Well, we rode our luck in the groups and had none tonight. All their goals were easily avoidable from our point of view so we can't complain. But, and fully aware I'm contradicting myself , the referee let them away with absolute murder at corners. Annoying.
****ing good side though. They soaked up everything. Lennon got that spot on with the exception of playing Ambrose. I guess he felt we needed an athlete in there. Hindsight is foresight for ****ers.... But at the same time Maybe Mulgrew at the back and Joe in the middle might have served us better. Gabriel Clarke pushing Brown to slag em off for the carry on in the box but he managed it well.
greco Roman wrestling is the new fashion in Italian defending. Ambrose had a stinker. we were far too exposed at the back, more often than not two on two at the back. Still
The Ref's refusal to see the blatantly obvious fouls cost us the game in the end. I have no complaints otherwise because we played an attacking formation and had the bulk of the play. Ambrose was maybe with hindsight a mistake, but I will not criticise anyone overly, sometimes if you are bold you get caught out. Attacking is the Celtic way and sometimes things like this happen when you attack. I never thought for a minute we would get any further but it's crap in these circumstances, when we played them off the park.
I am not one to blame the ref !!! I hate the Italian cheating b@stards , not just from tonight, 81 and 02 were just as bad. Onwards and upwards a few beers in Turin and you never know !! Still have to go . Seen us beat at home in Europe 3-0 before psg and Dortmund , played off the park those nights , tonight was different .
Lennon ****ed up by playing Ambrose... First half was good, second half was disjointed and Celtic had run themsleves out - Juve picked them off.
Spot on Reb - they are certainly a very capable side but will obviously resort to whatever tactics they think will serve them best - no matter how low if they can get away with them, as they did in defending tonight. Their strikers, however, were quick, clever and clinical. Efetobore Ambrose Emuobo, unfortunately, cost us dearly but I think that, generally, the team certainly did not disgrace themselves at this level - far from it in fact - unlike Alberto Undiano Mallenco. He completely bottled making the right decisions - at least one penalty - and on this showing, he obviously hasn't benefited much from his sociology studies. Some valuable lessons must surely have been learned by our players. In the end, a very disappointing result as the scoreline didn't reflect the game - just how clinical their strikeforce was in comparison to ours although, admittedly, ours didn't get the clear-cut chances Juventus were gifted.
If Celtic wanted to progress against Juve, money would have had to be spent on a top Striker . However, that's a dangerous game to play when you're not going to (realistically) win the competition.
I thought Hooper played really well Pud. I don't think there are too many strikers that could have done more. We cut our cloth and stuck to it. Their side was assembled a ten times the cost of ours. 3-0 suggests a lot worse than it was. Loads of positives out of that. Not least the fact that we have a coach that can get sides to the last 16, showcase young talent at the elite level. That will make us an attractive proposition for any young player. The current crop were sold the possibility of this level. The next crop will be sold the reality of it.
I'm not blaming Hooper , but what I was meaning was exactky what you said in bold. If the ambition was to progress further, proven quality woudl have to be added but that not the Celtic philisophy or even a viable one.
i agree i thought hooper played well. i would add commons to that. overall it was a decent 70 mins and a really good first 45. my gripe was that we seemed devoid of ideas in the final third which resulted in shots from 25 yards. as you said lots of positives and getting beat in the last 16 is no shame.
Sorry. It came out wrong. What I meant was spending on a world class forward wouldn't have made a whole lot of difference. Hooper worked them hard but they were really well served in that area of the park.
Izzie was our best player , just seen the highlights more like rugby at our set pieces . Could the goalie not done better at the first two goals ???
Micky Lustig for me. The formation suited both of them though. First one, you have to trust Ambrose to do the right thing. He didn't and it is then down to luck if it hits him or not. The second......mibbees aye.
Ambrose wasnt at the races, though , if I`d been in lennons shoes I would probably have started with him. Particularly with Sammi being unavailable though I would have liked to have seen us set up far more defensively minded. Definately not a game for Forrest to come from the start for....in my humble opinion And as Rebs says, yes, they soaked up everything but we were too one dimensional
Any game plan went right out the window after 3 mins. Mistakes happen in football there is nothing you can do. What is disappointing is that considering how we played on another night we could have walked away with a decent lead.
Im glad we had a go to be honest. It almost worked. On another night we would have won, or certainly not lost that game. Lennon deserves credit for having a go. Yep we lost -but we would have lost trying to defend also. My only criticism is Mulgrew in midfield. When stuck for numbers before fair enough - but with Ledley and Kayal on the bench then there is no need for it. And if he does play why wasnt he taking set pieces. Never mind the man handling our actual delivery was pish 9 times out of 10. Had a dangerous delivery come in anything could have happened be it a celt on the end or a falling Juve player tackling our player knocking the ball into the net
Not sure why Ledley didn't start but, other than Ambrose, i'd have to say Lennon got it right for the most part. 2 defensive mistakes by a defender who probably shouldn't have played really cost us last night yet you could see the gulf in class. They were happy just to soak it up and take the few chances they got. The grappling at corners was ****ing atrocious but it's up to the ref to sort it out and sadly he didn't. Lichsteiner should have probably been sent off by the 75th minute when it was still 1-0. Can't really complain thouogh. It was always going to be hard to get a result and it was good to see us take the game to them. Still think we lack a decent technical player in the final 3rd. WOuld be nice to have someone who can thread that killer pass and through balls.
Our owner is a billionaire, the club is one of the best runs clubs in Europe, the figures show it, we have a profitable set up and next to no debt, he could easily spend 10 or 15 million on 2 or 3 players as a one off thing which would have been covered by the champions league money this season and we would still be turning over very nicely. Just another plastic paddy tim imo, not a real Celtic fan, didnt grow up in glasgow, loves his money more than Celtic, thats a fact. The work Lawell has done has given us the chance to spend big as a one off and still maintain a profitable set up. And dont say look at murray and rangers, rangers where spending the banks money, and they were doing it every year, im talking about a one off thing here. No ambition, Celtic is not a club who should be happy just to be in the Champions League. Biggest disappointment for me last night was James Forrest, went hiding for 90 minutes, didnt think he was that type of player.
