SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

The first trophy of the season is up for grabs on Sunday, and I’m quite sure that MAHE will be previewing it tomorrow. Meanwhile,I’ll venture into the current form of the two sides, with a view to allowing you to make a decision on which team you should place your tanner bet. 

At the moment,I don’t think either side is playing particularly well. In Celtic’s case, we can’t seem to perform to our usual standards for both halves of any game, with possibly the games against Leipzig and the semi final against Aberdeen being exceptions. On Tuesday night we didn’t really perform in either half, which was hardly the reaction we expected when we said that we wanted this one half per game nonsense to stop! 

Additionally, we have to be concerned about the form of Maeda, Hatate and Kühn. None have dazzled recently, and Kühn in particular has gone from POTY material to ineffective running into dead ends. We know from experience, of course, that our three Japanese Bhoys love playing against R2ngers, and are usually good for a goal or two. We can hope that the trend continues on Sunday, and that Kühn rediscovers his sparkle and becomes the latest hammer of the huns. 

At the back, our biggest concern has to be the two full backs. Taylor has got the nod from the manager recently, but I think his performances have been below his usual standard. This should be the time for Valle to be recalled, and we will need his speed against Cerny. On the right, the injury to AJ is a concern. Off at half time on Tuesday, and it would be out of character for him to retire so early just as a precaution. Although Big T is a solid replacement, he isn’t quite up to the class of our regular starter, and I hope he will have fully recovered in time. 

In the midfield, we will doubtless see CalMac as the 6, but I can’t see BR playing both Engels and Bernardo in front of him. Both can do a job defensively in the midfield area, but it is in his forward play that Bernardo really excels in my opinion. He should get the nod in front of Engels, who came on for him after an hour in Zagreb. 

Going back to the form of both sides, that 4-1 away victory in Nice seems to have given our opponents some belief. And that was obvious if you watched them last night against Spurs. Conversely, belief is something that Spurs are sadly lacking at the moment, but they managed to overcome a shocking performance and losing the opener to eke out a draw late on. I did notice that R2ngers were there for the taking after the equaliser, as though they had been punched in the guts, but Spurs allowed them more time on the ball than was wise, letting them regroup and finish strongly. 

I see that then as the ideal way to do them. Score early, a real gut punch, and then force home the advantage while we have them rocking on the ropes. I think they will try to avoid that scenario by coming at us all guns blazing from the start, so we have to be ready for that, and ready to hit them hard and fast on the break. Soak up the early pressure and really apply our own. They aren’t going to make it easy for us, that’s for sure. They know this is probably their best chance of silverware, and with Beaton and Muir the main two officials, they have willing partners to help them out. Remember the dodgy offside call in the September game? 

It is our form though that is my main concern, as I’ve already said. We have been blowing hot and cold, both domestically and in Europe. This is a habit that we have to break, and Sunday would be a good time to do it. It would be an excellent time too for our below par stars to come back to form. I want a win, and a win in the style that makes it difficult to leave any of our players out of my three POTY Competition selections!

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Above article by BMCUWP