So Who's Up For The Celtic Game?

[Mr Bunny]

As old school as it sounds, when they come to our ground they should 'know they're in a game'. Fine to try and play etc, but when they are so far superior to us I'd like to see us at least try and compete physically. I can't stomach the b******* so to see us collapse to them with so little fight is horrible.

 

I thought we played better in the second half when we had some shots on goal (albeit only one exercising their keeper). Admittedly we had nothing to lose and we pressured them better. The first half we seemed to lack belief we could do anything - perhaps down to giving a stupid goal away in the first minute.. We didn't collapse though - although that was possibly partly down to Celtic feeling they didn't have to up their game.

 

Upside is we didn't get overwhelmed so although the players will feel they let themselves down a bit their confidence shouldn't be shot. Apart from a few (albeit horrendous) mistakes the players didn't play that badly and looked OK at times. McDaid did well and we know what the rest of the players can do if they can find their form. Booth looked fine too - hope he keeps fit so Elliot can remain forward.

[ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz]

can anyone shed any light on Seabourne's absence?

[read'n'yell]

can anyone shed any light on Seabourne's absence?

 

He is only allowed to play three games in a row before being injured for a week. In his contract.

[Moose]

can anyone shed any light on Seabourne's absence?

 

Yes.....he played on Saturday so misses tonight. Think that's how it works. He'll be back this Saturday and Franz will be injured.

[Lionel J. Botch]

Firstly perspective - Celtic are miles ahead of us in every area of the park and it showed. However...

That does not mean we should give them an easy ride and not match them in fight and desire. They didn't really need to work hard for their goals. Enough about them.

 

What can be said about Conrad? Absolute gash. At fault for how many goals?

What has happened to Banzo? Now goes sideways and back, runs all over the pitch but, I assume due to too many cards, plays with less aggression. In my opinion he has been honkin for a while.

Booth didn't look great, but suppose he needs a few games to settle.

Is Lyle better than Dools?

 

Expected nothing from the game tonight and got exactly that. Too many players looking out of form and we need to sharpen up soon as a few more performances like that and we are in the sh1t.

[Fearchar]

A desperately slow central midfield (Bannigan, Osman and Stevenson) made it easy for the opposition to stroll past them. Is this inevitable with these players, or is something in the training wrong? Maybe this is the reason for the sudden change to the long ball - except that we're not very good at it.

 

McDaid was a standout, well worth his Man of the Match award. Elliott was tenacious and strong, but on the wing his speed isn't being put to use.

 

Until Higginbotham came on, there was no creative spark. However, Lawless, who has been on form lately, wasn't even given a run-out.

 

The contrast between the two sides' attacks made it so obvious that rushing to the byeline and crossing is last century's tactic, but it seems to be Archie's tactic of choice. (When in possession, the opposition kept returning the ball to the centre to probe for weaknesses.) That has to change, or we face a relegation battle. Playing a single striker and hoping that he'll pick up scraps now and then isn't threatening enough: either midfielders have to come through the centre to support the lone striker (as Lawless does and previously Erskine did) or we have to play two strikers (and our two main strikers, as they are so contrasting, are very threatening). As things stand, we are sacrificing penetration for two holding midfielders - effectively playing 6 defenders at times. Most of the time, it's not working, but although the management team should be watching the recordings of these games week after week to spot these weaknesses, neither the initial lineups nor the substitutes suggest that they're aware of what pretty well all the spectators can see. What is obscuring their perception? The McMillan affair?

Edited February 11, 2015 by Fearchar

[Liamconnollyglasgow]

Fox has a rush of blood any time there's an opposing playing in 6 yard box calm the **** down !!!! Rushing out doesn't solve everything especially if u jump over the ball

[Armand2]

Held off on posting this before the game in the hope that I might be persuaded to change my mind but tonight only served to reinforce a couple of opinions that I've formed over recent times.

 

Firstly, Osman. There is this fallacy that Osman is the epitome of consistency when in actual fact, he's the complete opposite; he is a bog standard, limited clogger. In my opinion, his style is completely incongruent to the type of football that we look to play as a team; he slows the pace of the game down which is hardly conducive to counter attacking football and is simply very pedestrian in a number of facets particularly his man-marking where he is repeatedly caught ball-watching. I've related to the dispensability of players like Osman before and the position he fills in the team is one that can be easily replaced.

