Once again, we’ve been reminded that this will not be easy.
That nothing is set is stone. That nothing is in the bag or confirmed or done and dusted.
We conceded early. Then we conceded late. Twice. Once in normal time and then, shockingly, in extra time. We were slack in our passing. Our overall football was far from being good. It was another first game to put the fear of God into you.
This season, with six games left, has a long way to go.
I am troubled by this team’s inability to give us a 90-minute performance.
I am annoyed by it, because it certainly cost us points this season including, I think, at Ibrox where our first half dominance was so complete that we could have been out of sight at half time. The thing is, we weren’t, and in the second half we let them back into it.
We concede a frustrating number of late goals too. Like today. When we are put under pressure like that we don’t seem to respond calmly, but with blind panic.
At half time, I hoped that l like last week at Celtic Park the difference between the two halves would be what made the difference. Last weekend, that difference was night and day. When we step up a gear, we really can blow teams away.
There was little sign of that sort of football today though, except in patches.
And yes, let’s give Aberdeen their due; this was their whole season, and they took it just as seriously as that.
They aren’t in the top six. Europe is a nonstarter unless they could win this cup and so every one of them gave everything they had. They performed as a team with nothing to lose, and that always makes things harder for you.
They played the press. They got in our faces. They made our lives as difficult as they could, and that’s to their credit.
They even came back into it after we got the second, and then again when we got the third in extra time. There are a lot of teams this season who haven’t been able to recover once we gotten into the lead. Their equaliser in normal time was the least surprising moment of the whole day, because we had been inviting it.
But their equaliser in the last minute of extra time was simply unforgivable.
That moment should haunt these players for a long, long time to come.
Had we gone out, a lot of them would have had to replay it in their minds on an endless loop, forevermore.
There are elements of our game which are there. There are elements of it which are not.
There are things that we are doing right, and things that we are doing badly wrong. The defending for the second and third goals was abysmal; the need for some quality in that area is stark and clear and can no longer be ignored. But right now we have to work with what we’ve got.
But the fact is, if we go into the remainder of our league games playing 45-minute games or worse, doing what we did today and losing our focus in the latter stages, there’ll be no title. There will be nothing at the end of this season but heartbreak and regret.
Today too much of the football was pedestrian and slow.
We reverted too often to that lunacy of lugging a ball into a packed penalty area; teams, even in this league, can read that stuff all day long unless it’s done perfectly.
When we’ve had movement and running and players moving into space, that’s when we’ve made things happen.
The third, when it finally came, was not some aimless cross; it was a perfectly weighted ball into a man who had made his move at the right moment and found the space to hit it home. Matt O’Riley had a lot to do in order to put it away, and he was brilliant.
And then we conceded again, right in what we all expected to be the seconds of the game, and after we’d brought on a defensive player to shut the door and prevent exactly that. Let’s be blunt; the defending today was shambolic.
Liam Scales picked today to have his worst game in a Celtic shirt, and that put us into the penalty shootout, the last thing we wanted to see.
A whole season of missing them had all of us, I think, mentally prepared for the worst.
And we scored the first four. And they missed their fourth. And the cup final was beckoning.
Which is why I could scarcely believe it when Joe Hart stepped up to take our fifth.
Talk about a needless, crazy chance to take. Of course he was going to miss.
Of all the stupid decisions, and at a moment of high risk. In the end he saves the last one … but that miss could have cost us so, so much.
It was a moment of insanity that made me wonder what in God’s name we are thinking about at times.
Yeah, we’re in the final.
I’m pleased about that.
I am not pleased about how we got there, and if we’re double winners at the end of the season I won’t even care and I know that … but for today, what should have been a straightforward win, and especially having been in front twice, turned instead into a nerve-shredding experience I don’t want to repeat.
To say that has opened up a whole lot of worries, all over again, is an understatement.
At this stage in the season, with so much at stake, you only get one of these and today we’ve had it; that’s the last of the luck gone, and whilst there’s no harm done, the players should be forced to watch every minute of that again and again until they realise how close they were to disaster.
God almighty, that was not an enjoyable experience, but we are in the final.
Hi James , I usually agree with you ! In my humble opinion Celtic played well, Aberdeen played out of there skins and played well. We are not the dark side James, let’s give credit to a superb Aberdeen performance, we were not bad,,they just gave us a game mate, credit where it is due. We are through ,because we are Celtic and earned it, do not forget some fine performances Aberdeen against European opposition ! We had to fight for this win,,we are not entitled to just turn up mate.
‘Celtic played well’, seriously?, could you give a couple of examples of this please?.
Our defence was atrocious, Taylor and Scales should be no where near a Celtic shirt and CCV was a liability, with Johnston unable to stop a simple cross at any point in the game. The only two players to whom I would give pass marks, were Hart and Forest. We made one of the poorest teams in the league, look like Real Madrid, as opposed to anyone ‘playing out their skins’. The only creativity I seen was from Hatate in the second half, who showed the only moments of class in the whole game, who was promptly and bizarrely subbed. Idah was an empty jersey when he came on, Yang whoaful from beginning to end etc etc. Enough examples from me, as a proper analysis of how crap we were, would run to pages.
