Inverness 3 - Celtic 2

"If there's a shop where I can buy something that stops bad defending then I'll go there."

Yes, they are called defenders.

I suppose the first place to assess this quote is by looking at the players who could be filling the defensive slots within the current squad. It would be folly to suggest Celtic shouldn’t invest on their defence in the January window, however in the couple of weeks before then, for Celtic to keep their title charge realistic, it is imperative that the defence in its current guise cannot continue without some sort of reshuffle. Let’s play one who has proven experience and quality. At times against Inverness it seemed like Pressely and McManus were attempting to gift the highland side points for Christmas, with all three goals conceded by Celtic after scoring twice, surely avoidable by more competent defending.

Whether loved or hated, it must be conceded that Balde has been part of some very effective units in the past, and indeed even in his fleeting appearances in the past two seasons, statistically Celtic are more defensively resolute with Balde in the starting line up. Persisting with the defensive personnel who have been playing of late, is plain embarrassing. Gordon has to bring at least one of Balde or O'Dea in before the transfer window. If he does not, he is all but accepting the standard that the defence has been playing at.

In the past 5 games, what has Stephen McManus done to justify his inclusion ahead of O’Dea’s? I could accept O'Dea starting the next couple of games at centre half, as that is at least dealing with the problem in some way. Although I had thought he would be good enough cover at left back, O'Dea has looked poor at in that position. I thought he was below par in san siro. He has never looked anything close to poor at centre half though. Celtic at times over the past year have fluttered on the cusp of something great, and for that the manger deserves credit.
However, he has to be more proactive with his defence unless he risks undoing the good work.

Sadly due to the stubborn inflexibility of the manager, Balde playing under Gordon Strachan (bar an outbreak of bubonic plague) is as unlikely as Celtic opting for a back three. Given the personnel available recently, Strachan should surely have been playing a back three for months now. There will be reasons why the manager will not change his desired formation; however the benefits of doing so must surely be weighing up against it given the generosity of goals from his back four.

Through his captaincy McManus has achieved first pick status that his ability hasn’t always merited. To digress slightly, I would imagine had Celtic not appointed a Captain following Lennon's departure, and looked at the squad on current form and ability, Paul Hartley would have been head and shoulders ahead of McManus in the vote. The young centre half could then have been not only led by a more experienced and able footballer, but been allowed to be taken out of the team when form suggests so, and indeed learn from his mistakes rather than continue the pretence that things will improve without change, which he is suffering currently.

Gordon's post match interview again yesterday took the embarrassment further than the football pitch. His claims of a great performance were clearly not true so spare us the nonsense. If he is not prepared to give a truthful interview, I don’t see a problem with him not conducting an interview at all. For a fifteen minute spell in the first half, Celtic hit great form, out with that, McGeady again seemed alone in his quest to produce quality befitting a Celtic team. From that, I am not sure what Gordon can make a great performance.

The main positive I did note however, that Hesselink was back amongst the goals, and showed he is able to, like his strike partner McDonald has of late, to benefit from McGeady excellent set up play, with the Dutchman looking particularly sharp for his second.

For all the talent and potential Derek Riordan has, the player couldn’t say whole heartedly say he has shown enough to deserve a starting berth from his Celtic performances. However, currently there aren’t enough players playing at a level to merit keeping him out the team, and again yesterday, his entrance to the game seemed to bring a slight breath of hope to both supporters and players of Celtic alike. However Killen could not capitalise when Riordan played him in literally two yards from goal. Surely Killen cannot continue to be brought on with the expectation he will do anything other than play a similar style to Hesselink but with less mobility, ability, and certainly goal threat. Zurawski and Riordan offer a different type of approach, and if Hesselink's approach isn’t giving goals or a threat, then surely the Polish striker, or Riordan are a more positive proposition.

Celts for Change

With a 442 system in the style Celtic have (with quite a tight 4, with typically only one of whom supporting for each attack) a target man in terms of a big man just up there to win headers and flick ones is very outdated. This was even seen latterly in Hartson's time.

John Hartson was a magnificent target man, perhaps the last of the true great British target man of that mould. The game has changed in many ways, teams are more conservative and play more defensive minded players even in advanced positions. Unless a team play with wingbacks, fullbacks can now almost always be replaced by good centre halves. Look round at European leagues, particularly those in the better league, Celtic are not alone in playing 4 players more adept to playing Centre back. Barcelona played Puyol at right back last night, I’m sure Sergio Ramos played fullback for Real, Wes Brown played for Man Utd, we have all seen Gallas, Carvalho, Toure play fullback in the Premiership. At Celtic Park in recent years I have seen both Paolo Maldini, and Collochini play fullback for Milan.

European action and success is a must for top teams, losing is a disaster. Teams are so frightened of losing Defenders defending has becoming increasingly more important (harking back to a bygone era before Carlos and Cafu were king). Raiding fullbacks may become a thing of the past, and in terms of style, it wont be a pretty game we move to. With the likes of O'Dea and Caldwell as full backs, their objective is not to bring the play forward, link with the midfield and take part in an open attacking and attractive game. Whether due to ability or direction from the sidelines, in tighter defensive systems invariably advocate those in the fullback positions playing long (and sometimes hopeful balls to the strikers).

