Veni,Vidi,Vici!!!

Morning,all.

One of the most famous quotes in history as a heading for an article? What was wrong with-“We came,we saw,we kicked (its) ass!” It was good enough for Ghostbusters,after all…

Another great line is-“What did the Romans ever do for us?” Well,I can now answer that. They gave us a night to remember. Of course,as one of the great cities in the world,one or two others will have had a night to remember before we did,but it probably wasn’t shown on BT Sport,with Chris Sutton screaming -F…..g beauty!!!! at the end of it.

Few gave us a cat in hell’s chance of getting anything from this before the game. We got lucky in Glasgow,we insulted their padrone,we were going to pay for it. We were going to get a beating,both on and off the pitch. That was how it looked on Wednesday night at an Irish bar in the city when a group of our fans were set upon by a gang of masked and armed thugs. And that was how it looked when we went a goal down after only seven minutes. In both cases,we struck back despite being clearly outgunned. In both cases,we had them on the run.

We started the game with

Forster

Elhamed Jullien Ajer

Forrest McGregor Brown Christie Elyounoussi

Edouard

Yep,that’s right. An unusual if not untried three at the back formation,in an away tie against the team lying fourth in Serie A. It took us a while to get used to too,with Jonny Hayes particularly looking unsure of his defined role. And it didn’t take long for Lazio to take advantage. We failed to clear a corner,the ball was swung back in and found an unmarked-a criminal offence in itself against a player of this class-Immobile to slot in low to Forster’s right. It was a stunning finish if I’m honest,and we certainly looked stunned as Lazio swarmed all over us. It was an excellent,open game,with nearly as many corners as there were free kicks,and could be used as a tutorial for referees. Certainly in our neck of the woods. But for all the possession and pressure by Lazio,we were holding them at bay,keeping them to that one goal lead. And slowly getting back into it.

And with only five minutes left till half time,we did just that! A beautifully weighted pass from central inside the Lazio defensive line. Mo to Jamesy. The Prestwick Pele took a touch to steady and aim,then-fire! Arrowed across goal and into the top of the far corner!

Peach of a pass and a peach of a finish. And just in time for the half time oranges too…

Normal service was resumed in the second half,with Lazio dominating the possession and the pressure,but yet we had three decent chances in the first ten minutes,with Eddy and CalMac shots and then the best of the three,a Christopher Jullien header. From a corner too-have I said that our corners are getting better? Then it was Lazio’s turn to have a go for the next twenty minutes or so,and we once again had Forster to thank for some excellent stopping. Even if coming for crosses is something he needs to look at,ffs big fella you don’t even need to jump!!! So under the cosh again,until Mo played in another blinding pass behind the defence-he’s worth buying for that skill alone,Peter!-and Eddy ran in on his favoured left side to open his body and play it across the keeper with his right foot,far post. He does it so often,you could hear the sound of piggy banks getting raided for the in-play betting. Maybe even the odd collection plate,if Il Papa was watching in his new jersey.

This time he curled it fractionally wide. It’s been a frustrating little period for him,what with keepers on top form,near misses,Jamesy not passing to him when he’s in a better position. Etc. Panic not,the boy is the bollocks,and he knows it too. His recent goal return doesn’t reflect his performances,nowhere near it. So not a concern. He then had another shot at goal,a free kick which was a bit loose and high by his standards. Did his head go down? What do you think?

It was end to end stuff now,with both keepers doing well to keep the score level as we entered the last ten minutes. Fraser had two excellent saves but the Lazio keeper was matching him all the way. Until we entered a five minute where the f..k did you get that from ref period of added time,with Lazio regaining the ascendancy. But for all that their keeper was excellent,for all the reputation of Italian defences down the years,it was an absolute schoolboy error that played us in. Fannying about at the back as they tried to get it forward but finding their options blocked by our press,their centre half passed it straight to Eddy about forty yards or so out. He,Mo and recent sub addition Ollie burst forward and this time the mortgage money was going on in-play.

I Wanna simply made no mistake. Drew the outnumbered Lazio defence towards him before sliding it to his right for the waiting Ntcham. Ollie coolly took his time to autograph the ball and tie his shoelaces before slotting it into the net,despite a valiant effort by the keeper who truly can count himself unlucky to be on the losing team on the night. A MOTM contender,along with Immobile.

