The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[Muzz]

Sounds a decent enough team.  But cant see Lennon putting that team out.

McCourt gives the ball away too much.  Out of 10 runs yes he might go past 10 players on one run but the other 9 times loses it and puts us back under pressure.

I am confident we are a better team than Sion and will progress if not on thursday through the courts

[Applesisapples]

McCourt is ou of his depth even in the Scottish game.

[SambaSaffron]

[img]http://www.forest.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?action=view&attachmentid=1059[/img
If you are seriou about Daryl Murphy being as good as Jelavic you don't know a lot about soccer.

[Myles Na G.]

Completely agree with everything you have said Muzz. There has been far too big an overeaction to this defeat. ffs our fans need to stop thinking we are unbeatable. Even Lennon liking the defeat to the Ross County debacle was a bit much. I have plenty of confidence that we are going to progress on Thursday night. We dominated this side at home without playing brilliantly. We are just in a bad spell with injuries and players off form.

My team for Thursday night:
                           Zaluska
            Wilson       Maj      K.Wilson
                    Kayal        Ki
Brown                                       Ledley
                         McCourt
             Stokes                Murphy

Dont think Hooper is going to be fit for this one. I would put big Murphy into the team and just get Brown and Ledley to bomb on and throw the crosses into him. He is bound to get on the end of one of them. Commons is in shite form so I would drop him for this one. Stokes will feed of Paddy brilliantly. Pretty confident Bhoys

                                               

He looks overweight.

[lynchbhoy]

[img]http://www.forest.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?action=view&attachmentid=1059[/img
If you are seriou about Daryl Murphy being as good as Jelavic you don't know a lot about soccer.

Well they are both 'internationals' and both in the spl.
Neither are brilliant.
Did you see Murphy before he joined Celtic when at sunderland or even before then?
Or even for Ireland?
Don't base your judgement on the limited chances he's had at Celtic park.
Not brilliant as I said, but in the Sutton /hartson role - a he'll of a lot better!

[Pat Mustard]

If you are seriou about Daryl Murphy being as good as Jelavic you don't know a lot about soccer.

Well they are both 'internationals' and both in the spl.
Neither are brilliant.
Did you see Murphy before he joined Celtic when at sunderland or even before then?
Or even for Ireland?
Don't base your judgement on the limited chances he's had at Celtic park.
Not brilliant as I said, but in the Sutton /hartson role - a he'll of a lot better!

Jelavic is a Croatia international, a very good side. If Murphy has made 2/3 competitive appearances for Ireland I'd be surprised, and after Doyle and Keane we aren't blessed with much talent up front.
Murphy scored 14 goals in 110 appearances for Sunderland, from what I saw of him in the premiership he was very, very poor. Before that, he played for Waterford United. I don't even know what division they'd have played in then, and the LOI was very poor at that time(I know the SPL is poor now, but not that poor).
For Ireland he has scored 0 goals in 9 appearances.
Sutton was one of the best players I've ever seen play for Celtic, and Hartson's goal to game ratio is excellent. Murphy, nor even Jelavic could lace their boots.
I think Murphy scored 1 goal from play in 18 appearances last year. I'd guess around 10 of these were starts. For a Celtic striker, thats nowhere near good enough. And unfortunately for Daryl, neither is he.

[Pat Mustard]

Oh, and much as I hate to say it, Jelavic is a pretty decent player by any standard, and by SPL standard he is top notch. He tormented us for Vienna and if Rangers didn't buy him last season they wouldn't have won the league. Hypothetically, f they'd bought Daryl Murphy and we'd bought Jelavic we'd have won the league by 15 points. And the league cup.

[lynchbhoy]

ok I havent seen as much of jelavic as I have of murphy, but jelevic while being a croatian international (they are no great shakes any more) hasnt looked too hot to me. if he was of any use he wouldnt be playing in the spl or with cash strapped rangers- would he !!
Murphy is a decent target man. he hasnt had much game time for Celtic and Ireland.
The fans at both Sunderland and ipswich where he was on loan thought a lot of him.
He isnt great, but he is a hell of a lot better than a lot of Celtic 'fans' think he is.
then again I suppose jelavic is more or a striker than a 'target man' - so maybe not the best of comparisons, but imo he isnt much cop.

but I am not saying that Celtic are ok with this calibre of striker/forward.
They need to be buying a lot better than this. Stokes, Hooper and murphy should be understudies to two experienced international strikers.

[Pat Mustard]

A 'target man' should still be able to score goals, especially in the SPL.
Jelavic signed for Rangers for £3.5million a year ago. Them being cash-strapped doesn't affect his pay. I do expect him to move on at some stage though despite how 'cash-strapped' Rangers are they've managed to hold on to most of their best players - Davis, McGregor, Naismith, Papac. Bougherra being the only big loss to them.
I'd never give Murphy or any other Celtic player abuse from the stands, but it's my opinion he is not the required standard and I don't understand why he was signed.
Agree with your last point, I just don't think we have the funds to get such players.

