The Weekend Review – James Forrest At The Double

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On this episode, we talk about the Celtic’s latest match where we won 2-1 against Dundee in the SPFL

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Hail Hail

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hello good morning good afternoon good evening wherever you on the world welcome to the cty done under weekend review my name is Anthony Maguire and this week I’m joined by Richard Tobin and Paul Massie as we dissect d one Celtic 2 Den Park last night path time um as you can see it’s gone a little bit cooler here it was only 23 24 degrees during the day today but we’re all sort of rugged up as if it’s winter already uh rich or well Paul’s not but me and Richard um how was your weekend yeah it was good I I’ve been I’ve been harvesting olives honestly I’ve been harvesting olives and and like it’s not it’s not like something I a guy from Glasgow oh I just harvested my olives this weekend and unfortunately I don’t have any Greek or Italian neighbors that I can actually ask what to do so I’m relying on the internet and I’m not sure that any of this will work however I promise to share them with you when I find out whether or not it did work and I’ll lie in Bri jar stuff if it didn’t okay fair fair enough not the um there’s there’s companies down south I know oio Bello they let you take your own olives and then they will crush them any oil for you um I’ve done it a couple years ago um it’s yeah it’s a fun it’s a fun day doing it but um with oil allive oil prices going through the roof Richard because apparently a third of the Italian Peninsula is drought stricken so you might actually have liquid gold um in your backyard at the moment you just didn’t know it exporting 200 Ms yeah pretty much Paul uh how was your week here M well it didn’t involve any harvesting of Olives organs or anything else um I I had a long weekend didn’t I so I had uh we all had the public holiday TH or some of us had the public holiday Thursday you’ll tell me that you were you were working so I took Friday to get at four days so yeah had I had a fantastic time was the weather was great um you’re right it’s cooled down a little bit today but it was brilliant over the weekend uh couple two or three days out with the dogs and my wife uh and and some nice lunch spots uh cheap and cheerful but yeah brilliant weekend and then all be a little bit nerve shredding uh topped off with the result we all wanted so yeah great weekend all all all around late finish for us midnight Midnight here in Perth by the time it finished yesterday we were just Ching about aare uh so all a little bit H tired um today Monday’s never the best day of the work week anyway but uh after a late night uh and not enough sleep it’s uh it’s a bit of a bit of a slug but here we are um to uh to chat about all things s yes so it’s been less than 24 hours since we’ve had the chance to digest it um I had a pretty quiet weekend because um spot the two healthcare workers we don’t actually know what a public holiday is um anyway the smallest viin in the world right um so yes I had a pretty quiet weekend I could have went to the doctors on Saturday night but I chose I didn’t want to bother with the trains and everything so I decided to sit watching my couch and that was bit like watching Celtic it really took to the like the the death to get that one over the line as well so um it was kind of like a a pre um like a pre-run of like what the game was going to be like on Sunday night um and went to head to nice brunch at hanks’s corner around the corner ice walk from my place which was nice and here we are um so yeah so got got a few comments already um we got one here saying James Forest Legends Legends yes that is the title of today’s uh podcast uh James forest or Jamesy Forest to the double got Northampton Tim saying afternoon evening boys yeah good evening to you um Patrick mcclin hell hell two wins from the title now let’s do it yeah I love your optimism we’ll get that only two home wins only two home wins only two home wins only against the second and third teams in the lead but that let’s not let’s not go there yes yet and then who’s the SN H Hill gentlemen good afternoon good afternoon to you hello wherever you are in the world thank you for listening 27 of you live so far that number is climbing as I speak um let’s get into it so the only change to the lineup um before the match was um James Forest coming in in place of Yang I think the debate in most Celtic podcast including ours last week and and you know the ones I was sort of patching up on and all the Twitter chat was that um Yang hadn’t done enough to keep that starting spot so it was a bit of a a coin flip is it going to be um Palmer or was it going to be James Forest with the fact that Ma is although apparently back training or about to become back training um he’s not obviously not quite available just yet so Richard I’ll throw to you first I know you’re a bit of a James Forest long-term fan club member um how stoked happy ecstatic were you to see him starting again because it’s his first start since I think October last year or something like that I remember Ian Crocker rhyming that Mr stats man just rhyming off all the stats but how are you feeling going into this one because obviously you know Rangers came unstuck at Den’s Park um week ago a week and a half ago so you know we knew it wasn’t really an easy game so what were you feeling optimistic I I I I you know I am the anointed James for in fact I can’t believe James Forest isn’t elizabe lion he’s been there that long um I I really really enjoyed watching him I thought he finds gaps that no one else uh this season has found and and and has a more expressive freedom in his play he uh really energized that left side scored the first goal was an absolute Beauty I know we’ll talk about L on but yeah I mean just just great to see him I I I think Brendon Rogers made the point after the game high intensity he has been a bit injury prone um but it’s lovely to see him looking probably as good as he’s been for a very long time and and gave a good 60 70 minutes account of himself loved it yeah no I must admit he’s looking fit like he does doesn’t look like he’s carrying any you know excess weight and know that’s rich coming from me and some other members of this podcast but you know he’s he’s looking a good he’s looking a good Nick at the moment Paul’s rolling his eyes I saw your Boxer size video Paul I know what you been up to um easy um so Paul um how well you know I’ll give you your take on this as well because obviously we were debating during the week um you know you Yang you know we definitely felt Yang wasn’t going to stay in the start in living um obviously Forest gets the nod it appears to be the right call by Brandon Rogers Brandon Rogers very clear and quick uh pre-match and postmatch depending on which um interview you you listen to um very quick to say that he’s used him as much as the previous manager um so he was um quite quick to say that you know I haven’t left him out orever like I’m just using him as much as the the last big guy did um Paul thoughts well well it was a bit of a coin to us there was there was an argument for either um I flooed the idea should he start last week and you sort of persuaded me that he probably shouldn’t uh and I sort of manager I was sort of swayed by that with the whole you know he’s up against um up against tyan legs and all of that so maybe his his stats are