s now consider the rest of the midfield. PS I will include Brown in this for completeness. Celtic’s midfield and wide attack has largely been about … [continue reading]
Patient Taylor Deserves His Chance
The right back review was a delicious stew of contradiction and intrigue, or as they probably still say in Somerset, a bugger’s muddle. Replacing Lustig isn’t easy you know. Today I turn to the opposite flank and arguably the more onerous task of replacing Tierney. It is another position where continuity has been hampered by … [continue reading]
Sinclair On The Left For Cup Final
As we build up to the Scottish Cup Final, one area of the side that may not be decided by injury is the attacking left sided role. Will Lennon go with Sinclair or Hayes? When Lennon arrived, Sinclair was selected in his usual inside left forward position. In the last six matches however, Hayes has … [continue reading]
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]
Goodnight, Sweet Prince
In the sixth article in the 2016/17 season review series, I consider the work of the wingers. Arguably the strongest section of the team, last season was the story of three excellent players. Celtic play with either three attacking midfielders behind a striker, or three forwards of which two are wide. Sinclair has made the … [continue reading]