Nir Bitton has promised Celtic fans he’ll work on his shooting

Add as preferred source on Google

Nir Bitton’s shooting at Tynecastle was certainly one of the more frustrating elements of that contest.

Celtic were frustrated for long spells at Hearts last Wednesday in their 2-1 win. It would ultimately be the first victory of Neil Lennon’s second reign as Celtic manager.

But, for the most part, it was a highly irritating contest for Celtic fans. With the Hoops 1-0 ahead, a careless error at the back allowed Hearts a route back into the game through Oliver Bozanic.

Celtic started to seriously press, but on several big occasions, moves broke down due to Bitton’s shooting. When he caught a sight of goal, the Israeli sent a couple of 30-yard efforts wayward, much to the anger of the Celtic support.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case at Easter Road as Bitton looked more careful on the ball. And, speaking to the Celtic View (Volume 54, Issue 32, page 17), he says that he’ll be working on it in the future.

“I felt good (vs Hearts) but I feel like I need to work on my shooting. Hopefully, I’ll sort that out because my shooting was not the best, so I’ll work on it.

“I’m just happy to be back and having the opportunity to even shoot. I’ll need to ask the boys if they want me to keep shooting. I thought after the second shot that if I took another and missed I wouldn’t be allowed back into the changing room.

“Sometimes you have to shoot and other times you have to look for a different approach, but you have to be able to shoot if the opportunity is here. It doesn’t mean I won’t try again.”

Important that Bitton recognises this

It’s all fun and games to have a laugh at Bitton’s poor shooting at Tynecastle, but there’s a serious element to this.

Celtic had been building some momentum in Gorgie from a couple of their attacks. Bitton’s shots, however, wiped that momentum from the team and gave Hearts encouragement. Continuing to do that consistently will see us break down a lot more moves than we create from.

Bitton is right to point out that sometimes shooting from a distance is appropriate. But against 10 men such as Celtic were facing at Hearts, they have to be cutting through them.

It was noticeable at Easter Road that Bitton had taken his own advice into account. He didn’t have a single shot against Hibs, and consistently looked for a better pass instead. This is what the Israeli is best at.

He’ll still be rusty. Being out for such a prolonged period of time will do that to a player. But in the future, it’s good to know he won’t be as wasteful with his shooting as he was at Tynecastle.