Jonnyboy
20-10-2018, 08:07 PM
I’m going to start off with an apology because my take on today’s game may have glaring gaps due to the fact that I was behind the main stand pillar which obscures a large part of one goalmouth. Celtic really take the mickey selling tickets for these seats and compound that by stating on the ticket that the purchaser qualifies for a restricted view discount.
On to the game now and there was a surprise when Hibs lined up with a back three of Ambrose, McGregor and Stevenson whilst deploying Slivka, Mallan, Milligan, Hyndman and Horgan in midfield with Boyle playing off Kamberi up front. With SDG out injured, Lenny had little choice but to adjust the set up and whilst three at the back has served us well in recent times, it quickly became clear that by instructing Slivka and Horgan to sit wide, our other three were overwhelmed by Celtic in midfield.
Things had started brightly with an early chance arriving after Brown had hacked down Mallan as the Hibs player looked set to break into the box. Brown was booked but Mallan’s effort from the resultant free kick whistled past Gordon’s right hand post. The bright start didn’t last long with Celtic playing quick one touch football to get in behind our midfield and in the eighth minute they opened the scoring. Horgan failed in his attempt to dispossess Forrest out wide on the Hibs left. Forrest quickly shuttled the ball to Rogic who played a quick one two and shot beyond the reach of the diving Bogdan. Celtic then rattled the woodwork and generally pinned Hibs back until they doubled their lead ten minutes after the first. Again, quick passing and a failure to track runners gave Ntcham the easiest of chances to fire the ball home.
It seemed obvious that the three at the back wasn’t working and after Celtic had threatened again on more than one occasion, Lenny moved Milligan into the back three, making it a traditional four. Hibs looked more comfortable now and started to mount some attacks of their own but Celtic still looked dangerous on the break and Bogdan denied them twice before the woodwork doubled that number. Although showing better form, poor decision making and some wayward shots had us going in at the break 2-0 down.
No doubt lifted by the half time team talk, Hibs started the second half well and managed to put the home defence under pressure. That pressure paid off when, just after the hour mark, some fine play led to the ball reaching Kamberi on the left side of the Celtic box. The big striker wasted no time in selling Lustig a dummy before rifling a left footed drive past Gordon and into the far corner of the net. For a few minutes after that, Hibs dominated but their willingness to push on looking for an equaliser cost them dear when Forrest broke free on the left, hotly pursued by Milligan. In truth the Aussie should have brought him down but he didn’t and that allowed Forrest to reach the byeline before cutting the ball back to Edouard who had an easy tap in to make it 3-1.
Hibs were stunned but it only took them three minutes to cut the deficit again as Boyle rushed on to a ball through the middle, outpaced his marker and cleverly dinked his finish over the diving Gordon. Played like a cup tie the game was flowing from end to end but it would be the hosts that claimed the final goal when poor tackling in the Hibs box allowed the ball to reach Edouard who fired home his second and Celtic’s fourth.
My immediate reaction to the game was that Hibs had been set up wrongly with Slivka and Horgan on the periphery by being deployed in wide areas whilst Hyndman and Mallan didn’t do enough physically in supporting Milligan. This gave Celtic the freedom to just play through us and I wished Lenny had gone to a back four after the opening goal and we might have avoided conceding the second. Having said all of that I heard Lenny’s post-match interview and he was explaining that he had set his team up to attack, rather than go with one up top and sit deep only to lose 1-0. That makes a lot of sense to me and tempered my initial views somewhat. I was also pleased to hear him take responsibility for the team formation in the earlier stages of the first half not working as he’d hoped.
The players
Adam – I felt so sorry for him today as he was hung out to dry for all four goals. Indeed, had he not saved two one on ones and two stunning diving stops the final score would have been hugely embarrassing.
Efe – Made captain for the day I feel he struggled at times with the waves of attackers coming at him but hey, who wouldn’t? It disappointed me that he seemed to make no effort at all to cut out the pass for their second goal as the ball passed inches from his foot.
Daz – The big fella’s selection caught me totally by surprise but after a kinda shaky start, during which he picked up what I consider a harsh booking, he grew into the game and looked like his old self. It’s guesswork on my part but would a more settled Porteous have helped us lose fewer goals?
Lewis – He played this role really well at Ibrox last season but didn’t get to grips with it at all today. On numerous occasions he faced two Celtic players after Horgan was caught wrong side of the ball.
