Young Boys Thrash Bhoys, WtF?

By: JT | July 8th, 2007

07.07.07 was not so lucky for Celtic. The Hoops were dealt what on the surface appears to be a hefty 4-1 defeat at the hands of BSC Young Boys last night in the finale of the Uhren Cup in Switzerland. Old pal and Celtic nemesis Hakan Yakin scored two very late goals to make the scoreline uglier than it needed to be, but to be fair, Celtic were outplayed all night. A homer ref who couldn’t find his whistle while Celtic players were being mauled didn’t help either. In the end though, friendlies don’t matter, and a sight knock to Pressley was the only injury in the end.

So what exactly happened here? Apparently Strachan thought it wise to train for an hour and forty minutes immediately before pregame warm-up. He ingeniously declared after the match that it was a mistake to train for that long, but he was “enjoying it too much.” For a guy that is so into fitness, its astonishing he or someone else didn’t think this was a bad idea. We’re lucky there weren’t more muscle strains and pulls.

We have learned a few things from these two games already.

• Bjarnason is a player and will be getting more and more first team time this season. He is not a right back though.
• Donati and Scott Brown need to be playing immediately in the center of the park. They’re the guys, they need to get used to each other.
• My dreams of a 4-3-3 are dashed. Gordo is 4-4-2 till he dies.
• McGeady looks fit and strong.
• Gravesen has mentally checked out already.
• Evander Sno will need some more time to get his sharpness and fitness back.
• A consistent right back is needed, or at least cover. Maybe Moritz Volz is the man, but certainly not Doumbe. We shall see.
• Bobo and Pressley are old and slow.
• Jan the Man and Scott McDonald are shaping up as the duo up front.

Derek Riordan wants to play, and Hoops fans want to see him play. Its hard not to hear some animosity for Strachan in these comments though. He may be looking for a way out come January, and if he does, here’s hoping he keeps it to himself.

Squad size is an issue. It takes some work to keep a large squad happy during the season, but right now I think it’s a good thing. We’ll find out who really wants to be a part of the great things Celtic are doing, and who wants to be somewhere else. It will be apparent who has the desire to be in the green and white as the friendlies progress, and the rest can be shipped out in the last few weeks of August.

The Bhoys traveled home immediately after last night’s match, and the next match is Peterborough United, away, on Friday the 13th.