Celtic surrendered another two points to fall further behind in the championship race, drawing 0-0 at home against Hibernian. It was a unorganised looking performance from the home team who gave Graham Stack little to do in the Hibernian goal.
Gary Hooper squandered Celtic’s only gilt-edged chance of the game when, after playing a one-two with Anthony Stokes, he struck the outside of the post with Ki available for the square pass. Anthony Stokes had earlier tested Stack, who failed to hold the ball but did enough to clear.
When the same teams met on Wednesday James Forrest transformed the game when he drifted inside but he spent most of today’s game adrift on the right wing. On two occasions he cut inside with purpose, once testing Stack with a blistering shot from 22 yards and later when a 25 yard pile-drive struck the crossbar, but Hibs were content to limit Celtic to such speculative efforts.
Neil Lennon was justified in his criticism of his front pairing of Stokes and Hooper today but Celtic were equally clueless in midfield. There appeared to be no cohesion and there was certainly not a productive match plan.
Motherwell’s away win in Inverness gives the Lanarkshire side a three point lead, having played a game more, going into next week’s crucial game against Celtic at Fir Park. Manager-less St Johnstone dropped three points at home this afternoon, leaving them four points behind Celtic in the fight for the last Europa League place.
This is where we are people, scrapping between Motherwell and St Johnstone. Get used to it.
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too many players in our team do not know what its like to play top flight football, far less play top flight football where they are expected to win every game.
i did a bit of research on the careers to date of some of our players, no wonder our team looks imbalanced, theres a complete lack of proven winners and experience throughout the team, more than a few players have had numerous loan moves throughout the lower reaches of english football and somehow won a watch by ending up at celtic.
fraser forster – competitive level before joining celtic – english league 1 – 48 appearances (stockport, bristol rovers, norwich)
adam matthews – championship – 40 appearances (cardiff)
mark wilson – spl midtable dross – 117 appearances (dundee utd)
thomas rogne – norwegian premier league – 13 appearances (staebek)
charlie mulgrew – english championship and lge 1- 27 appearances (wolves, southend); spl mid-table dross – 85 appearances (dundee utd, aberdeen)
joe ledley – championship – 226 appearances (cardiff)
ki – korean premier league – 64 appearances (fc Seoul)
beram kayal – israeli premier league – 92 appearances (maccabi haifa)
james forrest – youth signing – 33 appearances for celtic to date
anthony stokes – spl midtable dross – 56 appearances (falkirk, hibs); championship 61 appearances (sheff ud, crystal palace, sunderland)
gary hooper – championship, league 1 and league 2 – 135 appearances (scunthorpe, hereford, leyton orient, southend utd)
Greendreamz
The football model is not working.
What have we learned since the St Johnstone game?
You know that teams will park the bus at Celtic Park. The answer is to have pace/skill on the flanks. Start with McCourt. And you must have either Matthews or Cha at right-back. There cannot be anyone slower than Mark Wilson. And try playing a left-footed left back who has been brought in on loan to cover for the loss of our first-choice left back.
Is it time for the mentor debate again?
I get the feeling (and it’s purely a feeling) that that Neill Lennon regrets hauding his wheesht.
Has anyone got the maestros number in Oz,even with his dodgy knee
he would walk(?) into this team.
over the last 30 years I have seen many draws at Celtic Park.
Mostly, on the walk back from them I’m thinking, how the hell did Celtic not win that by at least three.
On a fair few occasions, I’ve walked back thinking, Celtic got out of jail there. (Aberdeen and Dundee Utd in the eighties for example)
But always thinking, for all that was a draw, it was a GOOD GAME.
Today I thought, that was two mediocre teams going through the motions of a mediocre game.
I don’t blaime Hooper. He has spent 18 months getting clobbered on the ankles EVERY TIME he gets the ball. I don’t blaime him for getting rid of the ball without thinking about it. He can go back to the Premiership/ championship in January and get the protection he deserves. And if he does he will get 15 goals.
But anyway, mediocre today.
Away to watch Paranormal activity 2
the glorious balance sheet says:
Now we are getting to the truth of the matter.What is the solution?
…in terms os signing/sales policy
the glorious balance sheet
I spoke to George McCluskey after the game,,
we both said it would break your heart….
those bhoys don’t know what it means to play for Celtic..
they live a wee life in 4×4 in a place many miles from Celtic park.
gone are the days when the fans got up close and personal with the players…
I have been going on about this since this new complex was opened at lennoxtown..
get them back to being football players for the cause not pampered pre madonnas..
James Forrest
Before you chuck it for the night.
Aye, we are not good just now, something has cast a dark shadow over the club, the media are doing a grand job, day after day I read posts on the blog repeating what the hun media are puporting, from the self same posters who profess not to read a paper, listen to the radio etc. this is our problem.
There are faults all through the club, some of us apportion the blame in different places, but the whole club are at fault, and most of all the supporters.
For all the huns are scum, they are scum that sticks together, maybe we could learn this one thing from them.
