Messages

I enjoyed Celtic's second half performance last night. They showed guts and no little skill on the ball considering the value of the team in footballing terms. They rode their luck in the first half and the goal was unlucky. Celtic fans need to be realistic as to their expectations. There are PL teams struggling in the EL with bigger budgets than Celtic. So well done to BR and the team they did what was required.

There's no room for calm and measured posts on this forum, what are you thinking? 
Anderlecht have a bigger budget than us. If we better teams like that, I'm happy. We got a bollocks of a group for the second year in a row. I would have fancied us in the Liverpool or Man U groups to have made a play for second.

Celtic were poor last night and more so in the first half where they couldn't get near an Anderlecht player, a few changes at half time and a talking too def seemed to work as they were much improved in the 2nd half. To be fair their goal was an OG and Celtic didn't look like conceding after that, BR also changed shape at HT (better tactics). BR also stated afterwards that some of his players think they're CL players but would need to improve, that's the first time I've heard BR criticize his players (in public anyway). He does know he needs more quality in his team to compete at a higher level but we can't just do this over night and i'm sure after to CL campaigns he now knows who needs replacing and who's worth building a team around.

Sutton and Hartson were good craic afterwards in post match interview, big Hartson didn't let Sutton have his way and gave better back.

Great summary. I think we have about seven players who are worth persevering with as first teamers. I include Gordon in that as, unless we spend big money or unearth a gem, we won't get better for our budget. I reckon at least five players needed.

Celtic fans do some crying when a decision goes against them... the whole conspiracy theory. Hopefully thats the end of that.

They went a year without getting a penalty, you dont think thats a bit off?

refs sure making up for it now!

Yeah! Two penalties now in 60+ games. Wow.

Everton and Rooney hate lol 
Now you're just making stuff up.
I said it was a decent strike what more do you want.
You seem like an angry man. Chill out.

I'm angry as f**k mate, you better believe it! Aye right!
I didn't see anyone claim it was goal of the season or the best strike of the night you were the one bringing those claims into it. It was a good /great goal, end of.

FFS other fans still go on about a throw in we got in a Cup Final in the 80's and Naka's free kick against Killie in the early 2000's. That's how often we get dodgy decisions. Neither of these penalties were dodgy.

I never mentioned that it was the best goal of the night and I didn't realise there could only be one great goal per set of fixtures. I only saw the goal because I have BT sport. Don't have Sky. The Luton goal may have been better and Sterling's was great but the goal of midweek was possibly Lingard's for Man U. Haven't seen any of the Liverpool goals so can only comment on what I have seen. For what it's worth I think all four of those goals were excellent. Take a group of football supporters and get them to grade them and you would have a fairly even split. Your opinion is blinkered by your Everton and Rooney hate. If

[Most players couldn't kick a ball that far never mind with the accuracy]

Hat-trick for Rooney and his 3rd goal scored from the half way line 

That was class!
(From a Liverpool fan)

Decent strike but there is no one in the goal. Though it could be argued even if Joe Hart was in the goal it would be same as having no one there.

Desperate comment. Just admit it was brilliantly executed. The technique to keep the ball low and direct like that was excellent. Most players couldn't kick a ball that far never mind with the accuracy. It was a great piece of skill.

Would ya stop.
A Luton player scored a better one at the weekend.

https://youtu.be/GoLIO9VWS4Y

Great goal also. Excellent skill. Take your blinkers off.

Hat-trick for Rooney and his 3rd goal scored from the half way line 

That was class!
(From a Liverpool fan)

Decent strike but there is no one in the goal. Though it could be argued even if Joe Hart was in the goal it would be same as having no one there.

Desperate comment. Just admit it was brilliantly executed. The technique to keep the ball low and direct like that was excellent. Most players couldn't kick a ball that far never mind with the accuracy. It was a great piece of skill.

These two penalties are going to take on mythical proportions. Both were penalties. Not soft, not dodgy. It either is or it isn't, same as offside and many other rules. Can't give half a penalty just because the player wasn't blatantly scythed down. If Celtic get 100 penalties in the next 100 games it might just equalise past injustices.
We will beat 'Well 5-0 at the weekend.

It's always a dodgy decision when celtic get a pen. CGAF. Still unbeaten.