a bit over inflated um but as it turned out he um he he to Richard’s point he passed the ey test ahead of it as one of the players in form um and yeah I think obviously we now go out a little bit after the immediate aftermath um of of people that sort of did their bit straight after the game I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’ll he’s he’s cemented his his pick for for the Hearts game at least um and there’s an argument for saying even if Mera comes back either next week or the week after then he Pi he reverts back to his traditional right hand side because instead of could he’s well he’s offered more than any any other Winger um in this second half of the season and in the few cameos he’s had and now you know 70 well he’s basically played 70 minutes two games in a row because even though he came came off the bench and came off but by by the time he went through injury time in the full match injury time in the first half of extra time and came off a minute from the end he’s played 70 minutes against aine as well so he’s gone 70 minutes back to back um and and he’s he being a key player in both games so that was the that was one debate and you know Rogers got it right based on based on the performance the other the other debate was um you know do we make a change at Center back and and you know I think a lot of people including myself were advocating for that change but also didn’t think it would happen because was Rogers has been very loyal to scales and as anyone who listens to this more regularly then they never will know I’m not scale I’ve been scales quite quite critical of scales and justifiably so I’ll stand by that but but also credit where credits due I thought I thought he he stood up and he he had a pretty good game yesterday and we we’ll probably get into the detail of individual player performances but like like Richard I was pretty optimistic before the start you know you know the cup cup tie was a bit hectic in all over the place and chaotic but ultimately we we’ve been on a bit of a a bit of a run um and you know every cliche but every game you know you’ve got to win so I just expected us to find a way to do it and thankfully we do yes it was um I you know I S of convinced myself that Palmer was the probably the preferred option I mean he’s obviously coming back from injury so maybe again that was part of the reason why Forest again was you know inh sight the bit selection but I’m glad I was wrong because you know I think James forest was definitely the Difference Maker but we’ll get into the details around that I’m just try to pull up some comments just regarding James forest’s performance we’ve got um Patrick ml here saying this talking about Forest going to the Euros now too um and he’s also saying here the squad size has been increased from 22 to 25 I think Steve Clark would be it’s actually 26 it’s 26 I think so be it’d be da not to take James Forest because he give you that impact Off the Bench can play any of those front three positions I know some people were saying maybe he can still play right wing back I think that’s maybe his days of doing that are probably gone but I definitely think he gives you an option and as an impact player I think you’d be I be D not the one thing our Scotland team lacks I mean obviously injuries are starting to mount up but we’re lacking goals and you know he’s clearly shown that he’s got a capability for finding the back of the net m is just saying here that Forest is a quicker Runner with the ball than the rest of Celtic Wards and his stride length makes it harder for Defenders to time their tackles I’ll take your word for that mahes but that’s a very inter St there you go I know it’s he’s just full of full of fun facts just the point about the just point about Euros um if you guys we should all keep our phones on there are so many injuries like kind of piling up and and James forest and all the rest of it like honestly get get down the training ground now because I think there’s there’s a realistic possibility that the phone will go off if you know something about you know anyway maybe not but I James Forest if if there is a 26 he’s going to be there well true story my personal trainer has just been selected for the Indonesian uh T20 cricket side so he’s off to to to play in that so um not not a listener but G if you are listening congratulations M all the best next week when you go and play some practice games um and I also threw up after doing 20 minutes of cardio so um I don’t think I’ll be getting a call up anytime soon um I saying here that have made is fit him and kogo and Jamesy are the front three I think that’s definitely the show at the moment and this is an interesting comment here some recency buys among Celtic podcast regarding Palmer he’s coming back from injury yet has gos 13 assists and 37 appearances I said he should start Stevens so yeah I um not everyone’s jumped on the Jamesy bandwagon but obviously you know after the performance yesterday it’s understandable to see why we are raving about him um all right I think the challenge that just just to pick up on on st’s point it’s a good point but the challenge we’ve got with Palmer and he’s not alone K McGregor will come on to um these players coming back from injury we’ve got a real sort of dilemma or the manager’s got a dilemma in terms of the only way to get players up to speed is to play them but every game’s must win and we’re running out of time to get players up to match sharpness so there’s a real argument between you know do you try to play players up into fitness and form when you’ve got five games left knowing that every game is pretty much must win or do you just go to who’s fittest and most in form and and play them and knowing that you’re then probably sideline and some of these other players I haven’t got a definitive answer on that and I’m you know I’m happy to you know Chuck that around in more detail later but um that is the challenge with players like Pama who you know Steph’s right he was the most effective forward player in the first half of the season um and then obviously he picked up some injuries and and been out for a bit and and has never recaptured that so it is a bit of a challenge there it certainly is um Richards obvious ly we weren’t sure what Celtic team we were going to get um it’s like the old Forest gum box of chocolates analogy um we started off pretty well I felt first 15 minutes cating chances you know couple like you had Forest cutting in having some shots we had um C cutting in some shots then the script sort of flipped probably for 10 15 minutes and D started getting a little bit more sort of pressure and at least sort of pinning his back a little bit you know creating a couple of chances I remember one cross ball effort that was reminisce of the um the abine goals that we conceded last week Y and then we finally obviously score and then we go in at the half one nil um I was stting to my dad today and I started saying well was that the bad half or was that the good half because it’s like Celtic The Season’s like you have a good half to a bad half and it was like half time going was that the good half or was that the bad half it’s hard to say how are you what was your take on the you do first half first so first half what was your role thing do you know in a funny way it played it exactly how I expected it to and and I knew that it would be pretty nervy it was going to be pretty tense um Celtic all season it’s not been a menu Deion it’s been you know egg and chips with a bit