2018-09-14: St Mirren 0-0 Celtic, SP

(HT of KDS)

St Mirren deserved the point.
The dogs in the street know how to play for a draw against Celtic & more often than not, they'll get one if the can stick it out.
The last 15 minutes were where St Mirren had to earn their point, if we actually play with that urgency from the start, it'll make it a long game for them to hold out.

So, even with using the same system – we would have a far better chance of winning if we played at a higher tempo.

McGregor & Boyata should've scored & with us chasing the game in the last minute of injury time – Griffiths is still sauntering back towards being onside (hours after getting his much desired new contract).

For me, it's the effort or lack of it being put in by the team, rather than any system. Of course if Brendan & his team can work out a system to beat St Mirren et al, that would be good too.

(Tony Shep Left foot)

90 mins are up , we enter 3 mins of stoppage time , we are in desperate need of a winner . Free kick to Celtic deep just on the half way line .This is what happens
Forrest knocks it back to Boyata
Boyata takes a touch and casually knocks it along to Ajer
Ajer 5 touches takes one step forward and casually knocks it backwards to Brown who has dropped back
Brown 2 touches and knocks it forward to Boyata who crosses the half way line and takes 2 passes it forward to Forrest
Forrest takes a touch and send a woeful pass back to Boyata who has to sprint back to get the ball now back in Celtcs own half
Boyata takes a touch and passes it along to Brown takes 2 touches and knocks it to the left to McGregor who has dropped back
McGregor 2 touches does not advance so knocks it back into our own half to Brown who has not advanced
Brown 2 touches and knocks it forward to Christie
Christie half turns and advances forward and takes a touch and passes forward to Forrest hugging the touchline
Forrest does his little shuffle but runs backwards with the ball and then laying it back to Brown
Brown now 30 yards from goal only takes one touch to McGregor and its overhit …..St Mirren clear the ball out for a throw in
Its now 91 mins we have now 2 mins of injury time left
Ajer quickly takes the throw in backwards to Brown now back in his own half , 2 touches to Boyata
Boyata 2 touches back to Brown
Brown 2 touches back to Ajer
Ajer 2 touches out to Tierney
Tierney steps inside 2 touches back to Brown , now in the centre circle
Brown 2 touches out to Boyata
Boyata 2 touches out to Forrest , two touches , backwards to Boyata
Boyata 2 touches backwards to Brown
Brown 2 touches and back to Boyata , neither have taken a step forward
Boyata takes a touch and eventually throws a ball into the box for Christie to stoop low and head into the keepers hands
Its now 91.33 on the clock …….it has taken 93 seconds to get a ball into the box to try to create something

Now we are not done yet , the keeper flops onto it and kicks it long , we recover the ball on 92.03 with a throw in deep in our own half
Forest throws it backwars to Boyata
Boyata 2 touches along to Ajer
Ajer runs foward 10 yards turns and knocks it backwards to Boyata
Boyata 2 touches inside to Brown
Brown 1 touch backwards to Boyata
Boyata eventually hits it long to try get into the box
time now 92.31 ……30 seconds to get a ball forward to at least try get into the St Mirren box

Still at least we had 62% possession eh

Plan B anyone ?

KTSburd of KDS
knew it was one of those games where we were gonna spend 95% of our time passing to Gordon, to Boyata, to Ajer, back to Gordon who would inevitably hoof it out of play. Team is a shadow of itself from the 16/17 season. These wee teams like St Mirren are gonna defend like eff as soon as we have the ball and wait to catch us out on a break to try anything. With 11 men in the box its obviously going to be hard to make chances but we don't make it easy for ourselves. When we catch them on the break and for some unknown reason hold the ball up once we're near the box allowing the other team and their Grannys to get in the box infront of us. Why do we keep trying to walk the ball into the goal? Bloody take a shot rather than just get dispossessed eventually cos you've took too long to do anything!! You know it's a duff game when the best chance of a goal didn't come from your 9 million pound striker but effin Boyata. (VBI)
The solutions for combatting deep defensive teams tend to be things like;
1) Getting men ultra wide to stretch their defence, which we don't always do.
2) Getting people running past the ball into the box for over the top passes, which we don't often do.
3)Early on, trying to pepper the keeper with distance shots/getting people running in on the rebounds, which we don't often do.
4) Taking advantage of the various set play chances you get in a game, which we don't often do.

How many times over the past 3 years have we scored a direct free-kick in a game where that goal has made the difference? Other than Griff at Ross County, I can't remember too many. This situation is also why people were concerned at both Armstrong and Roberts leaving, and also Dembele added to that. We can't go back to front as much, and we don't have enough differing options to try to break teams down. We better hope this Arzani guy turns out to be a wizard on the ball.

St Mirren 0-0 Celtic: Oran Kearney gets Buddies reign off to decent start

The tannoy blasted out the strains of the Herman’s Hermits favourite with the refrain “something tells me I’m into something good” at the end of the skirmish in Paisley on Friday night.

It provoked a singalong from the St Mirren supporters that told of their endorsement of the sentiment after watching new manager Oran Kearney hold out Celtic for a precious point.

It might be argued this ought to have been the least they settled for in facing up to an out-of-sorts Celtic that played for 53 minutes with 10-men following the loss of Olivier Ntcham for two bookable offences.

However, that would be begrudging to a St Mirren side who were driven and dogged on Kearney’s debut in a way that made them an altogether different beast from what they had developed into during Alan Stubbs’ brief spell.

