Evening folks and aye last night was a bad one. Indeed a sore one, but the inquiry must start now. There are certainly 2 elements of last night’s game that played their part. One of course is the referee who denied Celtic what seemed to be an infinite amount of penalties. But most importantly, the softness of this Celtic team.
Lets get the ref over and done with first. He constantly denied Celtic an even playing field at corners, that whateverhisnameisswissbawbag was at it everytime, the best one was after he got himself and Hooper booked the ref warned him again and he had a grip of Gary Hooper whilst talking to the ref saying ‘I’m doing nothing wrong’ Il Fudinio. The ref then proceeded to watch Scott Brown be man handled in the box, booked Brown and the Juve player, then watched Brown be pulled down again, but did nothing. Why was he so poor? No conspiracy about Juve fans with sub boards or sons playing for Juve’s youth teams. It’s simple. Antonio Conte is a despicable wee guy, there’s an air of cockiness about him. As An Ac Milan enthusiast I’ve watched his Juve team constantly get away with murder, not necessarily as bad as last night btw, that’s a new one for me. But Conte is a younger Sir Alex Ferguson, whether its right or wrong I get the impression of him that he knows how to handle refs and what to say to the media (I.E, strong referee which Alex McLeish tried to peddle.)
But for me, the most important part. It’s been a while since a Celtic defence has gifted Juventus 3 goals, all terrifically finished however. In big games, Its always important for your centre halves to start well. First ball in the air, bang, you’re wanting your defender to come out and clean house, win the ball, but more importantly, let the striker know hes not going to get it easy. Efe Ambrose, fit or not, didn’t do that, he lapsed, and Forster who for me wasn’t out quick enough because he was expecting Ambrose to win the header, contrived to see us a goal down inside two minutes. Celtic then had Juventus penned in, there was about a 5 minute spell 30 mins in where Juventus were rattled and Celtic just couldn’t get the goal.
Celtic were tremendously unlucky, don’t get me wrong, we’ll play worse and win next week probably. However there is a softness in that Celtic team. Yes the antics at corners were abysmal, but Juventus tried that in 2001 and Sutton, Balde, Valgaeren Mjallby and co were a match for them. Ironically we got a penalty that night for pulling in the box but the point is Celtic bullied the bullies and we really announced ourselves. There’s no denying Celtic at least deserved a draw last night, but Celtic let the antics get to them, they didn’t brush them off, then the second goal, Matthews out of position then turned inside out. Then the third goal, Ambrose who I’ve said since day one there’s an accident waiting to happen with him. No doubt he’s a terrific defender, but far too calm on the ball, in these games just clear the ball away and move on, especially if you’ve already caused one goal. Beautiful finish from the thumbs up Vucinic as well Forster was well beaten.
My honest assessment of the game is that Celtic played some terrific stuff at times, we just couldn’t take any chances and you get punished, especially if you’re as sloppy as we were on the night. The ref ruined it by letting Juve get away with murder and Celtic let them get to us, a sad night, but no doubt the champions league campaign will be remembered fondly, we won away and beat Barcelona of course, but barring a miracle in three weeks (fingers crossed and novenas said) it will end on a sour note.
Softness? Absolute rubbish, celtic are the most physical team left in the champ league.
We were easily brushed aside last night, Juve knew they could get away with it all night thats the most annoying thing about the whole affair. Wanyama Wilson and Ambrose aside, no one has the presence
I agree. Juve are a lot more defensive team than us. Been watching them for a while n their whole games based on defence and I bet you they play the exact same way in the 2nd leg. We need to find that balance of attack and defence. I think we should of started the game slower. Stood our ground , we attacked too much n lost a goal in the 3rd minute. Game would have been different if we played it like we did against barca. Counter attacks n set prices.
Ambrose!
I have saod from the first day i saw him play. The boy is the new BOMBSCARE
“My honest assessment of the game is that Celtic played some terrific stuff at times, we just couldn’t take any chances and you get punished, especially if you’re as sloppy as we were on the night.”
Absolutely spot on. A refereeing decision, or two, could have changed the game, but I doubt it. Still, it was great to see us push forward like that from the start. I was a bit surprised, but it was refreshing.
Got to agree with you but it was Brown who was turned inside out for the second goal not Matthews.
It was a good performance but the two late goals deflated everyone and everything that had gone on before. Juve have set themselves up for a shock refereeing decision as they continue in the CL.
You guys are delusional. Celtic made one good chance all night and Ambrose effed that up. Everything else was snapshots from outside the box with the only exception being Commons overhead attempt which was off target. Juve played within themselves and were far more accomplished in every position.
Hooper can have no complaints as his positioning at corners is solely to obstruct the opposition keeper. There can also be no penalty awarded whilst the ball is dead, which was when the shoving and holding was happening. Brown is guilty of this type of cheating week in week out and seldom gets penalised.
On the refereeing I didn’t hear much complaining when Forster dragged down a player in the first group match. Should have been a penalty and Forster ordered off. That allowed Celtic a draw when they might well have lost.