Dedryck Boyata

Watched the "penalty" incident over and over again.

100% a quality tackle from Boyata, no question whatsoever.

 

Quality player, hopefully he dosent let that terrible penalty decision affect his confidence

 

Our best centre back at the moment

 

I like the guy, and I think he’s turned into a really good player.

Which isn’t something I thought I would be saying a season or two ago.

He is still prone to the odd clanger, but overall I think the improvement in him has been great.

 

DB: “I think everyone is very happy with our #BetfredCup result. Great achievement to get to the final but not finished yet.”

DB: “For a player it’s always a good thing to play in a final. Definitely looking forward to that.

DB: “I watched the game yesterday and @MotherwellFC did very well. They deserved the result.”

DB: “On to the next game on Wednesday so we’ll now focus on that.”

DB: “Going to @AberdeenFC is not easy. It’s going to be tough but we’ll be well prepared and will challenge them as much as we can.”

DB on unbeaten run: “We know it’s a great achievement but we don’t speak about it. We just take it one game at a time.”


DEDRYCK Boyata says that he and his Celtic team-mates are fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead of them when they travel to Pittodrie this Wednesday to face Aberdeen in the Premiership.

Speaking to the media at Lennoxtown today (Monday) Boyata said: “Playing against Aberdeen is not easy. It’s going to be a tough game but I know we’ll be fully-prepared to go there and challenge them as best we can.

“We know their quality and we're aware that it’s not going to be easy. For us, every game is a challenge and we always staying ready and prepared for these games.”

The Belgian internationalist played his part in the 4-2 League Cup semi-final victory over Hibernian at Hampden last weekend, and he was full of praise for his defensive partner on the day, Nir Bitton.

“We’ve been working very hard since the beginning of the season with all the defenders and players like Nir who has been playing as a centre-back," Boyata said. "He’s being doing very well and has been helping us a lot.

“Nir is developing every day. It’s definitely not easy for him. There are things which you can see a centre-back would do straight away but he’s a very good player and he’s improving all the time.”

Celtic go into the game against Derek McInnes' side on a 60-game unbeaten run in Scotland. The magnitude of the achievement is something which Boyata and his team-mates appreciate, but the 26-year-old insisted that their focus is only on the immediate game in front of them and not breaking records.

"I’m not going to lie and say that we don’t speak about it," he said. "We know it’s a great achievement but as I’ve said before we’re looking forward to one game at a time.

"We know we’re undefeated and it’s a great statement for how good a team we are. It’s definitely something we want to defend but we just stay focused on playing the next game and make sure we're ready as the manager has prepared us to be."

 

When you think of great centre backs you tend to think about partnerships, sometimes there is a dominant one (Van Dijk & Denayer) personally I think Boyata and Simunovic could be a great partnership, but Dedyck can sometimes look a little "shakey" without Jozo

 

Like big Boyata but it's an area we need to strengthen, mainly due to the injury record of them all!

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using Tapatalk

 

To be expected when he's not playing with a natural centre back..

One of the hardest positions in football, or key positions, is finding a solid centre back partnership..

He's still got scope for me but his improvements are vast in a short space of time since coming back in. Looks far more dominant and physical, as well as being better on the ball..

A player I'm really enjoying watching now defensively..

A fit partner in Jozo or if need be someone else, and we'll see a terrific Boyata in my opinion..

 

BR: "The linesman came in after the game and apologised. He said to Dedryck he made a mistake, takes a lot of courage to do that."

 

Aye, and to prove dafties like you who said it was a penalty wrong

 

* up ya wee green *.

 

Today's PC
https://streamable.com/pbmgr

 

HE'S been the central member of Celtic's Fab Four at the back, from day trips at Hampden to a hard day's night in Munich.

But Dedryck Boyata insists he feels fine as he hopes everything continues to come together for Brendan Rodgers' outfit in the months ahead.

The centre of the Celtic defensive has been an issue for Brendan Rodgers' band of Bhoys this term with all three main stoppers being injured at various points. At the moment it's the turn of Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko.

That means the likes of Nir Bitton and Mikael Lustig have been drafted in as cover to help the Scottish Champions shore things up at the back.

It is a lot of pressure heaped on Boyata to help marshal those around him, but it's a task he is relishing. Having not played this season until September 20 due to a knee injury, the Belgian 26-year-old has helped Celtic to four clean sheets in seven games including against Anderlecht in the Champions League.

And even though his central defensive pairing with Lustig was tested to the max last week in the 3-0 defeat away to Bayern, Boyata insists he doesn't have to hold the hand of those thrust into the defensive breach beside him ahead of a massive test at Pittodrie this evening.

“I’ve always been a defender who likes to take responsibility. I talk a lot on the pitch and try to help my teammates and the people around me," he said.

“In this position we’re in at the moment we are missing two of our experienced centre-backs and I’m the only one left, but Nir is doing well when he’s in and Mikael is doing well too.

“We’re helping each other. It’s not easy, but at the moment we are doing fine.

“I was watching the Premier League games and they were talking about normally centre-backs you want a good partnership because one player can’t do anything. It can help the team.

“For right now we have been shifting a lot. Maybe it’s not helping but that’s the situation we’re in. We’re fighting, we’re helping each other 100 per cent non stop and we’re doing fine.

“That’s the situation."

As already mentioned, Boyata's return to the Celtic back line has brought about an upturn in clean sheets.

The former Manchester City man has clearly benefitted from a thorough rehabilitation at Lennoxtown and is showing no signs of the knee problem which sidelined him for three months.

A lack of defensive cover has meant Boyata has been exposed to Celtic's frantic schedule of late, but he is not worried about burning himself out as the run up to Christmas intensifies.

“I’m feeling pretty tired, it’s definitely been a hard week, especially playing three games in seven days," he explains. “We’re fine though, we have another game in two days and we’ll just prepare for that again.

“With the situation we’re in with a lot of injuries, when it comes to managing myself, if the other centre-back had have been there then maybe it would have been different. But the manager has 100 percent faith in me, and he would never risk me. If he felt I wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t put me on the pitch.

“The adrenaline keeps you going in a way. When you play only one game a week, it can feel very long sometimes. When the next game is seven days away, it can seem far away. When you are playing every two or three days, you are always doing something and physically it isn’t the best, but we are working hard to stay on top of our game and being fit for every game.

“We went from Champions League to the semi-final and now we’re playing a team that have the same points as us, so it’s going to be tough.

“That’s why we’re here though. We’re here to play games and we have these big challenges, and we are up for it.”

A run of games, clean sheets and a push for a domestic treble could be just the ticket for Boyata. Or, to be more specific, a ticket to Russia.

The Beligan internationalist has aspirations to be part of Roberto Martinez squad that is aiming to take the World Cup by storm, and centre-half knows the only way to make that dream take off is lift Celtic to great heights.

"The World Cup would be a dream. But for myself it is step by step," he said. "I have been in this position before, talking about things that could happen, and then I got injured.

"It’s just step by step, thinking about what is coming up this week. Roberto Martinez has been very happy with what I am doing here. The national team is another story. There are other players, good names, but it is step by step.

"It is always a good thing for me to be with the national squad because I can think back to the two months behind me when I was on crutches. When you get there, you want to play. But to do that I have to play well here first.


The Champions League could help, but I don’t really think that way. For me, it is first about playing here, then playing well and then going to the national team and waiting for a chance. We will see what happens."

 

Speaking of Erik when is he due back?

 

* knows at this point.

 

Good point.Although Bitton played amazing last night is a joke we don't have a solid back 2.