 

Secondly, Bannigan; a player who has badly stagnated in recent months. Presently, he doesn't offer enough going forward and contributes little defensively - he roams about the middle of the pitch, mostly taking the safe option and generally lacks the energy of the player who many of us tipped to go onto big things. Both Bannigan and Osman tend to inhabit the same area of the pitch and look to make the same, safe, horizontal passes; resultantly, we gain very little in the middle of the pitch.

 

We all decried Bannigan for a lack of discipline and rightly so; the number of petulant bookings for dissent or blatant, stupid fouls was becoming a concern. However, what I'm sure none of us hoped for would be the complete eradication of that nippy edge; he has been like a neutered dog since the last Celtic game. He has to find a balance, a controlled aggression not dissimilar to that of his midfield opponent tonight in Scott Brown.

 

Fraser has to mature very quickly and eradicate this shoot-on-sight policy but when he does, he should be a first pick because he offers something that neither of the others do; a great range of passing and the bollocks to attempt to play them.

 

Thirdly, Frans. I hadn't managed to see Frans in live action until a fair number of weeks after his arrival. I'd heard many fans suggest that we'd uncovered a decent centre-half and the statistics painted a favourable picture having not conceded a goal from open play with him in the team.

 

I've now had a number of games to watch Frans and he's in no way any better than Balatoni, in my opinion. He is rash and very suspect positionally; he was at fault for two of the goals tonight, particularly the second goal where I have no idea why he's claiming for offside and for the third, he has charged out of position to challenge a ball that he was never going to win (that's also ignoring that it was a foul). His distribution is ropey to say the least and he isn't quite as comfortable on the ball as Balatoni. It leaves us with a slight problem considering our best centre-half also seems to be one of our more unreliable players, meaning we're left with a pairing that is negligibly better than the maligned Balatoni-Muirhead combination.

 

Tonight was a free shot in many ways and it isn't a game that is going to shape our season but the above concerns unfortunately extend beyond this evening's fixture. Finding a modicum of consistency (not of the losing variety) in this round of fixtures should see us pull away from any potential relegation battle right enough but addressing the above problems will hopefully see us achieve that quicker.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Armand2

[yoda-jag]

When he took over we were getting beaten by the likes of Morton. Now we are getting beaten by the champions (who have demolished far better teams than us). When he took over we had players like Hugh Murray. Now we have Lyle Taylor. When he took over we were in the First Division. We are now in our second season in the Premier League. Backwards or forwards?

 

Moaning, greetin, torn-faced, bile-spouting, clueless fans OUT.

 

^^^^^ while the last line is possibly bit ott, the overall sentiment and point of the post is undeniable.

 

yes, we have our problems and some players not playing to the level we know they are quite capable of.

 

but look at forums of rossco, st mirren, motherwell, killie, dundee, hamilton, st j ..... and you will find similar or worse opinions of their teams, tactics, players under performing.

 

and then think back even further than two years, say a decade and the bunnet and the players we had then ..... or the gerry collins or gerry and derek combo and how bad things were then.

 

it isn't all roses and perfection at firhill, and i for one KNOW we can do better, and past few games haven't been inspiring ..... but i'd suggest a large dose of realism coupled with consideration to others and where we have been and what we've had and suffered in the past, and where we are now (with very latest being likes of taylor back, mcdaid proving with every passing appearance how much of a player he is).

[Liamconnollyglasgow]

Held off on posting this before the game in the hope that I might be persuaded to change my mind but tonight only served to reinforce a couple of opinions that I've formed over recent times.

 

Firstly, Osman. There is this fallacy that Osman is the epitome of inconsistency when in actual fact, he's the complete opposite; he is a bog standard, limited clogger. In my opinion, his style is completely incongruent to the type of football that we look to play as a team; he slows the pace of the game down which is hardly conducive to counter attacking football and is simply very pedestrian in a number of facets particularly his man-marking where he is repeatedly caught ball-watching. I've related to the dispensability of players like Osman before and the position he fills in the team is one that can be easily replaced.

 

Secondly, Bannigan; a player who has badly stagnated in recent months. Presently, he doesn't offer enough going forward and contributes little defensively - he roams about the middle of the pitch, mostly taking the safe option and generally lacks the energy of the player who many of us tipped to go onto big things. Both Bannigan and Osman tend to inhabit the same area of the pitch and look to make the same, safe, horizontal passes; resultantly, we gain very little in the middle of the pitch.

