For me - 

                     Fon Williams

Horner Devine Warren Meekings Williams

            Tansey Draper Polworth

                    Storey Sho-Silva

Subs - Esson, Raven, Tremarco, Vincent, Wedderburn, Mutombo, Vigurs

Edited November 23, 20159 yr by Renegade

Not a fan of 5 at the back since the farce at Firhill last season (the second league game, in case you are having difficulty with your Firhill disasters).

Five defenders and three holding midfielders seems a touch defensive too. Not sure what the answer is though, maybe something like:

                                                                   Fon Williams

                                                    Horner Warren Meekings Tremarco

                                                                Tansey Draper 
            
                                                     Sho-Silva Polworth Williams

                                                                    Storey

 

Failing that, could we borrow Molde? Seeing as having properly registered players is no longer necessary...

We saw out the game at Motherwell with a back 5 and it worked very well.  I was impressed again with Horner at Partick and I've really liked Williams playing as a wing back this season.  The 3-4-2-1 didn't work very well, but I think a system with two attacking wing backs (which has always suited us) and two strong, quick strikers means that we'd could do some damage to Celtic especially on the break as well as being defensively solid.  Bringing Draper back in would also free up Tansey a lot more.

Only thing that would concern me is that it is a big risk to play Gary Warren when he is not match fit in such an important game.

7 hours ago, Renegade said:

We saw out the game at Motherwell with a back 5 and it worked very well.

Yes, but we were two goals up at the time. We were also hanging on for the last 10 minutes. My concern would be that if we allow Celtic to come at us, then we will concede and lose. 

                 Fon Williams

raven.  Warren.  Meetings williams

.           Tansey.      Draper

polworth.   Sho silva.     Mutumbo

.                   Storey

subs: esson horner tremarco Devine Vincent vigurs wedderburn.

strong line up if you ask me, and although it's taking a chance I'd play with attack in mind as Celtics defence hasn't been great! If you wanted a stronger bench then obviously one or two changes could happen but I think we should have a go at them! This line up can obviously only work should all players be 100% fit but we can only hope! 

I never see v Celtic as an important game. Mostly they win but they are beatable so what I'd like to see is an attack minded team on the pitch. Go at them. They still have a dodgy defence and they struggle with balls over the top so just go for it and see how it turns out.

I fully agree Alex

 

 

               Fon Williams

Raven  Warren  Meekings Tremarco

          Tansey      Draper

Sho silva/Mutumbo  Vincent Williams

                Storey

Put in Sho Sliva or Mutumbo into the midfield for a bit of pace if either are fit if not then Vigurs will need to start. If Warren isnt fit enough to start then we play Devine. celtic will play a 2nd string as there will ne huge pressure to win at least one Eruopa league game, but they have a weak defence and a poorer team than last season. Its a game we should go out to try win, being a home game and us still being up and down with consistency then a win could be the confidence booster for a good wee run heading into the festive period.

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2015‎ ‎16‎:‎44‎:‎05, Alex MacLeod said:

I never see v Celtic as an important game. Mostly they win but they are beatable so what I'd like to see is an attack minded team on the pitch. Go at them. They still have a dodgy defence and they struggle with balls over the top so just go for it and see how it turns out.

I agree. The Celtic league games are probably the least important fixtures in any given season.

After their result tonight we have to go hell for leather from the start and we may get something from the game!

Fon Williams

Horner    Warren   Meekings   Williams

Tansey     Draper 

Polworth             Vincent             Sutherland

Storey

IMO every game of the season is important...including Celtic games! Last year we took 4 points off them, and had one reasonable away result against them! Those 4 point were huge for our season for a few reasons:

1) the 1-0 home win kept our run going at the start and gave the players confidence to push on and pick up more valuable points.

2) the four points that could easily have been dropped and forgotten about gave us that little cushion towards the end of the season so that when we had pretty bad run it gave us time needed to get over the finish line.

3) that draw the week before the semi final was, to me, huge in how our season finished! Not only was another point on the board but it gave the players the confidence going into the semi final that they could match up to Celtic which they certainly did! 

So given that it's another league game that we can pick up points from and having watched Celtic last night as well as previous games this year, we should be going for this and treating it the same as every weekend! 

Looking forward to Meekings scoring the winner by punching the ball into the net.

