James Forrest rightly gets his moment in the limelight, something I am not sure he would entirely be comfortable with, as Celtic complete preseason duties against Athletic Club of Bilbao ostensibly in his honour as a testimonial. Once formalities are concluded, it will be serious business as Celtic start league action on Saturday, and many … [continue reading]
Forrest
Mikey Johnston – A Problem of Potential
A lively debate ensued on Twitter (it does happen!) after @celticrumours posted this: I am no different to any other supporter in that I want every player to succeed at Celtic. Ideally, I’d love a first team of 11 local Scottish lads, just like ’67. I am also old enough to know that will not … [continue reading]
More Mo?
The question of whether Celtic should endeavour to keep Elyounoussi was the subject of a podcast with Paul on a Celtic Stat Of Mind. Please enjoy Celtic By Numbers in written and aural form! Method I compared Elyounoussi’s 19/20 season output with the man he ostensibly replaced on the left-hand side of the attack (Sinclair, … [continue reading]
Forrest for the Trees
Article by James Dailey (@jucojames) Perhaps no Celtic player has been a better case study for human cognition than James Forrest. People often formulate impressions and opinions of players early in their tenure with the club, which creates a cognitive anchor of sorts. We homo sapiens all think we are rational, but our minds play … [continue reading]
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]
Elyounoussi Evaluated
The stock of Elyounoussi continues to rise within the Celtic support on the back of a run of 6 goals in 5 matches, and a sparky centre forward performance in the famous Lazio triumph. I will declare I have been hot and cold on the Norwegian. My personal bias tends to be against players I … [continue reading]
Christie The Creative Spark
Celtic are creating slightly more chances than last season. I take an early season look at Expected and Actual Assists. Assists / Expected Assists Christie and Forrest lead the way with 6 assists each. Edouard and Johnston have 5 and Ntcham 4 This suggests that Lennon’s Celtic are an equal creative threat from all of … [continue reading]
Christie Leads The Scoring, But For How Long?
With 41 goals in 13 matches, Celtic have started the second Lennon era in spectacular fashion. As I covered in The (Partial) Death of Possession Football, Lennonball involves more shots, a bit of regression back towards the xG mean, slight increase in chance creation and a whole lotta conversion rate joy! Let’s look at the … [continue reading]
Forrest Maintains An Impressive Body Of Work
A trio of personal awards supplemented the team Treble Treble as Forrest completed the most successful season of his career. Arguably most importantly, he is also the Celtic By Numbers Bhoy of the Season! 2018/19 Appearances There was a time Forrest was considered injury prone. He has now completed over 30 league games in two … [continue reading]
Forrest: A Model of Consistency
Forrest is near to completing a stellar season and has just collected the Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Year. This is added to the PFA Scotland Player of the Year, Scottish Football Writers Player of the Year, the Scottish Football Writers International Player of the Year and finally, but most importantly, the Celtic By Numbers … [continue reading]