of black pudding and some tomato sauce and hoping for the best I look the first half I think reason good I I thought Kon I know kon’s got his detractors as well I’m not going to Champion him in this game but I think he had a couple of decent efforts where he can have cut inside and with a bit more power in shot would have probably scored um I thought we were exciting I thought we were energetic dundy are no mugs like they drew with Rangers for a reason right and Rangers we talk about in this podcast too much but you know they’re an okay team they’re they’re the the main competitors for the league uh Dundee held them and made top totally and bakoko the guy who I think he was the the kind of chance I think they targeted that on the back of uh the kind of the prevailing weakness from the Cup Final was you know back post and directed the balls in that kind of Direction he was a bit unlucky so yeah first half I actually I I genuinely thought that that um it was going to be a bit more tense and a bit more taty I thought we played reasonably well controlled it reasonably well uh but yeah done de no mugs and they broke up play really quite well the goal if if I can come to it and talk about it right now what a what a Sublime touch from H kyogo I mean it was a it was a beautiful I mean he knew exactly what was doing when you see the pass coming in fromti there’s there’s a there’s a beautiful touch from kyogo to te up for for James Forest knew exactly where it was basically landed on his toe fabulous really lovely finish that was that was a that was a a really quality goal and and I breathe side of relief well I I think you know the commentary team of Chris Sutton and um Ian Crocker were debating whether kyogo actually meant that set up or not and I’ve seen him try to play that spin to himself so I’m not sure whether he did meet te up for forest or not we’ll never know but I think for me with forest was the fact that he really hit it with not really much of a stride it was kind of like he just it was all like like you know quick quick feet and just he has this ability and he’s done it a couple of times once in the first half where he seemingly had no space whatsoever but just is able to create a yard of space just through the quickness of his feet and I think that translated the goal as well because a lot of other players would have scuffed at that and you know tried to wh it or whatever but he went it was power in placement and he knew exactly what he was doing and it was it’s a terrific finish and you know in games like this when we were blowing hot and cold and we were coming off a bit of a cold spell when that goal went in because you know we started really well and then we didn’t um you know it took a bit of quality and it’s really taken us this season quite a few times for that bit of quality I think back to the Atari goal at Celtic Park and it was just a bolt Bolt from Beyond you know it just it took that extra bit of skill and and panach and effort to sort of get that ball in the back of the net and then it changes the game then because then you’re you’re one n up and then you’re you start going then Paul um what was your take on the first half because obviously um as I said it was sort of you know we saw both both sides one thing I maybe want to get a pick up on as well is I notic co idors looked dangerous like they had a replacement left back in because that Beck was out injured and I really thought El doors that kunon was really going to tear this this substitute full back apart and then we kind of played all down the left after that he never really got much for looking I don’t know take it away yeah the left back I think he was on as well so Owen Beck was out and it’s Owen dodging dogson I think Dodson who was in in his place um yeah you’re right so so early on we got the ball to co early and allowed him the space to isolate the left back uh twice he cut in on him uh once he he pulled him quite wide cut in him and I had a dig the second one was even better the the left back was tucked in a we bit more but just a good quick shift of Fate cut in again which to be honest he does nearly all every time so 95% of the time you’d say he probably Cuts in but for whatever reason he got his the guy got his the fullback got himself in a mess and fell over and that opened up the space he drilled a really good shot and the keeper makes a good save but he PS it in a dangerous area but there’s no one following up on it it alludes kyogo and I think Forest yeah would be and then the first one yeah M’s ni in it but a goalkeeper just gets ahead of it um I think the mistake we made after that was there sort of twofold one we didn’t Supply [ __ ] enough and two when we did get the ball down that side and we did continue to push down the right for for a for that early period we we flooded that area with other players so AJ was in the mix you know whether it was were there were there were sort of crowding the space and and drawing other Defenders around you know even I sto clock strike twice a day and and and and Peter Grant made the point actually in Celtic TV commentary that we were we were dragging other Defenders into that area and therefore blocking up the space and he was spot on you know if we just left and he obviously made a reference to to dve proven in 1985 and all that of course he did we years but you know he’s right you know he he was basically commenting back in the day DAV ha would say to the rest of them give it to proven and leave him alone keep out of his way he’ll rip them and then he’ll get the ball in the box and and K showed that intent early on and then we we just overcrowded that space and and didn’t allow him to isolate the defender and they also worked back and sort of realized it was an error there you know a bit of a danger there but when they were sort of pulling defenders in there and doubling up that’s where we should be shifting it more quickly because there must be space somewhere else if they’ve got additional defenders in that area and that’s what we you know we we were disjointed again in Midfield um uh I think we started really well there was loads of so there both [ __ ] hits Forest Sky won even earlier than that hatti which isn’t even in the highlights and hasn’t really been mentioned in a lot of places has a guilt Edge chance early on Jamesy does a little flick to himself brilliant bit of skill gets round crosses it in and then Falls basically five yards out and yes it’s sitting up a bit but he’s got to bury that and he puts it past the post um that’s that’s a guilt Edge chance and allow you know that we should have really and there’s the there’s the Taylor Taylor does really well to get on the back post and so he somehow he’s in the inside right Channel and he heads across and the keeper makes himself big and I think he might hit a bit of his Boot and a bit of his hand and he manages to keep it out um so we’re piling up CH they’re not they’re not all you know must must go you know glaring misses but there’s a there’s a continuous pressure building and you just thought something was coming in just as that was sort of come to ahead we lost the grip of the Midfield uh they they gained some composure they they hunted and packs in Midfield and they basically from then they made three or four half decent chances that you know the ones that that Richard was talking about earlier sort of throwing at the back post bako should have done better with one that he just s of just sort of bounced off I don’t think you I don’t know why he didn’t