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| Sunday Papers; 07/12/08 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 7 2008, 12:15 AM (57 Views) | |
| Jinty | Dec 7 2008, 12:15 AM Post #1 |
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The Scotsman Sometimes the gamble pays off By Paul Forsyth WHEN A winning sequence gathers momentum without the merest interruption, it brings with it a stubborn streak, a refusal to give up which grows more noteworthy by the week. Celtic's 12 consecutive league victories are an achievement in their own right, but in the grand sweep of the domestic season, their effect on the players' mentality could be more significant. At Easter Road this afternoon, they are out to secure the usual three points, but the 39 it would give them out of 39 repr While their performances have been some way short of pristine, they have found in their results a flawlessness that perpetuates itself. In the hackneyed tradition of champions in waiting, they are winning ugly, winning pretty, winning when they don't play well, winning when they do. They are winning, for the time being at least, against the kind of awkward opponents that so often catch out a team for whom perfection isn't at stake. Another such challenge presents itself today in the guise of Hibernian. Scott Brown, the Celtic midfielder who grew up in the green of another, remembers what it was like when the Old Firm visited. "It was one of our biggest games of the season," he says. "Rangers, Celtic and Hearts: that was the three games that we performed really well in. We had a few ups and downs in other games, but always when we played those three, we were up for it. You always want to beat the best, and they were the best teams in Scotland." Hibs will be raising their game against a team who must raise it every week. For all their shortcomings in Europe, Celtic have taken maximum points from every league match since a 4-2 defeat by Rangers on August 31, a sequence that has prompted comparisons with the 25 straight wins Martin O'Neill's side secured in 2003-2004. Their relentlessness is what the Old Firm always aspire to, what managers down south seldom appreciate, and what too many players fail to understand about the promised land that is Glasgow. It is the single most important factor that Gordon Strachan hopes to identify in a new signing, four of whom he has bought from Hibs in his three and a half years at the club. His players must be willing to take responsibility in every second of every minute of every match. The pressure of representing either of the Glasgow clubs is so unique that, until they have pulled on the shirt and produced the performance that hitherto was demanded only occasionally, you can never quite tell whether they have that X-factor. Brown has it. So does Gary Caldwell. But when both return to Leith this afternoon, they will find in the home side a lad who didn't. A steady stream of Hibs players has flowed along the M8 in modern times, many of them a success, but Derek Riordan assuredly wasn't, having been accused of failing to apply himself in two years at Celtic Park. Rangers, too, have had their hits and misses from Easter Road, with Kenny Miller among the former, and Ian Murray the latter. The left-sided defender is another who finds himself back where he started. "You only find out when they come here, that's for sure," says Strachan. "You can take a gamble. Gary (Caldwell] was a Bosman, a bit of a gamble. A gamble for him as well. He doesn't know if he's going to get a regular game, but he comes along and gets it. When you are a Celtic or Rangers player, you have to be able to play (well] every week without fail. Some people might think, 'you should pick him up because he played well against you', and I'm thinking, 'that's fine, but can you play every week at that level rather than just get up to play against Celtic and Rangers?' That's the indication of how good a player you are." The next Hibs player of whom that question is likely to be asked will be Steven Fletcher, unless he decides to buck the trend, and head for the bright lights of the Premiership. Donald Park, the club's assistant manager, has already admitted that the 21-year-old striker is keen to move on, and his form has been such that next month's transfer window is as good a time as any. He has scored six goals this season, four in his last seven appearances, which doesn't surprise Brown. "I played with Fletch for a couple of years. I know how good he is. We've been away with Scotland as well. He scores goals, creates stuff, and he holds the ball up well. He's a striker that's got everything." If he moves to Rangers or Celtic, it will be another sickener for Hibs fans fed up watching everyone from John Collins and Andy Goram to Steven Whittaker, Kevin Thomson and Chris Killen heading west. While it is, in the end, a tribute to the club's youth policy, the odd move south wouldn't go amiss, thereby sparing supporters the ignominy of watching their favourite players return twice a season in the colours of another. Brown tends to escape the flak at Easter Road, which is probably something to do with the £4.4m he earned them last summer. Caldwell doesn't, for some reason, although Strachan believes it has been good for the defender, building in him the kind of fortitude an Old Firm footballer needs. Even without the challenge of better opponents, players can improve in Glasgow. Strachan, for one, does not regard his signings as the finished article, and enjoys the process of bringing them on. It is why he remains in management. Brown painted a picture the other day of training sessions at Lennoxtown where the coach's habit is to halt a bounce match and offer individuals the most cerebral of insights. The energetic Scotland player has discovered that there is more to being a midfielder than covering every blade of grass. "That was my natural thing, but the gaffer has calmed me down. He has taught me how to play in different positions, shown me when to run and when to sit in, when to play and when not to play. Instead of running about all the time, sometimes you can just stand still and get the ball. You see a lot of the best players in the world just standing there, finding