Before this Europa League group got underway the trips to Istanbul and Amsterdam looked daunting. Those games produced two credible draws, but things went wildly wrong elsewhere.
Our goal last night was a peach. Dedryck Boyata split the Fenerbahce defence to open up space for Mikael Lustig to cross for Kris Commons, who peeled off his marker to create the space to head home. Unfortunately only one point was collected as we lost another Keystone Cops goal.
Craig Gordon seems to be struck by a lack of conviction this season. His was not the only failing at our repeated corner kick fiascos but letting a ball trickle through his legs as he appeared caught in two minds is indicative of a player who is doubting himself.
You know Kris Commons scores and creates huge goals for Celtic, we’ve discussed it often enough here. Despite his veteran status and apparent ill-fitting to our system he remains by far our most effective player.
For Ronny, it didn’t go wrong in Europe this season against Fenerbahce or Ajax (I’m absolving him of blame for Efe’s error or a last minute breakaway goal at Celtic Park), it went wrong home and away to Molde and Malmo. We appeared to underestimate both. Did the manager have something to prove against fellow Norwegian managers?
Celtic dominated possession stats in all four games against Molde and Malmo but the Scandinavians exploited the acres of space which simply didn’t exist in our games against Ajax, Fenerbahce or Qarabag, for that matter. Ajax, Fenerbahce and Qarabag got the respect they deserved, not so Molde and Malmo.
The failure is, of course, more complicated than that. Jozo missed the bulk of the campaign, while Dedryck is only just beginning to look like a footballer (lovely pass for the goal last night). Scott Allan looks promising, but we’ve not seen enough of him either due to injury.
Curiously, Ronny’s big 2015 No. 1 striker target, Nadir, looks less like a Ronny Deila player than anyone we’ve bought in years. Knowing we were interested in him, I watched his performances against Celtic last season, and made the same observation at the time.
What happens if your keeper’s form falls off a cliff, one of your new defenders doesn’t settle quickly, two other new players miss months through injury, and your new striker doesn’t morph into a different player? You finish bottom of the Europa League group.
Celtic must now consider their strategy for January. Successive transfer windows have left us weaker, not stronger. Identify the reasons, remediate and we can build on the away performances which bookended this Europa League campaign.
Check out the CQNBookstore. There’s 15 great Celtic books and 10 DVDs, you’ll love them.
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A good summation Paul.
The case of Craig Gordon is a curious one. In several games last season, particularly noticeable in Europe, he was outstanding (for the right reasons). Whatever has happened since he does not seem to have the same belief. Granted, Virgil and Denayer have gone, which will surely impact on the confidence you have in the players in front of you, but surely this alone cannot affect his own decision making in certain circumstances, as in last nights goal. I dare say last season he was riding the crest of a wave, in all likelihood not believing his luck that he found himself at such a big club after being out of the game for so long. This I’m sure would have kept him focused on the task in hand, and resulted in him being many peoples POTY. This season it seems his focus as much as anything has not been what it could or should be. I think a rest (not dropped) for an extended period, maybe 4-6 weeks could recharge the batteries for Craig. We have a Belgian internationalist sitting on the bench. Give him a run, and let Craig have a rest.
A couple of other players worth a mention from last night:
Scott Allan. Great potential, fantastic eye for a “killer” pass. Pity others weren’t/aren’t on the same wavelength. Could be a real star for us for years to come.
Nadir Ciftci. Looks unfit or just too slow. Poor touch and workrate. A poor man’s Amido Balde, and that’s saying something!
Kris Commons. Well done again Kris, stepping up to the plate with another superb goal. I may be wrong, but I believe you either assisted or scored all of our goals in this Europa League group. Remarkable.
Aside: I read earlier a quote from Ronny saying the midfield play too many sideways or backwards passes. This has been a frustration of mine (and clearly Chris Suttons!) for many months now. And there was me thinking they were coached into playing like this? What do they do in training/bounce games with regard to playing styles and patterns etc? Ronny? Johnny?
HH
Sorry Bhoys in my opinion Cifti has had more than enough chances in a Celtic shirt and I have seen if not every game he has played certainly most of them.The player is simply not Celtic class and never will be I dont know who decided we should buy him but him but they got it wrong for me he joins a long list of dud strikers we have signed and will find it difficult to move him on. H.H.
