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| Sunday Papers; 05/10/08 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 4 2008, 11:36 PM (117 Views) | |
| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:36 PM Post #1 |
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The Scotsman Vennegoor of Hesselink a doubt for Old Trafford clash Published Date: 05 October 2008 By Tom English at Celtic Park THE only blight on Gordon Strachan's day was the early injury to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, a strain of the adductor muscle in his groin, which is going to keep the big Dutchman out of action for a little while. Strachan couldn't give a timescale of recovery but the slightly pained expression on his face would indicate that at the very least Vennegoor of Hesselink will struggle to play any part in the trip to Old Trafford for the Champions League tie on October 21. "It's not good news," said Strachan. "It's the one downside of the day." According to Strachan, Vennegoor of Hesselink is still in the dark about how he injured himself. He went into a tackle with Brian Easton inside the first minute of the match and fell in a heap afterwards. After a few minutes of treatment on the pitch he was replaced by Georgios Samaras. If Strachan was perturbed at that point then the same could be said of his counterpart, Billy Reid. In a piece of gallows humour later on he said: "Big Jan comes off and they bring on Samaras and I'm thinking 'ah, here we go'." "Jan doesn't know how it happened," said Strachan. "I thought it was his knee first of all so I'm glad it's not. He was carrying a wee niggle beforehand but it's not the same thing, it's not the niggle." Strachan will wait for the scan in the coming days. As for the rest of the day? "I'm more than satisfied," he said. "The attitude could have been a problem today. It was wet and windy and we had a European tie midweek. But to start the way we did, with all that energy, was fantastic." Reid pulled no punches in assessing his own day. "Being honest, it could have been more than four. We didn't do ourselves justice. The players are gutted. There's three or four of them better than that. Three or four stood up and they're absolutely gutted in the dressing room. "It was our first real going-over of the season and I include last week's 4-1 against Falkirk in that. "We'll just have to pick ourselves up and get on with it now." |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:37 PM Post #2 |
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walking barefoot
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The Independent Samaras stars again to send Celtic top Celtic 4 Hamilton 0 By Nick Harris at Celtic Park Sunday, 5 October 2008 No easy games in football any more? Pull the other one. This was such a stroll for Celtic that they romped it even though they lost Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to injury within three minutes and struggled to pass the ball with any consistency for 20 minutes. By the time Shaun Maloney jinked with ease through the visitors' defence late on to set up the hosts' fourth goal, scored by Aiden McGeady, Celtic were toying with their opponents and could have registered a double-digit scoreline. As it was, Shunsuke Nakamura, Georgios Samaras, Scott McDonald and McGeady found the net once each. Hamilton did not force a single save from Celtic's goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, during open play. Even when they were awarded a penalty in the 78th minute, they could not score. James McCarthy had gone to ground under what seemed a fair challenge from Gary Caldwell. James McArthur took the resulting spot-kick, Boruc saved twice, from the initial shot and from a headed second effort. "It was good for [Boruc] to be involved," said Celtic's manager, Gordon Strachan, afterwards. "He was practically a spectator for the rest of the afternoon." The win takes Celtic back to the top of table, until this afternoon at least. It was especially pleasing for Strachan after a midweek defeat by Villarreal in the Champions' League. That was a 15th loss in 16 away games in the group stages at Europe's top table. Taking care of domestic business is thankfully more routine. "I'm more than satisfied with that," Strachan said. "I'm absolutely delighted." He said that the only negative was the abductor muscle problem that led to Vennegoor's substitution. The Dutchman, who will be out for an as yet unknown period, was replaced by Samaras, who started the move in the 25th minute for the opener. The big Greek found McGeady, who crossed from the right to Nakamura on the opposite post, and the Japanese midfielder controlled and shot. Nakamura was the supplier for Samaras's low shot for 2-0. McDonald made it 3-0 after a dogged run, and Maloney's pull back set up McGeady with seven minutes left. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:40 PM Post #3 |