expect it because it it it skipped over the top of scales again and it just kind of bounced off his leg and and Hart was grateful to to sort of pick it up um and there were a few others that were just starting to to get some space and and yeah as you picked up on as we’re just getting a foothold in the match we score and it’s kind of out of nowhere um I’ll take your point that I wasn’t 100% sure whether it was a mcontrol or h a control for himself or a nice little knockback hav watched it back again today I give him the benefit a doubt he’d certainly looking at spin in behind and he’s not going to he’s he’s not going to spin in behind his own flick because it’s going backwards so if he’s not trying to tea up the shot he’s certainly spinning in behind hoping to get a little one two going so I think he is trying to knock it off but Forest is a fantastic Striker and he he you know he’s just he just doesn’t hesitate and it’s a great connection he smashes it in the bottom corner and from there you should we we should have really sort of pushed on and we didn’t we kind of huffed and puffed and and sort of fell out I think the other thing the other key thing we haven’t touched on yet in the first half is McGregor had a good 15 minutes the same as everyone as part of that team and then he really fell away he and he he he dropped out of the game badly to the point where a exxtra form and fitness there’s a really big decision for Rogers to makeing the Hearts game because he was well off the pace and we’ll come on at the second half but we didn’t start well in the second half and he was all at see as as we were as a team but he’s the anchor of the Midfield and as we said here before because we get so little from the wings at the moment if we don’t get that three Midfield three firing we give other teams an opportunity to start dominate the ball and and and sort of cause US problems and and kind of that’s where we were I think for cly the back end of the first half and then obviously into the second it’s such a dilemma isn’t it because I think that I when he came on actually did reasonably well and and was was reasonably solid and we’ve spoken about before how wat and cak are just different players but if cak is not fit and you’ve got the potential to Anchor that role if you like in front of the defense then maybe he is someone who could or should be a first choice with kak coming on for a latter part of the game it you can make a view I I think that those manager selection choices are tough but Jamesy has made himself absolutely loud and clear on Forum playing well playing at PACE I think that that has given us a dimension that we didn’t have even a fortnite ago yeah know that’s a fair point um to pick up on your Cal McGregor point there um Paul I I agree I my concern with Cal Mack isn’t so much that it’s uh getting back to Fitness thing I actually think his Achilles injury is still there and they are managing it week by week and he’s playing under pain because he looked all sorts of Agony when he finally did come off right at the 60 Minute Mark um we’ll get into the second half in a second but uh he I honestly think he’s playing through the the pain barrier at the moment and I I’ve had Achilles type pain in the past it’s just it can be excruciating and you’ve got obviously the concern that if you accelerate away too quickly that you’re going to rupture it again but then just that constant nagging pain in the back OFA you’re never going to be 100% so my initially I thought well maybe just a fitness thing in a couple of weeks he’ll be better but this is his third game back two starting one off the you know one off the bench for against the Hunts and similar pattern like fading out very quickly and I agre Paul like you know the first 15 minutes fine and then he became pretty you know non-existent and he did cop a pretty hefty tackle which I’ll get you to talk about because I unfortunately missed that in real time and then I haven’t been able to see a replay anywhere of it yet um but it’s a concern and it’s one of these things where you you mentioned it before Paul talking about picking players on form picking players who are fit because you can’t afford to give players time because these are all must win games and I know um one of the lads here said oh we win two next two games we’ll win the league but we’ve got to you got to look at it and say well what’s the best team to get a result against hars next week and I has got to come into the Reckoning for that because again the second half here but he came on and hatti came on to a game when a play was playing because he was he knew he had cover and and a was just doing the simple thing but he was mopping up and and looking pretty effective doing it so you know we talked about scales he seems to be getting a game because he’s he’s a Rogers pick he’s a Rogers favorite n rosi can’t seem me get a look in at the moment whether he’s a better player or not you know is he going to do the same thing with Cal M based on the fact that he’s captain and his leadership and you’re going to play him regardless of how much pain he’s in or you’re GNA say well actually I need to look after him and look after the rest of the team and say well you know is a water the better the better choice there it’s probably more of a question later in the podcast so I’ll probably get you both to have a little mull on that and we’ll we’ll come back to that so Paul halime we’re one nil up um like you say we’ve had had a few guilt Edge chances they probably had that one at the back stick but you’re thinking one nil okay we can build on that and then we come out in the second half and we’re as flat as a pancake absolutely red rank rotten then you start to think oh the first half was a good half because we were all at C couldn’t string two passes together I think we must have conceded about six or seven Corners in the first 10 15 minutes of the second half he just felt ominous like it a goal was coming because we were just putting ourselves under so much pressure did you see that coming I mean obviously I mean at the moment like who can tell what Celtic performance is going to be like well yeah that’s the thing you know you’re right you you’ve come in you’ve got you’ve got the lead you probably should be further ahead you we have a little bit of a storm got a chance to sort of regroup surely you just you come out firing and try and put the the game to bed but instead um I assume Tony Docker he got some a message to his back rooms theme because he seemed to be I don’t know if he was suspended but he was up in the stand and he was on the was he was on the phone so he wouldn’t be allowed in the dressing room at half half time if he suspended so he’s obviously got he’s on the phone pretty much um to the to his to his back room staff whatever they’ve sort of he’s Rel to them and they’ve they’ve rallied them they came out absolutely firing in the first half they were allowing scales and camer car Vickers to just stroll up to the halfway line um with zero pressure on the ball and they were concerned with you know putting the pressure on it at the next forward pass when they when we were sort of on the cusp of their final third came out of the block second half they weren having any of that they pressed us deep in our half impacts high pressure high intensity all the way back to you know our Defenders and and heart and and there was a few hairy moments and that continued on and off throughout the second half but we they just didn’t allow us to settle and we were a