For the past week, I have, I think been suitably gracious in my praise of Kazakh champions Astana, ahead of and after the first leg of our Champions League qualifier.
There are good reasons for that. Firstly, they are a good team as their home results against top-class European opposition have shown.
Secondly, the caricaturing of Kazakh people by Britain's best-loved racist comedian since Bernard Manning, Sasha Baron Cohen, with his Borat character has heaped humiliation on that nation in a way that has disadvantaged the country and, especially its young people.
Related to this is a sneaking suspicion that journalists in the tabloids that I do not read would not hesitate to big up those racist epithets with all the grace and dignity of an infant shouting, “funny wee man” at someone with an apparent physical handicap.
Kazakhstan is a nation asserting its confidence and its football teams are instruments of that.
Unfortunately, the country is also one of the most corrupt in the world.
Transparency International rates the country as coming 123rd (out of 167 listed states) in terms of above-board dealing. In other words, Kazakhstan hovers around the top 25% of the world's most corrupt countries.
Why is this relevant now? Because, when the referee was adding five minutes of injury time to a match that Astana had to win, that didn't seem to fit with the pattern of play during the match – but it would have seemed churlish to pick up on it at the time.
But when Astana are publicly issuing footage of Leigh Griffith wrestling off the attentions of Astana defender, Igor Shitov, – and claiming the clips showed a punch and red-card offence, you can tell that something from the darker side of football is afoot.
The referee on the night, allowed Patrick Roberts to be hacked down almost every time he made contact with the ball. Kieran Tierney was the subject of a ridiculous claim of a foul worthy of a face-holding.
These incidents are not coincidental. Astana identified Celtic's key players before the match and sought to neutralise them for the second leg.
In the case of Griffiths, he received a yellow card for the shoving in the box and therefore it should be impossible for UEFA to review the “incident” as if it had been missed.
But we now know the nature of Astana and, in terms of goodwill, at least, the gloves should be off.
That is to say that they will come to Celtic Park next week, where their players, staff and fans will enjoy a safe environment in arguably the best football arena in Europe.
But the underhand efforts of the club and its coaching staff should be seen for what they are – a bid to rob Celtic of our best players.
60,000 fans at Celtic Park? I wonder how the Astana players will enjoy their evening.
--
Friday, July 29, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Emerging talent and the first signs of Celtic improvement under Brendan Rodgers
Well, it wasn't an emphatic performance but there are reasons to be cheerful tonight after Celtic left Astana with an invaluable draw.
The last two pieces on this blog both referred to the tie with Astana and for good reason.
“Glamour friendlies” are all very well but you only had to see the half-full Celtic Park on Saturday to play the English Champions in the International Champions Cup to get an idea of the difference between real competition and exhibition football.
Managers can say what they like about playing to win in these tournaments but the smiles all round after Leicester City won the penalty shoot-out showed that only the established UEFA-recognised tournaments count in football.
So, the complaints about Brendan Rodgers being left hamstrung were well justified – it is shocking that the club had to go into such a crucial qualifier without a recognised reliable central defender.
However, amid that sort of adversity, sometimes a genuine talent emerges who would not otherwise have been given a chance. In Astana, that was Eoghan O’Connell, rightly praised for a composed performance belying his young years and inexperience.
If we could just get a mirror image of the left side of our defence and apply it to the right, we would have lot fewer nervous Celtic fans.
The other post was on how fantastic a result a draw would be against a team that Galatasaray, Benfica and Atletico Madrid all failed to beat in Kazakhstan, last season.
So, in the circumstances, Brendan Rodgers and the players deserve all the credit coming their way for achieving that at such an early stage of the season, with such frailties in the squad.
There were mistakes and nerve-wracking times – far too many – but what was most encouraging was how Celtic managed to get a grip on the match in the last 20 minutes, when previous sides would have crumbled.
In fact, it was as if the team matured before our eyes, using the ball intelligently after Patrick Roberts and Leigh Griffiths had combined to produce a goal of exceptional quality.
We've had to many European disappointments to count in recent years, so there was never a sense of the job being done until the referee's final gift to Astana of five minutes added time had expired.
But, under immense pressure, there was a self-assuredness on the ball in the late stages that surely reflected the first meaningful improvement under Brendan Rodgers and his team.
There is still a major amount of work to do against an Astana side that showed once again that the generously funded Kazakh football has arrived and will make an impact soon.
We can look forward to that day – but hopefully not for another year yet.
--
“Glamour friendlies” are all very well but you only had to see the half-full Celtic Park on Saturday to play the English Champions in the International Champions Cup to get an idea of the difference between real competition and exhibition football.
Managers can say what they like about playing to win in these tournaments but the smiles all round after Leicester City won the penalty shoot-out showed that only the established UEFA-recognised tournaments count in football.
So, the complaints about Brendan Rodgers being left hamstrung were well justified – it is shocking that the club had to go into such a crucial qualifier without a recognised reliable central defender.
