Jonnyboy
30-09-2017, 07:44 PM
For many years I’ve travelled to away games against Celtic and I’ve done so more in hope than expectation. I say that because more often than not we’ve been half way to defeat before a game had even kicked off. The sole reason for that, in my opinion, was the fear of facing Celtic on their home patch and I’m talking about fear by the players as opposed to the fans. You’ll notice I said ‘was’ and that’s because today proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that under Neil Lennon we no longer fear facing Celtic, or any other team for that matter.
Going into the game the hosts were looking to extend their hugely impressive run of domestic fixtures without defeat and although Brendan Rodgers shuffled his pack this was still a very strong Celtic eleven. They were able to bring in a £4m central midfielder, a striker signed from PSG and their summer signing from their biggest domestic rivals, Johnny Hayes from Aberdeen as they lined up with a 3-5-2 formation. As to Hibs, they went with a flat back four, five in the middle with McGeouch in the number ten role and one striker.
For the first fifteen minutes or so I wasn’t sure what to make of Hibs’ tactics. Celtic play from the back but we didn’t press them high and allowed them too much possession. As a result they were creating chances but so too were Hibs. Twice McGeouch released Boyle who got behind his marker but was unable to take full advantage. When the opening goal arrived I’m sure Neil Lennon would have been tearing his hair out. Dembele pulled his marker wide in taking a pass from McGregor. He then fed the ball back to the Celtic youngster and as Slivka had failed to track the run the ball was placed firmly beyond Laidlaw’s outstretched arms. It was a simple give and go and really naïve defending from Hibs.
The response was good as Hibs enjoyed good periods of play but lacked any cutting edge where it mattered. Around this time, referee Willie Collum rightly booked James Forrest for a ridiculous dive under pressure from Bartley. Big Marv told Forrest exactly what he thought of the effort and Willie Collum was right to show a yellow. What a shame then that five minutes later, Forrest repeated his dive but Collum bottled out of administering what would have been a deserved second yellow and subsequent red.
With the clock ticking down to half time Hibs gave away cheap possession in midfield which allowed Celtic to break with three on two. The ball reached Edouard, who should have scored but Ross Laidlaw did really well to block the effort with his foot.
At half time I commented that I’d have loved to hear Neil Lennon’s team talk but even though I didn’t, the players certainly did and from the off they pressed Celtic high up the pitch, not allowing them the time to play out from the back. Eight minutes in and a Celtic player was bullied off the ball. A pass reached McGinn around eighteen yards from goal and SJM drilled a superb low shot, beating Gordon low to his left. I always enjoy goals we score at Parkhead and this one offered double the pleasure as it was Craig Gordon in goal!
Hibs were bossing it now with SJM in imperious form and from his corners we had two opportunities to take the lead. The first saw Whittaker head over when virtually unchallenged while the second saw Stokes flick the ball on to Whittaker at the back post. From no more than three yards out, Whitty struck the ball toward goal but Gordon somehow managed to claw it away. Still we pushed on and still we looked the side most likely to score and with around thirteen minutes left, SJM smashed a magnificent shot high into the net from range. The home support was stunned to say the least as they probably thought the earlier introduction of Griffiths and Roberts would see them stride on to a win.
Sadly, our lead lasted only three minutes. A Griffiths corner was headed straight back out to him and when his second delivery came in, a poor clearing header reached McGregor on the edge of the box and the best Celtic player on the park showed fantastic composure in stroking the ball into the bottom corner. To Neil Lennon’s credit he brought Barker and Murray on in an attempt to win the match but there would be no more goals.
All in all it was an excellent performance from Hibs, who remain unbeaten away from home. If only the performances at Dundee and Perth had led to deserved wins, we’d be sitting pretty in third place with joint top leaders Aberdeen due at Easter Road in a fortnight’s time.
The players
Ross Laidlaw – No chance with either of the goals and he pulled off a couple of good saves. A headache for Neil when Rocky comes back into the equation. I’m not sure I buy into the “Rocky’s the number one” argument. As far as I’m concerned we have two first choices and Laidlaw has done nothing to deserve being automatically replaced.
Whitty – had the job of dealing with Dembele in the first half and Sinclair in the second. Although beaten too easily a couple of times I thought he did well over the piece and was unlucky not to score.
Efe – I’ll be honest, I worried that Efe might showboat a bit to let the home fans see what they’re missing but he was fine throughout. I think it helped him that Celtic rarely punt high balls into the middle and so he had far fewer aerial challenges to contend with.
