There was an unusual reaction at full time last night. Some attempted to boo, but the applause from the majority in the crowd soon drowned them out. Not all defeats are the same, this one came after one of our best performances of the season, against an undoubtedly better team.
It was important to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Bereft of domestic competition, Celtic need to test their abilities against top teams, they need to be stretched, forced to defend for long periods, parts of the game which simply never happen in Scotland.
It’s also important to see tangible signs of improvement. Those four weeks of summer, which saw defeats twice to Legia, to Maribor and Inverness, were signs of a team in crisis. They cost us Champions League football, and revenue, but finishing our Europa League group in second place behind Salzburg is the top end of where we expected to be three months ago.
I’m not happy with this morning’s line that we qualified thanks to the result in Romania; we qualified because we collected eight points from our opening four games, including a highly respectable draw in Salzburg. Win, lose or draw last night, the qualification work had been done. We can now start planning for the second half of the season.
Those three months since the summer crisis passed with only one defeat, an ultimately costless, if embarrassing, reversal at home to Hamilton. We can afford a similar episode on the next three months, but not this Sunday. The visit to Tynecastle is our most important game in the next two months, considerably more so than last night’s.
Commons and Forrest return to full fitness will be closer, while it would be good to see Denayer and Lustig available again.
It was kind of Rangers International to publish their accounts as a pick-me-up for us when we got home last night. More tomorrow, if we have time.
Shocked and stunned at the news Roy Keane has chucked it at Aston Villa. No way did I ever see his appointment as assistant to Paul Lambert looking like a pointless distraction so quickly. Next time we appoint a manager, cut the lines to Barbados and keep Martin’s mobile engaged!
Pre-orders are being accepted for the 2015 CQN Annual, which will be posted week commencing 8 December. Get your orders in now…
1,028 Comments- Pages:
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PAUL67
Sorry,mate. Not the performance of the season. Far from it.
We started slowly,like any greyhound I back,and were always behind.
On every level,bar application.
And the class act in the race finished well.
This post summed it up perfectly. I cannot put into words how I feel about where Celtic are-mineshafter or not,I’d be barred if I did-but this will do it without the serious vitriol I would aim at those I hold responsible.
~~~~~~~~~~++~~~~~~~~~~
the token tim
11:24 on 28 November, 2014
Burning Bush @ 1034,
“We played badly for 30 minutes, pretty well for an hour and then got caught out at the end. A draw would have been fair but no one said life has to be fair.”
Sums last night up to a T.
A few of my mates had a “lively” discussion after the game last night and a couple of them were going ballistic raging at the performance, the result, the club etc. To honest, for me now, i very rarely get really upset at a Celtic defeat. The simple reason being management of Expectation. My expectation levels now are low. The downsizing of the team has led me to this. I believe we are merely mediocre now and therefore have mediocre expectations. In Guidetti I think we have a very good player. Id love to see us hang onto him as he will , again imo, make a difference esp in Europe. The question is: will we manage to sign him? Unfortunately I have my doubts. Hopefully those doubts will be proven to be unfounded.
I am happy we have qualified for the Last 32 despite the manner of progression. Likewise I am happy we are top of the League and are in the semi final of the League cup. (I would much rather have avoided them as I believe we are in a no win situation with that game).
Am I happy with how we have played to reach those milestones, not particularly, but as I mentioned previously Im not too downbeat about it either due to my expectation level.
And that for me is the crux of the matter.
Should I simply accept that my expectation level is now low and carry on as is, or should I be pissed off that Celtic have been able to manage my expectation to such a mediocre level??? Whether through necessity or media-managed brain washing that we no longer can compete at the highest levels financially or otherwise.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
That was a performance which summed up our season.
Good Afternoon.
I have just been speaking to Joe Miller.
Apparently there were quite a few scouts at Celtic Park last night just to watch Mr Kampl and on that performance I think Red Bull will be making a nice profit on him sometime soon.
For those who think the January transfer window is a watershed – think again.
Very little quality business is available let alone done in January and I don’t think we will see anything like the dramatic activity needed being done in January.
The best I expect will be the signing of Guidetti which would be a good bit of business.
Tosh McKinlay will be in Waterstones in East Kilbride tomorrow at 12 Noon signing copies of Caesar & The Assassin.
I first saw Tosh playing fitba as a snotty nosed kid in Downhill Street in Partick. He was playing with a tennis ball and was all left foot.
His mammy used to work with my mum and dad and has always been referred to affectionately as “wee Betty”.
MIGHTY TIM
I am sure that yer lad has done nothing wrong. I know that you are too.
