Jozo Simunovic

Thought him and Boyata were very good tonight. Solid pairing.

 

Say hello to the Jozo
Say hello to the brave
Put your faith in big Jozo
And Celtic shall be saved

 

Love this guy.
He's a bit special.

 

Boss.

 

Strolled it. Jozo you are my provo!!

 

THE Celtic defence of the 1980s and 1990s was affectionately nicknamed ‘The Sieve' by the fanzine Not The View. It was harsh but fair.

No matter how many genuinely good attacking players there were in the team, and no matter how many goals were scored, you could always rely on someone at the back making the kind of avoidable mistake which at times defied belief.

It cost them dear in Europe. Supporters of a certain age will recall, or should it be recoil, when a random tie against a smallish club ended in defeat because the back four played as if they all spoke different languages. And to do well in the Champions League, you need to be solid at the back.

Solid. That’s exactly what Celtic were against Anderlecht on Wednesday night.

Starting with Craig Gordon: the goalkeeper kicked well, made saves when he needed to and exuded confidence. Mikael Lustig had a terrific night, he’s enjoying a fine season, while the quite incredible Kieran Tierney didn’t miss a tackle and it was his perfect cross which set up Leigh Griffiths for the crucial opening goal.

However, the two who really stood out where Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata. This central pairing hardly put a foot wrong in Brussels and it bodes well for the rest of the group stage if this duo can keep fit.

Not only do they look scary, Simunovic is going for the James Bond baddie look, but they can play a bit as well. Boyata has come on leaps and bounds as a ball-playing centre-half. Brendan Rodgersmust be delighted.

The back five were tremendous on Wednesday. True, Anderlecht are not a brilliant side but had more than enough about them to cause problems. Every time they ran into a Celtic defender, he was in no mood to move aside.

High balls were won, the tackles were clean and if a big punt out of danger was required, then the ball was sent miles away. They never panicked and were always to take a pass and then play one. It’s exactly what the manager wants. Simunovic began the season well but has needed a regular partner. And Boyata is the man to provide the team with such a solid base. It bodes well.

“Dedryck is very important to us because he is a natural central defender,” said Simunovic. “Until the last game I played with midfielders and full-backs, so it means a lot, not for me, but for the whole team to have Dedryck back playing again.

“Last season we played many games together, especially in the second part of last season. He has missed three months but we’ve showed we can still play together.”

Third place remains Celtic’s realistic target. It would be hard to see Anderlecht not finishing fourth and equally, with the best will in the world, Bayern Munich aren’t going to allow the Scottish champions to finish ahead of them.

However, Rodgers’s side would have taken great confidence from their group stage away win – only the second achieved by the club in this competition – and one which came with a clean sheet. Good gracious.

“It was a good night, a very important three points for us, we kept a clean sheet, we dominated the full game and so we can be very happy,” said Simunovic.

“We’ll see what it means for qualification. It’s still too early for that but we have to look forward and just go game by game. Of course, this was a very important game for us, we took our chances, we scored three goals and took all three points. We can be very proud.

“We actually had a few more chances but the most important thing was we scored three goals. We’d have been happy with 1-0 but we won 3-0 and that’s very important for us.”

Next up is Bayern Munich in Germany. An easy game! Celtic might be feeling good about themselves right now, as well they should, and while Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked, it hardly means Bayern are in freefall.

In saying all that, Simunovic believes in minor miracles.

He said: “We don’t need to be afraid of nobody. We respect every team but we don’t need to be afraid. We just need to keep going with our game, how we are playing and like we showed against Anderlecht, if we play like that results will come.

“It was very important to win the other night after the PSG game, especially for ourselves. That was most important to prove to ourselves after a bad game, we proved we can win, three-points, good result, we must look forward.

“When you concede five goals you should learn something, if you don’t then in the next game you will also lose. But we showed we have learned a lot of things. We must be proud of this win but Saturday if a new game and then after the international break is a new challenge for us.”

Nir Bitton has been one to fill in at the back, with mixed results, so he more than anyone is glad to see the first-choice central defence playing so well.

He said: “Of course, we knew before that Dedryck and Jozo have a good relationship. It is important for the team that you have two strong centre-backs that play together for a long time. We’re just happy that Dedryck is coming back.”

And so are Celtic in this Champions League campaign.

 

Supposedly Jozo and Boyata have never lost when they've played together.

Mental if true.

 

Sounds legit.

Boyata didn't start playing until later in the season(after our only defeats) and has been out injured during our Euro defeats this season.

 

Not really that mental when you consider we haven’t been beaten in 60 domestic matches and one or the other or both of them always seem to be out injured .

 

torn hamstring ffs.

 

no luck for the big man i like him and boyata together they are solid together, how long he out for?

 

This is why I * hate International breaks.

 

Nothing to do with International break mate, he didnt even fly out done it before Hibs game obviously

 

For * sake.

* ridiculous how injury prone our centre backs are.

 

Where you seeing this mate?

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He had a swollen knee. How does that suddenly turn into a torn hamstring?

 

What a farce this is

 

Aw just fuckoff man..

Gonna miss both Bayern game's, Psg away, the semi and final if we get there and some tough aways like the sheep..

Be lucky to have him back for Anderlecht in December with a tear..

Sickening news..

 

Gutted by this. Time for Sviatchenko to step it back up though, hopefully

 

4cm tear apparently,no luck man.Hopefully Eric and Boyata can stay fit for the next month or 2 as we're coming up to the busiest time of the season.