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The Scotsman Celtic 4 Hamilton 0: Bhoys give Hamilton a battering Published Date: 05 October 2008 By Tom English at Celtic Park THIS was no great advertisement for the dear old SPL. God loves a trier but Hamilton were annihilated, absolutely battered from first whistle to last and it wasn't all that comfortable watching it. Having conceded four against Falkirk last week, only a raving lunatic would have given them the earthliest chance of survival here but they were gone even before they started and the only wonder was that Celtic didn't get more goals on the board. Four was a respectable but not a spectacular return on the number of chances and the amount of possession they had. Eight might have been more in keeping with their superiority. Celtic top the league now, level on points with Rangers, who play St Mirren this afternoon, but ahead of them on goal difference by a solitary strike. Every Celtic fan who witnessed this will surely agree that three points will scarcely come any easier than they did yesterday. Shunsuke Nakamura got the first, Georgios Samaras the second (his tenth of the season), Scott McDonald the third and Aiden McGeady the fourth. Any number of others could have scored but didn't. It could have been an infinitely uglier, almost record-challenging scoreline but it wasn't. That's the extent of the positives as far as Hamilton are concerned. They didn't slump into the history books. That was their small mercy. McGeady's goal and his two assists marked him out as the outstanding player. Gordon Strachan might disagree with that. We know their relationship is testy at the best of times and Strachan did nothing to dispel that view. When asked to sum-up McGeady's contribution, the manager offered an enigmatic "aye, he works" before going on to praise others in his team. Barry Robson could have been man of the match playing at left-back instead of the injured Lee Naylor, said Strachan. Garlands, too, for Nakamura and Marc Crosas, who was "fantastic". Save for the odd breakaway which yielded nothing, Hamilton didn't exist. You can't blame them for that. Can't get on their backs, can't put them down for not being anywhere close to the same level as their hosts. It's just the way of the world. Celtic were the small fry to Villarreal's big fish midweek. Now Hamilton had replaced them as the minnow and they were out of their depth. At 3-0, though, they miraculously won a penalty, a soft award given against Gary Caldwell for a supposed foul on James McCarthy. James McArthur took it (weakly) and Boruc saved low to his right. McArthur followed up with a header and Boruc saved that too. "He's gutted," said his manager, Billy Reid. "That was the worst game he's ever played for me but he's a very talented young player and he's got a huge career ahead of him." McArthur will be 21 on Tuesday. Er, congratulations. The game was less than a minute old when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink keeled over and it could be a month before we see him again. That was the height of the excitement for a long while apart for a few early tricks by McGeady who put the frighteners on Brian Easton every time he ducked and dived in the full-back's territory. On top of that there was a bit of a scramble in the Hamilton penalty box when Robson put in a lovely cross for Samaras who then forced a save out of Tomas Cerny followed by a hoofed clearance on the rebound from Martin Canning. Beyond that, not much. What the game needed was a goal and there was only team capable of getting it. The opener was no surprise and neither was its provider, McGeady getting free again on the right and curling in a cross which dropped over David Elebert's head to Nakamura, standing unmarked near the back post. Nakamura took it down and cracked it past Cerny. Players are taught to avoid complacency in situations like this, they're told from a young age that no game is won or lost at 1-0. But this one was. It was done and dusted the moment Nakamura scored. What was left to decide was not the identity of the winner but the scale of the victory. Scott McDonald, whose waistline has been the subject of some chat among those who obviously have very little to chat about, almost doubled Celtic's advantage five minutes later when his close-range shot came back out off the inside of Cerny's left-hand post but we didn't have long to wait for the second goal to arrive. It came from out wide once again, this time from the left side where Nakamura supplied the ammunition. It was easy, though. So easy. Nakamura simply waited for a runner sure in the knowledge that Hamilton wouldn't pick him up. Samaras was that runner. He strolled into the penalty area unhindered, Nakamura