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View Full Version : This is how it feels (Celtic 10 December)



Jonnyboy
10-12-2017, 04:54 PM
Heading to Easter Road today I was excited because I felt we were in with a real chance of ending Celtic’s impressive unbeaten run in domestic matches. I was a tad apprehensive too because I knew that if we didn’t play well throughout the team, then we might suffer the backlash of Celtic’s abysmal performance against Anderlecht in midweek.

Another topic of conversation pre match was whether we’d play 3 5 2 or 4 4 2 but once I heard the starting eleven it transpired that neither would be the case as Neil opted for a 5 man midfield with Stokes the lone striker. I have to say I really don’t think that formation works very well as it does not suit Stokesy and today we struggled with it for about 75 minutes before making changes that should surely have been made earlier.

I’d said on the messageboard ahead of this game that I felt we needed to get into Celtic from the off and to make sure we won more than our fair share of second ball but for the first twenty minutes we did neither and almost paid the penalty when a shockingly bad pass by McGeouch put James Forrest through on goal and for the life of me I cannot understand how he missed a glorious chance with only Rocky to beat.

A rare chance at the other end saw Boyler brilliantly take a diagonal pass down with his chest before hammering the ball at goal, Craig Gordon saving the effort with his feet. Celtic were dominating the ball but creating little with only half chances coming their way as our defence stood firm. Our own possession wasn’t great as we seemed to continually give the ball away but we survived until half time having not conceded.

During the break the discussion centred around what changes, if any Neil Lennon would make but as it turned out, the same eleven started and in the same formation. Fifteen minutes in and we were punished as slack play between McGeouch and Stokes gifted possession to Celtic and Scott Sinclair, who’d given Whitty a torrid time throughout, saw his shot saved by the feet of Marciano. It was a warning not heeded as moments later, Edouard struck a low drive off the post and Sinclair reacted the quickest to fire past a stranded Marciano.

Around three or four minutes later, Hibs conceded again when losing possession about twenty yards out as Celtic worked the ball to Sinclair whose shot was deflected past Marciano. Things looked bleak and it was hard to imagine anything other than a defeat was on the cards. As Hibs prepared to introduce Simon Murray to the fray, Bartley went down injured and Neil Lennon changed his mind, opting instead to introduce young Oli Shaw and what an inspired decision that would prove to be. Prior to the youngster making his mark, the one mistake in the game made by Ambrose allowed Dembele a clear shot on goal but he was denied by Marciano with Rocky again on hand moments later to deny Sinclair his hat trick.

Young Oli was working hard and was instrumental in the move that led to us getting a corner with about fifteen minutes left. Earlier corners had frustrated us as they all seemed to be launched in to the grateful hands of Craig Gordon but this one was taken short and when Celtic made a hash of clearing the ball, Whittaker shot low for the corner but the ball deflected to Efe who slotted it home with the help of a deflection off Scott Brown.

Remarkably, Hibs now had their tails up and less than five minutes after Efe scored a great ball from Lewis found Oli Shaw in the box and the youngster did really well turning his marker before firing the ball high into the net. Neil Lennon then made a double change, bringing on Slivka and McGregor for Barker and Whitty and that meant a move to right back for Efe, a change he revelled in as he thundered forward at every opportunity.

Hibs were in the ascendency now but this Celtic team never gives up and while other teams might have closed up shop to protect the point they’d earn, they piled forward at every opportunity with Boyata, who was a very lucky boy not to be sent off following a shocking challenge on McGeouch and having already been yellow carded earlier in the game, headed over the bar when scoring looked an easier option. With the home support roaring Hibs on, young Oli Shaw came agonisingly close to ending Celtic’s unbeaten run. A fantastic ball into the box from Ambrose saw Gordon and Simunovic get into a terrible tangle the result of which saw the ball reach the feet of Shaw on the 18 yard line. Oli might have blasted it at goal but instead he showed he has an old head on young shoulders by cleverly steering the ball past Gordon and Simunovic into what looked like an empty net. It was agony to endure as the Hibs support rose as one to celebrate the goal only to see Lustig lunge to clear the ball as it was about to cross the line. Moments later, Sinclair got free on the left but lashed a good opportunity well wide of Rock’s goal.