If ” celebrities ” don’t pay directly to watch Celtic, I’m pretty sure they will indirectly.
I would imagine charity would be the beneficiary.
HH.
Dave King, what’s he like? Just can’t help himself.
There’s a FREE copy of THE WINDS OF CHANGE to the poster who can us the best lie.
The book will be personally signed by Dave King.
Glibly, we’ll include a wee dram and shamelessly we’ll plug the DVDs on http://www.cqnbookstore.com by sending the best liar a copy of Henrik’s brilliant DVD with 350 goals featured…
Lie away…
Cifti in ? He wasent for me, but he wears the hoops so until he is on the move, then he gets my support, he wears the hoops and that’s it for me, he’s a Celtic player.
Like it or lump it.
We all had a fair idea rear nadir was a target last season and most of us watched him give the 2 superstar centre halfs a hard time playing up front on his own.
Not sure what’s happened to him as he Defo doesn’t look fit and I suspect he’s trying too hard and not linking up well with the midfield.
How many starts has he had – How many minutes on the park ?
Imho he’s due a wee run of games to prove himself although I wonder if a loan to utd or hibs would be a better plan
Geordie Munro on 11th December 2015 1:20 pm
Was he not banging them in in pre season??
We scored last night because Boyata was willing to take responsibility and drive the team forward, too often we see Celtic players not showing for the ball, hence the sideways and backwards passing as the mids and forwards are not showing.
This team is inexperienced at European level and we don’t have enough players willing to take responsibility and show for the ball.
I kept quiet when we signed Ciftci as I hadn’t seen much of him at Utd and I thought maybe he can do a job for us, now I’m not sure, he had a decent chance last night and I don’t think that it was that he was slow he wasn’t even aware the defender was there, that being said it was a tough shift for him up there on his own against experienced defenders and none of the THREE helping him.
Whoever is in the tree needs to work a lot harder than they did last night, I watched Celtic break yesterday a couple of times only to see there was nobody getting forward to support, this is crap to watch.
You saw when Fener went down to ten men they immediately got very tight and compact, this is tactical understanding and experience it seems to be beyond our team at the moment.
So the question is who are the leaders on the park for Celtic and if we have none where are we going to get them?
Nor Bitton has gone backwards in the last couple of months and last night it was frustrating to watch the moves break down at him with his safe sideways passing. If you’re the playmaker Nir make the play!
Scott Allen looks like a lock picker to me and should come good for us, Rogic is sloppy and if he can tighten that up maybe he can be too.
Armstrong for me is way out of the loop I can’t understand why, maybe the jersey is too big for him.
Anyway my wee thoughts on the game last night..
Roll on Sunday..
It’s in the retard, so it’s true :)
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed his interest in signing former Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama.
Speaking at his weekly press Wenger confirmed his admiration for the player but stopped short of confirming his intention to test Southampton’s resolve to keep the £15m rated Kenyan international.
“I rate the player, but we are not on the case,” he said.
When pushed further on his January plans Wenger played his cards close to his chest adding: “We will see what is there. We have a whole December to go first”
Sammy Turner/SNS GroupVictor Wanyama has been outstanding since his £12.5m move to Southampton from CelticVictor Wanyama has been outstanding since his £12.5m move to Southampton from Celtic
Despite Wenger’s assertions it is understood the Gunners have now stepped up their scouting and have been hugely impressed by his progress at St Mary’s
The Londoners look set to now make an offer in January, which could lead to Celtic receiving a £1.5m windfall thanks to a 10% sell-on clause when the player moved to the EPL side in July 2013.
Tottenham had a £12m bid for 6ft 2in Wanyama turned down last summer.
Arsenal are likely to have to pay more than £15m to get their man, but they do have cash to spend.
Eyes wide open,
I canny mind if I’m honest.
I know he went off injured very early in the game before qarabag away. Which I’d class as the only truly important euro game he didn’t start in.
I’m not so sure his early form was as good as it became. Still better than nadirs though arguably :)
Anyways…just an observation. Not an argument as I notice you have more brothers than me :))
HH
All hail to the big man.
