It feels like I have been writing about the decline of Brown for some time now. But here we are with the captain playing the equivalent of 35.22 matches this season. The dependency on him seems no less onerous. How is he continuing to rage against the dying of the light? Defensive Performance What I … [continue reading]
Brown
Power of Recovery
A new statistic I am capturing this season is Recoveries. These are defined by Opta as “…. where a player recovers the ball in a situation where neither team has possession or where the ball has been played directly to him by an opponent, thus securing possession for their team.”. Team Recoveries There are many … [continue reading]
Do Lennon’s Demands Suit Brown?
A strangely economical performance against Hearts on Sunday was the latest in the new season for captain Brown. I detailed his slow, graceful but inexorable regression in my end of season review Brown: Growing Old Gracefully. 898 minutes into the new season, what has changed? Defending Firstly, there is continual decline in the number of … [continue reading]
Assessing Luca Connell
Luca Connell is reported to be highly rated by the Republic of Ireland staff as reported here. He signed for Celtic on a four-year deal after a mere 674 minutes in the English Championship and two appearances in the FA Cup. Not much data to go on, but here it is! All numbers are per … [continue reading]
Brown: Growing Old Gracefully
Scott Brown is already Celtic’s second most successful captain in the year we lost their first. 19 medals are in his collection from over 500 matches. A trophy every 27 games. But we worry that as he moves into his mid-30s, and with an all-action career behind him, how much is left to give? Let’s … [continue reading]
Midfield Tweak Brings Sixcess
Against St Johnstone Rodger’s made a subtle change to the midfield shape at half time counter intuitively withdrawing McGregor deeper. And it won the game, moving Celtic 6 points clear. At the half Celtic were utterly dominant in terms of possession. With 83% possession, seven Celtic players had completed 50 or more passes but only … [continue reading]
The Broony 500
Captain Scott Brown reached 500 appearances for Celtic on 19th December 2018 versus Motherwell. He has been at the club since 1st July 2007 after becoming Celtic’s 8th all time highest fee signing from Hibernian. Where Brown sits on the all-time list of Celtic appearance makers depends on whether you include historical competitions such as … [continue reading]
When 100% Completion Tells You Nothing
Good to see Neil Cameron in the Herald today using passing stats in an article on Gordon. I will admit I didn’t read the article as it is behind a pay wall but the basis of it seems to be that he has 0 incomplete passes in more than one game this season. In fact, … [continue reading]
Celtic Speed Towards A Future Without Brown
The emergence of McGregor and Christie at the heart of midfield has undoubtedly reenergised Celtic. To the eye they play quicker and with more forward thrust. This has largely come about through serendipity. The injuries to captain Brown and others forced this arrangement. We may have a great manager but do we also have a … [continue reading]
Brown and McGregor: The Great Debate
There was an excellent article in The Herald using data (crumbs!) to compare McGregor and Brown in the defensive midfielder position. I strongly recommend you read it. Sadly, it was uncredited but great to see stats-based content in the mainstream media. The data used was from Wyscout which is a subscription-based service. As you know … [continue reading]