When the final whistle sounded, Celtic players sank to the ground or wandered around in a daze as though they’d lost while the Hibs players looked equally stunned at earning a point when it had looked to be all but lost. I know that Graham Murty and Jonathan Johansson were watching from the stand and I wonder if they were as breathless as everyone else. Having said that I’d prefer they left when Celtic were 2-0 up, thinking Hibs weren’t such great shakes after all!

On the way home I listened to the interviews given by the managers and felt that Rodgers was disrespectful of Hibs while Lennon was candidly honest. I reckon Rodgers is fine when his team have won and he can flash that Dulux White Gloss smile of his but we see the real man when they’ve drawn or lost. I also heard on the radio that Niall McGinn was in the crowd so perhaps Hibs are interested in him after all?

The players

Rocky – had no chance with either goal and had two or three excellent saves to deny Celtic

Whitty – I believe he’s struggling with a pelvic problem and it looked like it today as Sinclair ran him ragged on occasion

Efe – other than one blip I can’t recall Efe doing anything other than defend stoutly

Paul – much the same as Efe in that he defended well and kept both Edouard and later Dembele pretty quiet

Lewis – a couple of suspect clearances and beaten once by Forrest but otherwise was solid and the fact that Forrest was hooked speaks volumes to me

Boyler – very unlucky to see Gordon save with his legs in the first half, I thought he was fine but I’m not sure he warranted the sponsors’ man of the match award

McGeouch – Dylan never really got going today, until the last fifteen minutes or so

Marv – not one of his better games I felt the Celtic midfield and McGregor in particular gave him a hard time. I didn’t think his booking was fair either

SJM – worked his socks off in the first half and drove Hibs forward at every opportunity in the second. The fact that he managed to do all that and still come off best in his personal duel with Scott Brown leads me to awarding him my man of the match.

Barker – this laddie is so infuriating as he clearly has skill but doesn’t display it nearly enough. Was poor again defensively, losing Lustig on numerous occasions as Celtic attacked

Stokesy – last week I suggested he was lazy but today he worked really hard and tried his best to carry out the loan striker role. I wonder if he scores from free kicks in training because he sure misses loads during games

Oli – once again I feel this laddie has it all in terms of whether he makes it in the game. Took his goal really well, made a number of excellent runs and was so unlucky at the death not to make it 3-2

Slivka – worked hard without really standing out but at least helped curtail Lustig’s forays down the right

Daz – never gives the ball away, you know!

The Manager

I thought Neil took to long to make his changes and to go after the game but credit to him for changing both personnel and shape enough to earn us a draw

The referee

Can anyone explain to me why Lustig was not booked for a shocking challenge on McGinn early in the first half or why Boyata didn’t get a second yellow for that late foul on McGeouch? Beaton is a very poor referee but like many others in his profession, he’s bulletproof

The fans

An incredible turnout. Kudos to the Since1875 and Section 43 folk, for trying their hardest to drown out a very loud Celtic support. If my ears did not deceive me, around 3,500 Celtic fans will be missing from their next game because they’re all off to join the IRA.

Mikey
10-12-2017, 05:35 PM
Cheers John. That's 3 games running we've taken 2 goals off them and we still haven't beaten them. They're a tough nut to crack, that's for sure.

weecounty hibby
10-12-2017, 05:41 PM
All pretty much as I saw it. For Boyattas foul on Dylan Beaton was running over and it looked to me like he was reaching for his book and then changed his mind when he remembered the earlier booking. No referee will want to be the one involved in any decisions that may stop celtics unbeaten run

Kojock
10-12-2017, 05:51 PM
The Boyata one ref went to his pocket to book him then obviously realised he had already been booked so gave him a warning instead.

JohnMcM
10-12-2017, 05:56 PM
You are very good at these summaries aren't you!

MOM, SJM, spot on.

Other players ratings, yep, agree with them.

NL's substitutions and tactical change was for me spot on too, even if I think they were five-ten minutes too late.