STATUE of Billy McNeill, Celtic’s greatest ever captain, will be unveiled on The Celtic Way at 1pm prior to the next home game against Motherwell on December 19.
With the champions playing at home for the final time in 2015, join us for a day of celebration as we recognise a man who served the club with great distinction as both player and manager.
During his playing days he won nine league championship titles – all in a row, seven Scottish Cups, six League Cups and he was, of course, the first British team captain to lift the European Cup in 1967.
As manager, Billy McNeill delivered four league championship titles, the Scottish Cups and he lifted the League Cup once.
Tickets to see the Bhoys at Celtic Park for the last time this year against Motherwell (KO: 3pm) are on sale now.
Prices start from £26 for adults, from £17 for concessions and from £10 for for under-13s
Tickets can be purchased ONLINE, by calling 0871 226 1888*, by visiting the Ticket Office at Celtic Park or from selected Celtic stores; Argyle Street, Clydebank, Coatbridge, East Kilbride, Greenock.
Join us in celebrating a Celtic legend. Get your matchday tickets today.
*Calls cost 13p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge. Booking fees apply online and via our sales line.
BMCUWP.
My post was directed at Ernie from the previous blog where he mentioned how galling & frustrating it must be watching last night’s performance compared to ordinary fans for Chris Sutton.
Sorry don’t get that at all.
No big deal.
Oh and please no celebrity fan lists.
The proper celebrities are the stands that have pay in gates.
Glad ur back on the blog.
Back to work csc & in your old patch today.HH
Cannot understand a guy that loves Celtic so much, he will travel to Istanbul to watch a dead rubber game but knowingly decides to light a flare and financially hurt the same Club that he spent so much money on following. Hope he is identified and banned for life. He deserves it for sheer stupidity alone.
BMCUWP
No problems with the hip action and yes I need to keep a wary eye oan they ankles!
Not as young as I used to be!
Alas.
Paul
Successive transfer windows have left us weaker, not stronger.
Surely there must be some mistake? Big Pete himself assured us that we would come out of every transfer window stronger than when we went in.
GlassTwoThirdsFull on 11th December 2015 1:20 pm
“It took me one hour this morning to raise the £5m from major shareholders”
So – what happened to the other £500,000?
Any indication of when it might appear? (to the nearest decade).
Have they paid up the £4.5m anyway?
Surely that would be the “right thing to do”…….
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/lack-of-respect-for-molde-and-malmo/#comments
……………………………………
The £500,000 was for administration, travel, hotel and phone calls, silly!
Starry Plough cannot disagree with any of your post, good to see balanced informed posts, keep it up. starryplough csc H H Hebcelt
The man whom three judges unanimously labelled a “glib and shameless liar” stated on 27th November re the £5M loan:
“It was a change of heart and I think what was really, really exciting from my point of view was the speed with which we marshalled the resources.
We made the decision with the board last night, subject to me getting the money required and within an hour this morning I phoned the guys and the £5m was available. That was exciting to show the level of commitment everyone has got for the club.”
FFin’ reaction to the scandalous notion that, despite Sevco counsel’s claim in open court, the money has not been paid back:
“Maybe the loan was repaid with a hold on 500k regarding court fees and Rangers having a successful defence.
It could be a case of there being 500k sitting in Ecrow waiting instruction for disbursement.”
——
“DK/Board raised £5m from a number of parties. Possibly one hasn’t yet transferred funds. Given repayment is voluntary, it’s hardly a matter of concern!”
——
“It could be something as simple as a delay in the transfer of funds from one of the parties, it won’t be the case that we are struggling to raise it. There may also be an explanation which can’t be made public due to the gagging order.”
——
“Let’s play devils advocate here and say we are 500k short of paying the loan.
If you can raise £4.5m in hours you can raise £5m , much more to this than a mere shortfall, especially given who now back us .
Collectively £5m in nothing to them .”
——
“Most of these guys won’t just have £500k lying around – it will be invested, so might need a few days to draw down. Might just be a hiccup in moving money from overseas (what with moneylaundering regulations these days)”
——
“When Dave King said it took him an hour to get the money, I’d almost guarantee what was meant was he had the assurances from certain board members that they would be willing to put together the funds.”