Yes players like Hartson have played this role in the past, particularly as he was exceptional at holding the ball up and good close control, but it was crosses from wide and support from midfield that Big John and others (like Shearer for example) thrived on.

With the exception of corner kicks, how many headed goals have Celtic scored recently from cross balls. Not many.

The 'new' target men are still physically strong but now their game is based as much on energy and mobility as it is on sheer power. Rooney, Drogba, Ashton, Torres, Etoo, Ibrahimovic, in the past these players would be coached and encouraged to use their physicality to get on the end of crosses, however these guys gave exceptional movement and mobility, dropping off to receive these long clearances up field. As likely to chest the ball down and bring others in to play than to flick it on to their smaller partner to run onto. The balls up field from defence are often not as accurate as crosses from wide midfielders use to be, so for the striker, its all about getting away from their marker to get it first, judge where it going, and move to where they can be most effective.

This is where Hesselink struggles. With the ball in front of him, he attacks it well from what I have seen, but he doesn’t seem as comfortable dropping off and moving to where the ball from defence is going.

It’s my opinion that to get the most out of a Hesselink type, wide midfielders OR forwards are the key. If we are insistent that wingbacks are a thing of the past for Celtic, and 4 defenders are our future, complete with midfield tighter than Murray's purse strings the 433/451 formation has to be used.

When we don’t have the ball the wingers become midfielders, and when we do have it, they become the number one outlet to supply the main striker with as many crosses as possible. It also gives the runner from midfield and opportunity to get forward to support and be brought in by the striker, whilst still providing enough cover behind.

The main problem in this is the relative performance of Hesselnik and McDonald. Whether its our systems fault or not, Hesselink hasn’t been playing the standard of McDonald. Can we justify adjusting or team/system to suit he rather than McDonalds competencies? The headed goals I do recall from cross balls this season have been from McDonalds supply. Perhaps with McDonald on the right, McGeady on the left, we could give Hesselink the supply that would justify his place in the team.

Whatever we do, Hesselinks involvement in our current big man little man partnership, has to change.

Currently I see our dysfunctional attacking philosophy and play, making our use of Hesselink sadly look like a 90's Scotland team with Duncan Ferguson.

Celtic 1 St Mirren 1

When Jose Mourinho claimed Tottenham "brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal" at Stamford bridge in September 2004, I am sure many Celtic supporters knew exactly the sentiment intended.

With the gulf between Celtic, their closest rival, and the rest of the league at its widest, it is not unusual for teams to line up at Celtic Park as if it was a damage limitation exercise. Most try and fail, though some notable successes such as Dunfermline’s 1-0 victory in 2004 where they played a delightful 5-5-0 formation, should be remembered. In some sense, the success of 'parking the bus' is determined by the way in which a team parks it.

St Mirren parked strategically, with concentration, energy, and discipline. For the most part, leaving the bus more at the 18-yard box than the goal line, with Celtic not getting beyond it there with any sense of purpose. Celtic struggled all game to break down St Mirren, who seemed a far fitter and better drilled team than their appearance at Celtic Park earlier in the season. Not to say the Paisley side played pretty football, as the bus parking suggested, it was very much an off the ball type performance. When Celtic had it St Mirren worked tirelessly to close the spaces down, and again, like several teams this season, allowed only Celtic's back four time on the ball.

A team playing with natural fullbacks, can comfortably take possession, link and overlap with the midfield, however with Celtic's dearth in that position, both O'Dea, and Caldwell were often left in unfamiliar and by the looks of things highly uncomfortable positions. To their credit, both players made all attempts to get forward, but their possession, use of the ball, and most importantly delivery into the box were just not good enough for players covering the roles expected of them.

St Mirren's defence were just batting every crossed or through ball back at Celtic and almost asking them to come up with something that might actually trouble them. Again like most games this season, McGeady and McDonald endeavoured, but McGeady was sometimes left with 2 and even 3 men covering his driving runs, and McDonald found himself at times alone in his pursuit to force the bus back to the goal line. Hesselink a complete passenger again, seemed unable to even get in its way when it veered in any way forward.

Hartley and Brown in Celtic's engine room played with as little effect, and verve as you will see from them this season. With McGeady perpetually marked by two defenders, someone in midfield really should have been moving enough to benefit from the space. Brown seemed to lose the ball any time he stepped forward, yet Hartley seemed content on letting Brown be the one to engineer attacking moves. Jarosik was drifting inside from his left midfield slot, possibly in an attempt to influence play, but it did seem to confuse matters when Celtic broke forward. Jarosik isn’t a natural wide player, so is often content to drift more centrally and let the fullback go by him, and of late, he and Naylor seemed to have made this work to good effect. In Naylor’s absence all it seemed to do was push O'Dea into a position further and further from that he is used to.