[You are either a natural or your not.]

I know people with brutal hand to eye coordination and poor at sports, and seen people capable of taking to any sport right away. Can hand to eye coordination be taught or just instinctive?

You are either a natural or your not. However, beyond that, practice and hard work are needed no matter your skill levels. You can learn to kick with your weaker foot, you can train to be able to jump higher, you can learn how to deal better with situations with experience. So I guess better hand to eye coordination can be learned. Take one good and one average sportsman, with the less skillful one putting in the hours of practice, I reckon the average player will have more success. I'm sure most of us know players within our clubs who had all the talent but did not progress as they were lazy, not dedicated or whatever. Very few make it to the top without hard graft.

i dont believe that for a minute

?
Do you believe everyone is born with the same ability?

People are born with zero skill. They may have physical traits that help them. Size and speed are the two biggest ones, though even speed can be gained with the right training. Agility, balance, vision, skill, temperament and everything else can be taught. Give me a team of kids who are disciplined and good learners above anything else.

That's Patently wrong. Throughout the history of any sport there have been examples of players who have that wee bit extra, a touch of genius. That cannot be learned.

bull
they learn that somewhere or see it being done

Its an interesting discussion this.
Where do they learn it though?
For me, I could spend hours and hours trying but Id never be able to do the Cruyff turn. Catching a ball pon the other hand came naturally - although practise helped

If your ball control and agility isn't good enough to do a fecking Cruyff turn you improve those first, not endlessly attempt a difficult move..

Which is what I meant. Not that I'm bothered, that wasn't/isn't my game in soccer, it was just an example

This is a roundabout argument. Agree hard work is needed to become a top player. Through hard work, practice and greater passion you can become better. But try as I might, and I put many hours in, I was shite at running with a gaelic football.

Good pair of boots. Was sold an auld pair of Blackthorn boots that must have been sitting on a shop shelf for over forty years or more. I was told that's what the legends of the past wore. I could neither run nor shoot straight with them.

Snap. They were wicked as a full back if you had to take the kick outs.

[You are either a natural or your not.]

I know people with brutal hand to eye coordination and poor at sports, and seen people capable of taking to any sport right away. Can hand to eye coordination be taught or just instinctive?

You are either a natural or your not. However, beyond that, practice and hard work are needed no matter your skill levels. You can learn to kick with your weaker foot, you can train to be able to jump higher, you can learn how to deal better with situations with experience. So I guess better hand to eye coordination can be learned. Take one good and one average sportsman, with the less skillful one putting in the hours of practice, I reckon the average player will have more success. I'm sure most of us know players within our clubs who had all the talent but did not progress as they were lazy, not dedicated or whatever. Very few make it to the top without hard graft.

i dont believe that for a minute

?
Do you believe everyone is born with the same ability?

People are born with zero skill. They may have physical traits that help them. Size and speed are the two biggest ones, though even speed can be gained with the right training. Agility, balance, vision, skill, temperament and everything else can be taught. Give me a team of kids who are disciplined and good learners above anything else.

That's Patently wrong. Throughout the history of any sport there have been examples of players who have that wee bit extra, a touch of genius. That cannot be learned.

Such as?
How can you say they didn't learn it?
Where did it come from then?
They may have been subjected to a different set of circumstances or a different environment than was typical growing up that aided the development of that skill, but i don't believe that anyone is just born with an innate talent for something.
Like syferus says, physical traits can certainly help, but pretty much everything else can be coached/taught.

Come on now. Skill is a set of traits, be it balance, vision etc. Are you really saying that you or I could have been a Messi or a Maurice Fitzgerald given the correct circumstances. That attitude is BS, and it translates to all aspects of life be it intelligence or anything else. In honesty it piles too much pressure on young lads in particular as society tells them they have themselves to blame for their inadequacies.

Yes. Messi needed regular HGH injections to grow to his current less-than-towering size - if he'd been born any time before he was, or didn't have the benefit of a benefactor, he would never have become the player he was. He would have been unlikely to be a footballer at all. You literally chose an example that proves nurture over nature while attempting to prove the opposite, indeed the most extreme example of it you could have found.

It doesn't prove nurture over nature. Messi still had that something special. The growth hormones didn't make him more skillful. He may not have made it as a professional but he still would have had the touch of genius. You are mistaking successful for talent.