——
“Some folks seem to struggle with the pledging process”
——
“Of course anyone with half a brain cell realises it was pledges and that instantaneous funds would not be available.”
——
“Spot on. Anyone who thought what he said at the AGM meant the cash was in the bank within an hour is thick.”
500K would buy Sevco a full back
Now who said That ?
HH
Watching Nadir Ciftci last night made me realise what a player Bobby Lennox was.
“It could be a case of there being 500k sitting in Ecrow waiting instruction for disbursement.”
####
Ecrow?????
More like Emagpie.
Successive transfer windows have left us weaker, not stronger. Identify the reasons, remediate and we can build on the away performances which bookended this Europa League campaign
~~~~~~~~~~*++*~~~~~~~~~~
Can anyone throw some light on the above from our host?
I’m convinced that our Director of Football is on record as saying that we would come out of every window stronger.
Maybe not. Maybe I picked that up wrong. Maybe he’s quite happy to look after No 1.
Frankly I’m amazed that he tried so hard so often to get Brown off the books. As long as our captain is there,PL isn’t our highest ever earner.
FWIW,Lawwell has lied to our support since he arrived,IMO. Downsized at every turn?
Aye.
They call it asset-stripping in his industry.
Has nobody heard Suttons opinions on Izzy when he is commentating.
Not exactly Celtoc friendly
PHYLLIS D I would’nt even mention Bobby in the same breath/sentence as Ciftci. H H Hebcelt
PHYLLIS DIETRICHSON on 11TH DECEMBER 2015 2:17 PM
Both the same (always offside) LOL
Nae need tay worry by this time next year JD & RD will have taught him the rules
HH
ANGELGABRIEL
Say hi to the Bhoys in The Vic.
Naw,scratch that. Go to Taylor’s. An occasional Tim wanders past.
Read a funny story about a Sporting Lisbon player celebrating his goal by pinching the ref’s spray. The ref saw the funny side but booked him all the same.
It reminded me of one of our games where the ref dropped his yellow card and one of our players (might have been Stokes?) held it up pretending to book the ref. Our player was booked for that but of course, being a Scottish MIB he didn’t see the funny side. They don’t do humour.
Very good analysis Paul.
The manager’s judgement has been suspect in the Molde games in particular, we seem to set-up to offer our weakness up against their strengths.
Craig Gordon has been ordinary this season, and in big games lacked belief and confidence, Boyata in his first season has been error prone and looked green, Johanson has been a shadow of his self from last season, MacKay-Steven and Armstrong have not found the form of the second half of last season, Ciftci is looking more and more a candidate for being sent out on loan somewhere to recover some confidence.
Ronny has had a very unlucky Europe this season with players being injured for key games, lacking form and making howlers, and a partisan and hostile media looking for any angle to pile on the pressure.
We need a transfer window that strengthens the first team, makes goals against us much much harder to come by and looks towards Europe next season.
Still with you Ronny.
Clink
Suttons comments on izzy are a disgrace imho …
Frankly I’m amazed that he tried so hard so often to get Brown off the books. As long as our captain is there,PL isn’t our highest ever earner. – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/lack-of-respect-for-molde-and-malmo/comment-page-2/#comments
And of course you have proof of this I assume?
HEBCELT on 11TH DECEMBER 2015 2:20 PM
PHYLLIS D I would’nt even mention Bobby in the same breath/sentence as Ciftci. H H Hebcelt
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/lack-of-respect-for-molde-and-malmo/comment-page-2/#comment-2735362
Lol, you just did :))
TonyD you’re a Hoot, but I take your point, seriously would you?
hebcelt
Nope your bang on, I wouldent.
I’m surprised it took King as long as an hour to find the money, being that he has £30m to invest…..
Glendalystonsils
I don`t know if Stokes did that a but, when he was with Rangers, Gascoigne did and received a yellow for his humorous action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAgvy66NZ6Y
I’m noticing the flares story is picking up momentum, no surprise there then eh? When are these clowns going to get it into there thick skulls? They are banned….what part of that do they not get?attentionseeking CSC ffs.
Clink,
Deriding the price tag the media have put on Bitton too.
Never heard the likes in my puff
HH