 

We all decried Bannigan for a lack of discipline and rightly so; the number of petulant bookings for dissent or blatant, stupid fouls was becoming a concern. However, what I'm sure none of us hoped for would be the complete eradication of that nippy edge; he has been like a neutered dog since the last Celtic game. He has to find a balance, a controlled aggression not dissimilar to that of his midfield opponent tonight in Scott Brown.

 

Fraser has to mature very quickly and eradicate this shoot-on-sight policy but when he does, he should be a first pick because he offers something that neither of the others do; a great range of passing and the bollocks to attempt to play them.

 

Thirdly, Frans. I hadn't managed to see Frans in live action until a fair number of weeks after his arrival. I'd heard many fans suggest that we'd uncovered a decent centre-half and the statistics painted a favourable picture having not conceded a goal from open play with him in the team.

 

I've now had a number of games to watch Frans and he's in no way any better than Balatoni, in my opinion. He is rash and very suspect positionally; he was at fault for two of the goals tonight, particularly the second goal where I have no idea why he's claiming for offside and for the third, he has charged out of position to challenge a ball that he was never going to win (that's also ignoring that it was a foul). His distribution is ropey to say the least and he isn't quite as comfortable on the ball as Balatoni. It leaves us with a slight problem considering our best centre-half also seems to be one of our more unreliable players, meaning we're left with a pairing that is negligibly better than the maligned Balatoni-Muirhead combination.

 

Tonight was a free shot in many ways and it isn't a game that is going to shape our season but the above concerns unfortunately extend beyond this evening's fixture. Finding a modicum of consistency (not of the losing variety) in this round of fixtures should see us pull away from any potential relegation battle right enough but addressing the above problems will hopefully see us achieve that quicker.

[yoda-jag]

as bad as we were, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the poor decisions from the ref and the main stand assistant. shocking stuff

 

hmmmm, we were playing celtic. name me one game where we can identify the match officials not favouring them?

 

 

And I cannot remember anything that made me think we might have been due a penalty at any point in the game.

 

Just my opinion, though.

When I view these incidents, the metric is 'if that was my team would I expect a penalty to be awarded against us'.

 

The answer on tonight's evidence is no.

 

the arm going up to block the ball incident, which i've now had chance to see on tv, was a penalty to them if it had been other end of pitch no doubt.

 

but just my opinion though.

[yoda-jag]

Wow everything is great then.

Imagine using this Rangers side as a benchmark to where Thistle are just now.

 

 

some may benchmark us against sevco, but to me they are just a diddy team on a par with clubs like alloa and cowdenbeath these days. and marginally better than clubs like clyde and morton.

 

not bad really for a club less than three years old i grant you.

Edited February 12, 2015 by yoda-jag

[Liamconnollyglasgow]

Held off on posting this before the game in the hope that I might be persuaded to change my mind but tonight only served to reinforce a couple of opinions that I've formed over recent times.

 

Firstly, Osman. There is this fallacy that Osman is the epitome of inconsistency when in actual fact, he's the complete opposite; he is a bog standard, limited clogger. In my opinion, his style is completely incongruent to the type of football that we look to play as a team; he slows the pace of the game down which is hardly conducive to counter attacking football and is simply very pedestrian in a number of facets particularly his man-marking where he is repeatedly caught ball-watching. I've related to the dispensability of players like Osman before and the position he fills in the team is one that can be easily replaced.

 

Secondly, Bannigan; a player who has badly stagnated in recent months. Presently, he doesn't offer enough going forward and contributes little defensively - he roams about the middle of the pitch, mostly taking the safe option and generally lacks the energy of the player who many of us tipped to go onto big things. Both Bannigan and Osman tend to inhabit the same area of the pitch and look to make the same, safe, horizontal passes; resultantly, we gain very little in the middle of the pitch.

 

We all decried Bannigan for a lack of discipline and rightly so; the number of petulant bookings for dissent or blatant, stupid fouls was becoming a concern. However, what I'm sure none of us hoped for would be the complete eradication of that nippy edge; he has been like a neutered dog since the last Celtic game. He has to find a balance, a controlled aggression not dissimilar to that of his midfield opponent tonight in Scott Brown.

 

Fraser has to mature very quickly and eradicate this shoot-on-sight policy but when he does, he should be a first pick because he offers something that neither of the others do; a great range of passing and the bollocks to attempt to play them.

 

Thirdly, Frans. I hadn't managed to see Frans in live action until a fair number of weeks after his arrival. I'd heard many fans suggest that we'd uncovered a decent centre-half and the statistics painted a favourable picture having not conceded a goal from open play with him in the team.

