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Alistair Johnston


lazlo_80

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I had this conversation on What's App with my two mates who are mad Celtic supporters:

GD: Good win this morning.

Me: AJ man of the match? He looked very good whenever I opened my eyes to watch a few minutes of play.*

BD: Scales got the official vote, but I thought AJ was excellent. A number of candidates other than Scales - AJ, Taylor, Maeda, Kuhn, Engels. AJ has hit another level this season. Even better than his first six months under Ange.

GD: He's developing into an elite full-back. At 25, he could be one to move on in a year, or two.

BD: Could see him doing well in somewhere like Italy. Don't think he has the elite pace for the top half of the EPL.

GD: Agreed.

Me: Fingers crossed!

 

*the match kicked off at 5 am local time.

 

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Alistair Johnston 🇨🇦 vs Slovan Bratislava 🇸🇰 

77 Minutes

️‍🔥 1 Penalty won

💯 2 Chances Created

🦶 83 Touches (4 Touches in opposition box)

 

🎯 50/60 Passes (83%) 

↖️ 12 Passes into final third

➡️ 2/5 Long passes (40%)

⬇️ 0/4 Crosses

0 Ball Loss

 

🥊 3/4 Ground Duels (75%)

☁️ 3/3 Aerial duels (100%)

💪 6 Defensive Actions

️ 3 Clearances

🦵 2 Recoveries

🛡️ 1 Interception 

🟨  1 Fault/Was fouled 3*

Celtic's Alistair Johnston fouls Slovan Bratislava's Vladimir Weiss during a UEFA Champions League match between Celtic and SK Slovan Bratislava at...

Edited by ahmedou
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1 hour ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Out today.  Rodgers says he is one of a few players currently out with "niggles".

Hopefully a precaution.

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/24598913.alistair-johnston-celtic-training-absence-explained/?ref=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Celtic are currently losing 1-2  to Falkirk without him.

They cruise to a 5-2 victory from there.

It was a rotated squad. CCV wasn't started and new signing Trusty got his first start as Scales was rested as well. Neither of their Japanese attackers started the match either and Maeda didn't even dress, maybe had a knock also.

Regardless, it was a cup game. There was always going to be rotation, so AJ is probably fine.

Edited by Obinna
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1 hour ago, Obinna said:

They cruise to a 5-2 victory from there.

It was a rotated squad. CCV wasn't started and new signing Trusty got his first start as Scales was rested as well. Neither of their Japanese attackers started the match either and Maeda didn't even dress, maybe had a knock also.

Regardless, it was a cup game. There was always going to be rotation, so AJ is probably fine.

Seemingly minor but according to the article he missed some training.

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5 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

The AJ as Celtic lifer storyline is a great story, but I mean, look at this shit. Sad to see Celtic being unable to compete against any semi decent European team anymore.

I don't like AJ at Celtic, just like I didn't like Borjan at Red Star, just like I don't want David at PSG.  Being on a league dominating team is not a good enough challenge week in and out to keep a pro athlete at his sharpest.

    

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4 minutes ago, costarg said:

I don't like AJ at Celtic, just like I didn't like Borjan at Red Star, just like I don't want David at PSG.  Being on a league dominating team is not a good enough challenge week in and out to keep a pro athlete at his sharpest.

    

Borjan at Red Star was probably as high as he was ever going to go though. AJ at Celtic is a good move coming out of MLS, but I would like to see him challenge himself a bit more over the next few years.

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4 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Borjan at Red Star was probably as high as he was ever going to go though. AJ at Celtic is a good move coming out of MLS, but I would like to see him challenge himself a bit more over the next few years.

That's the thing, while that's the highest Borjan could most likely attain, the league was a walk in the park for him and his team.  Just like it is for Johnston.  That doesn't necessarily make you a better player.  

While Borjan is a great shot stopper, we've been criticizing his sharpness for years.  Personally I feel it's related to being on a team with no regular competition.  Just like how PSG and Juve were never gonna win CL, no matter how many superstars they bought those years they were counting domestic trophies in January.  Ligue 1 and Serie A just didn't challenge them enough.  Thankfully things are different in those leagues today.

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1 minute ago, InglewoodJack said:

Borjan at Red Star was probably as high as he was ever going to go though. AJ at Celtic is a good move coming out of MLS, but I would like to see him challenge himself a bit more over the next few years.

I don't like Celtic, so biases put aside it is interesting to compare a couple of theoretical situations.

So Celtic do worse in Europe on average than any team from England, Spain, Germany and Italy (at the very least).  So you could use that to compare and say Celtic currently are probably at a midtable (non-Europe) level if they were in one of those leagues.  

 

- So he could have gone to a team in that situtation in one of those league in theory.  They play a number of really good teams a couple times a year each and play good and okay teams the rest.  

 

- At Celtic, he plays some really good teams (now) 8 times a year, an okay team at least twice (usually more) and a bunch of what in this context are poor teams.  

 

Assuming we don't think he can up his game and/or a big 4/5 league team in Europe take a flyer.

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14 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

I don't like Celtic, so biases put aside it is interesting to compare a couple of theoretical situations.

So Celtic do worse in Europe on average than any team from England, Spain, Germany and Italy (at the very least).  So you could use that to compare and say Celtic currently are probably at a midtable (non-Europe) level if they were in one of those leagues.  

 

- So he could have gone to a team in that situtation in one of those league in theory.  They play a number of really good teams a couple times a year each and play good and okay teams the rest.  

 

- At Celtic, he plays some really good teams (now) 8 times a year, an okay team at least twice (usually more) and a bunch of what in this context are poor teams.  

 

Assuming we don't think he can up his game and/or a big 4/5 league team in Europe take a flyer.

I’ve heard Celtic compared to a very high end championship team/yo yo club. There have been many professional FM “Celtic and Rangers in the EPL” simulations, and typically, Celtic end up getting relegated directly and make it back up every few years. Whether that would happen in real life or not, I don’t know, but I think they’re lower than mid table top league club. Considering where our other players like Laryea, Kone, etc. moved, I think if it wasn’t Celtic, championship teams were probably around the quality of club that wanted him.

From what I recall, AJ was the first “big” transfer from our 22 WCQ bunch- I think at the time, fewer teams were willing to trust Canadian players to perform; I think he would get a better transfer today if the situation repeated itself.

I think he could make a move not unlike his predecessor, Juranovic did. Skipping the European games and just playing a strong 40 game schedule and making an honest cup run would do better than slicing up the domestic league and getting absolutely torn up in Europe. 

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When Dortmund start clicking they're as good as just about anyone, especially at home, that's part of what happened today... in addition to Celtic just not being on their level and having no real test of their ceiling on a week to week basis. They don't know how to cover gaps when they press because Kilmarnock F.C. can't pick through them, and they have no experience (or evidently, desire) to sit deep and defend.

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