So you think Messi was just born with innate talent for soccer?
It wasnt something that he learned and perfected over many years of practice? It wasn't influenced by the coaching he received? The attitudes of the people he grew up with and by his parents?
It wasn't influenced by luck and circumstance?

It was all just some magic?

This is going around in circles. I didn't mention magic. Of course other influences helped Messi to become a professional footballer. That's not what I'm debating. There is an inate ability which was not learned.
I was an average footballer who trained hard, practiced every day, had a very talented father, decent coaching and all the rest. My brother was much better than me but trained if he wanted to and wasn't interested in practising. So by your reckoning somewhere between birth and 8 or so when we started playing structured football he gained an advantage which made him a better player? Maybe it was because he climbed more trees or liked bananas?

[You are either a natural or your not.]

I know people with brutal hand to eye coordination and poor at sports, and seen people capable of taking to any sport right away. Can hand to eye coordination be taught or just instinctive?

You are either a natural or your not. However, beyond that, practice and hard work are needed no matter your skill levels. You can learn to kick with your weaker foot, you can train to be able to jump higher, you can learn how to deal better with situations with experience. So I guess better hand to eye coordination can be learned. Take one good and one average sportsman, with the less skillful one putting in the hours of practice, I reckon the average player will have more success. I'm sure most of us know players within our clubs who had all the talent but did not progress as they were lazy, not dedicated or whatever. Very few make it to the top without hard graft.

i dont believe that for a minute

?
Do you believe everyone is born with the same ability?

People are born with zero skill. They may have physical traits that help them. Size and speed are the two biggest ones, though even speed can be gained with the right training. Agility, balance, vision, skill, temperament and everything else can be taught. Give me a team of kids who are disciplined and good learners above anything else.

That's Patently wrong. Throughout the history of any sport there have been examples of players who have that wee bit extra, a touch of genius. That cannot be learned.

Such as?
How can you say they didn't learn it?
Where did it come from then?
They may have been subjected to a different set of circumstances or a different environment than was typical growing up that aided the development of that skill, but i don't believe that anyone is just born with an innate talent for something.
Like syferus says, physical traits can certainly help, but pretty much everything else can be coached/taught.

Come on now. Skill is a set of traits, be it balance, vision etc. Are you really saying that you or I could have been a Messi or a Maurice Fitzgerald given the correct circumstances. That attitude is BS, and it translates to all aspects of life be it intelligence or anything else. In honesty it piles too much pressure on young lads in particular as society tells them they have themselves to blame for their inadequacies.

Yes. Messi needed regular HGH injections to grow to his current less-than-towering size - if he'd been born any time before he was, or didn't have the benefit of a benefactor, he would never have become the player he was. He would have been unlikely to be a footballer at all. You literally chose an example that proves nurture over nature while attempting to prove the opposite, indeed the most extreme example of it you could have found.

It doesn't prove nurture over nature. Messi still had that something special. The growth hormones didn't make him more skillful. He may not have made it as a professional but he still would have had the touch of genius. You are mistaking successful for talent.

[You are either a natural or your not.]

I know people with brutal hand to eye coordination and poor at sports, and seen people capable of taking to any sport right away. Can hand to eye coordination be taught or just instinctive?

You are either a natural or your not. However, beyond that, practice and hard work are needed no matter your skill levels. You can learn to kick with your weaker foot, you can train to be able to jump higher, you can learn how to deal better with situations with experience. So I guess better hand to eye coordination can be learned. Take one good and one average sportsman, with the less skillful one putting in the hours of practice, I reckon the average player will have more success. I'm sure most of us know players within our clubs who had all the talent but did not progress as they were lazy, not dedicated or whatever. Very few make it to the top without hard graft.

i dont believe that for a minute

?
Do you believe everyone is born with the same ability?

People are born with zero skill. They may have physical traits that help them. Size and speed are the two biggest ones, though even speed can be gained with the right training. Agility, balance, vision, skill, temperament and everything else can be taught. Give me a team of kids who are disciplined and good learners above anything else.

That's Patently wrong. Throughout the history of any sport there have been examples of players who have that wee bit extra, a touch of genius. That cannot be learned.