There was barely time to restart the game before the referee,another MOTM contender and there’s a first for me,signalled the end of the match and the start of the celebrations.

We have now qualified again for Europe after Christmas,and it could be said that Ollie paid his fee with that goal,so owes us nothing. Hopefully it makes him realise that he is at a special club. He knows and we know that he is a special player,so he is already at the right club to prove that. We provide the stage,you provide the performances. How’s that for a deal? Yer in? Brilliant!

I don’t normally praise opponents in these articles and if I do it is usually somewhat grudging,but I thought Lazio gave us two great games and two great performances without much attempt at the dark arts. Genuinely,teams like this I would love to play every week. Maybe it was the strong refereeing in both ties,I dunno,but credit where it is due. They were worthy-and a tad unfortunate-opponents. I hope they win their next two ties and that we can do them a favour in Romania. One thing is for certain,they deserve better fans than some of the ones they have. And Immobile is one helluva player!

But last night was all about us in the end up. We won,they didnae. We qualified,they didnae. And it was certainly,for all of us watching at home and also for MARSPAPA and his daughter watching in the stadium and celebrating his 60th birthday with around 9000 others,a night to remember. I could give you a link to a kitsch 80s choon,but instead I’ll give you my MOTM

It wasn’t Fraser,despite his heroics again. Two of his saves in particular could have made the award his. It wasn’t Eddy,despite being Eddy all night and playing that pass at the end.

It IS Celtic. Another win as a team night,especially after such a nervy start. Everyone settled down,played their game,played their part. On a night for heroes,we had fourteen of them.

******

Above article by BMCUWP. Sorry it took so long,but what a match to review! If you fancy a go,pop us a line at

sentinelcelts@gmail.com

We always publish your thoughts as Article of the Day. Get your name in lights.

Uncategorized

BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS

Bon Voyage to Mr and Mrs SOLKITTS. Off to Gatwick later for a wee night at the local Travelodge or whatever. Sure beats Swindon!

Enjoy your (all too) few weeks in Florida. Even the locals must assume yeezur locals over there by now…

Oooooops,replied on wrong page.
*
UBER,AWENAW

BR left us in the lurch due to the timing of his departure,there is little doubt about that. But his departure was effectively sealed eighteen months previously when his plans for the future-on the back of The Invincibles season-were effectively strangled at birth by our all-powerful and want in to stay that way CEO.

We were lucky that he stayed as long as he did,and we were fortunate that Lenny agreed to come back. After all,he too had been a victim of similar chicanery as much as ten years before that. We are lucky,in fact,that the love for Celtic overrode everything else. Certainly if a company treated me like that,I’d never darken their doorstep again.

I was and am surprised at the vitriol aimed at BR at the time and since by virtually every Celtic site. I think ours was the only one which hammered him for his timing and then got laid into PL for the reasons behind his departure. BR could have cost us a treble treble by leaving when he did,but it could equally be said that PL could have cost us a treble treble by wilfully undermine his manager.

At the end of the day,it was down to a war of two egos. There was only ever going to be one winner. But ask yourself how many actually cheered when BR left?

I think the noise will be deafening when PL goes.

big packy

MORNING ALL, bobby first things first, apologies to everyone on here, I didn’t think we would do it, im glad the bhoys made me eat my words, im truly proud of my team, every single one of them, they played the Glasgow celtic way, big jock would have been proud of them.hh.

don’t you just love lenny, https://twitter.com/HereCelts/status/1192586195315970048

Big Audio Dynamite

The shot of Neil and his coaching team dancing and hugging on the touchline, could have been any 5 of us last night… brilliant to see. Couldn’t sleep. Have now watched the game numerous times. Massive amount of pride in our team and their performance.

Not been mentioned much, but Ely’s contribution was immense last night. His through ball for Forrest was brilliant, but even more important was his run to take away the CB to open up space for Ollie’s run in the 95th min. A VERY smart player!

Forster 9
El Hamed 9
Julien 9 and a half ☺(For his goal line clearance)
Ajer 9
Hayes 9
Broony 10
Calmac 9
Christie 8
Forrest 9
Ely 10
Eddie 10

Subs:
Ncham 10
Bitton 8
Bauer 8

Neil Lennon 11 ?