Guys like Auldheid are the driving force behind the changes that are happening within scottish football, the board are doing nada, these guys are uniting to fight the common enemy.
Divided and conquer, sure is working.
At the end of the day we all want the same thing, and we are all fighting about it.
You would be one of the well respected posters on the blog, I implore you to use that to try and unite the support, cos the way things are going, we might not have a club to support if things keep on the track we are on.
The hun going bust won’t help either, the downsizing will continue unabated, the scrap with motherwell, hartz will continue, we are not in a good place.
Lennon said he thought Ki was tired. Doin what Neil??
The Honest Mistake (Sickened)
I did not watch the game of today but did watch Cup game. There is good rule that says that good manager can play two, three and more good games one after another,
I think it was about three years back when we discussed what do you expect from the player who comes to the club that Celtic is? We said that the player must know how to do the job under the pressure, who the club he comes to means etc
Those who Celtic have are not the men who you can call the team.
It’s myth that you need to spend a lot of money to get players who will be the team. IFew weeks ago I put a list of players who do the job for Legia. In the past three years we spent 1,5 million euros and we play in LE, beat fourth team from Turkey, then Sparta Moscow, Hapoel, Dynamo Bucarest. Half of the team is under 21 years of age.
Another myth is that you must buy internationals. That’s wrong.
Artur Boruc was far from Poland team when signed for Celtic. That was Celtic who helped him to make career. Walk this way.
Fritzsong
Pal..
Last season’s team had a guid few of the SAME PLAYERS who let us doon the
day.. and they were also present when we played so badly in the First Half Agin the Killie.. and they were also present wheh we lost the games Agin the St.Johnnies..etc..
Na..
It is the Players who are letting the side doon..
For whatever reason.. and Ah canny pinpoint it.. Naebuddy Kin..
But, for what ever Reason.
Those same Players who did so well.. Last Year..
Have.. this Season.. since the Git Go..
Been So INCONSISTENT it is Unbelievable.
Na
It is the Players Fault
Ah wullnae Accept anything else as an excuse.
It is Pure Nonsense to Blame Anyone else.
Fur we are Talking about the
SAME GUYS..
And those Same Guys ..have turned into a Bunch of Prima Donnas..
They are Not Playing to their Former Ability. except in Fits and starts..
Ah canny tell ye why..
Ah kin only tell ye .. That those are the Facts.
Kojo
Third in a crap league.
That is a sacking offence.
Back to where you were with Mowbray.
In fact worse, a team of mediocrity brought in at some expense.
Those of you familiar with the magazine Viz may have noticed the following recent line:
‘There’s no point feeding pigs cherries when they’re happy with shit’.
You have to feel that DD and PL use this as their motto, we as supporters of the club have been rewarding the suits for their failure for 3 straight years. They openly speak about the club as a business first and foremost, and this explains why there is absolutely no urgency from them with regards to building a better team. They could go out there and bring in a very good defender, and a very good central midfielder to challenge for the league-but why bother if they can get away with the less talented alternatives.
I was sat there today, as I always am, watching our steady decline unfold before my eyes. But I was still sat there, as were most of you fine people, the suits already have our money, and their failure isn’t having any effect on that.
‘Spend as little as possible Peter, get the plebs to renew their season tickets, and you’ll get your bonus’. They run the club like a business, which is fine if it leads to success, but if DD and PL et al ran a business outside of football like this, they’d be out of business.
jmccormick says:
29 October, 2011 at 21:43
today looked like it was going to be good. Possible Huns stutter,good win for us and a wee night out with the Mrs at Jamie`s Italian in Glasgow. As it happens I got one out of three and the least important one at that. Now our thick lipped mockney chef may run a great restaurant chain but it does not compensate for todays debacle.
I cannot add any more to what has been said, however I can suggest a few options for us, most of them nuclear.
> Firstly,forget about that lot.
> Second , continiue to forget about them.
> Let HMRC do their job.
> Instruct Liewell to do his job or feck off.
> In event of the immediate option above,get MoN back.
> Replace Neil Lennon immediately, I hate writing that.
> Buy,steal,borrow 3 experienced players in January, finance by selling Hooper, Brown, Kayal,Loovens and Dan.
> Get DD to have a look at where his investment is heading.
I coach a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds every week in an under 21 league, so obviously I know it all. No, but I do know that a young team is like a young puppy or kitten ;they need coached and you have to expect irregular performances. I do not believe the level of coaching is good enough and I do not think our expectations are realistic. Without on field leaders we have looked clueless for 3 seasons now. We have witnessed shameful pretenders to the captains armband since the dawn of Caldwell through to Brown, both players who were lucky to watch Celtic never mind play for them.
NO solutions from me, just a few proposals.
Anybody got any slug pellets?
voguepunter
David Murray would walk into that team
Sadbuttrue
If we had a level playing field none of this would be happening.
so honest answers lads
is Lenny the man to stop 4 in a row?
yes or no and reasons
for me no – shouldnt have got this job, should have went and learned his trade else where
soal
No he wouldn’t, he would Bum ble along
Took the advice of many on here and read BRTH’s post of 12.11 today.