Paul Hanlon – Our Captain led by example today. He was steady and dependable throughout with his reading of the game much in evidence.
Lewis – It’s no secret I’m a long-time admirer of Lewis but that’s not why I’ve selected him above one or two others as my man of the match. Rock solid defending; excellent use of the ball; first class positioning and not phased in the least when he had to face the highly rated Patrick Roberts. He is just rock solid and outstanding without being spectacular.
Slivka – I thought he was poor in the first half and not a lot of help to Whittaker but he came on to an excellent game after the break. I still think he’d be more effective centrally but competition for places in there is high.
Boyler – Martin had a very good first half although on a couple of crucial occasions he made the wrong choice after getting behind his marker. Second half was not so good but one thing about Boyler is he never hides.
Bartley – Big Marv was excellent and did what he had to do in fine fashion. I was intrigued by his duel with Rogic as the Celtic man must have wondered what he had to do to get the better of the Bartman.
Dylan – Other than a couple of ropey passes in the early stages he was excellent and far more effective when playing centrally. I don’t think I’ve seen him play so high up the park before but he made a very good job of carrying out the number ten role.
SJM – For a sizeable part of the first half I found myself getting very frustrated by John. He’s definitely bulked up in the close season and there a real steeliness to his game but he was caught in possession a few times. After the break he was the John McGinn ‘of old’ with his total domination of the midfield area. Streets ahead of the £4m Celt and streets ahead of anyone else for that matter. Two cracking goals and a close run duel with Lewis for my man of the match.
Stokesy – I thought he put in a great shift today and there were many occasions where his footballing brain was obvious. On one such occasion for example he gathered in a high ball with Tierney in close attendance. He had no support and any other player might have lost possession but Stokesy manoeuvred Tierney towards the goal line and won a corner as a result.
Willie Collum – Bottled it with Forrest but from post-match reports it seems he may have missed out on giving Celtic the compulsory penalty. The incident happened at the far end from where I stood so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt for that decision :greengrin
The fans – We were brilliant again and noisy and supportive throughout. I was watching some of the Celtic fans who sat close by and they seemed genuinely impressed!
Half time draw – The Celtic PA system is a bit like ours in that you can’t make out a lot of what’s being said. A guy named Julio was introduced to the support, someone who had been in one of those really naff reality TV shows I think. Anyway, the guy was handed the microphone and shouted something out to ingratiate himself with the home fans. I immediately thought of Paul Whitehouse’s Julio Geordio character and decided the Celtic version was obviously Julio Weedgio.
Going into the game the hosts were looking to extend their hugely impressive run of domestic fixtures without defeat and although Brendan Rodgers shuffled his pack this was still a very strong Celtic eleven. They were able to bring in a £4m central midfielder, a striker signed from PSG and their summer signing from their biggest domestic rivals, Johnny Hayes from Aberdeen as they lined up with a 3-5-2 formation. As to Hibs, they went with a flat back four, five in the middle with McGeouch in the number ten role and one striker.
For the first fifteen minutes or so I wasn’t sure what to make of Hibs’ tactics. Celtic play from the back but we didn’t press them high and allowed them too much possession. As a result they were creating chances but so too were Hibs. Twice McGeouch released Boyle who got behind his marker but was unable to take full advantage. When the opening goal arrived I’m sure Neil Lennon would have been tearing his hair out. Dembele pulled his marker wide in taking a pass from McGregor. He then fed the ball back to the Celtic youngster and as Slivka had failed to track the run the ball was placed firmly beyond Laidlaw’s outstretched arms. It was a simple give and go and really naïve defending from Hibs.
The response was good as Hibs enjoyed good periods of play but lacked any cutting edge where it mattered. Around this time, referee Willie Collum rightly booked James Forrest for a ridiculous dive under pressure from Bartley. Big Marv told Forrest exactly what he thought of the effort and Willie Collum was right to show a yellow. What a shame then that five minutes later, Forrest repeated his dive but Collum bottled out of administering what would have been a deserved second yellow and subsequent red.
With the clock ticking down to half time Hibs gave away cheap possession in midfield which allowed Celtic to break with three on two. The ball reached Edouard, who should have scored but Ross Laidlaw did really well to block the effort with his foot.
At half time I commented that I’d have loved to hear Neil Lennon’s team talk but even though I didn’t, the players certainly did and from the off they pressed Celtic high up the pitch, not allowing them the time to play out from the back. Eight minutes in and a Celtic player was bullied off the ball. A pass reached McGinn around eighteen yards from goal and SJM drilled a superb low shot, beating Gordon low to his left. I always enjoy goals we score at Parkhead and this one offered double the pleasure as it was Craig Gordon in goal!
