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A motherwell win was the worst possible result for us. A draw would have been decent but unfortunately fat Boyd got distracted by the burger van when taking his penalty.

FTFY

The simple fact is he did track back and as the ball hit him rather than him deliberately using his arm/elbow, what has that got to do with anything. Vigurs is not the only player who has not always performed for us this season but seems to be getting all of the criticism from certain quarters which is wholly unjustified. I will say it again, the booing of any player by the home fans is simply not justified in the circumstances it was done on Wednesday and should not be condoned by any ICT supporter.

Who was it that got back in the last minute of the game against The Rangers to block a cross from close in on the byline?

There's still 11 games to go and therefore 33 points up for grabs. Theoretically we could still finish 2nd! Things can turn round very quickly. Dundee may be feeling a bit more comfortable in 7th now, but if we were to win our next 3 games and they were to lose theirs, we would be ahead of them - and there would still be eight games to go! But just as easily, Dundee could win their next 3 and we could lose our and they would be out of sight. What often happens is that when teams feel they are safe from relegation, they take their foot off the pedal a little. Sides are so evenly matched in the bottom half of the division that a little slacking off can make the difference between win or lose. 2 or 3 bad results and suddenly they find themselves being dragged into the mire, the doubt creeps in and that nervousness is reflected in their play and they go on a loosing streak, Those teams at the bottom know they are in a fight. They make that little more effort which gives them the edge over those who thought they were safe, and then they develop a bit of belief as they narrow the gap. T. If we can continue to play with the fight and determination we have been showing in the last 3 games we should pick up enough points to end at least 10th. But other teams about us are also showing some real fight and determination so we can't afford to slacken off at all. 100% effort from the team and 100% support for all the players from the fans is what we need till the end of the season.

I am definitely NOT a Happy Clapper but agree that there is a lot of football to be played. I expected to get beat by Cellic but I was hoping for a better scoreline. Saying that it could have been a lot worse and we certainly shot ourselves in the foot. What is annoying me is that we have had two improved performances. One being a draw on a peat bog in Embra against a side on the decline and a victory over a Sevco side in turmoil at the time. So why is everybody so confident about going on a run when we have only won one game in months. Especially against a vibrant, in-form Partick, a Tinkerville outfit who are Jekyll and Hyde and against Killie who have surprisingly sprung up the league. Three sides who undoubtedly have more confidence than we have and also have impetus to win for differing reasons. I sincerely hope that we can match them in all areas but are there really signs that we are so capable of that ?

How many on this thread can honestly say they expected anything other than what happened last night ?What is adding to our woes are other results at this time not going in our favour .I know before I get blown out of the water we shouldn't be relying on other results but it is what it is . We all need to pull together and get behind Richie and his team ,starting against Partick a week on Sat that will be a crucial game ...CJT are running bus to this game so please book a seat and come along and show the team we are not ready to give up on them . Bus details on another thread . As for fans booing Vigurs it's a cheap form of bullying and these supposed fans should be filtered out (someone knows who they are )and given a ban we don't need that disgusting behaviour .IMO Vigurs is one of our strongest players . People seem forget it wasn't his choice to leave us in the first place Butcher in his madness got rid of him .I for one am glad to have him back in our team ..... I await the backlash ,and I don't mean on the pitch !!!

Can't agree with that. While there is still a glimmer of a chance of achieving 10th spot, all the efforts should be concentrated on that aim (manager, players and supporters alike). Relegation I fear will definitely be a financial disaster leading to the loss of many jobs, and as I don't think we have the ability to bounce back up, I can see the possibility of us slipping into relative obscurity, part time football etc. So, one more giant push is needed from everybody to gain us another year in the top flight, and buy us a bit of time to sort ourselves out next season.

It was a disappointing performance and it's fair to say that other midweek results could hardly have been worse from our point of view. However, we need to look at the positives. None of our relegation rivals are likely to take anything from Celtic, many of them will have to play them again whereas we will not have to face them again this season. On our day, we are capable of taking something from every other opponent we have to play this season and, if we put last night behind us and play with the form and spirit we displayed against Hearts and The Rangers we will. Challenging weeks ahead but challenges that, if we all pull together, we can overcome.