On 11/23/2015, 11:30:06, HawkeyeTheGnu said:

Yes, but we were two goals up at the time. We were also hanging on for the last 10 minutes. My concern would be that if we allow Celtic to come at us, then we will concede and lose. 

IMO we looked far more defensively comfortable with a back 5 than a back 4 at Motherwell.  I also felt after Raven was sent off the other week we looked better with a back 3.  Heck, when we conceded, it was only after going back to a back 4!  I've never been a believer that because something didn't work once (in this case the 3-4-2-1 - not the formation I'm advocating) we should never use it again. 

This Celtic side is as mediocre defensively as it's been for years.  A 5-3-2 with two strong quick strikers in Storey and Sho-Silva putting them under constant pressure could well see them crack and three centre-backs would see us give two wing backs the freedom to get forward.  A five man defence does not mean that we should be playing defensive football, it just enables another way to attack.

Edited November 27, 20159 yr by Renegade

32 minutes ago, Renegade said:

IMO we looked far more defensively comfortable with a back 5 than a back 4 at Motherwell.  I also felt after Raven was sent off the other week we looked better with a back 3.  Heck, when we conceded, it was only after going back to a back 4!  I've never been a believer that because something didn't work once (in this case the 3-4-2-1 - not the formation I'm advocating) we should never use it again. 

This Celtic side is as mediocre defensively as it's been for years.  A 5-3-2 with two strong quick strikers in Storey and Sho-Silva putting them under constant pressure could well see them crack and three centre-backs would see us give two wing backs the freedom to get forward.  A five man defence does not mean that we should be playing defensive football, it just enables another way to attack.

The five at the back at Firhill was so bad, that I would advocate that we don't use it again, particularly with two holding midfielders. Against Motherwell, we were being pushed further and further back, and could easily have conceded another if they had been more clinical. My concern against Celtic would be that if we allow ourselves to be pushed back like that from the off by playing 5 at the back, and effectively play the game in our defensive third, we will be under pressure, not them. Celtic will score and our record this season when conceding first is poor.

I agree that Celtic's defence is mediocre, and would like to see us put them under pressure, but would prefer that to be as a result of us being on the front foot, not from trying to soak up pressure and hit on the counter.

Were we not playing with 4 at the back when Raven was sent off? We conceded from the penalty, so it would be harsh to attribute the goal to a particular system. I thought we then went to three at the back, before bringing on Warren and going back to 4, although I could be wrong.

 

1. The players that have been injured have undoubtedly had sufficient time now to recover. It appears that we may have learned a feckin lesson in this respect.

2. Why tamper with a system and play in to the hands of Cellic. Fon Williams plus a back four that knows each other plus Draper in front is just as good as five anyday. I would go with the trusted Raven, Warren, Meekings and Willams.

3. I think that our main predicament is how to play Draper and Tansey together. I would play Draper just in front of the back four and allow Tansey to drift. I would then look to Polworth on the right and Vincent on the left. Both have good engines and should be able to match the attacking and defensive duties. They could always be "sacrificed" in the second half.

4. Pace and movement up front is what we need against Cellic. That to me calls for Storey and Hi Ho Silver.

5. That was a hard slog for Cellic against Ajax and the pressure is really on Delia. It looks like he has lost the dressing room and the terraces. Defeat against us could lead to his demise.

6. And to me Cellic is an important fixture, especially at home. Picking up "unexpected" points in these games are "bonus" bonanzas.

I have a sneaky "seer" feeling that we could be looking at six points against the top two in less than a week.

Note that there is to be a pitch inspection on Sunday morning (according to BBC)

ICT website mentioning this as well.

http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/1666-ict-v-celtic-29-11-15

Hoping the game goes ahead. 

Celtic seem to be very unlucky on our home turf. Ronnie D had yet to taste victory here. It's been 2 years since their last win. Add to that they don't like early KOs either. 

Would really p Septic right off if game postponed. They are tucked up in comfort of the Kingsmills apartments right now, which are not cheap.

If still on though, getting back to our line up I would like to see the following:-

Fon Williams

Raven Warren Meekings Williams

Horner Draper Tansey Vigurs

Sho Silva Storey

Subs: Esson, Tremarco, Devine, Vincent, Wedderburn,Mutumbo & Polworth

14 hours ago, RiG said:

ICT website mentioning this as well.

http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/1666-ict-v-celtic-29-11-15

Pitch passed the inspection and its game on according to the official site.