Hibs were bossing it now with SJM in imperious form and from his corners we had two opportunities to take the lead. The first saw Whittaker head over when virtually unchallenged while the second saw Stokes flick the ball on to Whittaker at the back post. From no more than three yards out, Whitty struck the ball toward goal but Gordon somehow managed to claw it away. Still we pushed on and still we looked the side most likely to score and with around thirteen minutes left, SJM smashed a magnificent shot high into the net from range. The home support was stunned to say the least as they probably thought the earlier introduction of Griffiths and Roberts would see them stride on to a win.
Sadly, our lead lasted only three minutes. A Griffiths corner was headed straight back out to him and when his second delivery came in, a poor clearing header reached McGregor on the edge of the box and the best Celtic player on the park showed fantastic composure in stroking the ball into the bottom corner. To Neil Lennon’s credit he brought Barker and Murray on in an attempt to win the match but there would be no more goals.
All in all it was an excellent performance from Hibs, who remain unbeaten away from home. If only the performances at Dundee and Perth had led to deserved wins, we’d be sitting pretty in third place with joint top leaders Aberdeen due at Easter Road in a fortnight’s time.
The players
Ross Laidlaw – No chance with either of the goals and he pulled off a couple of good saves. A headache for Neil when Rocky comes back into the equation. I’m not sure I buy into the “Rocky’s the number one” argument. As far as I’m concerned we have two first choices and Laidlaw has done nothing to deserve being automatically replaced.
Whitty – had the job of dealing with Dembele in the first half and Sinclair in the second. Although beaten too easily a couple of times I thought he did well over the piece and was unlucky not to score.
Efe – I’ll be honest, I worried that Efe might showboat a bit to let the home fans see what they’re missing but he was fine throughout. I think it helped him that Celtic rarely punt high balls into the middle and so he had far fewer aerial challenges to contend with.
Paul Hanlon – Our Captain led by example today. He was steady and dependable throughout with his reading of the game much in evidence.
Lewis – It’s no secret I’m a long-time admirer of Lewis but that’s not why I’ve selected him above one or two others as my man of the match. Rock solid defending; excellent use of the ball; first class positioning and not phased in the least when he had to face the highly rated Patrick Roberts. He is just rock solid and outstanding without being spectacular.
Slivka – I thought he was poor in the first half and not a lot of help to Whittaker but he came on to an excellent game after the break. I still think he’d be more effective centrally but competition for places in there is high.
Boyler – Martin had a very good first half although on a couple of crucial occasions he made the wrong choice after getting behind his marker. Second half was not so good but one thing about Boyler is he never hides.
Bartley – Big Marv was excellent and did what he had to do in fine fashion. I was intrigued by his duel with Rogic as the Celtic man must have wondered what he had to do to get the better of the Bartman.
Dylan – Other than a couple of ropey passes in the early stages he was excellent and far more effective when playing centrally. I don’t think I’ve seen him play so high up the park before but he made a very good job of carrying out the number ten role.
SJM – For a sizeable part of the first half I found myself getting very frustrated by John. He’s definitely bulked up in the close season and there a real steeliness to his game but he was caught in possession a few times. After the break he was the John McGinn ‘of old’ with his total domination of the midfield area. Streets ahead of the £4m Celt and streets ahead of anyone else for that matter. Two cracking goals and a close run duel with Lewis for my man of the match.
Stokesy – I thought he put in a great shift today and there were many occasions where his footballing brain was obvious. On one such occasion for example he gathered in a high ball with Tierney in close attendance. He had no support and any other player might have lost possession but Stokesy manoeuvred Tierney towards the goal line and won a corner as a result.
Willie Collum – Bottled it with Forrest but from post-match reports it seems he may have missed out on giving Celtic the compulsory penalty. The incident happened at the far end from where I stood so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt for that decision :greengrin
The fans – We were brilliant again and noisy and supportive throughout. I was watching some of the Celtic fans who sat close by and they seemed genuinely impressed!
Half time draw – The Celtic PA system is a bit like ours in that you can’t make out a lot of what’s being said. A guy named Julio was introduced to the support, someone who had been in one of those really naff reality TV shows I think. Anyway, the guy was handed the microphone and shouted something out to ingratiate himself with the home fans. I immediately thought of Paul Whitehouse’s Julio Geordio character and decided the Celtic version was obviously Julio Weedgio.