A close McGeady free kick aside, in the first half, the home side didn’t create any chances likely to break through the parked traffic in front of Smith's goal. Teams that set up as St Mirren did, and play a game based on extreme discipline and work rate, tend to suffer from fatigue and lose concentration as the game wears on. This didn’t seem to be a major problem for them, with Celtic however beginning to pound on the windows of the bus that bit harder in the second 45.

A free kick delivered by Hartley gave Jarosik a great opportunity, although one in which he could only steer onto the post and watch agonisingly come back out and be cleared by the St Mirren defence. A Hesselink header and a McDonald shot on the turn should have given Celtic better chances to score but the Bus remained defiant beneath a sky now pouring with snow.

Along with a change in ball for a more visible yellow, Celtic made the bold move to bring on Riordan for O'Dea (to supplement Sno on for Jarosik ten minutes previously) in order to bolster Celtic attacking options. Gordon Strachan must have hoped for not only Riordan's threat in the final third, but with Hartley dropping back to fill the vacant left back slot, surely a player more adept to building moves and comfortable on the ball would benefit Celtic's cause. Within minutes Gordon had his answer, a quick break by St Mirren found Mehemmet bursting up the wing, Hartley looked hopelessly exposed as a right footed midfielder out of position at right back, as he got the wrong side of both Mehemmet and the ball. The big Englishman, once past Hartley, tested Mark Brown with a clean strike, which Celtic's keeper parried to the onrushing youngster Stephen McGinn to easily slot past Brown.

As McGeady had a 20-yard strike palmed over the crossbar by Smith, Celtic hoped for one of those infamous comebacks, though given the lacklustre performance, it looked highly unlikely. Five minutes from time Sno gave Celtic a change to claim a point with an outrageously good pass, curling to the path of Riordan over the St Mirren resolute rearguard. Riordan, with one touch and finish did not disappoint and made it a goal a piece

Milan - To the Last 16

It certainly wasn’t a vintage champions league performance to take them into the last 16 of the champions league, but no doubt Celtic will have been delighted at the nights outcome nonetheless.

Going in to a game knowing you need only a draw can sometimes be a dangerous thing, and Celtic certainly set up as if one point was their raison d'etre. With McDonald preferred to Hesselink ploughing the loan furrow up front, Massimo Donati came in to sheppard a midfield of McGeady, Hartley, Brown and Jarosik, against the might of Milan in his native land. O'Dea kept his place at left back with Naylor still absent through injury. Milan played as strong a midfield and forward as any other team in Europe could muster, electing however, for experienced heads like Cafu, Favalli and Simic in their backline alongside Bonera (in a four man defense which possessed a highly enviable 270 international caps between them).

In all truth Celtic rarely tested the ageing Milan rearguard, with Jarosik's drive from distance Celtic's only real highlight and threat of the first half. Although the home side had the bulk of the play, they didn’t seem to create as many gilt-edge chances as at times it looked like they really should have. Like many performances of late, Celtic's full backs seem to be the only ones in any kind of space when the team are in possession. Sadly, O'Dea, and Caldwell who are seen as ball playing centre halves, are in any way, comfortable in possession on the flanks, and repeated long balls forward were easy for the Italian's to deal with.

In order to capture their home form, whilst on the road in Europe, Celtic must find a way to bring there better and more progressive players into the game. Even with McDonald upfront alone, there must be more effective way to bring the flowery play of McGeady, the energy of Brown, and the experience of Jarosik to the fore in order to take the pressure off the defense.

More and more, Kaka became instrumental in Milan’s dominance, and as Celtic, who had managed to keep the score line goalless at half time, began to show the signs of cracking. Venegoor came on in an attempt to allow the long ball to have an effective outlet. To no avail, as Milan kept Celtic pinned in, with Inzaghi who earlier missed a header which looked easier to score, slotting home on the 70th minute to score his record breaking 63rd goal in European competition. Milan had few efforts on goals after this, and Scott Brown bombed forward to get on the end of a hopeful ball from defense but didn’t test the keeper when really he should have.

The best action of the night for the Celtic support was the intermittent updates of the Shaktar V Benfica game, showing that in the end, Benfica did enough to pave the path for Celtic to charge on to the latter stages of the Champions League for the second year in a row.

Hearts 1 - Celtic 1

In a team showing only the two enforced changes with Pressley and O'Dea inplace of injured pair Kennedy and Naylor, Celtic produced the type of performance intimating that more changes may have served them better at Tynecastle.

In actual fact both the experienced former Hearts captain, and young Irishman O'Dea were two of Celtic better performers, with Pressley again using the ball well, and O'Dea looking pretty assured to his left even getting forward to support the midfield. The game was a pretty stale affair, neither teams having many chances.

Hartley's whipped freekick as the game looked destined for a goalless draw, squirmed away from the Hearts keeper leaving Scott McDonald able to pounce to make it 1-0.

Surely then the game would settle Celtic's way, however a last minute abboration by Gary Caldwell, deciding to clearly push Tall in Celtic's own area, gave Velicka another chance to score against Celtic.