Scottish Cup Final - Celtic v Hearts, Saturday 25 May - all comments here

Bridie Bhoy said:
Sam - you have picked a strong team BUT we already have a serious question mark over Lustig's hamstring and Tierney is clearly not match fit and could well possibly break down again as per his previous cameo appearances. There is a high possibility that we'll need to waste 2 subs for full backs early on again and you only have 1 on the bench and he was appalling last week. Although Ajer could move across in an emergency I suppose - I think we'll all agree that we don't want to see the MacGregor as full back experiment again in such a high profile game.

Rogic is in poor form and frankly doesn't look fit enough to go the whole 90 minutes on the big pitch at Hampden either, so we could be in trouble if Levein's hammer throwers start putting the boot in and we've used up all 3 subs on pre-injured/not fully fit players. Also it has been widely reported that Broony is playing with a broken toe so expect an "accidental" treading on his foot at the first corner kick!

Personally I'd risk a maximum of 1 full back and have Hayes as at least back-up on the bench, if not starting. We obviously have more than enough to win this final fairly comfortably - though Hearts will fight like hell for everything - but see no reason to unnecessarily gamble on too many player's fitness which could result in us finishing with 10 men again (as per Rangers game in March).
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Again, I get what you're saying, but I think Kieran has declared himself fit for the final - he wouldn't do that if there was even the remotest possibility of him breaking down (outside of that chance that any players has). He's been open about what's needed - a double hernia operation. He'll have that after the cup final, so I fully expect him to be match fit and starting in the cup final. As does he, judging by his remarks about playing in the cup final meaning he'll have to miss the Scottish national team games.

I picked Hayes and Toljan on my bench precisely because there's a small chance of us losing one of our full backs and I'm old-fashioned in thinking you should always have direct cover if it's possible. Absolutely, Ajer could play at LB or RB if necessary, but why bother when we have Toljan (who is good enough to play against Hearts) and Hayes as cover on either side.

Rogic on his top game would always be worthy of a starting place, but I put him in there because when we play with the central triangle of Brown-Ntcham-McGregor, our midfield slows right down. With Rogic in there - yes, you're not going to get as much when it comes to running back and tackling, but you're going to get link up play and, with him, as we all know, potentially a moment of magic. I think Rogic is an impact player - so let him do his stuff and then we can bring on Ntcham. That's my logic - though I don't necessarily disagree with those who think Rogic is too big a risk.
 
Maria said:
Would henderson fit for rogic?

I thought hayes played same side as tierney?

Simo is still on the bench.
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Definitely I think Henderson could play that 'Number 10' role like Rogic, but not as effective (not taking into account form - and when you take Rogic out and put CalMac there, you're starting two holding midfielders in Brown and Ntcham, which for me is absolutely unnecessary and has led to some of our worst football this season, when those two play together). Obviously the Rogic question is nullified by Christie, who for me has been magical when fully fit. I know it's not popular, and I'm a huge fan of Brown and think he's a living legend, our best midfield triangle (the one that drove the team that beat Leipzig, scored 20 goals in 4 league games etc.) has been McGregor-Christie-Rogic.

I think we'll beat Hearts with Ntcham-Brown-McGregor or the combo I went for, as it happens. And if Lenny gave young Hendo a spot in the squad, I'd not complain - though I would be shitting myself about Lustig getting injured and us having no natural cover. We could always go three at the back, but we did that against Sevco and we were overran in midfield.
 
SamTeàrlachH said:
Definitely I think Henderson could play that 'Number 10' role like Rogic, but not as effective (not taking into account form - and when you take Rogic out and put CalMac there, you're starting two holding midfielders in Brown and Ntcham, which for me is absolutely unnecessary and has led to some of our worst football this season, when those two play together). Obviously the Rogic question is nullified by Christie, who for me has been magical when fully fit. I know it's not popular, and I'm a huge fan of Brown and think he's a living legend, our best midfield triangle (the one that drove the team that beat Leipzig, scored 20 goals in 4 league games etc.) has been McGregor-Christie-Rogic.

I think we'll beat Hearts with Ntcham-Brown-McGregor or the combo I went for, as it happens. And if Lenny gave young Hendo a spot in the squad, I'd not complain - though I would be shitting myself about Lustig getting injured and us having no natural cover. We could always go three at the back, but we did that against Sevco and we were overran in midfield.
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As Niall J said in his article in the Celtic Star we should never have been in this position.

We’re good at planning for all off field revenue streams but have known for over a season, nigh on 2, that we need quality cover on that flank for KT and Lustig who has been a sicknote too at times but to be fair to him he lacks the pace required for that position.

We have had a bandaid side for way too long.
 
SamTeàrlachH said:
Again, I get what you're saying, but I think Kieran has declared himself fit for the final - he wouldn't do that if there was even the remotest possibility of him breaking down (outside of that chance that any players has). He's been open about what's needed - a double hernia operation. He'll have that after the cup final, so I fully expect him to be match fit and starting in the cup final. As does he, judging by his remarks about playing in the cup final meaning he'll have to miss the Scottish national team games.

I picked Hayes and Toljan on my bench precisely because there's a small chance of us losing one of our full backs and I'm old-fashioned in thinking you should always have direct cover if it's possible. Absolutely, Ajer could play at LB or RB if necessary, but why bother when we have Toljan (who is good enough to play against Hearts) and Hayes as cover on either side.

Rogic on his top game would always be worthy of a starting place, but I put him in there because when we play with the central triangle of Brown-Ntcham-McGregor, our midfield slows right down. With Rogic in there - yes, you're not going to get as much when it comes to running back and tackling, but you're going to get link up play and, with him, as we all know, potentially a moment of magic. I think Rogic is an impact player - so let him do his stuff and then we can bring on Ntcham. That's my logic - though I don't necessarily disagree with those who think Rogic is too big a risk.
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Hi Sam. Apologies - my mistake, I missed you having Hayes on the bench. I am still concerned about KT as he did also declare himself fit for the Rangers game too but couldn't finish the game, and we ended up a man down due to gambling on too many players fitness. We should still see off this Hearts team and I'd love it if Rogic finally found his form as he is unplayable at times. Anyway, I don't think Lenny will be phoning me before the game to see what I think so no worries there. ? The important thing is he gets it right and we can all celebrate an amazing unique treble treble. ?
 
The 2 full backs and Broony playing with injuries is a massive risk. Really worrying isn't it? Broony would play with his foot hanging off so possibly less of a concern but i agree with earlier posts regarding the risk of having to replace 2 full backs and limiting our tactical scope later. Hearts aren't a team not to sense an advantage in shall we say resorting to the darker arts and they'd happily take a booking or 2 to force us down that route.
 
Bridie Bhoy said:
Hi Sam. Apologies - my mistake, I missed you having Hayes on the bench. I am still concerned about KT as he did also declare himself fit for the Rangers game too but couldn't finish the game, and we ended up a man down due to gambling on too many players fitness. We should still see off this Hearts team and I'd love it if Rogic finally found his form as he is unplayable at times. Anyway, I don't think Lenny will be phoning me before the game to see what I think so no worries there. ? The important thing is he gets it right and we can all celebrate an amazing unique treble treble. ?
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Lol, no, I doubt he'll seek my advice either :ROFLMAO: I take your point about the Sevco match - though that was a gamble on what was not exactly a 'must win', but the final nail in their little coffin of a league campaign.
 
Burke is a tank. He could be so fkn useful doing his runs and not trying to score.

But he doesnt and he doesnt look particularly fkn bothered in running now either.

Lennon will want to play him although i say tata channel.
 
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