On the back of Saturday’s result and performance, I didn’t see that draw coming last night. The compensation is that after some better performances and results, evidence remains that we are far from the finished article.
After failing to score I often look for Kris Commons, who has been the sugar in our tea for much of the last five years. For a period, he crafted openings than the rest of the team put together. Injury and illness restricted Kris to five league starts since Christmas, only (also injured) Tom Rogic comes close to being as effective through the middle.
There are simply not enough of the squad likely to pitch up with a goal.
Once Erik Sviatchenko went off injured, the lack of scoring threat was not the only concern. Let’s hope he’s back for Motherwell on Saturday – and partnering Charlie Mulgrew. Motherwell are on their best form in years, five wins-in-a-row. We’ll need to win all the personal battles at Fir Park.
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You may disagree with the political slant of the source, but the analysis is interesting regarding Armageddon!
http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-armageddon-files-2/
(I think the comments contained more argument than Independence v Union articles :) )
Hail Hail
Matt
I see some Huns are on the blog again. As Kevj would say aff oot
I like McGregor too. Barcabhoy dislikes him intensely, and I’m never quite sure why.
Árd Macha
THETIMREAPER on 6TH APRIL 2016 1:06 PM
“It is an incredible achievement,” Andy Halliday
—————————————————————-
Maybe they have paid a bill on time?
I like McGregor too. Thought he might have got a game, but difficult to change from the eleven that finished on Saturday. My concern is Griffiths. Not sure if he has been distracted by all that talk of records a few weeks back, but he just doesn’t look as sharp. Think Ciftci would have given us more of a goal threat than CKR.
“evidence remains that we are far from the finished article….”
Deary Me!
Evidence mounts that we are declining at a rapid rate more like.
Paul67 – come on stop kidding yourself on.
Happy to wait until the end of the season for a full analysis of what the bells going on but in the meantime – let’s have some reasonable and honest reflections.
I’d imagine even Lawwell is scratching his head / stroke pulling his hair out in between counting his money…
Kris Commons held out for a 2 year contract at Christmas 2014, Celtic wanted to give him a 1 year deal.
He hasn’t kicked a ball this season and looks done. I think that Celtic saw that coming but bowed to fan pressure by giving him the extra year.
Anthony Stokes skills appear to improve the longer he is out of the team – he can’t pass, can’t shoot, doesn’t seem to have learned the offside rule and can’t get a corner past the first defender.
Roy Keane has aired his views on Anthony Stokes attitude problems – he should be nowhere near our first team as bad attitude spreads.
I think that Ryan Cristie was signed for next season – Celtic didn’t spend a huge amount on him and Scott Allen and I think there was a touch of ‘they are worth a punt’ in both their signings
An on form Leigh Griffiths would have got a couple of goals last night and everything would have been hunky dory
We will beat the sheep and win this league
What’s dragging itself up from the primordal swamp is the best incarnation of the Hun Whore of Babylon we could have hoped to meet – existing on air and handouts from moneyed Huns whose judgement has been severely clouded by historical triumph founded on cheating.
Of all the reincarnations, this was the one I wanted – led by King, The Jester; consumed by self-interest which will plummet them off a cliff again sooner than we imagine. Watch the jackals turn on each other when they realise the promised land’s manna won’t even keep the lights on.
We need to put 5 on the board and ramp up the tension – all talk will turn to 10 as of this August. The pressure will be phenomenal on the Walking Deid by Xmas as the Hun Monkeys realise their place in the food chain – an average squad without the finances to buy big enough to challenge for the title.
Celtic require a new management team. The great Deila experiment has been flat for two years, barring one bump of excitement last Feb/March when we looked like a capable team. Now we’re reduced to the odd sparkle amid a sea of drudgery and feckless performances from players who look desperate not for success but for the final whistle so they can get back into hiding.
Dynamism? Nope. Uber-Fitness? Nope. Self-Belief? Nope.
Nobody in Scotland is more capable of beating us than ourselves.
McGregor has in relative terms been one of our more purposeful players this year. He contributes goals he runs with purpose and has a determination that many other ( of higher technical ability) within the team lack. He’d be in my first 11 this season but that says more about the standard of the squad than Callum McGregor.
I can’t think of many other Celtic teams he would have got in to, nor do I think his behaviour off the park would have been tolerated in days gone by. Exceptions are always made for stellar performers but he’s just average in a below average team
dissappointed we didn’t score of course but delighted we got the clean sheet last night
Agree with everyone saying play McGregor. I would. He can carry the ball, has an eye for a pass and offers a goal threat.
Even allowing for the poor surface, Griffiths’ first touch last night was appalling for a professional footballer. He must have been taking lessons from Stokes.
Fieldofdreams
Griffiths is above personal criticism in my opinion he has given his all this season, as I said earlier he is running out of steam as he has done the job of two strikers all season.
However you are spot on to be concerned that his form is now dipping as there is no realistic plan B that I can see.
