30 Jul 2015 08:22:03
Well a one goal lead, not ideal but not losing an away goal could be crucial. Celtic in first half were poor and so many misplaced passes, second half better, Ciftci? still not convinced, we were better when Commons came on. As for Qarabagh, what I expected a well organised, defensive minded team who came for a draw and almost got it, on the plus point for me is this team do not seem to score a lot of goals, in last round the Montenegran minnows held them 0-0 over there, Celtic need an away goal, if we get it, I cannot see them scoring 3 goals, but a much better performance is needed by whole team over there.
30 Jul 2015 08:44:27
Again I don't think we did ourselves justice. The possession was pretty even looking at the stats this morning. I didn't think that sat there given the balance of play. And that may be reflected by the fact we had twice as many attacks. 5 shots on goal to their one, which was a tame free kick. Like you say sloppy in the final third again. I understand what Ciftci brings over Griffiths, bur last night was about getting as comfortable a lead as possible and Griffiths is a much better goalscorer. Anyway, a lead is better than a deficit. They have to come out at us a bit more in the second leg and again, like Stjarnan, that will suit our game. Still confident of seeing that lot off.
30 Jul 2015 10:52:16
Timalloy I've never been convinced by cifti mate. For money we spent, there are far better options in that price range. Its starting to really pi$$ me off the fact John Park is still Head Scout. He has failed far too many times in identifying a suitable striker. Apart from Hooper and Griffiths, he has continually let us down.
30 Jul 2015 11:34:58
I would take a few players if he finds a lustig, Johansen, Bitton, Van Dijk, Wanyama, Izzy, Etc etc. He does a good job. Obviously every signing isn't going to be a huge hit which goes for every team but he gets more good players than he doent.
30 Jul 2015 12:02:15
Parks problem has always been with strikers. His record with midfielders/defenders is ok. I think that even with Hooper and Griffiths, he was pointed towards them by others within the club. We need someone who has some knowledge about the forward positions to identify people that match our needs.
30 Jul 2015 16:00:33
I agree arrowh. Its alarming the amount we have lost through Parks striker targets. Bangura, Balde, Pukki, Fridjohnson to name a few