rolled it into his path and the Greek internationalist side-footed it past Cerny. The words candy and baby sprang to mind. So did the words blood and bath. Seven minutes after Samaras scored, McGeady ought to have made it three. If he wasn't such a mediocre finisher (still a problem in his game despite his advances last season) he'd have tucked away a glorious chance, set up by McDonald. The Republic of Ireland international tried to place it gently in the corner beyond Cerny's reach instead of giving it a proper smack. Cerny got down quickly and finger-tipped it away. Reid made two changes at the break and at least they managed to stem the bleeding. Celtic had chances and didn't put them away. Then they fell into a brief sleep before rousing themselves towards the end. McDonald got the third after McGeady slipped a ball into the space where McDonald and Canning were running. Both men slipped but McDonald was up sharply and he made light work of beating Cerny. The Hamilton penalty followed, a surreal moment in some senses. The notion that Hamilton would actually score a goal didn't enter the head until that point but here they were about to do it. Alas, they failed. "The boys are saying it wasn't a penalty," said Strachan, "but it brought Artur into it and he played his part in the win. But he was practically a spectator today." And there was a last kick in the teeth for Hamilton, the substitute Shaun Maloney jinking through on the left and setting up McGeady for the fourth, slotted away in the corner from a dozen yards out. Mercifully for Hamilton, it ended soon after. MAN OF THE MATCH Aiden McGeady was central to the creation of two Celtic goals last week and he did the same again here. Plus he added a goal of his own. Getting back to his best form. QUICK FACT This was the third time in five domestic games that Celtic have hit the opposition for four goals and there's been seven different goalscorers in that run. Pity none of them can do it at Champions League level. TALKING POINT Straight-talking honesty of Billy Reid in the aftermath. Reid admitted his team got destroyed. No ifs or buts about it, he said. The talking point comes in trying to remember when we heard a manager being so truthful about his own team. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:42 PM Post #4 |
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The Telegraph Celtic find goals easy to come by against Hamilton Celtic (2) 4 Hamilton Academicals (0) 0 By Roddy Forsyth Last Updated: 9:28PM BST 04 Oct 2008 Celtic went top of the Scottish Premier League on goal difference from Rangers – who meet St Mirren at Love Street – when they romped past Hamilton Academical with goals from Shunsuke Nakamura, Giorgios Samaras, Scott McDonald and Aiden McGeady. With the best will in the world, the visit of Hamilton was never likely to stir the blood like the midweek expedition to Villarreal or the forthcoming Champions League double header against Manchester United, which is already occupying the thoughts of both Celtic fans and players. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink remains robustly confident that he and his colleagues can overcome a poor start to their Group E campaign. ''Of course we can still qualify in second place,” said the Dutch forward. “Obviously it isn’t going to be easy, because we did not manage to win either of our opening two matches. However, we still have another four ties to play. ''We can certainly take a lot from the way we played in Villarreal and the number of chances we created. Maybe it suits us playing against attacking teams. Villarreal came at us but we also managed to cause them problems. The same can happen in Manchester.’’ Vennegoor of Hesselink was to have more time to meditate on these thoughts than he could have anticipated. He lasted 90 seconds before he fell to the ground holding his groin, the victim of a painful twist. He was replaced by Samaras, who was to find the afternoon productive, but not before Celtic had taken their time getting going. It was not that Gordon Strachan’s players were short of possession but there was a lack of bite about their finishing that had the home fans frustrated. Celtic were eventually helped on their way by negligent Hamilton defending when nobody cut out McGeady’s cross to the back post, where Nakamura was able to kill the ball on his chest before beating Tomas Cerny with a left-foot volley. Failure to close down opponents almost did further to Hamilton when Mark Wilson was allowed two attempts to get the ball into their box, the second of which found McDonald for a full-blooded drive that smacked straight back from the post. Another goal had to come and it arrived eight minutes before the break when McDonald fended off three Hamilton players to switch a pass wide to Nakamura, who, seeing Samaras dropping away from his cover, sprung the Greek attacker free for a simple placed shot beyond Cerny. Billy Reid shuffled his pack at the break, but despite a couple of flurries, Hamilton continued to ship goals. McDonald, who went to ground in a challenge from Martin Canning, got to his feet first for an unopposed shot below Cerny, and when Shaun Maloney arrived as a substitute, he contrived to dance past two opponents to set up McGeady to trim his low shot into the far corner. Even then, Hamilton might have got on the scoresheet when they were awarded a penalty kick for Gary Caldwell’s foul on James McCarthy, but James McArthur’s attempt from the spot was blocked by Artur Boruc, who also stopped the rebound header from the same player. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:43 PM Post #5 |
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The Observer Nakamura leads rout of timid Accies Scottish Premier Celtic 4 * Nakamura 26, * Samaras 37, * McDonald 76, * McGeady 83 Hamilton 0 * Patrick Glenn at Celtic Park * The Observer, * Sunday October 5 2008 Like most newly promoted teams, Hamilton discovered that the higher end of the big league is a hard place to thrive. This first collision with Old Firm opposition could hardly have been more exacting, the Lanarkshire side's comprehensive defeat predictable from the moment Shunsuke Nakamura started a goals fund that would rise through contributions from Georgios Samaras, Scott McDonald and Aiden McGeady. That goal from Nakamura was merely tangible confirmation of Celtic's dominance during the preceding 25 minutes, Hamilton's emphatically defensive deployment having simply invited the home team into their half of the field. The hope of surviving 90 minutes of such a strategy undamaged had seemed an extremely vulnerable basis on which to enter a match and that Samaras should extend the advantage before the interval seemed as inevitable as the opener. Billy Reid, the Accies manager, may have fielded a nominal 4-5-1, but one of his midfielders, David Elebert, is normally a central defender, his presence rather underlining the negative nature of his approach. Predictably there seemed little the visitors could do to reverse the established trend once they had fallen two behind. The goals would be the more welcome for Celtic having lost Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to injury after about 30 seconds. In his first challenge, the big striker stretched and landed awkwardly and appeared to damage his groin. Samaras took his place. There would be no reduction in the champions' effectiveness, exemplified by McGeady's perfectly measured left-foot cross from the left to Nakamura at the far post. The Japan midfielder took the ball on his chest and, on the drop, rifled a left-foot drive past Tomas Cerny from the corner of the six-yard box. Nakamura would follow up with the beautifully controlled low centre from the left that allowed Samaras to meet it on a perfect stride and, from the edge of the area, hit a low drive past Cerny. Celtic's seeming readiness to extend sympathy to their victims once they have them in their power, however, is often a source of irritation to their fans and the crowd were given some cause for further consternation in the second half of this largely one-sided affair. Having tried on a number of occasions to walk the ball into the net instead of seizing good opportunities, the home players would be jolted when Hamilton created their first chance and followed with their second within a minute. Brian Easton's cross from the left gave substitute Mark Corcoran a free header, but he stretched to send the ball over the bar. Very soon afterwards, James McArthur burst past three defenders through the inside-left channel and into the penalty area, but pulled his low, left-foot shot wide of the target. It was not until McDonald produced the third goal that the home support began to enjoy themselves again, but they would be temporarily interrupted by the curious award of the Hamilton penalty from which Artur Boruc made a terrific double save from McArthur. The goalkeeper was first down low to his right to block the shot and on his feet instantly to stop the follow-up header from the penalty taker. McDonald was served by McGeady, but had to work to steal the ball back from Martin Canning before sending a shot low past Cerny from close range. McGeady would be the beneficiary of substitute Shaun Maloney's mesmerising dribble along the dead-ball line on the left, receiving the low cut-back and driving the ball far to the left of Cerny. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:45 PM Post #6 |
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walking barefoot