An outstanding essay.
The Honest mistake
I’m not one for conspiracy theories but he challenged the whole team at times last year (didn’t he stop them getting off the plane after a euro match), he expected players to ‘challenge’ refs and if the players were lazy he’d let them know. All that’s gone, after bullets and bombs, McCoist and Spit the Dog and the endless news reports from Sky; a running, clearly visible thug getting through the stewards at Hearts and encitment to hatred by the Daily Record. I’m not saying Lennie’s perfect but his one strength has been strangled out of him. That strength was that every player would know how important it is to beat Motherwell or Hibs or Aberdeen. Does ferguson get the same treatment when he goes nuts or Smyth or Wenger when he openly lies ?
I could be just clutching at straws; the obvious explanation could be injuries aswell. We only got going last year when everybody was available.
TeT
you keep the faith and we will se you in the winter…..
spoke to my brother tonight…we both agreed – even at 2-1 with 5 mins to go we wouldn’t be confident of closing it out..
No point worrying about this season…major changes for next year required.
I keep clinging to the hope that Dermott hasn’t got to where he is in life without having a MASSIVE EGO…hoping this kicks in and he does some vanity spending soon…
The glorious balance sheet
so our team is league 1 standard with a bit of championship? Brilliant!
antrimkev
Afraid not, has no experience.
The Spirit of Arthur Lee says:
29 October, 2011 at 21:46
May’be not pc ,taxi driver today told this one,when sir dave took
over ipox the Ra Broke into the boardroom n kneecapped
4 directors and gave dodgy dave a good hiding.
I recall the days when Paul McS was playing in a poor
Celtic team. And today brought back alot of bad memories.
We as fans cannot allow another manager to get the boot
while those in the comfy centre stand seats do nothing.
Any management team of a failing firm in decline
would be expected to go.
And don’t give me any cr*p about Dermots millions.
He has done nothing to help Celtic.
antrim and P67
is this not experience for him?
celticbob,
for a start there are problems with the scouting/recruitment of players, constant speculation that the manager does not have sole authority on this, the loan signing of el kaddouri for one raises eyebrows, he starts 2 games and is then discarded in favour of playing midfielders or right backs in that position. That suggests to me one of two things:-
1. The manager had El Kaddouri imposed upon him, knew nothing about him, played him, was concerned at his performances and dropped him.
2. The manager wanted El Kaddouri, after 2 games realises he has made an error of judgement, and has discarded him.
Whatever it is, it is a worry, why do we keep signing players who we quickly come to realise won`t do, they cant make the team, cant improve the team, just draw a wage and we fritter more money away.
blantyretim,
we could do with guys with george mccluskey`s spirit, attitude and love for the club in this team. I don`t think George would ever have shirked the 50/50 challenges that Gary Hooper did today, or down tools the way Beram Kayal did at Rugby Park.
Half the mercenaries in our team probably think that Brother Walfrid is some sort of boyband act on X-Factor.
antrimkev
Were you saying that before kick off in Inverness last season?
The balance sheet etc
I hear what you are saying and this would be fine looking into why we are failing in Europe, but we are playing against teams, which are a couple steps away from being part-time football players.
The players we have are better than other Scottish teams, however the teams we playing are better organised and set up than we are.
Did Sutton or Hartson know what it’s about no, did naka? they learned though.
Why aren’t the players now doing the same?
The management team aren’t doing their job. IMO
I must admit that I feel that we need a standind area where we can walk away again for clowns…
or they can walk away from me…
There seems to be a board fault/Neil’s fault debate going on here. My opinion is that the two are not mutually exclusive – it’s a bit (big bit) of both. If Neil was so unhappy with the backing he receives from PL and DD, then why does he continually praise them, even when he knows it will be unpopular with most of the support to do so?
His continual backing of the board suggests that he is happy with his relationship with them, which leads me to believe, sadly, that Neil is a big part of the problem.
I am bhoycotting… this site until we win the league again.
This site has grown where the club has fallen and if one winning is dependant on the other losing, and to me they increasingly appear so intrinsically linked together I’ve made my decision to which one I want to see winning.
Sorry Paul its a great site but our club must prevail… this season.
They should have done the previous three seasons but that is for historians to debate when we’ll find out the full extent of Rangers’s debt.
@The Spirit of Arthur Lee says:
29 October, 2011 at 21:46
voguepunter
David Murray would walk into that team
Cheers
That’s the first time I’ve smiled since quarter to six .
Am fed up listening to players and our manager pumpin us up with. We’re going to win this and that and the latest one. “We are goin to give somebody a right goin over”.
Stop it stop it stop it ffs STOP IT!!!
You dont hear them at £land saying it! So ffs effin STOP IT STOP IT!!!!!!
blantyretim says:
29 October, 2011 at 21:53
antrim and P67
is this not experience for him?
it is blantyretim
but he shouldnt be getting it here with us
and we shouldnt be suffering because of this experience
we have a decent team here, what is the problem?
i hate to say this but for me the problem is Lenny