 

I've now had a number of games to watch Frans and he's in no way any better than Balatoni, in my opinion. He is rash and very suspect positionally; he was at fault for two of the goals tonight, particularly the second goal where I have no idea why he's claiming for offside and for the third, he has charged out of position to challenge a ball that he was never going to win (that's also ignoring that it was a foul). His distribution is ropey to say the least and he isn't quite as comfortable on the ball as Balatoni. It leaves us with a slight problem considering our best centre-half also seems to be one of our more unreliable players, meaning we're left with a pairing that is negligibly better than the maligned Balatoni-Muirhead combination.

 

Tonight was a free shot in many ways and it isn't a game that is going to shape our season but the above concerns unfortunately extend beyond this evening's fixture. Finding a modicum of consistency (not of the losing variety) in this round of fixtures should see us pull away from any potential relegation battle right enough but addressing the above problems will hopefully see us achieve that quicker.

bannigans lost all confidence and he's not been given enough freedom IMO needs refreshed !! And to be fair to frans our back 4 changed every time he's been in the team consistency had to start with a familiar back 4 surely

[yoda-jag]

Good point, but I didn't say everything is tickety boo. Having been a Jags fan for nearly 30 years, I've certainly seen worse.....a lot worse....most of us have.

 

People can moan and groan if they like....I'm happy having a team that I can still say is one I am glad to support. Aye we have a bunch of crap games every season but now and again we put 5 goals past people and we all can't stop smiling. I'd rather win more than we lose but we can't compete financially with the likes of celtic.

 

Ask yourself honestly...did you expect to win tonight? That didn't stop a whole bunch of Jags fans going to the game....more in hope than expectation.

 

^^^^^ perspective.

 

 

Mackay Steven was offside when van Dijk played it forward. Very close but was offside. Izaguirre's handball was very similar to the two penalties Osman has conceded this season. Not deliberate handball but arm raised. Now I have no doubt Celtic could have raised their game if they'd needed to, but when you're as far ahead as they were tonight you don't need the debatable decisions going your way too.

 

We did make it far too easy for them though. Osman and Bannigan should have been in about them from the start. Let them know they were in a game. I think it's time to give Bannigan a rest. He just wasn't at the races tonight. I'm sure he'll come back but would like to see Fraser alongside Osman on Saturday.

 

first paragraphs points, agree with ds i do.

 

second paragraph ..... agree dropping banzo, he's lost his edge, tenacity and confidence, needs taken out for a while for his own good, and betterment of the team for now he does. since his league cup sending off he hasn't been the same player. osman also needs to up his game, been off the boil most of this years games so far.

[Jaggernaut]

Hope we don't give away an early goal! If we don't we have a chance . If the lads need any motivation all they'd have to do is listen to the radio, as usual we're only there to make up the numbers, FFS we actually need the points just as much as Celtic do and a win for us will be worth so much more to us than it will to them. Mon ra Jags

[Jaggernaut]

I just saw the goals: all horrible. Powder-puff defending, with not a single serious tackle on view. Everybody slow off the mark at the first, Fox and others floundering around at the second (will Celtic ever score an easier goal?), Balatoni putting everybody in the soup for the third. From several of the players' body language it looked like they had (or have) chucked it.

[Liamconnollyglasgow]

Hardest I've seen stevo working since we signed him tonight never stopped pressuring and tracking back ! I think fox is slightly at fault for there 1st 2 goals tbh I'd tell him to stay on his line as much as possible rushing out to stop a chance isn't his greatest strength usually jumps over the ball ! Bannigan really needs to pick himself up needs help getting his confidence back !

[Lenziejag]

 

 

As if that could be construed as any kind of excuse for our inability on the night.

 

In the main you are right,Barney - but you know what they say "goals change games". If we had got the penalty and scored it could have made a difference.

[Lenziejag]

 

 

When I view these incidents, the metric is 'if that was my team would I expect a penalty to be awarded against us'.

 

The answer on tonight's evidence is no.

 

Sorry,Barney - I am not deliberately picking on your posts. Izzaguires hand was raised when Bannigan shot and his shot was on target. You can bet your bottom dollar that if it was at the other end,celtic would have got a penalty

[The Cup]

I don't understand how any Thistle fan can watch what the team has become since Christmas and take any kind of comfort.

 

No one expected to beat Celtic but the pathetic way we didn't even make a fist of the game and try and compete was disgraceful.

Nearly conceding a goal after 15 seconds to conceding one after 45 seconds was a joke.

