Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Ross County - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - March 19, 2022 Celtic's Georgios Giakoumakis celebrates scoring their fourth goal to complete his hat-trick REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Today we got a harder game than many of us thought, but this was, after all, the team which before the game was third in the league. They’ve started well, and they’ve started strong.
Neilson’s team are always tough. He knows his business.
After the game he talked utter cobblers.
We’ll get to that, because I want to throw his whingeing into the great ocean of it which is emanating from so many of the Ibrox fan forums.
I don’t want to sound casually dismissive of their “concerns” but their tears and their rage is as sweet to me as the nicest dessert I’ve ever eaten. I am enjoying it.
We were made to battle today, and that’s the word, because they did what they always do and tried to rough-house us.
As I said, I’m not going into the foul count or any of that stuff but a lot of people will wilfully misinterpret the difference between going into someone hard and edging someone off the ball. One is a foul. The other is a booking.
So a real battle, that’s what we faced.
But it was one in which they never laid a glove on us in footballing terms.
Our keeper never had a save to make. Neilson can whinge as much as he likes about how they were “still in the game” until the first sending off but he’s kidding himself on because as Ange said at full time, we were never under serious threat.
It was never going to be “one of those days.”
From the moment we opened the scoring there was always only ever going to be one outcome in that game, and that was a Celtic win. I knew we’d get a second at well, and I think we’d have got it no matter who they had on the park.
The BBC thinks we toiled. I am getting sick of their one-sided nonsense.
We made life hard for ourselves in the second half, sure, but were never living dangerously, and for all that they had good spells but for the Hearts keeper it would still have been a cricket score. That was as comfortable an afternoon as defending champions could hope to have as they try to cement a points lead at the top of the league.
It was not all sexy, flowing football.
We enjoy that and we even expect it, but there are days when you have to grind. When you have to be a little physically strong and when sometimes you are frustrated because you don’t turn that dominance into goals.
If people are being honest they know only one team was really in that today and that was us. It was not thrilling to watch, but that’s the point. There were very moments that threatened to stop your heart.
This might look it and some might claim, but it wasn’t even close.
Not an easy win in any way. We were made to work hard. At 1 nil you’re always nervy tbh. We couldn’t quite get that second goal due to some last ditch defending and some top class saves by Stewart in goals. I did think that we were in control for most of the game and any chance they had would have come in the first 15 minutes of the second half where they had some good moves, that ended in corners, not goals. All in all a hard fought 90 minutes of football and a deserved 3 points. 3 points next week and we go into the Derby game with the chance of being 5 clear with a win. If Hearts can perform like that against the Ibrox mob they’ll win, if the ref allows them to.
Robbie Neilson is becoming the new Mcinness big talk in the lead-up to the game and sour grapes when his team loses. He,s been about the game long enough to know it,s the nature of the fouls that warrant cards, not the amount. In my opinion, he’s made a fool of himself. Again.
It wasn’t a straightforward win, Hearts huffed and puffed and attempted to stifle us, but we were always in control and never looked like dropping any points, We will get games like thiat throughout the season, games that we need to impose ourselves and grind out a result and we did that admirably. Top of the league and another clean sheet, that’s all that matters. We shall not be moved.
Just finished watching Sportscene highlights.
Listened to Sportsound while watching Sky super Sunday to keep a pal up to date.
He must have been shitting himself as I kept him informed that Jambos were running all over us and that the two red cards had a major effect on the result.
When Sportscene can’t even show an actual attack from them that really says something.
Both double yellow/reds are beyond debate except from Neilsen.
The unseen hand of McIntyre on radio ?
To be fair to Hearts, they weren’t as thuggish as they usually are, although still pretty bad. i still have doubts over Giakoumakis and the right wing. We definitely need this winger we are being linked with and we should have taken a punt on Jordan Larsson.
Good honest hard working performance today, sometimes you’ve got to grind out the result as stated above and grind it out they did. Hearts were much better 2nd half but I thought CCV’s positioning was very good, stopping any chances being made and keeping that defensive unit solid. Strong as a butcher’s dog, he and big Jenz are developing a decent partnership and with just a couple of games away from the Glasgow derby, surely Ange is gonna keep them paired in the run up even if that does seems a bit harsh on the Starman
Kyogo just doesn’t have the game or the physique to be a target man in games like that where the opposition are going to park the bus. It will limit our chances.
GG should play alongside him in these types of games. He can be for Kyogo what Sutton and Hartson were for Larsson. They will create more chances for each other.
I’m surprised Ralston didn’t get on considering how few good crosses were going in. Yes, Juranovic put a good one in at the death for the second goal, but it was a long time coming.
Neilson, stop moaning about legitimate sending-offs, and take a look at Sevco’s penalty. That’s what you’ll be up against when you play them.