Keep these summaries coming please.

Hibee Mac
10-12-2017, 06:31 PM
What was with the Referee when he let them kick off when we only had 10 men on the park? Absolutely shameless!

Lancs Harp
10-12-2017, 06:41 PM
I'm a very proud Hibs fan tonight. To come back from 2 down against Celtic takes some doing, for long periods of the game we were under pressure and although we defended well, found it very difficult to get things going up front. Its hardly surprising, just look at what Celtic have achieved and who they have been playing recently in Europe. Their experience is way ahead of our own. Yet at the end of the day we competed and almost, almost stole it at the end. I thought we were great in that last 20 minutes. It was a very difficult game and we got a result, another tick in our clubs progress. The battle between Brown and McGinn was Immense.

Seveno
10-12-2017, 06:47 PM
Spot on as usual, JC.

Cardinal G
10-12-2017, 06:54 PM
Aye that surprised me but more so was Lennon not blasting the officials for it, felt the 4th official interfered too much as well

Bostonhibby
10-12-2017, 06:54 PM
[emoji106]

Great summary. Really look forward to reading these.

Had a good laugh about the 3500 volunteers. Would they be able to find Ireland on a globe?

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Johnny Clash
10-12-2017, 06:54 PM
Ha ha - nice ending to your quality summary!

Deansy
10-12-2017, 06:58 PM
Can't disagree with anything in this summary - especially SJM, he's so good that Broonie's now just a poor man's version of him !

lapsedhibee
10-12-2017, 06:58 PM
Minor quibble at you saying Sinclair "reacted the quickest" to the shot coming back off the post for his first. He was the only one who reacted at all! Whitty in particular has a bad habit of ball watching in those situations. Great comeback against a technically very good team though!

Iggy Pope
10-12-2017, 07:04 PM
Great work but can't agree about Stokes and free kicks. To my mind John McGinn was the primary villain in that respect today.

Lancs Harp
10-12-2017, 07:10 PM
On set pieces I dont know what we do in training but our corners are generally dreadful, not just today but for some time, there's goals there fellas if we can improve in that area.

Billy Whizz
10-12-2017, 07:10 PM
Great report John as always. Thought the pitch was terrible in patches, wonder if we were late in switching on the heating, looked icy in places
Think the plan was to sit in, and hit on the break, I was happy to go in 0-0 ht
It was a great battle Brown v McGinn, and I thought John did well against him, unlike Rodgers comments
I agree like you John, Lennon should have changed on the hour mark. Bartley for me couldn’t play on the pitch and I’d have hooked him at ht
Thought Rocky and Ambrose were immense today, and Boyle put in a great shift against a fantastic full back in Tierney

Really happy with a point, after being 2-0 down
Looking forward to Wednesday, where I think we’ll take the game to Rangers

SideBurns
10-12-2017, 07:10 PM
Heading to Easter Road today I was excited because I felt we were in with a real chance of ending Celtic’s impressive unbeaten run in domestic matches. I was a tad apprehensive too because I knew that if we didn’t play well throughout the team, then we might suffer the backlash of Celtic’s abysmal performance against Anderlecht

Another topic of conversation pre match was whether we’d play 3 5 2 or 4 4 2 but once I heard the starting eleven it transpired that neither would be the case as Neil opted for a 5 man midfield with Stokes the lone striker. I have to say I really don’t think that formation works very well as it does not suit Stokesy and today we struggled with it for about 75 minutes before making changes that should surely have been made earlier.

I’d said on the messageboard ahead of this game that I felt we needed to get into Celtic from the off and to make sure we won more than our fair share of second ball but for the first twenty minutes we did neither and almost paid the penalty when a shockingly bad pass by McGeouch put James Forrest through on goal and for the life of me I cannot understand how he missed a glorious chance with only Rocky to beat.

A rare chance at the other end saw Boyler brilliantly take a diagonal pass down with his chest before hammering the ball at goal, Craig Gordon saving the effort with his feet. Celtic were dominating the ball but creating little with only half chances coming their way as our defence stood firm. Our own possession wasn’t great as we seemed to continually give the ball away but we survived until half time having not conceded.