Slivka – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is wasted when played wide. After we moved to a back four he became more central, influenced the play and got more involved. It shocked me when they lined up to start the second half and he’d been pushed wide right again.
Emerson – After coming on to a game in the last two outings I felt much of today’s play simply passed him by.
Mark – The midfield role was difficult for him with so little support and he looked far better in the back four. As I’ve said, he should have brought Forrest down and when he didn’t it cost us a goal. When he was immediately replaced by Whitty I hoped that wasn’t Lenny punishing him but as my brother pointed out, Whitty was stripped and ready to come on before that incident took place.
Stevie – A disappointing day all round with a few chances to score not being taken. Perhaps I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking every free kick in the twenty yards from goal category is as good as in the net. Today, two were not and a couple from open play sailed high and wide.
Daryl – The wee man buzzes about and is always busy but I felt he let Lewis down a few times today by not being where he should be.
Boyler – Had a half decent chance late in the first half but blazed his shot high and wide. Had a much better second half and his goal had a mark of quality about it.
Flo – Ploughed a lone furrow a lot and irritatingly kept getting caught offside but he took his goal really well and would no doubt be pleased to see that Jamie Mac is fit and ready to play again.
Whitty – Replaced Milligan for the last twenty minutes or so and slotted in at right back with Efe moving in to the middle. He has his detractors but did well enough today although he may have been in the group of Hibs defenders trying and failing to prevent the fourth goal.
Jamie – Only got a few minutes and had no time to show us he’s back to full fitness.
Lenny – As I’ve said, I felt the change to a back four could have come after the first goal but I’ve now bought in to his view that it’s better to go for a win by playing expansively than getting everyone behind the ball and losing 1-0. The expansiveness never showed itself much today but it’s clearly something this team is capable of.
The fans – Treated poorly as ever by Celtic with seats that had a chronic view and failure on one occasion to take on board the needs of an elderly supporter with a walking stick. One thing I didn’t like was the frequent belting out of the ‘new’ Mercer song and it didn’t help that the drummer drummed along as it was sung. I thought the singing section had distanced itself from it.
The ref – It’s always easy to have a go when you’ve lost but Don Robertson doesn’t qualify for the full blast of ‘incompetent’ more irritating by blowing his whistle every ten seconds and usually in favour of Celtic.
Man of the Match (Given the recent decision by Kleenex, maybe it should be player of the game) goes to Adam Bogdan who saved us from a real pasting.
On to the game now and there was a surprise when Hibs lined up with a back three of Ambrose, McGregor and Stevenson whilst deploying Slivka, Mallan, Milligan, Hyndman and Horgan in midfield with Boyle playing off Kamberi up front. With SDG out injured, Lenny had little choice but to adjust the set up and whilst three at the back has served us well in recent times, it quickly became clear that by instructing Slivka and Horgan to sit wide, our other three were overwhelmed by Celtic in midfield.
Things had started brightly with an early chance arriving after Brown had hacked down Mallan as the Hibs player looked set to break into the box. Brown was booked but Mallan’s effort from the resultant free kick whistled past Gordon’s right hand post. The bright start didn’t last long with Celtic playing quick one touch football to get in behind our midfield and in the eighth minute they opened the scoring. Horgan failed in his attempt to dispossess Forrest out wide on the Hibs left. Forrest quickly shuttled the ball to Rogic who played a quick one two and shot beyond the reach of the diving Bogdan. Celtic then rattled the woodwork and generally pinned Hibs back until they doubled their lead ten minutes after the first. Again, quick passing and a failure to track runners gave Ntcham the easiest of chances to fire the ball home.
It seemed obvious that the three at the back wasn’t working and after Celtic had threatened again on more than one occasion, Lenny moved Milligan into the back three, making it a traditional four. Hibs looked more comfortable now and started to mount some attacks of their own but Celtic still looked dangerous on the break and Bogdan denied them twice before the woodwork doubled that number. Although showing better form, poor decision making and some wayward shots had us going in at the break 2-0 down.
No doubt lifted by the half time team talk, Hibs started the second half well and managed to put the home defence under pressure. That pressure paid off when, just after the hour mark, some fine play led to the ball reaching Kamberi on the left side of the Celtic box. The big striker wasted no time in selling Lustig a dummy before rifling a left footed drive past Gordon and into the far corner of the net. For a few minutes after that, Hibs dominated but their willingness to push on looking for an equaliser cost them dear when Forrest broke free on the left, hotly pursued by Milligan. In truth the Aussie should have brought him down but he didn’t and that allowed Forrest to reach the byeline before cutting the ball back to Edouard who had an easy tap in to make it 3-1.
