Youth/Development Team Thread

Very good..

First I've seen him..

 

Our youth side still look really decent.

 

First time I've really seen Johnstone, he looks very promising.

 

Such a * way to lose, gifted them the win.

 

THE Young Hoops were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in the Mini Estadi this afternoon (Tuesday) as Celtic contested their first UEFA Youth League group stage match.
Goals from Carles Perez and Jeremy Guillemenot gave Barcelona the victory in what was a battling performance from the Glasgow side.
Tommy McIntyre made just one change to the team the defeated Dunfermline in the SPFL Development League last week, Kristoffer Ajer coming in to midfield in replace of Dan Higgins.
The sides last met in the competition back in 2013, with the Spaniards winning both group stage matches 3-0 and 2-1 respectively.
It was Barcelona who started the match on the front foot, and they opened the scoring in only the second minute, Carles Perez rifling home a shot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead minutes from the off.
Ross Doohan pulled off a strong save to deny Alex Collado in the 14th minute after his midfield partner, Oriol Busquets, dragged a shot wide a few minutes earlier.
The young Celts then started to grow into the contest but carving out the opener proved to be a struggle for the Bhoys as the 20th minute approached.
The hosts, however, continued to pressure the Celts’ backline from the first whistle and captain Eric Montes was next to test Doohan in the 25th minute. The Hoops stopper, though, saved the 15-yard effort comfortably.
While Celtic were enjoying some periods of possession, the Spanish outfit continued to look more threatening, particularly through the prominent Seungwoo Lee. His tricky run into the box a minute later nearly created an opening but the attacker dragged his shot wide of the post.
Kristoffer Ajer spurned a glorious chance to give Celtic the equaliser in the 37th minute as Anthony Ralston raced down the wing to cut the ball back to the midfielder, but the Norwegian flashed his shot wide from inside the box.
There were no more chances for Tommy McIntyre’s side as Barcelona went in at the break in front.
The Bhoys began to control possession after the interval and came close to levelling the match. PJ Crossan found himself through on goal but the referee penalised Regan Hendry for a foul on Oriol Rey in the 52nd minute, preventing the attack.
And only a timely challenge from an Ajer cross denied the ball from finding its way into the box minute later.
After a swift breakaway, Barcelona doubled their advantage. Jeremy Guillemenot drove forward in the 64th minute following a misplaced pass, firing a low shot past Doohan in the Celtic net.
However, six minutes later, the goal, which came against the run of play, was quickly cancelled out. Jack Aitchison capped off a terrific driving run at the Barcelona defence with a fine low finish into the corner to draw one back for Celtic.
A crafty piece of play from Lee gave Barcelona substitute Mboula a sight of goal inside the box but the winger failed to make a clean connection and the ball ran harmlessly wide.
The Crossan and Aitchison duo up top proved difficult at times for the Barca back four. Josep Martinez, the opposition goalkeeper, had to scramble the ball to safety in the 75th minute after continuing pressure from the front two.
Daniel Beltran was next to try his luck for the hosts, though. He was picked out in the edge of the area but his shot was fired over the bar in the 78th minute.
Doohan then had to pull off a smart stop from Mboula who tested the Celtic keeper in the 86th minute.
But while Tommy McIntyre’s side managed to avoid conceding another, they were unable to capitalise up top against a solid Barcelona defence, ensuring all three points in the UEFA Youth League opener went the Spaniards’ way with plenty of positives to take back to Glasgow.

 

[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=agrXHqWJ6VU[/ame]

 

got to stop giving teams a goal in the first few minutes..

i know they are all young lads but they seem to do this in too many matches. Onwards and upwards, great experience for all of them. lovely goal, thanks Crow, whatever TC are paying you i will double it

:icon_mrgreen:

 

they don't pay me.

 

Great goal by young Jack

 

Will watch that later Cheers Crow. Thanks for the match report too

Didn't see the game but it sounds like we gave a good account of ourselves especially in the second half. That's not bad away to Barca who must have one of the best youth teams in the world.

 

Just got beat off Ross County 1-0. GMS, Boyata, Ajer, O'Connell and Bailly all started.

Not had a great start to the season.

 

That not their first league loss in like 18 months?

 