During the break the discussion centred around what changes, if any Neil Lennon would make but as it turned out, the same eleven started and in the same formation. Fifteen minutes in and we were punished as slack play between McGeouch and Stokes gifted possession to Celtic and Scott Sinclair, who’d given Whitty a torrid time throughout, saw his shot saved by the feet of Marciano. It was a warning not heeded as moments later, Edouard struck a low drive off the post and Sinclair reacted the quickest to fire past a stranded Marciano.

Around three or four minutes later, Hibs conceded again when losing possession about twenty yards out as Celtic worked the ball to Sinclair whose shot was deflected past Marciano. Things looked bleak and it was hard to imagine anything other than a defeat was on the cards. As Hibs prepared to introduce Simon Murray to the fray, Bartley went down injured and Neil Lennon changed his mind, opting instead to introduce young Oli Shaw and what an inspired decision that would prove to be. Prior to the youngster making his mark, the one mistake in the game made by Ambrose allowed Dembele a clear shot on goal but he was denied by Marciano with Rocky again on hand moments later to deny Sinclair his hat trick.

Young Oli was working hard and was instrumental in the move that led to us getting a corner with about fifteen minutes left. Earlier corners had frustrated us as they all seemed to be launched in to the grateful hands of Craig Gordon but this one was taken short and when Celtic made a hash of clearing the ball, Whittaker shot low for the corner but the ball deflected to Efe who slotted it home with the help of a deflection off Scott Brown.

Remarkably, Hibs now had their tails up and less than five minutes after Efe scored a great ball from Lewis found Oli Shaw in the box and the youngster did really well turning his marker before firing the ball high into the net. Neil Lennon then made a double change, bringing on Slivka and McGregor for Barker and Whitty and that meant a move to right back for Efe, a change he revelled in as he thundered forward at every opportunity.

Hibs were in the ascendency now but this Celtic team never gives up and while other teams might have closed up shop to protect the point they’d earn, they piled forward at every opportunity with Boyata, who was a very lucky boy not to be sent off following a shocking challenge on McGeouch and having already been yellow carded earlier in the game, headed over the bar when scoring looked an easier option. With the home support roaring Hibs on, young Oli Shaw came agonisingly close to ending Celtic’s unbeaten run. A fantastic ball into the box from Ambrose saw Gordon and Simunovic get into a terrible tangle the result of which saw the ball reach the feet of Shaw on the 18 yard line. Oli might have blasted it at goal but instead he showed he has an old head on young shoulders by cleverly steering the ball past Gordon and Simunovic into what looked like an empty net. It was agony to endure as the Hibs support rose as one to celebrate the goal only to see Lustig lunge to clear the ball as it was about to cross the line. Moments later, Sinclair got free on the left but lashed a good opportunity well wide of Rock’s goal.

When the final whistle sounded, Celtic players sank to the ground or wandered around in a daze as though they’d lost while the Hibs players looked equally stunned at earning a point when it had looked to be all but lost. I know that Graham Murty and Jonathan Johansson were watching from the stand and I wonder if they were as breathless as everyone else. Having said that I’d prefer they left when Celtic were 2-0 up, thinking Hibs weren’t such great shakes after all!

On the way home I listened to the interviews given by the managers and felt that Rodgers was disrespectful of Hibs while Lennon was candidly honest. I reckon Rodgers is fine when his team have won and he can flash that Dulux White Gloss smile of his but we see the real man when they’ve drawn or lost. I also heard on the radio that Niall McGinn was in the crowd so perhaps Hibs are interested in him after all?