However, amid that sort of adversity, sometimes a genuine talent emerges who would not otherwise have been given a chance. In Astana, that was Eoghan O’Connell, rightly praised for a composed performance belying his young years and inexperience.
If we could just get a mirror image of the left side of our defence and apply it to the right, we would have lot fewer nervous Celtic fans.
The other post was on how fantastic a result a draw would be against a team that Galatasaray, Benfica and Atletico Madrid all failed to beat in Kazakhstan, last season.
So, in the circumstances, Brendan Rodgers and the players deserve all the credit coming their way for achieving that at such an early stage of the season, with such frailties in the squad.
There were mistakes and nerve-wracking times – far too many – but what was most encouraging was how Celtic managed to get a grip on the match in the last 20 minutes, when previous sides would have crumbled.
In fact, it was as if the team matured before our eyes, using the ball intelligently after Patrick Roberts and Leigh Griffiths had combined to produce a goal of exceptional quality.
We've had to many European disappointments to count in recent years, so there was never a sense of the job being done until the referee's final gift to Astana of five minutes added time had expired.
But, under immense pressure, there was a self-assuredness on the ball in the late stages that surely reflected the first meaningful improvement under Brendan Rodgers and his team.
There is still a major amount of work to do against an Astana side that showed once again that the generously funded Kazakh football has arrived and will make an impact soon.
We can look forward to that day – but hopefully not for another year yet.
--
Monday, July 25, 2016
No Kolo Toure but Celtic and Brendan Rodgers have a point to make in Astana
Celtic supporters shouldn't underestimate the task awaiting their team in Astana
Happily, few Celtic fans who know the least about football now expect games against teams from unfashionable football nations, like Kazakhstan, to be a formality.
While the tabloid press will make crude caricatures about Borat and, no doubt, revel in describing the entire country as a backwater, a reality check awaits anyone who underestimates Astana.
The signing of Kolo Toure is impressive given the fact that, despite being 35 years old, he was playing in the Europa League final for Liverpool, just over two months ago.
He will surely help the others in our most under-staffed position. However, Toure's arrival comes too late for the first leg and there must be question marks over whether he will be ready next week.
It must worry Brendan Rodgers that he appears to have to choose between starting 20-year-old Eoghan O'Connell in Astana or even playing a back three in a vital European qualifier.
Up front, meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths looks to be in good form already, Moussa Dembélé looks as if a little extra sharpness in front of goal will see him start scoring soon and Nadir Çiftçi probably won't.
So much for Celtic's much-discussed weaknesses. More pertinent is that Astana qualified for the Champions League last season, remaining unbeaten at home, with draws against finalists Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray.
In fact, they went through the entire competition (including qualifiers), last season, without losing a home match and took the scalp of Maribor along the way. Domestically and in European competition, they have lost just one match since the beginning of March and top their domestic league by seven points with a game in hand over their nearest rivals.
All that adds up to a major challenge, even without their captain Tanat Nusserbayev and suggests in the circumstances that anything better than a 0-0 draw would be an exceptional result.
It is likely to set the pulses racing, more in terms of tension than in attacking football, though Brendan will presumably expect his players to keep pressing and playing to a high intensity.
But on this occasion a boring match with no goals would set up a Celtic Park return where, hopefully, the crowd could carry the team to victory.
Nail-bitten fingers are crossed.
Happily, few Celtic fans who know the least about football now expect games against teams from unfashionable football nations, like Kazakhstan, to be a formality.
While the tabloid press will make crude caricatures about Borat and, no doubt, revel in describing the entire country as a backwater, a reality check awaits anyone who underestimates Astana.
 |
| Going through: Astana against Zalgiris in the last round |
The signing of Kolo Toure is impressive given the fact that, despite being 35 years old, he was playing in the Europa League final for Liverpool, just over two months ago.
He will surely help the others in our most under-staffed position. However, Toure's arrival comes too late for the first leg and there must be question marks over whether he will be ready next week.
It must worry Brendan Rodgers that he appears to have to choose between starting 20-year-old Eoghan O'Connell in Astana or even playing a back three in a vital European qualifier.
Up front, meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths looks to be in good form already, Moussa Dembélé looks as if a little extra sharpness in front of goal will see him start scoring soon and Nadir Çiftçi probably won't.
So much for Celtic's much-discussed weaknesses. More pertinent is that Astana qualified for the Champions League last season, remaining unbeaten at home, with draws against finalists Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray.
In fact, they went through the entire competition (including qualifiers), last season, without losing a home match and took the scalp of Maribor along the way. Domestically and in European competition, they have lost just one match since the beginning of March and top their domestic league by seven points with a game in hand over their nearest rivals.
All that adds up to a major challenge, even without their captain Tanat Nusserbayev and suggests in the circumstances that anything better than a 0-0 draw would be an exceptional result.
It is likely to set the pulses racing, more in terms of tension than in attacking football, though Brendan will presumably expect his players to keep pressing and playing to a high intensity.
But on this occasion a boring match with no goals would set up a Celtic Park return where, hopefully, the crowd could carry the team to victory.
Nail-bitten fingers are crossed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)