Twists n turns

Didn’t see the match last night but what a magnificent result. I knew we were one down, feared the worst so was absolutely elated to see we had won all 3 points.

Lenny has those bhoys managing to see these games out remarkably well. Our Achilles heel had been when we lost one goal in Europe, it usually resulted in us conceding again. We seem to have rid ourselves of that habit.

As for closing out the final minutes, wow.

I wanted us in the CL, but it might just be that these second tier opponents are helping this group of players develop as a team.

You’d think that we will approach next season’s European qualifiers as a better prepared group than has been the case over recent years.

Congratulations to Lenny and the bhoys. You’ve given those fans in Rome a night they’ll never forget.

jimthetim53

Great review Bobby. I’ll never forget that 5 mins. added time. It was the longest 5 minutes ever. I was counting the seconds, just hoping we would come out of it with a point. I thought we might do a bit of time wasting. No chance. Never say die. I exploded when that goal went in.

A very memorable game.

BIGPACKY

Oh,you don’t need to apologise,old son. There wasn’t many of us took the bookies on at 4/1. At least you had the bars to say what many or most of us were thinking.

And on paper,you were right to think that. It’s why we were 4/1. Probably neare 40/1 after twenty minutes. That’s what impressed me so much about the match when I watched back. Totally unsettled at the start,unfamiliar formation,under the cosh.

Written off,in fact,at that stage,couldn’t see a comeback in us. Literally had to drag ourselves back into it on willpower alone.

And we did,and we found the formation to our liking as the players settled. It was a tremendous performance,one which was about so much more than just the silky skills and flashes of brilliance which are what usually make matches memorable for us. It was just a fantastic match,start to finish end to end.

JIMTHETIM53

You are Mr Creosote and I claim my £5!!!

I think there was a similar outburst of unbridled joy in a little outpost of Kilwinning too. And,I’m sure,in one or two places throughout the country.

Just a pity my Dad won’t get into any pubs in Kilwinning for a few days. Always the same after a result like that.

BIGAUDIODYNAMITE

You’re as rubbish as me at MOTM and ratings when we have an outstanding performance! Christie should get at least another point for the quality of his corners. Come on,man. Use the edit function,ya hard hearted basturt.

Margaret McGill

There’s only one NFL

MAGS

Aye. Betcha.

Of course,USFL disnae count(!)

One of Mussolini’s achievements during the war was to screw up an invasion of Albania to the extent that Der Wehrmacht had to reroute to help him out,thus delaying the start of Operation Barbarossa so effectively losing the entire war.

So why am I telling you this? Well,we do have fans all over the world,you know…

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/ilir-meta-president-of-albania-reveals-support-for-celtic-1-4963008

The Exiled Tim

That was some game, still can’t quite believe that we done it, as a few others have said the last few mins were excruciating, my stream was about a minute behind so I kept flicking to the betting site to see the score, in the past we could easily have throw that away at the death, this team has something about it.
I thought that El Hammed was superb as was Jonny Hayes, they were my toss up for MoM, along with Lenny and his coaches, they got everything spot on, all done in spite of the penny pinching tory parasites that run the club.
And a shout out for a IMO very fair and honest referee

I can’t remember where I heard this story,it was a while ago and I struggle to remember last week. Actually,I do remember last week,I just forgot to bring the 12yo Highland Park along for the occasion,which kinda proves my point…

Anyway,apparently Wee Jinky spent ages trying to persuade Eusebio to join Celtic! Seems they got on very well personally,despite the language barrier,and The Wee Man was hot for the deal!!!

Not as outlandish as it seems. I’m reliably informed that Jimmy was very good friends with Alberto Di Stefano too,even till the latter days of his life. If the story I’ve been told a couple of times about him on a plane back from a visit to Di Stefano,along with a fellow Lisbon Lion,isn’t true then who cares,it’s still a great story which sums the wee man up even as he was on the way out from possibly one of the most horrific illnesses there is.

But there’s a problem. Who are we gonna leave out?

https://www.espn.com/soccer/barcelona/story/3982561/lionel-messi-and-barcelona-at-a-crossroads-should-their-greatest-player-leave-next-summer

Bobby, I hear ya! Should have given Ryan a 10 just for the ground he covers every game. Have to say i’m a big fan of Ely, his game intelligence has brought a whole other dimension to our play. Wonder what saffampton would want for him? Nah, after how he has played, the c@nts will probably want him back!