The international break might have only made for a two-week hiatus from domestic football. For St Mirren, though, this was their season starting all over again.
The first game for new manager Kearney – enticed from Coleraine after losing out to Stubbs during the summer – he made a major call immediately in installing Anton Ferdinand at centre-back only hours after the 33-year-old free agent signed until the end of the season.
Celtic have only ever lost once at St Mirren’s nine-year-old stadium. That defeat, a 4-0 doing in March 2010 not only cost then manager Tony Mowbray his job, it was also the Buddies’ sole league victory over Celtic in 30 attempts.
The hefty odds stacked against Kearney’s side were nowhere in evidence as the encounter unfolded.

brendan Rodgers’ decision to hand a debut to Filip Benkovic – recruited at the end of the window only two months after joining Leicester from Dinamo Zagreb in a £13 million deal – led to him accommodating the central defender in a back three. The team shape that flowed from that base seemed to leave Celtic seriously misshapen.
As a result, St Mirren were able to get in about their opponents without over-committing themselves. In doing so, Rodgers’ side, so dominant in the derby success over Rangers just before the break, initially found themselves dominated.
A real calling card for Kearney because it happens to rarely in the Scottish domestic scene, the lack of rhythm in the Celtic ranks allowed their hyped-up hosts to make serious inroads.
All the notable early chances came the way of the home side. Craig Gordon was forced to beat away a fierce free-kick from Cammy Smith in the opening minutes before Danny Mullen ought to have done better with a header from six yards.

The same player later squandered an opportunity from close range before Smith flashed a drive wide after uncertainty in the Celtic rearguard.

Matters seemed to turn profoundly more problematic seven minutes from half-time when referee Andrew Dallas sent off Olivier Ntcham for a second bookable offence.
The Frenchman’s first red card for the club was silly; the midfielder catching Stephen McGinn late as the defender hooked the ball clear 30 yards inside the St Mirren half.
Ntcham’s reckless indulgence came just 12 minutes after he had earned a first caution.
So insipid had Celtic been across the first period, their man reduction appeared not to hinder them as they stepped up their intent and intensity in the second period.

Their ability to seize control was assisted by Leigh Griffiths’ arrival for Benkovic on the hour, with Celtic switching to a back four.
The play became concentrated in St Mirren’s final third but genuine incisiveness continued to elude Rodgers’ side.
Griffiths did have the ball in the back deep into injury time, but the linesman’s flag for offside signalled the stalemate.
St Mirren: Samson: P McGinn, Baird, Ferdinand (MacPherson 74), Hodson; Flynn, S McGinn; Edwards, Smith (Coulson 78), Magennis; Mullen (Willock 86). Subs not used: Muir, Kirkpatrick, Jones, Erhahon.
Celtic: Gordon; Benkovic (Griffiths 60), Boyata, Ajer; Brown, Ntcham; Forrest, Rogic, McGregor, Tierney; Edouard (Christie 86). Subs not used: Bain, Lustig, Mulumbu, Sinclair, Johnston
Referee: Andrew Dallas

BBC

Tom English

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45442830

Celtic had to settle for a draw after Olivier Ntcham's first-half red card blotted an unconvincing display against a vibrant St Mirren in Paisley.
The Frenchman's needless second yellow card underlined the champions' unease as the hosts created the best chances.
Cammy Smith, Lee Hodson and Ryan Flynn all went close to giving boss Oran Kearney a dream start.
Celtic saw Dedryck Boyata's header cleared off the line, with the Belgian looping another late effort over.
Substitute Leigh Griffiths and Callum McGregor also wasted second-half chances in a lethargic display by Brendan Rodgers' side, who moved to within two points of early pace-setters Hearts.
But defeat would have been harsh on St Mirren, who were instantly galvanised under new manager Kearney after conceding 12 goals in their last four games under Alan Stubbs.

St Mirren's magical transformation

During the week the new St Mirren manager brought in a magician-***-motivator called Rod Hogg to entertain his players and lighten the mood around them.
Hogg said he did a few tricks and conducted a bit of hypnosis. Not half. Compared to the error-ridden, soft touches of before, this was a stunning transformation.
In the first minute, Ryan Edwards clattered into Kieran Tierney. He got a booking, but he set an agenda. St Mirren, with five changes from their 4-1 loss to Hearts, worked like demons. They were organised and energetic, they were committed and dangerous. There was a clarity about them all night. Celtic were troubled from early on.
Ntcham committed two fouls before he finally got booked, then committed another, then another, a ridiculous lunge on Stephen McGinn seven minutes before the end of the half that brought a deserved red card.
By then Kearney's team had created five reasonable chances. Craig Gordon punched clear from Smith's free-kick, Flynn headed over, Gordon saved again from Smith, Jack Baird fired wide and Hodson had his low drive tipped away by the Celtic goalkeeper.
The visitors had one chance, a Boyata header from a corner that was cleared off the line by Flynn.
The hosts had a numerical advantage and they warranted a goals advantage, too. They did not just contain Celtic in that opening half. They were better than them.
The champions changed things soon after, Griffiths replacing debutant Filip Benkovic.
Griffiths joined Odsonne Edouard up front for much of the rest of the game. Instead of playing to win, St Mirren were pushed back and played not to lose. This was bodies behind the ball and bodies on the line.
Celtic just were not good enough to break St Mirren's new-found resolve. Callum McGregor had a big chance with six minutes left but his shot could not beat Craig Samson, while Griffiths did find the net in injury-time, but was flagged offside.

'To a man, St Mirren were absolutely superb' – Analysis

Former Scotland striker Steven Thompson on BBC Sportsound:
You can't under-estimate just how brilliant a performance that was from St Mirren – physically, emotionally, tactically. They thoroughly deserved a point, even if I felt psychologically they settled for it early in the second half, when they might have been a bit braver. But to a man, they were absolutely superb.
Celtic's first-half performance was abject. They huffed and puffed in the second half, but never really threatened to break St Mirren down. It looked like Celtic had turned a corner with their Old Firm victory, but the international break came at a bad time for them.