wee bit at se obviously McGregor wasn’t sort of had dropped out of the game by then um we were we were getting we were getting strung out and disjointed in Midfield and they were they were winning more of the ball and there and then they’d clearly set their stall out to to just look for for set pieces so any kind of sort of pole tug contact they were going down and then obviously they were looking for long throws were shell and them in and you’re right that you know they collected a number of corners and there was a few early on that we sort of rode our luck a little bit it was one whip to the back post and you know I think I think mat Riley got under it and McGee came in at the back post and it’s a pretty poor header he should do better um and and they were coming in from both sides and it was the same they were targeting the back post and we weren’t really doing a brilliant job in that first 15 20 minute was probably 15 minutes or so um and yeah in that period to your earlier question M M’s an absolute sore one right on the the sort of top of the foot met at arel towards the the kind of front of the ankle joint um we get a free kick but that’s it John beaten is hardly any distance away at that point uh and look the only you know he studs up he’s misc controlled it and then Carl’s necked in and he’s com in and he’s hit him studs up on the top of the foot now it’s 100% a booking obviously VAR can’t get involved for a booking but beaton’s right there and his linesman’s what 10 15 yards away between them they should see that um and on another day given some of the decisions we I’m not saying this is a red card but on some some given some of the sort of Reds we’ve seen this season you only have to go back to Yang at time castle for for a ridiculous red the the fact that that doesn’t even get a book in is just another example of you know certain referees just turning a blind eye to stuff because let’s be honest if if one your central midfielder Tak up a booking in the first you know in the first few minutes of the second half then these got to walk a tight rope if he gets a pass on that Happy Days um the only booking in the whole game was for Joe Hart for time wasting and there’s been quite a lot doing the rounds on social media going I didn’t realize you could get H booked in Scottish Football as a goalkeeper time wasting because anyone that watches a home game at C Park knows that yeah that’s absolute standard fair and every week and get the D keep in the first half must have held on to the ball for about 20 seconds it’s standing there and I’m going it’s a 6sec row he’s taking at least double that if not three times that and I’m like well at what point do you you blow out for an indirect free kick anyway um my mat here he agrees we Paul he say it was it was a booking then beat didn’t think so then yeah he books hard for time wasting yes um Richard what was your thoughts on that tackle the J booking all day or what’s to go all day yeah all day and I think the other point was going raised was the UEFA for the the forthcoming 2024 janere in Germany um for the referees H funnny enough there are no Scottish referees on that list I I rest my case yes because apparently it was V that was holding them back no it’s just the fact that they’re shite um uh Patrick MCL said the corners were Troublesome from the D but who scored for most Corners in the league there you go I didn’t know that stat so thank you for that um Richards um it was crying out for a change because it just clearly we had not started well and I’m thinking if we don’t make a couple of substitutions here we’re in all sorts of bother because it just the writing was on the wall I was sort of advocating for maybe Bernardo coming on um but a gets the nod for Cal McGregor and then the other change uh was just blank yeah 62 minutes so how do you sort Feeling by that point and and take us up to the go quietly anxious because I’d watched Rangers really struggle against beforeand s played really well against him I saw the kind of same sort of flow from dundi and and they had B out it’s like Paul saying you know that there was some tactical stuff there they they they they learned from what was going in the first half they came they pressed they actually made things much more difficult for us second goal listen that came from nowhere really um a pocket picked and James Forest essentially being being James Forest but also running through challenges couple a clever exchange uh but he had a lot of work to do to score that second goal and I have to say 67 minutes I breathed a s of relief and I thought in Perth on a Sunday evening I can go up my bed knowing that Celtic are 2 nil up 67 minutes into the game with some sensible substitutions wasn’t that Sly how it panned out I love your confidence Richard I really do but I don’t feel like You’ be watching the games this season because like I have a comfortable score line it’s delusional right it’s just yeah it’s wishful wishful thinking because I thought you know one one of these Sundays I’m ready get a nice comfortable evening on the couch and really go to bed relax going oh that was a good win Celtic but not quite um Paul picked you up on the goal um there’s a bit of pressure there from Eden and hatti and then for course gets him behind and when he’s weaker foot he doesn’t mince Miss mince words he just uh drives it low and hard through the keeper legs 2-n again probably slightly again against the Runner play really because you know they you know we’ start steady the ship with the substitutions but you know they definitely had started the better of the two teams in the second half but at two- nil you’re thinking surely like like yeah come on like well let’s go let’s get let’s let’s just see this out but obviously you know there was a a chance to attack that let you pick up on and then obviously it goes down the other end so um take it away yeah well Forest actually provides the pressure in the first place so he he puts the pressure on the defender gets a toe on it it breaks the hati he makes Forest stays on the move which is great and hatti slides a great ball in but there’s two Defenders there who should absolutely between them deal with it and sort of Keystone Cops Stu and they’re sort of running into each other there’s no communication between the two of them they CL they both slide in for the same ball somehow with two big Lads sliding in neither of them stops it it kind of bobbles its way through James he’s kept his run going and it breaks those weaker but he doesn’t break stride and he just smashes it underneath the keeper and it’s it’s a really good finish um and yeah at that point you’re thinking well we can breathe out a little bit of a little bit of breathing space and you know we weathered the Storm at the half we’ve made a couple of good tacticals substitutions and on them yet tomoki wat kind of gave us a bit more solidity he’s never going to be sort of you know as good as k at his best in terms of picking forward passes and driving play forward but he probably is a more natural sort of holding sweeper in front of the back four type of player and he you know he was he there was odd misplaced pass and the odd sort of a little bit of looking for extra time which we see before but generally he was neat and tidy and he was in the right position and he definitely freed up hatti to get further forward and sort of dictate the play a little bit more and and impact the play more and be where we really need him to be which is further up the further up the park where