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Irish Times Celtic move top with Hamilton win SPL Round-Up: Celtic cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Hamilton to go top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on goal difference from rivals Rangers. Goals from Shunsuke Nakamura and Georgios Samaras gave the home side a half-time lead and there was no way back for the SPL new boys. Scott McDonald grabbed number three in the 75th minute and after Celtic keeper Artur Boruc had made a fine penalty save and follow-up stop from James McArthur, Aiden McGeady slid in the fourth to complete the visitors' misery. A late winner from Craig Bryson allowed Kilmarnock to claim a 2-1 victory over Hearts and return to winning ways. The Rugby Park side had a decent record at Tynecastle last season and were confident of the victory despite losing their last three league outings. Mehdi Taouil provided a deserved lead which was cancelled out by Laryea Kingston, before Bryson helped himself to the decisive goal. Aberdeen's dismal home form continued as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Hibernian. A goal in each half by Derek Riordan cancelled out Lee Miller's equalising penalty. Riordan opened the scoring after seizing on a slack passback from Lee Mair before Lee Miller got the Dons back on level terms from the spot. Riordan's winner came from the spot with Charlie Mulgrew sent off for handling on the line, although a Hibernian player looked to have been in an offside position. The Dons fans showed their frustration by booing their side off the park with Aberdeen now having lost five in a row. Dundee United moved into the top half after impressively notching their fourth successive victory by beating Inverness 2-1. Jon Daly headed home towards the end of an entertaining first half and Lee Wilkie made some steady pressure count in the 65th minute with another header. Inverness missed some first-half chances but rarely looked like launching a comeback, even after Wilkie's last-minute own goal. © 2008 The Irish Times |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 4 2008, 11:49 PM Post #7 |
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walking barefoot
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Edinburgh Evening Times Celtic 4 - 0 Hamilton: Hoops top the league with four-goal bonanza Published Date: 04 October 2008 Celtic cruised to a comfortable win over Hamilton at Parkhead to go top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on goal difference over rivals Rangers. The Ibrox side play their game in hand against St Mirren tomorrow but Gordon Strachan's men can be pleased with the way they responded to the Champions League defeat by Villarreal midweek, albeit against vastly inferior opponents. Goals from Shunsuke Nakamura and Georgios Samaras gave the home side a half-time lead and there was no way back for the SPL new boys who looked out of their depth for most of the game. Scott McDonald grabbed number three in the 75th minute and after Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc had made a fine penalty save from James McArthur, as well as the header from the rebound from the Accies midfielder, Aiden McGeady slid in the fourth to complete the visitors' misery and erase the memory of El Madrigal. The home fans were in their seats less than a minute when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink clashed with Accies left-back Brian Easton, the Dutchman hobbling off to be replaced by top scorer Samaras. Amid a subdued atmosphere, Celtic may have had a penalty in the ninth minute when McGeady was clumsily challenged close to the byline inside the box by Easton but referee Steve Conroy ignored the appeals. In the 15th minute Barry Robson's searching cross was met by Samaras pulling away at the back post. The Greece international's close-range header was knocked up in to the air by Accies goalkeeper Tomas Cerny before defender Martin Canning cleared for a corner which the visitors survived. Japan international Nakamura eventually broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a fine volley. McGeady picked the ball up from Samaras on the right and drilled a cross to the back post, the ball evading David Elebert to be controlled almost effortlessly by Nakamura before he volleyed past Cerny from around six yards. As the champions turned the screw, McDonald came close when he accepted a Mark Wilson cut-back 16 yards out and smartly drove a right-footed shot against the inside of the post, the Lanarkshire side happy to escape again. However, the respite was short-lived and in the 37th minute Billy Reid's men fell further behind when Nakamura squared to Samaras who sidefooted the ball from 16 yards past Cerny with some precision and power. Two minutes before the interval David Graham was robbed by McDonald, allowing McGeady to burst into the Accies penalty area but his carefully-placed shot lacked the pace to beat Cerny. Accies looked a broken team as they