After a competitive first half Celtic stepped up a gear in the second to swamp Kilmarnock. The back four, aided by the protection of Ismaila Soro, contributed to our first clean sheet in nine outings. David Turnbull picked up where he left off on Thursday with another assist from a corner kick, this time converted by the renewed Shane Duffy.
Celtic’s run of form extends to only two games but if any innocuous effort encapsulated it more it was the run Patryk Klimala made deep into his own half to pick up a throw-in that ultimately led to the second goal. The movement of Turnbull, Soro and Klimala (when he replaced Odsonne Edouard) has transformed Celtic into a team easy to play against into a solid operation that looks confident.
I never expected our play to right itself by moving Kristofer Ajer to right back and adding Soro and Turnbull to the midfield. After St Johnstone, I didn’t expect Neil Lennon to find a workable formula so quickly, I doubt he did either.
After demonstrations against Neil, the players and the running of the club (which I assumed was a metaphor for not sacking Neil), the appetite to demonstrate against Neil and the players has dissipated, although I am unsure if the lack of a sacking still counts as a demonstrate-able event.
I did not back Neil Lennon to get the job in 2010 or in 2019 and as recently as a week ago, I didn’t think he had a hope of getting a decent 90 minutes out of this squad. It would have been easier to have a bloodletting than for the board to tell us their man has the best chance of turning things around.
I still don’t think we will win the league this season, but it would be a Celtic fans with a heart of stone, or at least a tendancy to overreaction, who would campaign to tear our infrastructure asunder right now. Get results for the next three weeks and see what happens next.
Our Annual General Meeting was held by videoconference this afternoon. The highlight, not for the first time, was Celtic FC Foundation’s chief exec, Tony Hamilton, who explained that the Christmas Appeal in 2019 was our best ever and that our Football for Good campaing this year now topped the £1m mark.
Peter Lawwell gave a robust defence of strategy. The year between summer 2019 and summer 2020 saw the largest spend in the club’s history, £35m across the transfer windows. He affirmed his manager’s credentials and made it clear the board remain committed to the title fight this season. It is difficult to do rallying calls by recorded AGM videolink, but this was as close as we are likely to see.
Some of us have juices flowing at the prospect of a fourth consecutive treble. We won the fourth treble in our history in 2017. Yes, this clearly is pitchfork time.
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so slaps on the back all-round for wasting £35m .
Bhoys, any Celtic minded pubs in Moffat?
CELTIC1MEMBER1VOTE
So as the Sevco fans trouped away from Ibrox on 4th March having watched their team being beaten 1-0 by Hamiltion, to fall 13 points behind the leaders, with a visit from the rampant champions there next home game, they knew all will be well by December. this dud of a manager will turn this around and we will be flying.
I find that highly unlikely.
There was a 13 point swing from last Xmas to March, last xmas Sevco were in the drivers seat, they blew it and there fans were looking for heads to role..
Covid saved Gerrard, he would have been hunted out at the end of least season to return to the pundits chair, ala Shearer, Sutton and Hartson..talking about what might have been. The captain was branded a chicken hearted dud, he too would have been on his way. There “prize asset” would refinance the next manager should tehy manage to get a suitable bid.
Any zombies saying they could see this coming are lieing through their teeth
Westcraigs…. Rangers had a terrific group… A belter… They also played liege away when liege was the capital of covid and they had 7 out!… First game off to a flyer… Even then guy had a absolute sitter for 1 1…..while accepting they have made big progress…. There’s this inkling ( and I might be wrong).. That’s its a house built on sand….. How I’d love to play them if they had 6 or 7 out!!
Peter Lawwell has a better deflector shield round him and his board than captain Kirk has on the starship Enterprise .
I think his attempts to appease the unrest by means of flannel will ultimately backfire on him .
Gene.
Made possible by the incompetence of the celtic board. We could have and should have hammered the door closed on sevco. We chose to open the door and let sevco walk on through.
I knew and every other celtic supporter knew that when things get tight the cheating would reach epidemic proportions. The only people who didn’t seem to understand this are the people who sit on the celtic board.
This goes beyond incompetence. This is negligence. Lawwell has been a disaster. He has cost this club hundreds of millions of pounds in lost income by continually failing in Europe.
Beale maybe Gerrards safe pair of hands ,but Sevco have not won anything yet,Yesterday result against Kilmarnock could be the turning point for us ,Looking at the Subs.on the bench yesterday I noticed that young Henderson’s was missing ,for me that’s not the way you should be treating these young football players,there is another one I’ve forgotten his name ,seemingly he has a attitude problem,who is he again .
Notthebus 5.14.
I can give a little bit of anecdotal evidence, in support of CELTIC1MEMBER1VOTE
The majority in my family support Sevco, believe me, they were celebrating when Neil was given the job.
Now, I accept that they might not have had the vision of what has unfold, so far, this season, we may still turn it around yet, but no doubt, they all felt they had a better chance of stopping 10, when Neil was announced.
The blog is an interesting read, this afternoon, in its different points of views on the AGM.
Twitter and the other blogs, I have read, are virtually unanimous in being scathing of it.