[lynchbhoy]

JVOH (Jan ven of Hess) was a target man and scored fcuk all, was also a dutch international ( a lot higher than croatia).
Some of these centre forwards score the odd goal but target men are expected to create more so than score.
lets face it, a long high ball from the back , with your back to goal, its not ideal for scoring goals.
knock downs to the likes of Larsson, bellamy, keane, Hooper etc - thats what they do and do well.
Celtic can afford to spend but wont, they are too scared of speculating.

[Pat Mustard]

JVOH scored 13 in 21 in his first season, 15 in 32 in his second. In his last, where he looked absolutely brutal and slow as a carthorse, he only got 6 in 25 but it at least included the crucial one against Rangers. Not exactly scoring fcuk all though. Plus when you consider Braafheid and Loovens are Dutch internationals it doesn't say a lot for them.
I doubt it. Realistically, I can't imagine us being able to afford any "experienced international strikers" as you put it. At least, not for quality national teams.

[lynchbhoy]

JVOH scored 13 in 21 in his first season, 15 in 32 in his second. In his last, where he looked absolutely brutal and slow as a carthorse, he only got 6 in 25 but it at least included the crucial one against Rangers. Not exactly scoring fcuk all though. Plus when you consider Braafheid and Loovens are Dutch internationals it doesn't say a lot for them.
I doubt it. Realistically, I can't imagine us being able to afford any "experienced international strikers" as you put it. At least, not for quality national teams.

yes, JVOH scored in his first two seasons because Celtic actually crossed the ball in for a centre forward to score headers. This was a legacy from the MON era (when they were used to having Suton and Hartson to aim at).
WGS wasnt a fan of this kind of attack and eradicated it form the side - a problem that still exists - do you recall the last time you saw crosses let alone decent crosses into the box?
Murphy woul ddo a hell of a lot better if Celtic used their wing men to actually diversify their play and cross into the box the odd time to spread the defense- same goes for shooting from distance.

I didnt know Loovens went to the world cup ? Braafeld is only a notch behind player of the year Izzaguire imo. Great going forward, cant defend.

by the way - Davis, McGregor, Naismith, Papac,  -do you seriously think any of these are good - maybe davies is english championship standard at best - a great athlete but not much in the way of football in him.
Bougherra  - is a good defender- but hasnt he been sold now?

[Pat Mustard]

Murphy is crap in the air, as are most of our players. The stats of goals from corners/free kicks show this. Rightly or wrongly, getting loads of crosses in to the box isn't our style of play. Even if it was, as I said Murphy is like Peter Crouch in the air - piss poor for his size.
I'm not sure what point you are making with the Loovens and World Cup thing, or if you are just genuinely querying it. I don't think he did go. Much like if Ireland qualified, Murphy wouldn't go. He is a Dutch international though.
Braafheid is one of the worst players I've seen playing for Celtic. Izzaguire is the best leftback I've seen for us. He can't defend? When was this exposed? Name one winger who got the better of him last season?
Regardless of whether they are 'good' or not, they've been Rangers best players over the last 3 seasons. 3 seasons in which they won the league. However, I'll answer your question. McGregor is probably the best British goalkeeper at the minute. Davis was a regular in the premiership before he went to Rangers. Naismith isn't the most technically gifted player but in the SPL he's very good and he does a great job for Rangers. Papac is a decent defender.
Bougherra has been sold, as I said.

[take_yer_points]

Murphy is crap in the air, as are most of our players. The stats of goals from corners/free kicks show this. Rightly or wrongly, getting loads of crosses in to the box isn't our style of play. Even if it was, as I said Murphy is like Peter Crouch in the air - piss poor for his size.
I'm not sure what point you are making with the Loovens and World Cup thing, or if you are just genuinely querying it. I don't think he did go. Much like if Ireland qualified, Murphy wouldn't go. He is a Dutch international though.
Braafheid is one of the worst players I've seen playing for Celtic. Izzaguire is the best leftback I've seen for us. He can't defend? When was this exposed? Name one winger who got the better of him last season?
Regardless of whether they are 'good' or not, they've been Rangers best players over the last 3 seasons. 3 seasons in which they won the league. However, I'll answer your question. McGregor is probably the best British goalkeeper at the minute. Davis was a regular in the premiership before he went to Rangers. Naismith isn't the most technically gifted player but in the SPL he's very good and he does a great job for Rangers. Papac is a decent defender.
Bougherra has been sold, as I said.

They don't get any smaller than Wright Phillips...

[SLIGONIAN]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/article/65707/