sloped off at the interval and Reid made two changes in personnel within a tactical reshuffle. Mark Corcoran and Stephen Ettien replaced Chris Swailes and Derek Lyle with Simon Mensing moving to right-back. The champions were relentless, initially, in their quest for the third goal and the Lanarkshire men struggled to get out of their own half. In the 55th minute a Nakamura drive was deflected by Mensing for a corner which came to nothing. The tempo had dropped to the extent that Accies moved up the pitch for the first time, the move ending with Corcoran heading a McArthur cross over the bar. On the hour mark, to the displeasure of the home fans, McArthur drove forward to the edge of the box before driving wide of the far post. In the 75th minute McDonald grabbed the third goal after McGeady had slipped him through at the edge of the Accies box. Canning looked to be favourite to win the race but the Australian international collected the ball in the challenge through sheer strength and determination before he curled his drive past Cerny. A couple of minutes later, out of the blue, Hamilton were awarded a penalty after Gary Caldwell was adjudged to have brought down James McCarthy in the box. But Boruc raised the roof when he made a fine double save from McArthur, the first from the initial penalty and then when the Accies midfielder had followed up the rebound with a header. Eight minutes from the end, Shaun Maloney, on for Samaras, then brilliantly set up McGeady to slide in number four. On the domestic front at least, Celtic remain impressive. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 5 2008, 01:29 AM Post #8 |
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The Sunday Times October 5, 2008 Aiden McGeady caps rout Celtic 4 Hamilton 0 Douglas Alexander at Celtic Park RANGERS supporters have recently taken exception to an innocuous reference to their club in the Coronation Street scripts, but this episode of EastEnders went exactly as expected. Celtic were toying with Hamilton by the end, having run in four goals. The pick of them was the last, created by Shaun Maloney and scored by Aiden McGeady. The League Against Cruel Sports would perhaps have intervened had they seen the series of stepovers with which Maloney, coming in from the left, befuddled first Simon Mensing and then Martin Canning before almost running out of space on the touchline. His feet and mind were still quick enough to provide the cutback which McGeady rolled home to finally get the goal his own excellent performance merited. The late excitement, which included a controversial penalty missed by Hamilton, was welcome as the game appeared to have died midway through the second half with Celtic comfortable at 2-0. Then McGeady, perhaps because he was as bored as everyone else by this lengthy lull in the action, came back to life. He drew a good save from Tomas Cerny with a left-foot shot and then slanted a ball into the box which Canning pursued with Scott McDonald. The centre-back appeared to have the Australian cor-alled, but McDonald surprised him by sliding to take the ball and then getting up quickly and picking his spot to score. He patted his belly in celebration, a humourous response to recent accusations that he is looking rather portly this season. Hamilton never looked likely to score until they were awarded what looked a sympathy penalty by Steve Conroy with 10 minutes to go. It came when James McCarthy stumbled through Stephen McManus’s block tackle on the edge of the box and straight into another, this time inside the area, by Gary Caldwell. The Scotland centre-back seemed to get a fair bit of the ball, but Conroy p o i n t e d t o t h e s p o t . J a m e s McArthur, though, saw his kick saved low to his left by Artur Boruc and was then denied again by the Polish goalkeeper as he tried to follow up with a header, before Barry Robson completed the clearance. “That just sums up James McArthur’s day,” said Billy Reid, Hamilton’s manager, in an impressively honest appraisal of his side’s performance. “That’s probably the worst game he’s played for me.” Reid spared few of his players afterwards and even substituted two of them, David Grah a m a n d C h r i s t o p h e r Swailes, at half-time. “It could have been more than 4-0, we didn’t do ourselves justice. They are better than that.” Gordon Strachan, by contrast, was “more than satisfied, delighted” with his side. “It was windy, wet and we had just played a European tie and had been on the plane for a long time. So to start as we did with energy and be respectful of Hamilton was great.” The only sore point for Celtic’s manager, or more precisely for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, was the adductor muscle strain the big Dutchman suffered almost straight from kick-off as he stretched for the ball. Georgios Samaras has been