I’m sure Auldheid will be on later to explain it, much better than I ever could.
Bada Bing ……….Pity we have to wait another 6 weeks before Jamsie is back, badly missed.
For some inexplicable reason listening to the video of Peter Lawwell today post our AGM reminded me of Fidel Castro’s famous speech from the dock “ History will absolve me”.
Now we will have to wait a while for the hands of history to move but it has always struck me that when the Celtic history of this period is written then the “ decisive “ Peter Lawwell will have been shown to have panicked over the demise of Rangers ( despite public statements of us being a stand alone club ) and from that point on a fault line developed. Rangers in some capacity had to be allowed a resurrection rather than trying to finish them off because all analysis demonstrated that route would be bad for business. Once that decision was made – that fatal decision- then everything else followed. Same club, going for 55 titles, best start to a season in half a century ( source BBC ) , full price tickets and so on. Once the fix was in place then it was like telling an initial lie everything multiplies around it.
Just wonder how much advice and seeking of alternative views were sought before the nuclear decision was made. My reading of Peter Lawwell is that he would have reacted to the Rangers fatality by being spooked. Could Celtic seriously go on in Scotland as a successful enterprise without a real challenger. I think only the downsides were considered and again this management style is reflected in the close management of the AGM and the erecting of security barriers ar Celtic Park. That’s what happens when absolute power is granted. It corrupts absolutely…… and that corruption demonstrates itself in the grotesque remuneration package taken from Celtic.
I am surprised that anyone anticipated mea culpas today far less retirements however come season’s end the jury will return and decide if “ History will absolve”.
GARCIA LORCA on 14TH DECEMBER 2020 5:40 PM.
That’s a fabulous post.
One I relate, too, but couldn’t have worded so eloquently.
Thank you.
GL
Plenty of excuses wheeled out today by the manager, Covid, no fans, and the bad 8 weeks from the CEO is astonishing, its as if our feeble attempts at CL qualification for many years don’t register with this guy, so no chance that he would think to look at why this happens frequently. It might have caused him to question himself and his role in in these events, and that would be a no no.
If the extravagantly remunerated Lawwell was so confident that he was correct in all his decision making,
then he could / should have easily arranged for this virtual AGM to be held NEXT Monday… the day after the Cup final.
Just read Q and A with Neil Lennon.
As usual, took no responsibility for the shocking season that we are having
Everyone elses fault .
https://thecelticblog.com/2020/12/blogs/there-are-35-million-reasons-for-the-celtic-fans-frustration-its-not-something-to-boast-about/?
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 14TH DECEMBER 2020 4:00 PM
Well, it seems that Virtual AGMs are just as unsatisfactory as real-time AGMs.
Very hard to effect change in an arena where block votes will swamp you.
We did not even get anyone complaining about the pies.
I was intrigued that the small amount of votes against Bankier and Wilson being reappointed were higher than against Lawwell and Desmond.
Who managed to vote for Desmond & lawwell but thought that Bankier and Wilson were a step too far?
________
Peter Lawwell was not part of the re-election vote. Must be due to his employment status at the club.
Celtic1member1vote,
That’s it in a nutshell.
Lazy , amateur appointment who has frittered away all the professionalism of Rodgers. It was an opportunity to be ambitious yet we selected/appointed the most important employee in the club as he dried off.
Lawwell won the battle of the egos with Rodgers and the subsequent selection of puppet manager whilst appointing his backroom team. From Lawwells perspective that victory is more important than TIAR. Lawwell wraps this approach in the clubs strategy which is really smoke and mirrors—- to line his pockets.
Lawwell has a dilemma now —- who to sell in the summer. Due to covid and transfer values dropping I expect McGregor, Edouard and Julienne to leave. The biggest challenge will be to prepare the support for the the downsizing to come and who can help him. Wonder if Paul67 has any ideas,
https://news.stv.tv/sport/rangers-to-learn-morelos-fate-following-mark-connolly-clash
Not holding my breath….
Nothing.
Ever.
Happens.
At.
An.
AGM.
As a Supporter living in Ireland, no longer in Clydebank – and given the hostile environment that the Club is forced to exist in – I’ll be spending even more money with the Club to do my bit to help as much as I can. We the Supporters are more than Supporters and everything that Celtic is worth my investment.
HH
COYBIG
D :)
Garcia Lorca.
I agree with jimmynotpaul.beautiful post.
“Grotesque renumeration package”..indeed Garcia.at all levels of the board there are fine emoluments made harvesting our emotions.If ever a time to say donate all of them to say
The foundation.Its now.It would be a way of standing with us in these covid times instead of the remoteness and the aloofness and no communication personified by that agm today
HH
I dont know where this £35 million comes in unless hes talking about new markets value. Numbers dont stack up.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/celtic-fc/transfers/verein/371/plus/0?saison_id=2019&pos=&detailpos=&w_s=
Pig sick after that fiasco today. Not surprised, but furious at the utter contempt and cognitive dissonance of Bankier and Lawwell. They obviously think that we must all be complete fools.
Seriously conflicted about renewing next season, but they will not be getting one thin dime in merchandising from me for sure going forward.