space for themselves." One of them, Marcos Senna, will be in Glasgow on Wednesday night when Villareal are the opponents in Celtic's final Champions League fixture. With Strachan's team already out of Europe, it is a dead rubber, if such a tag can be ascribed to any of the club's matches. The media's continued fascination with the Old Firm is such that the outcome of their each and every game has a knock-on effect. In the barmy world of the two Glasgow clubs, where a win is always demanded, there is usually more at stake. CELTS STALL ON HANSTVEIT CELTIC manager Gordon Strachan wants a longer look at on-trial left-back Erlend Hanstveit. Brann Bergen defender Hanstveit, 27, is in the middle of a week-long stay with the champions and would be available for free when the January transfer window opens. Strachan will integrate him into his travelling party for today's trip to Hibernian after being impressed with his attitude both on and off the field. "We've had two days with Erlend," Strachan said. "It's been a month since he played, which is a long time, so we'd like to keep him here a bit longer and have a look. He's mingled well with the lads and there are things we like there. But we have to investigate it a bit more. "Would we like to extend it beyond the week? If we could, but the problem we have is that there are games to play. We were able to do more intensive things in training this week because we didn't have a game. But we have Villarreal in midweek, so we won't have the scope to test Erlend as much as we'd like." |
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| Jinty | Dec 7 2008, 01:35 AM Post #2 |
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The Observer Celtic pick up the pieces after a bumpy European ride - League is just the tonic for injury-hit squad Patrick Glenn Going over Niagara Falls in a barrel may be only marginally more exhilarating and harrowing than the experiences Gordon Strachan and his Celtic squad have undergone this season. The excitement has derived from a relentless domination of the domestic game; the painful buffeting from a European campaign notable for wreckage. The fluctuations of the past few months will be seen in microcosm over the next three days, with this afternoon's visit to Hibernian in the league followed by Wednesday's final outing in Group E of the Champions League, against Villarreal at Celtic Park. Of the two fixtures, the latter will be the more poignant, a reminder to Strachan, his players and their supporters not so much of what might have been as what should have been. There remains bewilderment over the Scottish champions' failures against unrated Aalborg of Denmark; the scoreless draw in the opening match in Glasgow and the 2-1 defeat in the return match 12 days ago. Two victories over the Danes would have left Celtic needing to win this week's meeting with Villarreal to join Manchester United in the last 16 of the tournament. The experience brings to mind the words of Strachan's predecessor, Martin O'Neill, in 2003, shortly after Celtic had reached the Uefa Cup final with a 1-0 defeat of Boavista in Porto. Having drawn the home leg 1-1, O'Neill's side were within 10 minutes of elimination when Henrik Larsson delivered the decisive goal. 'The few minutes before that were my worst experience in my entire time here,' said O'Neill. 'I was sitting there thinking not only were we about to go out, but we were going out to the worst team we had played in the competition.' However, asked if the realisation that Celtic were a better team than Aalborg deepened his disappointment, Strachan gave a different response. 'It wasn't so much that,' he said. 'It was more the overall sense of how the campaign unfolded. I actually thought our performances in the Champions League were pretty consistent. 'They were good enough to win both games against Aalborg and the away match against Villarreal was good enough to get us a draw, instead of the 1-0 defeat. The 3-0 beating by United at Old Trafford was a bad night. But the number of injuries we had then left us nowhere near our strongest squad. 'We've given worse performances in previous Champions League campaigns and finished with more points. Losing at Benfica was dire, as it was against Shakhtar in Donetsk, while Copenhagen, two years ago, was horrific. But the consuming disappointment I felt in Aalborg is over. I can't regurgitate that and make myself feel bad again this week. We had our chance to go through and didn't take it.' Strachan's admiration for his players has, if anything, deepened in recent times, when they have overcome a casualty list that has, on occasion, represented a recognisable first team. They go into the match against Hibs with 12 successive league wins behind them, but, again, with the prospect of losing several first-choice players. Aiden McGeady, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Marc Crosas remain unavailable, while Barry Robson, Scott Brown and Mark Wilson were unable to train on Friday. All would be automatic selections if fit, giving rise to the suspicion that, with Hearts to play next weekend, Strachan may field a weakened team against Villarreal. 'It will depend who's available,' he said. 'Matches like that may be statistically meaningless, but they're never that for us. You'd want to get a victory to feel good about yourselves; you would want the supporters to feel better; for the club, there's the financial rewards of victory in the Champions League and there's a TV audience scrutinising you. At a club like this, you never get a free night.' Printable version Send to a friend Share Clip Contact us larger | smaller EmailClose Recipient's email address Your name Add a note (optional) Your IP address will be logged ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList Contact usClose Contact the Football editor football.editor@ guardianunlimited.co.uk Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@observer.co.uk Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@observer.co.uk If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard: +44 (0)20 7278 2332 Advertising guide License/buy our content Football Celtic · Scottish Premier League Observer |
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