 

I think some people will blame ANYTHING rather than admit that they were wrong about Archibald that he is indeed a poor, poor manager that needs to go as soon as possible.

[ColinKelvin]

To "The Cup" - we competed for a spell in the second half and were denied a near-stonewall penalty. Were you there? Yes, it was a disappointing performanceagainst by far and away the best team in the country, but calling to sack the manager as soon as possible when we're sitting 9th is ludicrous.

 

I see you're continuing your usual pattern of, when we win or play well for a draw, leaving 1 message saying "well done team", and when we lose, going into a massive frothing frenzy of dozens of hand-wringing posts, lashing out at the team and the manager. Makes me wonder, which outcome you enjoy more? OK, now I've got that off my chest I'll keep you on ignore and resist the temptation to "view anyway".

[Jaggernaut]

To "The Cup" - we competed for a spell in the second half and were denied a near-stonewall penalty. Were you there? Yes, it was a disappointing performanceagainst by far and away the best team in the country, but calling to sack the manager as soon as possible when we're sitting 9th is ludicrous. I see you're continuing your usual pattern of, when we win or play well for a draw, leaving 1 message saying "well done team", and when we lose, going into a massive frothing frenzy of dozens of hand-wringing posts, lashing out at the team and the manager. Makes me wonder, which outcome you enjoy more? OK, now I've got that off my chest I'll keep you on ignore and resist the temptation to "view anyway".

 

Competing "for a spell in the second half" seems to be an emerging pattern, especially when we're already trailing by a goal or two. What the players need to get into their heads is that competing for a spell in the second half only is not going to secure their place either in the team, or in the top division in the long term. What I really don't want to read about the match in Dundee is that we had a right go at them in the second half, but that we were already behind and that it was to no avail. It's becoming too depressing!

[The Cup]

To ColinKelvin

 

I don't want him sacked on the back of last night's defeat but the accumulation of a number of factors reaching back to the tail end of last season.

Off the top of my head since Christmas-

We still can't defend a corner yet we have better defenders;

Our away form is poor;

Regression of players like Bannigan, Osman, Seabourne, Higginbotham and Frans;

The general lethargy shown by some players in games;

The unacceptable performances against Motherwell, St Johnstone, St Mirren and Inverness;

Not playing a striker against Inverness & the alarming reason for not playing a striker;

The LB & McMillan situation;

The constant drivel on post-match interviews;

Always blaming the players;

Losing terrible late goals & not being able to win 1-0;

The dreadful long ball football game;

Bannigan being picked not matter how he performs;

The chat about going for top 6 then being slowly dragged into a relegation battle;

Being schooled by a total rookie manager like Teale;

We are 9th, which is decent but I firmly believe we could be a lot closer to 6th, 7th or 8th if he could sort out the above.

 

Do you disagree with any of that?

 

He's had a fair crack at it and he hasn't managed. It's time to get someone else in.

[stillresigned]

 

As I feared, we sold the jerseys (again!) and I was made to look foolish (again!), this time without a drink!

It seems that as I have feared for some time now, in danger of going into free fall. I take absolutely no pleasure in this whatsoever and hope the team prove me wrong once again at Dens.

Edited February 12, 2015 by stillresigned

[Fawlty Towers]

To ColinKelvin

 

I don't want him sacked on the back of last night's defeat but the accumulation of a number of factors reaching back to the tail end of last season.

Off the top of my head since Christmas-

We still can't defend a corner yet we have better defenders;

Our away form is poor;

Regression of players like Bannigan, Osman, Seabourne, Higginbotham and Frans;

The general lethargy shown by some players in games;

The unacceptable performances against Motherwell, St Johnstone, St Mirren and Inverness;

Not playing a striker against Inverness & the alarming reason for not playing a striker;

The LB & McMillan situation;

The constant drivel on post-match interviews;

Always blaming the players;

Losing terrible late goals & not being able to win 1-0;

The dreadful long ball football game;

Bannigan being picked not matter how he performs;

The chat about going for top 6 then being slowly dragged into a relegation battle;

Being schooled by a total rookie manager like Teale;

We are 9th, which is decent but I firmly believe we could be a lot closer to 6th, 7th or 8th if he could sort out the above.

 

Do you disagree with any of that?

 

He's had a fair crack at it and he hasn't managed. It's time to get someone else in.

 

I do disagree but as I have to leave for work now I will reply this evening in more detail as I want to give you a better response than just saying I disagree.