THE EXILED TIM on6TH APRIL 2016 12:58 PM
See the computer things the players wear during the game, apparently they wear them at training as well, and if targets are not met, players are dropped from the squad team etc, there is no interaction between the coaches and the players, it’s all stats and work, fine if you are working with machines, but imo there has to be some leeway, alienate the players at your peril.
=============
That sounds a lot like “Muscleball” to me. :)
AULDHEID on 6TH APRIL 2016 1:47 PM
Or just plain balls
The arguments and gulfs seem to get more divisive by the day, so I thought that I touch upon something that perhaps we could reach a modicum of agreement on.
“Erotica!”
It’s words like that that for some reason grab my attention, although to be honest at my stage it’s only my attention that is grabbed as irrational hope battles with expectation.
The years have undoubtedly taken their toll and those activities that used to have my Dad shouting…”What’s keeping you in that bathroom?” have been replaced by the more threatening tones of ‘The Slabbery Wummin” demanding “What’s keeping you in the kitchen?”.
Time to come clean!
Peppers! Bell peppers to be precise. The colours don’t have a great impact but my personal preference is for dealing with them in the sequence of yellow, green and then red.
That’s what keeps me in the kitchen…the lip-biting attractions of taking a kitchen knife, sharpening it with salivating anticipation and then slicing slowly but with devastating satisfaction the destalked and deseeded bell peppers.
The texture, the action, the slight almost gasp of resistance (audible only to the sensitive ear) from the moist flesh as it yields to the touch of a master of the culinary arts. Sometimes I worry that there is in me a little bit of the serial killer who keeps the bodies.
“Where have all those peppers gone?” she asks like Norman Bates’s Mother…. “Have you been chopping them up, putting them in Tupperware and hiding them in the swimming pool?”
Anyway, I just thought I might get a universal agreement on that simple truth, but no doubt there will be deviants among us who prefer the ultimately unsatisfying activity of chopping onions, grating cheese or grinding garlic.
Boring!
Back to the real reason I came on before the spirit of the Deadly Dicer of Dennistoun infused my psyche….
It’s been a while since I did one of these …so for those who have reached this far….where in Glasgow and surrounds am I?
http://tinyurl.com/hmmtktz
Off to do some more slicing!
Hail Hail
Matt
I’ll take a Wee break for today, to many Huns in here today. So GIRFUYs.and pay yer debts ya ferkin tramps.Betty wants her money.
Quick dip in. Blantyrekev 11.09am……Totally correct. Kev , I’ve been harping on about our predictability for months. Easily nullified by good coaching & a physical organised defence.
Change required. At the end of the season.
From the top down.
Callum McGregor runs like a pansy.Not many pansies pass forward, carry the ball forward or score goals on a regular basis.
He does. We need to play him.
Auldheid
It could well be balls, but it accounts for all the chopping and changing and certain players not getting a look in.
HH
Re the use of ‘metrics’.
Is there anyone connected with this blog who can shine a light on the importance placed on these by the current regime?
Whilst I understand the theoretical value of metrics in professional sports, a large part of the game still depends on subjective interpretation of unmeasurable ‘inputs’.
To give an easy example: it’s not the number of passes a player makes, rather their purpose and quality.
VIP
Paul67
You call it sugar in the tea, my take on it is we are a very average team, which performs as average teams do in a dull and unispiring way, however we are bloated with average players and paying them plenty according to the balance sheet, those who assembled these average players need hunted out of the club the squad trimmed to 22 first teamers bolstered by the best of the development squad.
We are in a situation of having one striker who has carried the burden of responsibility exceptionally well however he is struggling now and needs to have people speak with him to alleviate some of the pressure he must be feeling, I hope this is happening.
I hope we can get over the line in the league, but that is all it is hope.
It’s a good think Motherwell are playing so . . . well.
They will want to attack which should open the pitch
leaving spaces for us to exploit.
How do you attack two banks of 5 and a keeper?
T
Think? = thing. Sheesh.
A thought. I believe the Manager role in the Financial age is moribund. Let’s lead the way. After we sack Ronny, let’s separate the man from the money.
It’s not too hard. Sign up a coach who is contractually barred from giving media comment. He gets what he is given in terms of players from a Football Executive.
Sound too difficult? Not really when compared with a manager’s lot.
Matt Stewart
Dalmarnock
The idea that commons is fat or overweight is just garbage,did no one see the the picture of him on holiday ,during international week,not a milligram of fat anywhere
Auldheid
you need big mejillones to play Muscleball
——-
Jings..! Crivvens..! Aidez-Nous,Ivanka !
See If Yon Petec & Sofa Tunis….
Come Oan The Blog….
Wi’ This Ronee ! Ronee ! Ronee !
Jibber-Jabber…
David Icke Hiz Promised Us He’ll Send A UFO Crewed By The Ugliest Reptillians….