The players

Rocky – had no chance with either goal and had two or three excellent saves to deny Celtic

Whitty – I believe he’s struggling with a pelvic problem and it looked like it today as Sinclair ran him ragged on occasion

Efe – other than one blip I can’t recall Efe doing anything other than defend stoutly

Paul – much the same as Efe in that he defended well and kept both Edouard and later Dembele pretty quiet

Lewis – a couple of suspect clearances and beaten once by Forrest but otherwise was solid and the fact that Forrest was hooked speaks volumes to me

Boyler – very unlucky to see Gordon save with his legs in the first half, I thought he was fine but I’m not sure he warranted the sponsors’ man of the match award

McGeouch – Dylan never really got going today, until the last fifteen minutes or so

Marv – not one of his better games I felt the Celtic midfield and McGregor in particular gave him a hard time. I didn’t think his booking was fair either

SJM – worked his socks off in the first half and drove Hibs forward at every opportunity in the second. The fact that he managed to do all that and still come off best in his personal duel with Scott Brown leads me to awarding him my man of the match.

Barker – this laddie is so infuriating as he clearly has skill but doesn’t display it nearly enough. Was poor again defensively, losing Lustig on numerous occasions as Celtic attacked

Stokesy – last week I suggested he was lazy but today he worked really hard and tried his best to carry out the loan striker role. I wonder if he scores from free kicks in training because he sure misses loads during games

Oli – once again I feel this laddie has it all in terms of whether he makes it in the game. Took his goal really well, made a number of excellent runs and was so unlucky at the death not to make it 3-2

Slivka – worked hard without really standing out but at least helped curtail Lustig’s forays down the right

Daz – never gives the ball away, you know!

The Manager

I thought Neil took to long to make his changes and to go after the game but credit to him for changing both personnel and shape enough to earn us a draw

The referee

Can anyone explain to me why Lustig was not booked for a shocking challenge on McGinn early in the first half or why Boyata didn’t get a second yellow for that late foul on McGeouch? Beaton is a very poor referee but like many others in his profession, he’s bulletproof

The fans

An incredible turnout. Kudos to the Since1875 and Section 43 folk, for trying their hardest to drown out a very loud Celtic support. If my ears did not deceive me, around 3,500 Celtic fans will be missing from their next game because they’re all off to join the IRA.

Thanks John- very enjoyable as always. For me, Efe was different class but SJM wasn't too far behind.

Hibs Class
10-12-2017, 07:10 PM
The Boyata one ref went to his pocket to book him then obviously realised he had already been booked so gave him a warning instead.

100%. Saw it exactly as that.

lyonhibs
10-12-2017, 07:18 PM
Stokes is a permanent signing though?? 😁

Barker irritated me in an attacking sense, especially first half. Lustig ist humpty and he rarely stretched him by running in behind. Often standing on Lewis's toes especially 1st half.

But great spirit and a change after the subs came on. Stokes is so obviously more comfortable as 1 of a 2.

Also I was very happy with Boyle getting MoM. Opinions eh??

stantonhibby
10-12-2017, 07:20 PM
Great work but can't agree about Stokes and free kicks. To my mind John McGinn was the primary villain in that respect today.

Agree.....can only remember one Stokes free kick today which he rolled to Barker.

SJNB Hibby
10-12-2017, 10:11 PM
I'm a very proud Hibs fan tonight. To come back from 2 down against Celtic takes some doing, for long periods of the game we were under pressure and although we defended well, found it very difficult to get things going up front. Its hardly surprising, just look at what Celtic have achieved and who they have been playing recently in Europe. Their experience is way ahead of our own. Yet at the end of the day we competed and almost, almost stole it at the end. I thought we were great in that last 20 minutes. It was a very difficult game and we got a result, another tick in our clubs progress. The battle between Brown and McGinn was Immense.

Anybody know the last team to come back from 2 down against them?

NAE NOOKIE
10-12-2017, 10:23 PM
I thought we did pretty well in the first half, most of their chances came from slack passes by us but that aside we managed to snuff them out pretty well. We started the second half poorly and couldn't complain about falling behind, but to our credit we kept going and its a fantastic point considering that in the past we probably would have lost more goals.

Marciano ..... 8 ..... No chance with either goal and made some pretty decent saves,

Whittaker ... 5 .... Looked slow and was far too easily beaten at times.

Ambrose ... 8 .... I thought he was excellent and he scored of course.

Hanlon .... 7 .... Pretty solid for the most part, but made a wrong move at their 2nd which allowed their forward to hit the post.