🥴🤢
Shares? A bit of paper to stick on the fridge door?
This Trust thingy, somebody was going on about it last week. Rumble a certain number of fans money the gither, within Trust members, and in SIX years time, £30 million will have been raised, and the proposal is to offer it to the already, dubiously, stinking rich PLC board, to get fan representation on the PLC board?
If that’s the plan, then whoever proposed it is at it!
If it was proposed by McCann’s old stooge, David Low, and its a goer, then anybody who signs up to it is as bent as the back road to Shotts.
How much will shares be worth if there’s a season ticket boycott?
F shares! Shares are for masons and dodgy merchants.
Since 1999 and McCann’s stab in the back, a plan in which Low was one of the main architects, and there he is again, wheeled and dealed his way to the top of the tree, in the Trust!
Boycott season books, and the share price will collapse.
You can’t deal with these slippery custodians, but they obviously fancy their chances, against a supporter base who’ve fallen into line in the past 8 years behind the catalogue of guff, chicanery, and downright treasonous activities of the slippery custodians, and NOW all of a sudden the supporters are up in arms because the 10 is hanging by a thread, which shows supporters up as parochial Green Huns, the other side of the £52 ticket divide.
You don’t financially reward those who are about to rob you, after the ticket trap that they set for you all in 2016, fitting you up as, enabling the cover up of David Murray’s corruption, which cheated Celtic supporters out of 20+ trophies, NO, you don’t buy shares as part of a plan that’s being constructed by a person who’s done you over before, in 1999 when McCann changed his mind, and gave the club to Desmond.
Who’ll be up next with an honourable plan? Fintan O’Toole?
Off oot.
Evening
Huge thanks to Cowiebhoy and CelticRollercoaster for organising the St Patrick’s Missionary Mass Card.
It arrived in the post today.
Thank you for praying for my beautiful Daniel.
He was laid to rest on Friday at Newton Mearns Cemetery.
His burial site is full of beautiful flowers .. lots of green and white obviously!!
Thanks Guys.
we have nit right to win every game, cup and title. Even though 9 in a row and a potential quad treble would have some supporters think we have.
A winning team needs good coaching, good players, players on form and some luck.
Celtic this season has had to contend with a number of negative factors – COVID disruption, new players not settled, new player not good enough, international commitments, awful refereeing and poor coaching and club mistakes. THIS IS LIFE and its how we respond as a club the matters.
The spoiled immature short sighted fans for are not Celtic fans and in fact are damaging the teams chances of recovery. Sure, complain about recruitment and Lawell and the team but get but understand the circumstances and respect Neil Lennon and the team during unprecedented times.
Hot Smoked
Wishing you a happy birthday Jim,all the best,keep peddling and walking those glens.
Long to get back to Celtic park,tip up those stairs and have a gab.hope you enjoy.😊
https://youtu.be/JFyuOEovTOE
HH
So our city rivals are runaway league leaders with a team who are actually playing at a standard at least as high as we did a couple of years ago in the ‘invinceable’ season.
In Europe they continue to progress and move forward .Infact a last 8 or beyond does not look unrealistic this season.Whilst we continue to underperform and get knocked about silly by teams who spend a fraction of what we do.
All sevcos progress done on a fraction of our budget.
It is enough to make me sick yet our AGM delivers a load of sycophantic mince.
I hold out hope that the impressive Soro and Turnbull are going to change it all for us this season but lets face it….it’s unlikely.
Well , Paul told us a few days ago that things were going to get worse and the CEO with today’s subterfuge has just confirmed it . I didn’t expect humility or honesty from the man but I did think his attitude might have been tempered by events on and off the park .
Apparently not .
!!Bad Bing!! – I saw that Morelos clip this morning. If they look at that again, there’s no way they cannot give a retrospective ban. It was completely out of order.
“We’ve a manager that’s delivered with his track record. We’re investing in football to take the club forward and in no way were we sitting back being complacent waiting for things happening.”
====================================
My arse!
Not a brown penny.
Celtic Football Club complicit since 2012, hang your heads in shame.
Res 11/12.
We mock those charlatans who run the gaffe at ibrox but our board are just as bad.
Corruption & cheating is fine now it’s a free for all.
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 14TH DECEMBER 2020 4:46 PM
No other voices spoke during AGM only chairperson and another director. They had three videos for chairperson, CEO and football manager. Neil Lennon and board members were seated round a socially distanced horseshoe set of tables. But there was no need for the manager to be there in person. In an important cup final week there was maybe somewhere else he should have been.
The whole meeting had a greyness about it and a sense of containment and pretty dour too. I’m not saying they should have turned up in their Office Christmas jumpers but there was not a smile cracked the whole session. The sense of a group past their best was added to by the 20 minute delay in starting. I mean these days an organisation that cannae even organise a Zoom call!
Well done Marc and Norrie.
MNCELT- when he gets off,there’s the point of reference for anyone else banned for similar.
DanDan, may God give you the strength you’ll need.
CRC, Norrie, well done Bhoys.
Hot Smoked, Hooooopy Birthday.