From Their Secret Base Under ‘The Big Hoose That Wull Nevah Close’…..
An’ Dispatch Oor Two ‘Miscreants’….
Straight Up Tae “The Great Rubber-Room In The Sky”….
If Time Permits…..
They’ll Pick Up Yon Colorless Big Jessie Mobster Fae Florida….
Afore He DARES Set Foot In Vegas…!
Right..! Darned Right
~~~~
I’m looking for a qualified massage therapist who can do home visits G72- bust back
give me ashout if you can help
ta
Matt
Get into Peppadew peppers. Pretty, punk and punchy. The Siouxie Sioux of the Solanaceae.
You heard it here first.
Big Peat: Your suggestion has been discussed several times over the years on CQN.
Fine on paper, or as mere thoughts on a blog, but – it almost goes without saying – it very heavily depends on the quality of the scouting network … The performance of which is currently under intense scrutiny, at Lennoxtown
VIP
At the moment, Dundee and Motherwell are in the top 6, in addition to Aberdeen and Hearts. So how will we fare in the last 5 games? Is recent experience a guide? We have failed to win, or even score, twice against Dundee, lost to Motherwell and Aberdeen, and were fortunate not to be well behind in the first 30 minutes against Hearts.
The future can’t be predicated on past experience, but the way we are playing does not exactly fill one with confidence for the run in. We seem to be relying on Aberdeen dropping points ( which may well happen on Friday ).
I note that Thompson is our semi referee, no doubt because of his sleekit “game management” skills. If Scott Brown makes a questionable foul in the first minute, that red card will be out faster than a jackrabbit. Who can forget Thompson denying Griffiths a clear goal scoring chance at 2-0 against DeadCo last year, blowing for a foul on Brown quite a few seconds earlier. In other words, he played advantage until he saw there actually WAS an advantage, then reversed himself. And he was laughing about it. I guess what they say about power and corruption is true
The Roberts -Messi comparison came from a journalist . He said to John Collins That Roberts was like Messi. Collins laughed and said that was something that Roberts could work towards.
Then the hundits spun and twisted his quote. Moral of the story is “never believe anything the SMSM write about Celtic”
Mild Mannered Pedro Delgado….
Spot on…outside Tesco down from Dalmarnock Bridge. Where as I happens I am now going hopefully to pick up some of TBB’s recommended “Peppadew peppers. Pretty, punk and punchy. The Siouxie Sioux of the Solanaceae. ”
Tonight could be special!!
Before I go, re statistics and such like there is a fantastic article on Football 365 re Puskas.
One tale from George Best regarded as the greatest football anecdote ever, is as follows..
” “I was with Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and Puskas, coaching in a football academy in Australia,” George Best once recalled. “The youngsters we were coaching did not respect Puskas, making fun of his weight and age, so he decided to try and hit the crossbar ten times in a row with a shot.
“Law asked the kids how many they thought Puskas would get out of ten. Most said less than five. Best said ten. Puskas stepped up and hit nine in a row. For the tenth shot he scooped the ball in the air, bounced it off both shoulders and his head, and then flicked it over with his heel and cannoned the ball off the crossbar on the volley. They all stood in silence and then one kid asked who he was. I replied, ‘To you, his name is Mr. Puskas.’”
The full article is at …http://www.football365.com/news/portrait-of-an-icon-ferenc-puskas
Hail hail
Matt
Listen to someone called Louise on BBC Radio Scotland this morning host a phone in re ‘Rangers Return to the SPLF”. One of the first callers questioned whether it was in fact a return as they were a new club. “They are the same club, lets get that one right straight away, it was the clubs administrators that were liquidated, not the club’. The tone in her voice was quite clear, anyone not in agreement with this needn’t bother phoning up.
“Everyone in Scottish football should be delighted they are back in the top league as they are a rich club with plenty of money”. Murdo McLeod waxed lyrical about how the return of the old firm was great for Scottish football, as did Roddy Forsyth. OMG, had to turn it off. I fear we are in for an avalanche of this sort of stuff from now until the end of next season. Dreading it.
The compensation is that after some better performances and results, evidence remains that we are far from the finished article.
Paul, perhaps the above should have read. Why, nearing the completion of the Ronny experiment’s second year, we are no nearer the finished article?
At the risk of getting my card marked.
The next two games are vitally important. With this in mind we are entitled to ask where will the Great Absentee be. Past history suggests that while the game against Motherwell is in progress, he will be swanning around some golf tournament in America. My own guess is, that fearing the worst and its consequences, he will find himself otherwise engaged when Celtic encounter THEM a week on Sunday.
Rock Tree Bhoy
Nothing like setting the agenda and no alternative opinion is valid I wonder if she comes from the same tribe as Jim White of Sky he of the orange uniform and all round syncophant.
Murdo Macleod was a player I had huge respect for, now I cannot stand him or his utterances, unfortunately Celtic FC have invited him to a 1986 commemoration/ fund raiser at the park