| Match Pictures | Matches: 2013 – 2014 | 2013-14 Pictures |
Trivia
- London Friendly
- Terrible organisation with overcrowded end in one of the terracing. Shambles.
- Reserve players squad for Celtic.
- Summertime and the transfer window is underway.
- Out so far: Miku, Lassad, Rogne, Wanyama,
- In so far: Amido Baldé, Van Dijk, Steven Mouyokolo
- Steven Mouyokolo signs for Celtic after impressing some in friendlies (but was too late to star in the Cliftonville first leg)
Review
A simple enough run-out for the reserve players in the squad. Nothign much to report. Rogic continues to impress, whilst nice to see Balde get his first goal and nice to see McGreogor get one too.
Hot day in London and the fans were a mixed bunch. Some were creating headaches for the stewards, and an unnecessary pitch invasion afterwards was not welcome. Jovial it may have been but could lead to trouble with authorities.
Saying all that, no one complained and all was in good spirits.
Must add that Brentford’s organisation was appalling! Overcrowded terrace, poor stewarding and terrible tunstiles. They weren’t prepared for the number of fans who did turn up, but they knew how many were coming as they sold directly the tickets.
Shambles.
Teams
BRENTFORD (4-4-2):
Bonham; Logan, Bidwell, Forshaw, Craig, Dean, Saunders, McCormack, Hayes, Saville, Fillo
Subs: O’Connor, Boldt, Adams, Dallas, Norris, Oyeleke, Pierre, Venta, Clarke
Goal:Forshaw 10
CELTIC (4-4-2):
Zaluksa; Fisher (Waters 82), Ambrose, Mouyokolo, Miller; McGregor, Rogic, Irvine (Herron 80), McGeouch (Henderson 43); Balde, Watt (Atajic 65)
Subs not used: Fasan
Goal: Amido 23, McGregor 57
Referee:
Attendance:
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Celts defeat Brentford in pre-season friendly
By: Laura Brannan on 20 Jul, 2013 16:50 Saturday, July 20, 2013
Griffin Park
London
Celticfc.net
BRENTFORD 1
(Forshaw 10)
CELTIC 2
(Amido 23, McGregor 57)
CALLUM McGregor’s sublime second-half strike sealed a 2-1 victory for Celtic in a pre-season friendly against Brentford in London.
Adam Forshaw had opened the scoring for the home side after just 10 minutes but Amido Balde drew the sides level again with his first goal in the green and white hoops.
Neil Lennon named seven players under the age of 21 for the run-out in the south of London, while new signing Steven Mouyokolo lined up alongside Efe Ambrose in central defence. Lukasz Zaluksa was given a start in goals while McGregor made his first appearance for the senior side this summer.
The game started amid a carnival atmosphere, with Celtic supporters filling three of the Griffin Park stands. And Tom Rogic almost raised the roof with an effort after just 20 seconds, but it went wide of target.
Brentford temporarily silenced the travelling support, however, when they opened the scoring on 10 minutes. A quick ball in from the left flank floated beyond the Celtic defence, allowing Forshaw to head home, despite Darnell Fisher’s best efforts to turn it back out on the goal line.
Parity was restored just 13 minutes later, however, when Amido opened his Hoops scoring account. Tony Watt played in his strike partner, and after controlling the ball on the right of the penalty area, he bundled it beyond the defenders and over Jack Bonham in goals.
And the striker had the opportunity to double his tally just after the half hour mark when Rogic moved the ball forward and played through Darnell Fisher. The right back threaded the ball through for Amido but he wasn’t able to convert.
Celtic were then incredibly unlucky as they were denied, twice in quick succession, by the crossbar on 40 minutes. Amido did well to power through his two markers and tried to chip Bonham who was off his line, but it cracked off the woodwork instead. Watt’s follow up strike hit the bar as well and the Hoops couldn’t take the advantage before the break.
The last action in front of goal came at Celtic’s end, with Zaluska making a second good block inside 10 minutes. He punched Forshaw’s effort clear and Jackson Irvine was covering to defuse the danger.
McGregor got the second-half off to a good start, bulleting an effort just over the bar shortly after the restart. He cut across the face of the penalty box before drilling an effort just wide of target.
But he didn’t have to wait long for another chance in front of goal, and on 57 minutes he completed the job. Capitalising on Celtic’s break, the 20-year-old curled home Watt’s cross, tucking it into the bottom corner of Bonham’s net.
Substitute Bahrudin Atajic then came close to adding a third for the Hoops on 69 minutes. Rogic did well to keep possession inside the crowded penalty box and stab the ball into the path of Atajic but the striker’s effort was bundled off the line.
Brentford put pressure on the Hoops’ backline going into the closing stages of the match but an excellent diving save by Zaluska in the 90th minute denied Forshaw from finding an equaliser.
BRENTFORD (4-4-2): Bonham; Logan, Bidwell, Forshaw, Craig, Dean, Saunders, McCormack, Hayes, Saville, Fillo
Subs: O’Connor, Boldt, Adams, Dallas, Norris, Oyeleke, Pierre, Venta, Clarke
CELTIC (4-4-2): Zaluksa; Fisher (Waters 82), Ambrose, Mouyokolo, Miller; McGregor, Rogic, Irvine (Herron 80), McGeouch (Henderson 43); Balde, Watt (Atajic 65)
Subs not used: Fasan
The Scotsman
AMIDO Balde scored his first goal in a Celtic shirt as the Scottish Premier League champions defeated Brentford 2-1 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
Balde’s goal cancelled out an early opener from Bees defender Adam Forshaw and it was left to young midfielder Callum McGregor to score the winner on 57 minutes.