CELTIC’S Development Side slipped to their first league defeat since May 2015 today (Monday) as Ross County recorded a 1-0 victory over Tommy McIntyre’s men in Dumbarton. The only goal of the game came in the first-half when striker, Greg Morrison knocked home a cross in the 36th minute.
Tommy McIntyre made a number of changes from the recent narrow 2-1 defeat to Barcelona, with Logan Bailly, Dedryck Boyata, Eoghan O’Connell, Aidan McIlduff and Gary Mackay-Steven all coming into the starting line-up.
The early exchanges saw both sides trying to carve out openings. Mackay-Steven had a powerful shot from six yards after just seven minutes before Hoops striker PJ Crossan hit a shot off the crossbar five minutes later.
Then, after making another forward run, Crossan teed-up Regan Hendry, whose shot hit the side-netting, though he had been flagged for offside. It had been one-way traffic, but Bailly had to be alert in the 18th minute, though David Brownlie curled the ball over the bar in what was the visitors’ first attempt of the afternoon.
In the 30th minute, Ross County’s resistance was nearly broken as Kristoffer Ajer headed on target from the corner. The Staggies stopper saved the Norwegian midfielder’s effort well, and within five minutes the visitors made the breakthrough. Greg Morrison got on the end of a pinpoint cross from the left and produced a fine header past Bailly to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Minutes after the re-start, Miller tried to spark the Bhoys into action with a good run. He took the ball away from Tumilty but was eventually crowded out, winning a foul for the Celts in the 39th minute. Mark Hill’s cross from the resulting set-piece was comfortably held by the keeper and it proved to be the last attack of the half as the Bhoys went into the break a goal down.
After the interval, it was the Hoops who emerged the stronger side and they took the game to the visitors, although Ross County remained resolute at the back, preventing a number of openings.
Substitute Mikey Johnston came close to equalising on the hour mark after a mazy run towards the edge of the box, but having crafted some space, he couldn’t keep his powerful drive down.
The Bhoys remained on the front foot but struggled to break down the Staggies defence and Foden dealt convincingly with another cross ball in the 75th minute, this time from Hoops attacker Miller.
Bailly made his first meaningful save of the second-half seven minutes from time, tipping away Christopher McLaughlin’s cross before the Hoops mounted a late rally, and three minutes later, Eoghan O’Connell had a golden chance to put the youths ahead when he met Theo Archibald’s cross at the far post but his effort fell wide.
Archibald was next to try his luck, charging from the right and attempting a curling effort into the bottom corner, but his strike missed the target. And as the game entered its final few seconds, Archibald came agonisingly close to levelling the match but his volley was heroically cleared off the line from Brownlie.
Ross County held on to claim a hard-fought victory, the Development Side’s first league defeat in 16 months.

 

* Highlanders ruining everyone's weekend

 

That is a pity about the lads unbeaten run coming to an end but it was quite an amazing feat. Sounds like they should have got something from the game too as they dominated it and were quite unlucky with their finishing and one getting cleared off the line.

Cheers for the match report Crow.

The Under 19 game against City is on BT Sport 1 at 5pm next Wednesday. That'll be a tough one I'm sure but hopefully they can play to their best and get something from it. Great experience for them playing in Europe.

 

Celtic v Man City UEFA Youth League Group Stage tomorrow at 5PM on BT Sport 1.

 

Utterly ridiculous planning this, why at 5pm?

Remember the last time we were in this it kicked off at 2 at Cappielow meaning you could go to both games in the day.

Anyone going to Parkhead won't be going to this including myself, don't see the organisation in this at all unless they want the smallest crowd possible to see it of course

 

TOMMY McIntyre says Celtic Under-19s have done their homework on their Manchester City counterparts but he insists their main focus has been on implementing their own game-plan in today’s UEFA Youth League clash at Cappielow (Kick off 5pm).
The young Hoops head into the game in Greenock on the back of a 2-1 defeat away to Barcelona in their opening group match, where they were unfortunate not to have harvested any reward after an impressive display.
And pleased with the Bhoys’ preparations for the match, McIntyre told the official website that he hoped the players would take confidence from their performance in Catalonia into the visit of the English outfit.
Celtic's Professional Academy Manager said: “We have been delighted. The players have worked really hard in training and we've had a wee bit of time in between our last game which gives us a bit more preparation time, so we have good lead into the game and we've also had a lot of good scouting reports so we have a wee bit of information on City and they probably have the same on us
“It’s good to get that information and we have done a bit of video work with the players – but not too much. We have been more focused on how we want to play and playing with a purpose. It’s all about us, though obviously we are playing against a really top side and you don’t expect anything different at this level of competition.
“We are still a bit disappointed we never took anything from the Barcelona game. At the end of the day, it’s still three points they have which we don’t. But given it’s at this stage in their development, it’s about performance and improving and hopefully they will take a lot from it.”
City swept aside Borussia Monchengladbach 4-1 in their first match of the group and, while McIntyre knows his young players will face another stiff challenge, he believes they are capable of posing a threat to their opponents.
The coach said: “Having looked at City’s game against Borussia Monchengladbach, it will be another good challenge and if we go into it with the same belief and if we play together well as a team we will hope to pose them one or two problems.
“The players and the staff want to pit their wits against a different style of play and their methodology. That’s what we are taking into the game, along with the character we showed over in Barcelona in really difficult conditions.
“Being our home game at Cappielow, hopefully we can make things difficult for City, grow into and manage the game and get a wee bit of luck.
"But, more importantly, it’s taking the challenge and for our players to showcase themselves and show they are capable of playing in such a distinguished environment.”
Dan Higgins is the only injury concern for McIntyre, who has added two members of the U17 side to his squad for the match.
He said: “We have had a fairly settled squad. The training itself has been fairly balanced and come the game we want to peak for performance.
“We don’t have any injury problems and we are happy with the squad, which will be the same one we had in Barcelona.I have brought in young Daniel Church and Kerr McInroy, who have been doing well for the U17s.
“The only issue just now is Dan Higgins, who has picked up a little knock. The benefit of that is we can bring in one or two youngsters and give them the opportunity to experience the occasion as part of their education.”