The Derby win was built upon improving cohesion (well, after the 3rd minute!) and a disciplined defensive team performance. The first half was for craft. The second for graft. Pivotal to the come back was Celtic’s Australian play maker Rogic. This provides an interesting comparison opportunity as the much-heralded Ramsey was thrown into their team. … [continue reading]
Rogic
Hatate, O’Riley, Rogic, Turnbull. Who do you pick?
If all four of Hatate, O’Riley, Rogic and Turnbull are fit, which two do you pair with McGregor to form the midfield three for the next match? Defending Let’s start with the dirty stuff. Midfield is an allrounders game. Even the attacking midfielders have to press and compete in Postecoglou’s system. The framework I use … [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]
Rogic And The Slopes of Doom
Against The Rangers Rogic was not alone in attacking anonymity. Completing just 9 passes in 71 minutes in his 7th game back from another injury lay off, is he doing enough to justify a Cup Final place? But more worrying – is this a blip in form or part of a wider pattern of decline? … [continue reading]
New Bromantics
Not only did Rogic assist 3 Forrest goals against St Johnstone, all 3 goals were “one-twos” between the players meaning Forrest racked up 3 secondary assists! It got me thinking what have been the most productive partnerships recently? Getting on well is not a prerequisite for footballers to connect effectively with each other on the … [continue reading]
Why Ntcham Was Bhoy of the Match vs Livingston
The sponsors and overwhelming fan’s Man of the Match against Livingston was Rogic. Here at Celtic By Numbers, we disagree, but this is not to denigrate an eye-catching performance from the Wizard of Oz. Ntcham was simply remarkable. Rogic had several moments of magic to lift the crowd. He completed 3 dribbles and was fouled … [continue reading]
Creative Deficit
I showed in League Performance Regression? Yes. Here’s Why that it was whom is injured rather than volume of injuries that are hindering SPFL performance. In The Roberts Effect I focussed on comparing team performance with and without the mercurial winger. But across the whole squad, what are we missing creatively? The Glossary can open … [continue reading]
The Engine Room
The Engine Room is subsidiary to a review of season 16/17, and is the fifth chapter. Here I will consider the central midfield. This includes three distinct roles: Defensive or holding central midfielder – Bitton or Brown, and possibly Kouassi Box to box central midfielder – Armstrong or McGregor Classic Number 10 – Rogic … [continue reading]
The Rogic Effect
The Power of 10 – a Recap In the last article, I considered the impact of the players who have played the “Number 10” or Attacking Centre Midfield (AMC) role over the last 3 season (The Power of 10). Rogic is clearly the most effective goal scorer and held his own in defensive actions, whilst … [continue reading]
The Power of 10
The Celtic Number 10 Tom Rogic has been having the most productive season of his Celtic career, a career lacking linear progression and punctuated by spectacular goals, and injuries. He made the attacking midfield centre (AMC) position his own last season, taking over from Johansen who had been favoured by Deila. Commons has been the … [continue reading]