he can influence the attack and play um and Adam didn’t have his greatest game by any stretch of imagination since he came in we’ll come on to his his his crucial contribution a little bit but what he did is give us an out ball we were we were really getting PR in and held in and we were we were choking up possession we were giving away corners and throwings and E out and we still didn’t take the option off for enough still some sometimes players wanted to overplay in the back in our back line and get closed out and lose the ball in in in dangerous positions but a couple of times a few players just went actually we’ve got a different option here throw it long the big man can hold it up and stuff and and early on he there was a couple times he just got a bit too cute and he tried little flicks and and they didn’t come off and we sort of gave away possession cheaply really at that point all we needed him to do was hold the ball up and wait for support and then spin in behind and go again um so so there’s a bit there’s a bit to work with there but but a definitely gives us an alternative option when it’s not really working out or we’re starting to come under some haat um and so those two players did steady the ship and and from 62 minutes there five minutes till we score in that time I think we pick up a a first corner of the second half and we just start to put a few little bits of play together in there in their half which was good so I wouldn’t say the goal was necessarily coming but but we certainly sort of weathered the worst of the Storm at that point um and then we score and and shortly thereafter hatti you know receives the ball just on the edge of the box from Alison Johnson shifts his feet really well and cracks a great strike and he’s really unlucky it comes flush back off the post and he almost almost hited too well so the power it comes back at sort of alludes everyone who who might be able to knock in a rebound H and the dangerous passed and yeah just when you sure of you just I know we’ve not done it and we’ve talked about this of not being able to close games out just when you think you know you know that would sort of put the tin lid on it you know they creep back into it and we give them a Lifeline let’s be honest we give them a Lifeline it’s yes it’s a set piece but it’s an absolute shambolic goal to lose Adam not covering himself now Glory doing doing what Center forward do in the six-yard Box putting the ball in the back of the net just the wrong end um a little bit panic probably in hindsight she’ just have left it for Joe Hart who had it well and truly covered but decides to have a swing at it and unfortunately Shanks it and completely changes the direction and uh ends off the back of the net 21 d lifeline and it makes the last 15 minutes a little bit nervier than it should have been um Richard have you ever done one of those in your lifetime or uh no comment um I think that that but having been the center forward and being in that position I definitely know that I should not be there okay but I see that portalis actually he he was he was credited with the goal but um I can’t yeah I’m not convinced it was even on target like it might it might have been squeezing towards the the inside of the post but it it’s pretty generous it was roughly in the vague area but I’d have said it was potentially going by the post and and this is it like there Joe har needs to take a look you know Joe Hart’s been on a great sort of run he probably does need to take a little bit of uh blame here because again communication he could just you know he’s a big lad he he was joining he was joining in the sing songs with the fans afterwards and you could hear him from the fans recording so he we know he can Bell um he he wants to just be screaming at him to to get out of the way of that because there’s no there’s no pressure on him there’s no one behind him um it’s literally going safely through a heart or even behind for a goal kick until intervention and whilst the pitch looked pretty good and the weather has been decent we know that the places that’s that that pitch suffer the most during that really bad weather that they were having and the pitch wasn’t up to it was in and around the Box areas and so even though the pitch looked green and probably okay it’s bound have been bobbly and just rough and and generally a bit crap around there especially in the the the penalty boxes and six yard boxes where it’s going to have a lot of you know over contact from from set pieces and stuff so just yeah even accounting for all of that it’s it’s a pretty honking effort at clearance you know just put if you’re gonna have a crackhead just put your laes through I don’t know what he’s doing for full fresh air and yeah Shanks it passed hard he’d be better off just leaving it be but um yeah you’re right after that sort of 74 minutes so with that of time you’re looking at 20 minutes of of a bit nerve shredding but in the end actually did okay and and and saw out which we we we failed to do quite a few times so a bit credit where where it’s due there I actually need to go back and sorry Paul Richard I just need to go back and actually have a look how many games a season we’ve won by one goal because it kind of feels like we either better teams or we’ve dropped points so I would need to go back and compare that and do an analysis between this season in the last couple of Seasons just out of curiosity I me I don’t know if it’s statistically significant or not but that might be some homework for me this week if I get the time uh Richard what were you going to say about so I cut you off there I was just going to say I thought like um I didn’t get a chance to watch it back until this evening but the last 50 minutes I thought we defended reasonably well and and and Liam scales the much M Lam scales sorry to say this Paul I thought he was all right actually you know I think that acquitted himself reasonably well those last that last quarter of the game and brandan said afterwards as well that it was you know it was one of those ones that you almost kind of just dogging out because you know that you’ve just got to get the points and yeah it was tight but I’m I’m relieved more than anything it’s as the season goes on and the closer it gets and the number of times we’ve sat here thinking W and you’ve done it more than I have that kind of which Celtic is coming out today it’s just a sense of relief that we got the points yeah absolutely um sorry don’t you go not far away I was just gonna say yeah like like like Richard you’re right um and as I said towards the top of the show um yeah I’ve been I’ve been very critical of scales and I stand by it um however when you’re critical of somebody you’ve got to you’ve got to praise them when they step up as well and his performance has dropped off since the T of the year um but I guess that last 15 20 minutes is tailor made for for where his strengths lie he’s good in the air he throws he throws his body great at blocks he just defends his area um so yeah he stood up um and and he won the majority of the balls that came into the ball when being shed in from throws and and corners and really it’s obviously n rcking at the time cuz you know the season could start to slip away if they get an equalizer or you know worse still they get an equalizer and then there’s still time for us to shoot ourselves in the foot and they could score a winner um but actually if you you take all that emotion out of it they didn’t really create anything in that the last 