Vs Alloa (Cup semi-final) | Vital Football

Vs Alloa (Cup semi-final)

wee_od_88

wee_od_88

Vital Football Hero
Tonight we play Alloa at Celtic Park in the semi-final of the Bet-Fred Cup (League Cup).
This is the cup that has had a revamp, it starts off with area leagues before the season really starts except for a few teams such as ourselves who were playing in Europe.

I think a lot of people are expecting a few changes for tonight, it's Alloa and we're at home, we shouldn't really have a problem tonight. However after the Barcelona thrashing and then throwing away a win over ICT to end up with a draw at the weekend, we may not make as many changes as some people expect.

Simunovic made an appearance off the bench at the weekend, replacing Gamboa and Lustig moving to RB. He looked decent, made one error pass but other than that looked comfortable on the ball and did fairly well. Rodgers seems to like him! It's expected he may start tonight and try and give him about an hour I would imagine.
It was noted that Simunovic has made a comeback straight to the first team, while Boyata has not featured since the Inter Milan friendly and on Monday was playing for the development side.

Stuart Armstrong has done well since coming back into the side recently, he could be given a longer run out tonight while it might also see the return of Griffiths after his injury.
Patrick Roberts started against Barcelona and ICT so James Forrest could return on the wing. However Scott Sinclair hasn't had a break since joining the club and the manager may look to give him a rest tonight.

I'd go with:

Gordon
Gamboa - Simunovic - O'Connell - Izzy
Bitton - Henderson
Christie - Armstrong - Forrest
Griffiths

Subs: De Vries, Ajer, Lustig, McGregor, Sinclair, Rogic, Ciftci
 
That might seem like a lot of changes but only 2 of the starting 11 are coming back from injury, ALL of the 11 have been involved in the first team at some stage and more than once so it's not that big a risk. Christie has been out in the cold since Roberts and Sinclair have been in the team so he needs an opportunity to show what he can do. Henderson has been working hard in training and had a few sub appearances recently but again he needs a game to show that he's putting these things into practice.
 
GMS made his comeback from injury in the Development Side game on Monday, I don't think his Celtic career is over.....in fact I think it could blossom under BR, much like James Forrest has come back from the dead!
Ciftci needs some game time, you'd have thought that with Griffiths injured, he might get some sub appearances at least but the manager has used Dembele for every minute of every game. Surely tonight will be the sort of game where we should hammer them and Ciftci can come on and possibly get himself a goal? Really show that he's ready when called upon!

Perhaps resting a few of the players and seeing others coming in and doing well will also help those who are the regulars to push on and not let performances like Barcelona and ICT be acceptable. It might just show them that there are others biting at their heels waiting for a chance!
 
Tonight's team:

Gordon
Lustig - Toure - Simunovic - Tierney
Armstrong - Brown
Roberts - Rogic - Forrest
Dembele

Subs: De Vries, Gamboa, Sviatchenko, Bitton, Sinclair, Christie, Henderson
 
A little bit surprising we haven't made more changes tonight I think. No replacement striker on the bench but I suppose Forrest, Rogic, Sinclair or even Christie could step in to that role if really required. Still think it's strange that we don't take a game like this to give Ciftci an opportunity to at least come off the bench. It feels like a bit of a risk only having 3 strikers at the best of times, but not even giving him some pitch time to keep him sharp when 1 striker is already injured? That's strange in my opinion.

I'd really like to see Henderson get on tonight, he needs a decent run-out!
 
I'm surprised that we aren't giving Brown a rest. It will be interesting to see if Simunovic starts to get into the flow.

Glad to see Gordon back. Devries is awful. I can forgive Barca. Nothing went right that night. But two to ICT? C'mon.
 
Evenin' wee_od, David :emoticon:14

Aye, thought he'd have rung the changes tonight. Never thought I'd be relieved to see Gordon back between the sticks which just underlines how utterly shite de vries is!
 
Good evening, Ghents! Good to see you guys. In fact, i'm almost as pleased to see Gordon and I am to see you folks.
:emoticon:14

I think Logan Bailly is better than Devries. No exaggeration.
 
De Vries is only good at a few things....unfortunately shot stopping is not one of them!

We started the game really well but the last 10mins or so we've just been quite sloppy. Poor passing, not keeping the ball well enough and not taking the chances we create. It's ICT all over again!

Commentator on BT Sport has said that Rodgers has been watching Armstrong closely in training and has liked what he's seen....it's a shame that tonight he's been a bit of a ghost, not done much at all yet! I expect more from him!

We're struggling to get Dembele into the game because they're sitting so deep! They're keeping us to shots from outside the box....which apparently we're awful at tonight!
Commentator has also just said it needs to be quicker! When they do come up and out from the back and we win the ball back, we need to be a lot quicker to get at them, because that's when we'll find space! As an example, we won the ball back and it took about 3 passes to get the ball from LB area to the right midfield area, not far over the halfway line to Roberts. If that was Barcelona, one pass, two at the most and he would have had it and he'd be running in toward goal. Roberts took his time and was left looking for options instead of just running in at them at pace with the ball!
 
Tierney's been the best player on the park so far tonight! Rogic a close second but his shooting has been woeful!
 
Still far too tippy-tappy in and around the box. Twice we've passed i9t back out wide when in ideal positions to hit a shot at the edge of the box. Passing the effin ball to death.
 
A lot to do in the 2nd half! Play needs to be quicker and slicker! Need to simply start taking chances or at least getting them on target!
Sinclair will be on in the 2nd half if things don't improve quickly and for me, I'd hook Roberts over Forrest. Henderson to replace Armstrong and I'm not sure Simunovic can play the whole game but I think I'd bring Gamboa on for a bit of extra pace down the wing and move Lustig in to CB alongside Toure.
 
Agree Tic! Too one footed for my liking too! Still, I wouldn't say no keeping him around a bit longer. Haha!

More chances in this 2nd half and still unable to get a goal! Getting ridiculous! If BR doesn't have EVERY single player on shooting practice tomorrow then there's something wrong! It's not as though the keeper's even making many saves.....we're fluffing too many shots!
 
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