Celtic 2 St Johnstone 1
Celtic have made it to this year's Scottish Cup Final on May 26th thanks to two goals from Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.As expected First Division St Johnstone made things difficult for us but over the 90 minutes I thought we just about deserved the victory.
There were a couple of talking points in the game. The first of which was the rare event this season of Celtic actually being awarded a penalty. From my view behind the goals and at the other end of the pitch it was difficult to see if the award was justified but watching it on TV later it was clear that the St Johnstone keeper had made contact with Jan and not with the ball so it was a definite penalty.
The other talking points were Gordon Strachan's starting line-up and choice of substitutions. Yet again we started the game with the Hartley and Lennon partnership in the centre of midfield which has clearly not been working in recent weeks. We did however start with Derek Riordan up front but he was only given 65 minutes before he was replaced with Kenny Miller, a decision that was far from popular with the Celtic fans at Hampden.
However the bottom line is that we won the semi-final and having suffered cup defeats to lower division teams such as Raith Rovers, Falkirk, Inverness (twice!) and Clyde in recent years it was important not to add another name to the list of shame.
So onwards to the Cup Final to play either Hibernian or Dunfermline. I'd better get a bloody ticket as well!
9 comments:
and most importantly it saved me the price of a new suit !!!!
...I know it has nothing to do with this post, but, did you see James McFadden's winner at Goodison yesterday ? Scorcio !!
Sorry. Had to get that off my chest.
Apart from the goals the loudest noise was the booing when Derek went off, or was that becuase Miller was coming on?
Still nearly 40 years to the day since Lisbon let's hope we are all celebrating another cup win.
Ged - Yeah, you owe big Jan a pint for that one.
TrentToffee - No problem. It's always good to hear about Scottish talent doing well and as Faddy is a Celtic fan I'm happy to give him a mention here.
Brian - The booing was definitely for Derek being taken off.
It seems like there is a definite tension between Gordon Strachan and the media at the moment. And, possibly, Strachan and the Celtic support.
Is it a case of great expectations and people not being happy with 'just' winning the league and getting to the Scottish Cup final? Or does it run deeper than that? Is it the fact that he never played for Celtic and has no obvious Irish connection that bugs people and they just can't wait to stick the boot in?
I struggle to understand why there is such apathy towards Strachan (two leagues in two attempts) when there was such adulation of Martin O'Neill. Other than Henrik Larsson it wasn't as if he packed his teams with thrilling entertainers. I trust, as always, you bhoys who know all things Celtic will explain.
Ginkers - That's a subject for a whole thesis nevermind a blog! I'll happily discuss it with you over a grappa next time I see you.
Briefly, in my opinion, Martin took over Celtic when Rangers had won 11 out of 12 league titles and quickly made us the dominant force in Scotland and took us to a European final for the first time in 33 years. It is also a myth that his team played the long ball game or where big bruising bullies (although they could look after themselves). If the midfield was so often bypassed why do we remember Lambert, Petrov, Thompson, Agathe and Lubo as being great players of that era?
It is also a myth that Martin was held up as some godlike figure beyond criticism. His insistence on playing Sutton in midfield to accommodate Hartson, and therefore break up the best Celtic striking partnership I've ever seen, was a major subject of contention for a lot of fans. And as for his reluctance to promote from the youths........
Anyhoo Gordon has done a remarkable job but it cant be denied that the football at times this season has been dire to watch. To put it simply it doesn't feel like you're watching Celtic. However he has my full support and I want him here for next season.
Any Celtic supporter who doesn't want him due to an irrelevant lack of a Celtic/Irish background (Jock Stein had neither) ought to be ashamed of themselves.
I'm sure Ged & Brian have their own views on this as well.
I'm not going to go on at length about this because it too long for a blog. However as a fan you want to win and then when you get used to winning you want to win with style. On the plus point Strachan's teams have continued to win but without much style. Maybe as Celtic fan's we are being "spoiled" with this recent success?
I was never much of a Strachan fan but have grown to love the wee man and the results speak for themselves. Sadly there will always be those among the fans who will constantly think he's not a "Celtic man" and therefore is not 100% behind the job. All Strachan can do is continue on the path that he has started and ingore these guys. I for one look forward to next season winning the league and talking about "should we have won it with more style"
Hail Hail
Here's a question. You can't have him because we like him :o) But, generally, would Celtic fans prefer David Moyes over Gordon Strachan for the Celtic managers job ?
TT.
TT - Cant speak for the many thousands of Celtic fans but I'd take Gordon over Davie Moyes.
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