20 minutes there was there was pressure but they didn’t really carve out any real good Chan I think the best chance was the the the kid melon who came off the bench had a had a header from a really quite tight angle and and was nowhere nowhere near getting that On Target and I that was another one sort of hopefully lobed to the back post and I think I think they Dy just sort of run out of of ideas I thought they you know for a that middle period of the first half and the beginning of the second half they actually looked threatening mowen’s a great player and and you know we really never got to grips with him for a period in the first half and we allowed him too much space for parts of the early part of the second half um and doer has done a great job with them you’re right they’re they’re up in the top six on Merit um yes they’re a team that we’ve done really well against this year the net might The Net score something like 18 19 to three I think or or something like that across the games against them this season but you can see that they’ve just tightened up the defense they’ve come on you know a bit of form it wasn’t a surprise a freak goal but it wasn’t a surprise they got a goal I think they’d gone two games in a row without scoring two n n draws I think you’ve got to go back to at least a season of the Season beginning of the Season since they’ve they’ve drawn three or they’ve gone three games without scoring so it was likely excuse me it was likely they were going to get a goal um so I think you know when you when you sort of Sur survey the whole scene I think you there’s a lot of stress and a lot of sort of concern in in the fan base in general because again it’s disjointed and we don’t look great and we sort of you know stagger our way across the line to to a 2-1 Victory we’re going to be staggering if we win this title we’re staggering across the line to the title it’s every game at a time it’s every half at a time and we just need to get the games won and yeah we are probably two games away from from winning them and this team has sort of raised raised itself when it’s really needed to for the most part so whilst there are concerns and there’ve been concerns all season so none of them are new I think if you’d given us this a few week few months back a win against hearts and a win against Rangers both at home back to back to pretty much seal the title I think most fans would have I think most set of fans would have bit your hand off for that and I’m sitting here still reasonably confident that that there’s enough there to to get it done but it’s every it’s one game at a time and the point that you made Anthony it really is I think about getting the best team out for for each game and foret I’ve been watching a fair amount of British Great British Bake Off this week and Paul Hollywood’s favorite quote is uh is it substance over style or style over substance and I think we’re just TR to use substance over style it’s just getting it done any way shape or form um it might look crap but as long as it tastes good at the end then so be it and I think that’s kind of where we’re where we’re at we’ve got 130 live at the sorry we’re 130 people live at the moment um if you can please uh make sure you likeed this uh episode uh on the YouTube Just to let everyone likeminded SS find is online um we will be with you every week until the end of the season so another four pods after this want to go I think if I’m not mistaken not that I’m counting down or anything um and obviously we’re on all the socials above there as well so please give them a follow uh all three of us are also on Twitter or X but we still call it Twitter because X is Daft um and yes if you follow us we’ll probably follow you back and uh um yes anyway all good um so with that in mind um I just pulled up a quote here from my father not me but he was just saying here that why can’t we change to 442 get control of the Midfield and push forward I think he point he’s trying to make here is that kyogo and Eda on the park at the same time I guess we sort of have tried that at some point during the season but any chance that we could see that again between now and the end of the season guys or we kind of just we’re going to keep lumping it and doing what we’re doing I don’t think so not going to happen I think I think the I think the issue with with 442 is you know one we don’t really play it so it’s not going to come naturally and two you could play it as a diamond and narrow but then where did your width come from you’re then Reliant you’re then relying on Al and Greg Taylor doing even more and look keeping Greg Taylor away from the defenses is no bad idea but I think you know we’ you want to get more attacking options on the pitch and I don’t think 442 weirdly I don’t think 442 does that in terms of getting Supply yes the wing the wing play hasn’t been amazing this season um but one of the reasons we haven’t got the most out of kyogo this season is because that Wing play hasn’t hasn’t been great if you then take Wingers away and then you’ve got look they’re they’re physically they’re different but they they they do try and sort of spin into the same spaces either likes to spin off the last Defender as well yes he’s bigger and stronger and can hold it up and he’s better you know at doing that but that’s just a a facet of his game it’s not it’s not it’s not he’s not just a big lumpy Target man and they could play off each other they will want to spin into similar spaces so I think for now it’s it’s sort of continue as you were kyogo didn’t have didn’t have his best game he’s still involved in the first goal um he didn’t have an amazing game against dardine either but he has been in a run of form and in the big games he gets you goal so for me he’s he’s got to be the first choice and and Eda offers you something different as he did again um on the weekend so I think we’ll continue with rogers’ preferred formation and maybe some changes in game to try and close stuff out obviously he tried to bring on a third Center back against Aberdine managed to managed to BU all three of them and and give you know was a waste of time but in general I think you’ll see the preferred um the preferred formation continue um one little shout out I was surprised to see hatti and O’Reilly go the full distance particularly on the back of extra time I think it was crying out for the industry of Bernardo um at some point in the last 10 15 20 minutes just to get a bit more energy in there um I don’t you know must still be coming back to Fitness and O’Reilly’s been flogged all season so either one of them could have taken a break for me and just got you know Bernardo I think bernardo’s still got something to offer in this running um he’s had he’s had some crucial contributions um and yeah I just I think it’s I just think it’s a bit D when we don’t use the subs we only use three and I think that tells you that there maybe isn’t the trust factor in there in terms of some of those players but I think Bernardo is sure enough that he could have filled in for one of those guys you know in the last 10 15 minutes just more energy they were clearly flagging um and when you’re back to the wall and try to hold on to a one a one nil Victory I think it would have made some sense to to throw to throw him in the mix I think also kyogo at Celtic Park is a different Beast he does he has seem to have scored most of his goals at home this season so I think having him next to home games hopefully he can get in a score sheet and he’ll go a big way