Second game in a row. Absolutely disgraceful. Picking out Vigz to be the brunt of everyone's frustrations...totally unfair. There's more players this season that have worse performances. RF has done the right thing, he's playing him off the bench-what more can be done? i can't believe at this point that we're booing any of our own players! Thought we were better than that.

Great post DD. Was shocked at booing of Vigurs before he even came on. Esp as those booing had been giving team such great support

Disappointing to lose a goal just before half time and then concede such a soft goal straight from our kick off at the start of the second half. Had we got to the hour mark without conceding we might have got something out of the game. That 2nd goal was a real sickener and full credit to the team for never giving up. We played very well against The Rangers on Friday but never quite matched that today. I don't think that was from any lack of effort, it was just that Celtic are head and shoulders above any other team in the league and put such pressure on the opposition. But having said that, if OFW had played like he did on Friday we would have run Celtic close. I thought Polworth was the one player whose performance was well down on Friday, when I thought he was excellent. How he got the sponsors MOTM beats me! Billy King was was my MOTM, particularly in the first half when he did some top class tackling back. King Billy put in a good shift but was frustrated by poor service from Polworth in particular and by a superb centre back pairing who never put a foot wrong all evening.. Overall, there was enough in that performance to suggest we can turn things round. The big worry is OFW's fitness. Richie may have a big decision to make there. He certainly has a big decision to make relating to Garry Warren. We now have decent options in defence and Warren has made one or two crucial errors and is lacking a bit of pace. Finally, a big well done to Iain Vigurs. Whatever one may think about Vigurs, I simply abhor fans booing their own player when he comes on. When he came on he really played for the shirt. He fought for the ball and then used the ball well when he got it. If he could keep that up for 90 minutes he would be first on the team sheet every week.

Polworth had good moments including that lovely volley and some forward runs but I was disappointed to see him make absolutely no effort to track back a few times when he lost possession in forward areas. He just seemed to spit the dummy/lose heart/give up way too easily.

Don't see any point slagging the players off for this evening. Domestically Celtic have been literally unbeatable this season. They're a class above the SPL. Also don't agree with this notion that the players lacked 'belief', or should've been braver with the ball. Celtic are bigger, faster, stronger, more skillful and more organized than us. Trying to dribble or play tippy tappy against a team like that is suicide. 9 times out of 10 you'll be dispossessed (as we saw time and again tonight) and the team left exposed for a breakaway. No amount of 'belief' will magically change reality. Under these circumstances it's safety first - clear your lines, play long, safe balls up the park, don't take any chances, keep men behind the ball. This is how we played in the first half, and for the most part it worked well. Celtic struggled to break us down and it took a world class goal to break the deadlock. Second half was a bit of a shambles, but Celtic can make anyone in this league look like mugs. Having 2 energy sapping OF games in 5 days probably didn't help the cause. 4 points gained from Hearts, Rangers and Celtic is an excellent return. The bar has been set. If we can perform to the same standard against the diddy teams we'll climb the table.

Really, all in all, a defeat to Celtic isn't exactly a surprise...and 4 points from the last three games is way over target, and more than what we could've hoped for. For once this season, other results haven't favoured us, but it's games against the other bottom 6 that's going to make the real difference. We have in fact closed the gap on Hamilton in March, which also, is a positive. Take emotions out of it, and we've actually done pretty well. and I can 100% confirm that OFW is carrying an injury.

Ach missed it! Just spotted your PM Gringo, flaming work getting in the way of the important things in life this week. Does the Coventry Nil magic not work in midweek

I have a Davie Milroy badge

Raven, Laing, McCart ,Tremarco to keep us up. Feel Mckay is caught out of position too often and tends to drift to centre ( that maybe because where he plays changes weekly.) Thought he was a fine at first but not so sure anymore. Warren way off it just now. See also ground made up by Laing on Warren during Dembele's 2nd on Wed. (Although I think one of them should have been 10 yards behind one another rather than 10 apart but square) Meekings contract silence says it all, we know the script by now. I think he's off. McNaughton 2nd choice to Raven.