Celtic made a number of changes to the side that played on Wednesday night against Cliftonville in the Champions League second qualifying round, with new French defender Steven Mouyokolo partnering Efe Ambrose in the centre of defence.
Brentford opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Celtic were caught napping by a long ball across the six-yard box. Forshaw got to it and headed the ball beyond Lukasz Zaluska, despite Darnell Fisher’s best efforts to turn it back out on the goal-line.
The hosts’ lead was short-lived though as Balde scored on 23 minutes. Collecting a through ball from Tony Watt, Balde burst into the penalty box and, although his shot lacked meaningful power, it managed to squeeze beyond Jack Bonham.
Celtic dominated proceedings afterwards and twice rattled the Brentford crossbar. Balde tried a delicate chip over Bonham which rattled the bar and, on the follow up, Watt also struck the beam.
Celtic, however, weren’t to be denied a second goal and it came through McGregor. Watt was again the architect, supplying the 20-year-old with a pass and, from just outside the box, he curled ?the ball beyond Bonham and into the net.
Celtic were comfortable from then on in, although Zaluska had to look lively in stoppage time to prevent Forshaw from stealing an equaliser.
Nasty rumour sees Celtic fans accused of more wrong-doing 3 Posted by Kieran Psyl – 20/07/2013 – The Journal
http://celticjournal.org/2376/nasty-rumour-sees-celtic-fans-accused-of-more-wrong-doing/
Another away day for Celtic, as their Islam-loving, child-abusing, terrorist-glorifying supporters traveled South to Brentford.
Just another day on Twitter, eh?
Celtic fans hadn’t even had the chance to digest the news that they were the number one suspects of the mysterious Rangers bus fire, before there were rumours of wrong-doings and despicable behaviour in London.
I’m not going to talk too much about the Rangers bus, which sees 140 miles of history gone; instead I’m going to focus on the rumours that were floating around Twitter today about our support.
Two months ago, a sickening attack in Woolwich saw the death of British Army soldier, Drummer, Lee Rigby. That same week, Celtic faced Hibernian in the 128th Scottish Cup Final, (I will come back to this in more detail later.)
It seems whenever Celtic have an away tie, there are people hiding behind their keyboard who want to start abhorrent rumours and lies about our fan base. Today’s special that was cooked up by some obsessive low-life, was that the Celtic fans who had traveled to Brentford were singing songs mocking the death of Lee Rigby.
I searched frantically on Twitter to see if there was any truth to this. As I typed into the search bar, “Celtic fans Lee Rigby”, all I was met with was Union Jack display pictures branding Celtic fans a disgrace and that we were all scum. I tweeted several of these morons back to see if they had any sufficient proof to these rather harsh accusations. Of course, all I got was vile abuse.
Another thing I noticed about these rumours, was that 90% of the tweets branding Celtic fans a disgrace, all started with a “If, I’ve heard, see if it’s true,” and so on. There was no weight to any of these comments.
Furthermore, Celtic fans who were actually at the game, updated all of us who couldn’t make the trip, confirming that it was indeed nonsense, and there were no such songs sung about Lee Rigby.
Some of the tweets posted about Celtic fans were as follows;
“Most Celtic fans never fail to amaze! You’ve now moved on from Sectarian & IRA songs to…. Here we go… Singing/Mocking Lee Rigby! #SCUM”
“If the rumours are true about #Celtic fans at brentford singing about Lee Rigby, then they have sunk to a disgusting new low. Scumbags.”
“Celtic fans singing about the death of Lee Rigby, they are an embarrassment to Scotland #SCUM”
“What’s worse about celtic fans singing about Lee Rigby is that their great grandparents where in the war protecting this country #uneducated”
That last one makes me laugh. The irony of this person claiming we are uneducated, when they are unable to use proper grammar.
Was this the case, though?
Brentford fan, James Glassup was at the game and said, “Celtic fans were class today I had my Brentford shirt on and walking through the crowds and they put arms around me great people.”
Fellow Brentford fan, George McCartney said, “By far the best friendly I’ve ever been to and will go to. Celtic fans were unbelievable.”
Brentford player, Jack Bonham said, “Craziest atmosphere against Celtic felt like an away game their fans were mad!!! Flares on the pitch and all sorts!”
And finally, the manager of Brentford, Uwe Rösler, had this to say, “Fantastic day and I thank Neil Lennon and the fans for making it a fantastic atmosphere.”
So people who were actually at the game clarified that this story was nonsense. But of course, as all rumours do, it escalated and soon fans from all over the United Kingdom were accusing Celtic fans of singing these mythical songs.
This isn’t a new thing for Celtic fans. I mentioned earlier the Scottish Cup Final that was contested between Celtic and Hibs. During the post-match celebrations, a photograph was taken of an Irish flag with ‘Islam CSC’ written on it. Of course, it turned out that the flag actually said, ‘Achill Island CSC’. This, similar to the rumours today, went all over Twitter with our fans, once again, being branded a disgrace and an embarrassment and our good name being dragged through the mud for no good reason.
The real embarrassment is that someone has used an innocent man’s death to point score against Celtic fans. That is truly disgusting.
My only advice to these dullards who actively seek a bandwagon to jump on when it comes to our support is, actually do some research before your knee-jerk reactions. I can’t see many apologies being handed out from people claimed we should be “hanged”, but there you go.
Celtic fans have a fantastic reputation all around the world, with some of the biggest names in football complementing our support. I doubt that these nasty rumours will see that come to an end anytime soon.