A defender who can defend cross balls to the back post would help.
yup…
Always moderation wait James ! Seems if someone not agreeing with you doesn’t get posted ! Your blog so your decisions, but balance is a good thing
Charter Vickers realised Liam was way off and covered him that lead to 2 of their goals… Whoever let big joe take the 4th penalty I’ll never understand??? 7 outfield players really backing down???? Unacceptable
Scales did well for most of the game but we lost two identical goals in his area of the box. It was clear that our captain isn’t up to speed yet, we are weaker without him running the game. Out Wide we are OK but we need better. Your right James, we need to be better.
When is Joe Hart going to realise that it’s not a crime to leave his line to come and collect crosses into the box and for Scales, he had ccv all over the place as he was going for the same ball where he should have been covering other players .If I was Brendan Rodgers I would drop Scales, hes a liability, I’ve seen my granddaughter jumping higher than him and shes only three feet odds
Focusing on the positives and letting BR deal with the negatives:
1. Big minutes into the legs of CalMac and Hatate.
2. James Forrest showing he has a role to play (his pass on 3rd goal sublime) and getting good minutes.
3. Winning a penalty shootout will stand us in good stead in the future.
4. We are in the final to be played on the 25th of May – an auspicious date!
5. We should have been out of sight in the second half with the chances we created.
6. A wake-up call that we need to turn up and be more ruthless in the games that remain.
7. The Double is still on.
After today’s performance the league seriously isn’t over. Agree it should have been a simple day at the office but we keep doing this to ourselves. 45 minutes isn’t enough. 99 minutes is what’s required. 6 games to go but none can be considered won. Tense time but COYBIG don’t put us through this again. HH
Scales and money on both need a boot in the hall maws for the second and third goals and BR needs the same for allowing Hart to take the fifth penalty,but we’re through and I think we’ll be playing the wee manky huns.
I fcukin hate predictive text AJ.
Jeezo I thought that I was in a living nightmare watching that today and I was at the game thinking ffs why was scales even in the team and then big joe taking a penalty, but as you said, we’re in the final and we’ve used are so lucky to be there HH
Spot on assessment of the game. Far to slow on the build up. Carter Vickers and Scales have to release the ball quicker.
The way we played today I just thought it was one of these days where it’d all go wrong and I went a spin in the bloody motor while it was on !!!!
Came back to come down the driveway of ma maw (that I’m visiting this week) and she had the thumbs up for me at the window –
An unusual day but with the right result in the end we got there…
But how bloody complaicent are our defence –
Hopefully lessons will have been learnt is all I can say (and hope) !
All the teams we play after the split will be encouraged by this (non) performance so we are not guaranteed to win the league. We really need to play two halves. Offensively we miss two many sitters and defensively we are a shambles. That’s some combination, not the description of title winners. Surely Nawarocki is better than Scales, surely Yang has shown enough or rather not enough to prevent him starting again. Palma or Forrest it should be on the left.
It tells you something that Big Joe took the penalty and not that he’s brave. It says something about our outfield players and it is not something you want to hear.
In ALMOST EVERY Post Match Interview, Brenan Rodgers talks about us starting slow……………………WHO is responsible for that, surely the Manager?
When is Joe Hart going to realise that it’s not a crime to leave his line to come and collect crosses into the box and for Scales, he had ccv all over the place as he was going for the same ball where he should have been covering other players .If I was Brendan Rodgers I would drop Scales, hes a liability, I’ve seen my granddaughter jumping higher than him and shes only three feet odds
Its imperative that we must get the defence sorted before the European games next season, the mediocrity at the back is so obvious .we will be humiliated if we don’t act.
James why cant you grasp the skill level is not there so there is no chance of improvement on that level we create very little in open play to many players not up to scratch
Yesterday was a helluva watch, and I don’t mean a satisfying one. It was as unexpected, as it was fantastic, to be bathed in sunshine at Hampden…
But you know what, we’re in another final ! As a club, we have a habit of winning this old cup, and another chance to succeed again on 25 May.
Defensively, we were so naive and shoddy, and to lose two late goals, as we did in regulation and extra time, was criminal.
However, I’m not going to go overboard on how poor we were. We got the job done, albeit on penalties.
Like many of the guys around me yesterday, I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why our keeper was taking the fourth penalty…for me, not on !
There has to be bravery from our other outfield players to step up. Having said that, well done to the guys who showed composure, under great pressure, to get us over the line.
This team and squad are making a habit of really testing our nerves at these games! As much as that might be good for the neutrals, I’d prefer straightforward wins, achieved with style.
Yesterday encompassed the full gamut of emotions, we’ve had to experience this season, and further demonstrated, that we have a lot of work to do, before we retain this title.
Again, in BR we trust, to sort out the blemishes in our performances and get us over the line with a title ( first and foremost,) and a Scottish cup chaser! That would be a fine double!
After that, let the clearout and summer clean up, begin!