to seal in this title for us um probably one last point I just wanted to pick up was just um I was point I made earlier um Richard’s CM do you think he should start against hearts or do you think sokei a comes in my heart says I would love him to start but my head says I think a should start just just and based on just some of that chat about the kind of 433 442 which the 442 like agree would just never work but uh because we just don’t have that style of player in the squad at the moment if you look at like who’s been on the field and who’s been on the bench it’s just not a style that we can play um but yeah iata I just think he’s been a safe pit of hands he does the simple things well um yes he doesn’t have that same attacking drive but if you’ve got Jamesy looking fit well that gives you a dimension in attack that we’ve not necessarily had H and and I think we’ve got hatti who’s who’s come back and has played really really well I thought it was really good to see him play the n actually and I would have given mat RI a bit of a break actually for for Paulo Bernardo that’s fair that’s fair I think I think the thing about McGregor is really the medical team have got a real big job this week because I agree with you Anthony they must be nursing him because he’s that far off the pace pretty quickly um and I don’t really see why he be get if it wasn’t so if they didn’t think it was so crucial that he’s on I I originally thought that he needed games for Fitness but I’m now on the fence about that as well but if he doesn’t need games for fitness and he is just nursing through and he’s not contributing a level that he can and we would want and should you know yes there’s there’s an element of just seeing him on the team Sheet gives the players around him a boost and can potentially concerns the opposition but if they know he’s not 100% a lot of that boost is pretty much negated so I think there might be a bit about you know when senior player says yeah I’ve I’ve got it in me just you know I’m I’m fit for it I push through maybe there’s surgery to come in the Clos season but that’s a pretty big call as well because he’s a key player for Scotland as well not that Brandon roders needs to worry about Scotland but for for as him as a player you would think well yes I want to get this done for the club but I also want to be available for for that it’s potentially he’s maybe got one more major tournament in him after this may you know what was he 30 31 maybe one more um remember Scotland remember Scotland didn’t usually qualify for major tournaments this might be his only major tournament what is true that’s a fair point well come on this is this is the best we’ve had in years so my point is like if he’s if he’s like I could I could see if he was going straight to surgery after this after the season was done sort of nursing through on sort of ctis own and whatever else so I don’t know it’s a bit of a weird one Rogers in the medical team and and K himself you know he needs to be holding his hands up if he’s not at because he’s he’s definitely not he wasn’t on it he shouldn’t have been on the Rangers game he was okay for bits of the abine game but but faded badly and we look better when toi came on and the same happened here so you’d expect some sort of uptake in the extra weeks of training and and some game time but we’ll we’ll see I I I would absolutely be um I’d absolutely be content if if to to a starts because nowat is back and starting to fire I think that three can work work pretty well and probably better even than it would if if McGregor’s not going to be fit for Pete M was just agreeing with their Paul saying that he’s not seen that much improvements is a bit of a concern I agree um got a couple comments here so joh CL that’s the first mention of a Great British B off in the Celtic podcast yes we’re breaking off sorts of Records here mate uh and then John CL saying just like a board it’s all about the D I thought that was quite funny well done um and then Michael Ross just saying here every game is a cup final especially the Cup Final yes Michael that’s a very app comment uh and then we got B here as well great pod gentlemen thank you who’s the snitch alrighty we are quickly running out of time so let’s just do a man of the match very quickly um we’re going to see it on the count of three one two three Jam all right okay great we all with wax lyrical Brandon Rogers wax lyrical great performance he made the right call start and I’m happy stand corrected on that point did well took his two goals well um like you say Richard gave us that Dimension so that’s good and like I said gives us another option out wide for the run in to the end of the season so very very good there um Richard have you come up with a recommendation I know you were scratching before the before thing I’m still watching boat story it’s a BBC thing it’s amazing boat story uh there’s blue blue lights are back on um Northern Ireland uh police drama I know that I talk about this like because I I keep catching dropping into things every so often but boat story BBC SBS and um blue lights every time because that’s all that’s all I get to do in my spare time now my wife my wife won’t let me watch blue lights until the whole season’s on on the SBS cuz she doesn’t want she want she want to B no but okay I thought it was week by week it’s the whole thing no no no it it it one episode came out and then the whole rest came out straight like the week after so oh my weekend is sorted yeah so I H I’m up my wife won’t let me binge it I sometimes get two episodes in the same day if I’m lucky but um so we’re up we’re up to well up to episode four I finished episode 4 and we got to watch the start of episode 5 because of something big happened at the end of episode 4 just to see how thatn out so yeah we’ve got two apps to go basically but yeah it’s great it’s it’s it’s lift lifted off where it or it’s continued where it left off last season so yeah good I’ll that yeah so you got that for uh the weekend or whenever um do you want mine go for it yeah go for it uh music review or recommendation as usual um this is I usually try and do ones that are relatively recent and I suppose this is it’s 18 months old um somehow slip past me entirely um Broken Bells is the the sometime side project of James merer from The Shins and Brian Burton otherwise known as Danger Mouse um they’ve previously had two albums um self-titled and then um after the Disco I think the second album was called which had that Holding On To Love Song which was massive um that’s best part of 10 years ago now but um in late 2022 they released a third album which is called into the BL blue uh and it is a cracker uh really good um Mer’s weird sort of slightly quy vocals sit really well with the production that that Danger Mouse has done and yeah it’s just really good so yeah Broken Bells third album Into the Blue is my music recommendation of the week very good um I don’t really have anything this week so I’m just going to leave it there thank you very much we’re up to 141 live um everyone’s having a conversation in the chat which is great great to start you know having a about Community as we do this run into the end of the season hopefully a double on the line that we can clinch um in a couple weeks time we will be back next week um as Celtic takes on Hearts uh it’s Celtic Part so we’ll be back with all the analysis on that one and I think unless anyone else has anything left to say that’s all there is to say so hell hell hell hell hell hell [Music]