in scintillating and scoring form recently, so his omission from Strachan’s starting-line up was something of a surprise, yet he barely had time to take his seat on the bench before he was called into the fray to replace Vennegoor of Hesselink and almost gave Celtic an early lead. His downward header was stopped by the right foot of Cerny before Canning cleared. The delivery came from Robson, deployed in the new position of left-back due to Lee Naylor being injured. He advanced from here whenever possible, as Celtic were not examined defensively at all by Hamilton, whose cautious approach betrayed their Brazil-style away strip. A goal for the home side was inevitable and came in the 26th minute when McGeady’s chip from the right made it over the despairing jump of David Elebert at the back post and was collected and then lashed home by Shunsuke Nakamura. This relaxed Celtic, which was not a good thing for the visitors. Samaras was guilty of greed when he could have played Marc Crosas through, but elected to shoot instead. McDonald was keen to get involved, too, scenting goals in this game. He smacked a right-foot shot off a post after catching Mark Wilson’s header across goal on his chest. Celtic were not to be denied their second goal for long, though. Boruc’s punt forward was flicked on by Samaras before McDonald mastered it and then spread play to the left to Nakamura. The Japanese international’s perceptive cutback invited Samaras to stroll onto it and sidefoot home, almost casually, from the edge of the box. Reid now glanced anxiously at his watch, hoping to make it to half-time safely, but more torture awaited him. CELTIC:Boruc 7, Wilson 6, Caldwell 6, McManus 6, Robson 6, Nakamura 7, Brown 6 (O’Dea 82min), Crosas 7, McGeady 8, McDonald 7, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 3min, 7) (Maloney 77min) HAMILTON:Cerny 7, Elebert 5, Swailes 5 (Ettien 46min, 5), Canning 4, Easton 5, Neil 6, Mensing 5, McArthur 5, McCarthy 5, Graham 5 (Thomas 78min), Lyle 5 (Corcoran 46min, 5) |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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| desachi | Oct 5 2008, 01:30 AM Post #9 |
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walking barefoot
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Gulf Daily News Celtic rout Hamilton to take lead GLASGOW: Celtic replaced Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 4-0 thrashing of newly-promoted Hamilton at Parkhead last night. At Pittodrie Hibernian defeated Aberdeen 2-1 thanks to a Derek Riordan double either side of a Lee Miller penalty. Jon Daly scored for the second game in a row as Dundee United defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 at Tannadice with Lee Wilkie scoring United's other goal. At Tynecastle Craig Bryson and Mehdi Taouil secured a 2-1 win for Kilmarnock with Laryea Kingston scoring for Hearts. The Scottish champions Celtic sit on top of the table on goal difference with their Old Firm rivals who are playing St Mirren today. Shunsuke Nakamura put the Hoops ahead before substitute Georgios Samaras doubled their lead. Scott McDonald made it 3-0 in the second-half before Aiden McGeady sealed the emphatic win with Artur Boruc saving a penalty in between. Both teams took time to settle in the wet and windy conditions but it was the home side that dominated the first half. Celtic made several changes from the team that went down 1-0 to Villarreal midweek in the Champions League with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink partnering McDonald up front and midfielder Barry Robson coming in at left-back. But within seconds of the start Celtic were forced into a change when Vennegoor of Hesselink was replaced by Samaras after the Dutchman was injured going in for a challenge with Brian Easton. Celtic's first chance fell to the Greek striker in the 15th minute when he headed a Robson cross goal-ward but the danger was eventually cleared off the line by Martin Canning. The Hoops took the lead after 25 minutes through Nakamura. A McGeady cross from the right found the Japanese international unmarked at the back post and he took a touch before rifling the ball past Tomas Cerny. The Parkhead side piled on the pressure and McDonald came close to doubling the lead six minutes later when his first-time volley from a Mark Wilson cut-back thudded off the post. Samaras scored his tenth goal of the season in the 36th minute. The giant Greek side-footed the ball past Cerny after connecting sweetly with a Nakamura cross from the left. |
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In the nation of the blind the one eyed man is king. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing HWEUCSC & Chicago CSC Buena Vista Celtic Club, Keeping the Green Flag Flying High | |
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