Celtic Champs Elect

I believe that we can win the Europa

Well said CCE! It’s not beyond us. My confidence is growing. Doesn’t seem that long ago we got to the final. Confidence is hugely important.

I hold no grudge towards Southampton but I hope they get relegated this season. If nothing else,it will show that a strategy of selling your best players and sacking or undermining managers doesn’t work in the long term.

Which,trust me,will be the focus on the fallout when it happens.

Also,Armstrong is a loss to the legal profession and can’t put off wearing a wig forever,you know!

Now,I’m on record as hoping that Southampton will look on Fraser Forster as a rapidly depreciating asset which is turning into a liability in financial terms. They don’t want him at the club,but he is their highest paid player,with a contract till 2023. Write off their investment and write off their liability of around £12m,that’s my hope.

If relegated,I’d hope that we can get Mo for around £8m as he would still have three years of an expensive contract left. Might have to ask him to tone it down a bit,mind.

Relegation will see Southampton FC down the docks begging every passing ship for a lifebelt. We have two people they consider passengers and can take them off your hands,no need to thank us!!!

CELTICCHAMPSELECT

Well,I don’t. We aren’t quite in that state yet. But I think we can scare the shit out of any team that comes up against us!

We proved that last night,and have shown signs of it recently too. The Cluj players and manager were astonished at our intensity,for example. If we can try to keep that focus,we can do very well indeed.

And put the fear back into our name too.

Bit early to get carried away,mind. As I remember saying in 2002. Aye,early in the season!!!

CCE, if we get to the final I give you permission to rub Bobby’s nose in it. Only once mind! and only him! 🙂

My auld man used to say: Don’t spend each week looking for 2 results, just worry about what your own team are doing. I’ve always tried(Hard as it is) to stick to that, so don’t watch the dark side when playing but …

After viewing the highlights, a couple of thing occurred to me.

1- Are they the only team you know, that when they score a goal, they look and act angry? Naw, seriously, it’s amazing.
2- When Morelos scored last night, was I the only one who immediately thought of Maradona’s celebration at the world cup, you know the one were he was whisked off for a drug test that we all knew he would fail. He definitely looks like someone playing under the influence of something.

Be honest, you wouldn’t be overly surprised to learn the Rangers players are juiced, would you?

Packy?

Bobby I really hope you’re right …I definitely want both @Parkhead ?

B.A.D. They were all laughing at Morelos’ reaction on BBC Shortbread last night. Would it kill him to smile or laugh?

The new boss of WADA took over this week. He’s Polish,the previous incumbent was Scottish. He said that he’s gonna prosecute everywhere there is evidence,and seems particularly keen on the continuing Russian scandal.

Of course,it’s a waste of time investigating Scottish football. Firstly it’s outside of his remit-or is it,they took down Lance Armstrong-and more importantly….

Drum roll…

No drugs tests in Scottish football.

Rebus67

Certain games stick in your memory. That one last night is one of them, joining the 67 final, the Marshall/Kennedy Camp Nou draw, and the 2-1 vs Barca, to name a mere few!

Was it Carlos Ancellotti, then coach of AC Milan, who said both teams played the beautiful game when we lost to them in overtime? Last night was the beautiful game……both sides playing hard but fair, both creating chances, both keepers excelling!

To be honest, I could not watch it live because I thought for sure that our loss of the midfield vs Hibs would come back to haunt us against a good Italian team. Checking the score at halftime, I was delighted by the 1-1 result. Well done, I thought! We shall not be disgraced. I kept busy during the second half and looked at the final result within 5 minutes of the game ending. I focused on the Lazio score first, hoping that it would be no more than 1. Yes, they had not scored again, we had a draw!! What, Celtic had two! I feared a misprint, but on checking the scorers, there it was! A great victory!