Stevenson ... 6 .... Great challenge at the start and did pretty well after that.

Bartley ... 6 .... Not a stand out game for him, but he doesn't play against that kind of quality every week.

McGinn .... 7 .... Didn't get much chance to be creative, but he stood up to Brown well and got stronger in the 2nd half.

McGeouch ... 6 ... Nowhere near as much of the ball as he usually gets and some poor passing, but he tried to drive us on in the last 20 minutes.

Boyle .... 8 .... Tracked back well as he always does and made sure Celtic had to watch him for the full 90 minutes.

Barker ..... 6 ..... He did some good things, but sometimes he drives you barmy by making wrong decisions as he did a few times today.

Stokes ... 6 .... I thought he did ok today in a hard role, he looked much better when Shaw came on.

SUBS:

Shaw .... 6 ..... Took his goal well and so unlucky not to hit a historic winner,

McGregor ..... 5 .... Solid enough when he came on.

Slivka ... 3 .... Cant remember him kicking the ball.

Hibrandenburg
10-12-2017, 10:44 PM
Thanks JB. Pretty much how I saw the game. Were you really there or did you just copy my comments from the match day thread :wink:

erin go bragh
10-12-2017, 10:46 PM
No mention of the assault on Boyle nearly sending him into the East right before going up the park to score their second . Apart from that , great summary JB :)

Sir David Gray
10-12-2017, 10:47 PM
Anybody know the last team to come back from 2 down against them?

The last time was when St Johnstone came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 in May 2014.

Onceinawhile
10-12-2017, 11:19 PM
On set pieces I dont know what we do in training but our corners are generally dreadful, not just today but for some time, there's goals there fellas if we can improve in that area.

We scored from a corner today?

Lancs Harp
10-12-2017, 11:29 PM
We scored from a corner today?

In general they arent good though are they. Unless you're watching a different team to me. We tend to give goalkeepers a lot of catching practice.

Borderhibbie76
10-12-2017, 11:46 PM
Great work but can't agree about Stokes and free kicks. To my mind John McGinn was the primary villain in that respect today.Love SJM bit been saying this for weeks mate
..far too wasteful at free kicks and corners

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Fred Perry
10-12-2017, 11:59 PM
Love SJM bit been saying this for weeks mate
..far too wasteful at free kicks and corners

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For me, Boyle was our man of the match. Always dangerous going forward and worked well the other way. SJM had a great battle with Broonie, was all over him in first half but Brown found space in deeper positions to dictate the game after half time for 20 minutes. SJM bossed the game in last 20 and I would say his battle with brown was a draw in the end.
thanks for your report again John, as always a good read.

Jonnyboy
11-12-2017, 10:45 PM
Sorry for the delay in replying!


Minor quibble at you saying Sinclair "reacted the quickest" to the shot coming back off the post for his first. He was the only one who reacted at all! Whitty in particular has a bad habit of ball watching in those situations. Great comeback against a technically very good team though!

Sinclair reacted the quickest because the others didn't :greengrin


Great work but can't agree about Stokes and free kicks. To my mind John McGinn was the primary villain in that respect today.

My bad, Iggy. You're right it was McGinn's turn to be wasteful with them :greengrin


Thanks JB. Pretty much how I saw the game. Were you really there or did you just copy my comments from the match day thread :wink:

I don't do plagi ... plagie .... copying :greengrin

Mikey
12-12-2017, 06:19 PM
I don't do plagi ... plagie .... copying :greengrin

Says the guy who's got "Hanlon 4" ready to copy and paste for every competition :greengrin

Jonnyboy
12-12-2017, 06:27 PM
Says the guy who's got "Hanlon 4" ready to copy and paste for every competition :greengrin

😂😂 I’m a creature of habit :greengrin

Billy Whizz
12-12-2017, 06:30 PM
Says the guy who's got "Hanlon 4" ready to copy and paste for every competition :greengrin

He gives him more than a 4 most weeks

Jonnyboy
12-12-2017, 09:54 PM
He gives him more than a 4 most weeks

:greengrin