Hibs were stunned but it only took them three minutes to cut the deficit again as Boyle rushed on to a ball through the middle, outpaced his marker and cleverly dinked his finish over the diving Gordon. Played like a cup tie the game was flowing from end to end but it would be the hosts that claimed the final goal when poor tackling in the Hibs box allowed the ball to reach Edouard who fired home his second and Celtic’s fourth.
My immediate reaction to the game was that Hibs had been set up wrongly with Slivka and Horgan on the periphery by being deployed in wide areas whilst Hyndman and Mallan didn’t do enough physically in supporting Milligan. This gave Celtic the freedom to just play through us and I wished Lenny had gone to a back four after the opening goal and we might have avoided conceding the second. Having said all of that I heard Lenny’s post-match interview and he was explaining that he had set his team up to attack, rather than go with one up top and sit deep only to lose 1-0. That makes a lot of sense to me and tempered my initial views somewhat. I was also pleased to hear him take responsibility for the team formation in the earlier stages of the first half not working as he’d hoped.
The players
Adam – I felt so sorry for him today as he was hung out to dry for all four goals. Indeed, had he not saved two one on ones and two stunning diving stops the final score would have been hugely embarrassing.
Efe – Made captain for the day I feel he struggled at times with the waves of attackers coming at him but hey, who wouldn’t? It disappointed me that he seemed to make no effort at all to cut out the pass for their second goal as the ball passed inches from his foot.
Daz – The big fella’s selection caught me totally by surprise but after a kinda shaky start, during which he picked up what I consider a harsh booking, he grew into the game and looked like his old self. It’s guesswork on my part but would a more settled Porteous have helped us lose fewer goals?
Lewis – He played this role really well at Ibrox last season but didn’t get to grips with it at all today. On numerous occasions he faced two Celtic players after Horgan was caught wrong side of the ball.
Slivka – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is wasted when played wide. After we moved to a back four he became more central, influenced the play and got more involved. It shocked me when they lined up to start the second half and he’d been pushed wide right again.
Emerson – After coming on to a game in the last two outings I felt much of today’s play simply passed him by.
Mark – The midfield role was difficult for him with so little support and he looked far better in the back four. As I’ve said, he should have brought Forrest down and when he didn’t it cost us a goal. When he was immediately replaced by Whitty I hoped that wasn’t Lenny punishing him but as my brother pointed out, Whitty was stripped and ready to come on before that incident took place.
Stevie – A disappointing day all round with a few chances to score not being taken. Perhaps I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking every free kick in the twenty yards from goal category is as good as in the net. Today, two were not and a couple from open play sailed high and wide.
Daryl – The wee man buzzes about and is always busy but I felt he let Lewis down a few times today by not being where he should be.
Boyler – Had a half decent chance late in the first half but blazed his shot high and wide. Had a much better second half and his goal had a mark of quality about it.
Flo – Ploughed a lone furrow a lot and irritatingly kept getting caught offside but he took his goal really well and would no doubt be pleased to see that Jamie Mac is fit and ready to play again.
Whitty – Replaced Milligan for the last twenty minutes or so and slotted in at right back with Efe moving in to the middle. He has his detractors but did well enough today although he may have been in the group of Hibs defenders trying and failing to prevent the fourth goal.
Jamie – Only got a few minutes and had no time to show us he’s back to full fitness.
Lenny – As I’ve said, I felt the change to a back four could have come after the first goal but I’ve now bought in to his view that it’s better to go for a win by playing expansively than getting everyone behind the ball and losing 1-0. The expansiveness never showed itself much today but it’s clearly something this team is capable of.
The fans – Treated poorly as ever by Celtic with seats that had a chronic view and failure on one occasion to take on board the needs of an elderly supporter with a walking stick. One thing I didn’t like was the frequent belting out of the ‘new’ Mercer song and it didn’t help that the drummer drummed along as it was sung. I thought the singing section had distanced itself from it.
The ref – It’s always easy to have a go when you’ve lost but Don Robertson doesn’t qualify for the full blast of ‘incompetent’ more irritating by blowing his whistle every ten seconds and usually in favour of Celtic.
Man of the Match (Given the recent decision by Kleenex, maybe it should be player of the game) goes to Adam Bogdan who saved us from a real pasting.