I have DAZN so I replayed the game and even tho I knew the score, it felt like seeing live. In first 20 minutes, Lazio should have blown us away. They had our disease….inability to kill off an opponent when dominating the game. Each cross into our defensive line was agony to see. Cleverly, Lazio double, sometimes triple loaded our full backs, so they had spare men on the far side of our defence. This is perfect for Immobile’s skills. If he gets a chance of a shot inside the box, especially on his left side, he will score. As it turned out, it was better to have him score at 7 minutes rather than, say, 20, because they thought it eas only a matter of time before they overwhelmed us. After about 20 minutes, we figured out the danger that they posed from corners and free kicks and pulled Ely, Forrest, and Christie back to help defend the FBs. Their striker, turnip heid, was ineffective, especially when throwing himself to ground to gain a penalty. So Lazio’s tactics were nullified, largely, throughout the second part of the first half. Christie’s energy was key to this as he was everywhere.

In the second half, we had self belief, chances were created by both sides, and either team could have taken the lead. Forrest wasted a good 3 on 2 break by going for glory when Edouard would have had a tap in.

And so, the drama rolled into extra time with the ref probably adding 3 mins for the subs plus 2 for injuries to the Lazio CB and Elhamed. Cue Ollie becoming a Celtic player!

If last night does not convince Ely, Jullien, Elhamed, Ntcham, what it means to play for Celtic, nothing will. I think at least three of them get it already.

Rebus

bada bing1

I said before the game, I would have played Taylor instead of Hayes……Jonny had his best game in a Celtic jersey,2nd half he started so many attacks, a famous victory last night.

fan-a-tic

The part Elynoussi played in the winning goal was brilliant.
As Ed ran diagonally they had a man in decent position to cover Ollie.
Elynoussi did the smart thing and cut diagonally towards inside dragging that defender towards him and created a clear channel for Ollie to attack.
As they say the rest is history.
Our off the ball movement is getting better all the time under Neil particularly in the final third.

PS. B.A.D. Just reading posts now and i see you already made that observation.
Elynoussi is a gem.

“Where the fk did he get 5 minutes fae…?”?

We are still a work in progress but lots of positive signs of improving as a team.
We should note that in the periods of the game we struggled that it was mostly due to us stretching the game and giving a good team time and space to hurt us.
This i believe is due to our defense being wary of space behind, opponents pace and them backing up to early.
This in turn brings the centre mids deeper and leaves a huge distance between them and forwards.
It makes retaining possession when we clear difficult..
It invites pressure with balls in the box a lot easier to make.
With Lazio’s clear intention of winning penalties it was nerve wracking.
Thankfully we had a very good honest referee who was wise to them.
The Hibs game when Kamberi came on was similar.
To counter fear of pace the keeper has to become the sweeper or we have to find a lightening quick defender like Des Walker of Forrest fame.

https://twitter.com/the_eriugena/status/1192531755426824192?s=12

Listen to big Sutton, when it goes in…

Fanatic,

At first I did not get Elynoussi’s contribution to the team. He seemed a passenger initially…a bit unfit, poor passing and wandering around aimlessly. Since his first goal he has improved immensely. He has a strong shot, good game intelligence and even tackles back. His aimless wandering have become purposeful positioning at any point across the forward line. He is very difficult to nullify.

Sadly, I think he has ambitions beyond Celtic and we shall not retain him, even if the club is prepared to fork out for him. Foster is a different kettle of fish…I think we shall get him.

Spare a thought for Inzaghi who must be wondering how he lost two games against us!

BT Sport 3 @3.30,half hour highlights ?

Byres Road Bhoy

Bada, thanks for the heads up re highlights. Have just savoured them and watched THAT goal again. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
Guys I have a terrible confession to make. Hope it doesn’t lead to my being banned from the blog. But here goes…
When the Lazio no 7’s pass strayed to Eddy’s feet I immediately blurted out, “Go to the corner Eddy!” Thank fuck he didn’t hear me. O ye of little faith! Etc, etc.

ok I may be in the minority here, but we were dire, Lazio had a reserve team out and we only scored 2 goals, both offside by the way, and what about lazios 2 penalty shouts both stonewallers, don’t get me started on lenny, never wanted him in the first place in
fact ill drive him to the airport myself , that was sent to me by the exiled tim ?

ok joking aside, id bite southamptons hand off for Elyounoussi and forster, and a big shout out to jonny hayes ran his socks off last night, lenny we love you, take no notice of the exiled tim ?

Starsky (poster formerly known as Mike in Toronto)

Has everyone come down off their cloud since yesterday?

This songs seems to be a good one given yesterday ….