If he is found guilty,his accusers will be vindicated,while he has to live with the consequences of that.
If justice prevails,he will still be tarnished by today,and his accusers move on to their next victim.
Smashing,innit?
Please give him my best wishes. I only wish I could do more than that.
HH
We had more possession, we attempted and completed more passes and we had more successful tackles last night than Salzburg. Which is fine.
However, Salzburg clearly were able to use what time on the ball they had. Spending more on the team will do that for you. And averaging £1M+ more per player in the starting line-ups makes a difference.
Token Tim
Bang on. Expectation levels.
They can be unrealistic at times, like expecting a rabbit to fly.
We know it’s not going to happen so why expect it?
The reason for lower expectations is not downsizing. Downsizing is just the symptom of the cause and the cause is the economic football market in which Celtic have to operate.
Signing a Guedtti standard player, which is only even thinkable because he is in football rehabilitation ( as was Craig Gordon) was a realistic expectation when MoN arrived. It is no longer.
However I think it realistic to expect we can compete to the Red Bull standard for a full 90 minutes, win lose or draw and whilst we clearly are not there yet I think that after a full season we are capable of reaching that standard.
The problem then is it realistic to expect we will have the same players the following season to maintain it?
But if I worry about that I’m living in tomorrow and missing out on the joys today has to offer.
AULDHEID
Eh?
Philbhoy
Just checking, can you e-mail me your address so that I can check to see if I have your book in my BRTH Santa sack.
editor@cqnmagazine.com
Cheers
BRTH
SoT
The O Jays? I wasn’t aware of that.
I do think though that the Blues Brothers Band is one of the best R&B outfits I’ve ever heard, which is no surprise given Steve Cropper’s background. Perhaps better than the line up put together by (honestly) Tom Jones a few years ago.
Mind you, I wasn’t around when guys like Alexis Corner were doing their stuff.
bmcd48
If we are measuring our Euro standards against those of our fellow clubs from England Thistle then we are not just great but world class.
alas as is the case every season our fellow regional clubs let themselves down badly.
MWD said AYE
There was an unusual reaction at full time last night. Some attempted to boo, but the applause from the majority in the crowd soon drowned them out. Not all defeats are the same, this one came after one of our best performances of the season, against an undoubtedly better team.
——————————————————————–
yes there was an unusual reaction from the crowd around me last night. The “wags” are busy mocking the players & managers performance, decisions and capabilities.
its decended into farce.
for once thought, RD actually made sub decisions that most around me agreed with, and that got him a little bit of lee-way.
the lack of boo-ing was , imho, a resignation of , whats the point, we are crap and we know we are.
further contained as it was passed around that astra had won, and we had actually progressed in the competition.
over the game we maybe had 20 – 25 minutes were we were on top.
the rest, we were well beaten, and once again, a top class goalkeeper kept the scoreline respectable.
god help us when we meet a big team.
Korner!
Damn you Auto-embarrass…
Auldheid
Expectation management is soley the reason why the team is performing in fromt of a half full Celtic park in European football.
I see no positive you, anyone else or I can take from that!
MWD said AYE
BRTH
Email sent!
I agree with Paul67 that was our best performance of the season. I do not think that detracts from how shite we are. If anything it highlights it
MWD
We can argue the reasons why the crowd has deserted Celtic during the last 3 years but I am confidently predicting, and it will give me no pleasure to be proven right, that there will be a 10k increase in the SB sales if a pretendy-Rangers team returns to the league.
I think we will have been shown to have let the team down these past 3 years as the critics “expectation-managed” our support by talk of deliberate downsizing, turgid football etc;
I am not saying that there was no truth in any of these criticisms (there has been a more oppressive policing and stewarding to cope with), merely that expectation management has worked both ways.
Supersutton
Good to see BMCUW on earlier asking about that weird new drink your father in law was imbibing.
H2Ohic
HH jamesgang
the top end of where we expected to be three months ago.
lets start thd cqn expectation management game.
Awe Naw 1 everybody else 0
SFTB
i agree with you for once. pheewwww. It’s fine. I’m ok.
Personally I’d prefer if the old firm green huns stayed away forever and kept their heads firmly up their expectation management!
MWD said AYE
Awe Naw
Away to your room and write a new song and chill
Love
BRTH
So Lawell admitted we are stockpiling cash but wouldnt give reason ?
Or have i picked you up wrong.
And to think we all thought kevj and sydneytim were talking balls the past couple of seasons.
They spotted this well before the rest of us.. The downsizing is basically completed.
SOAL
Awweeeee Nawwwww! i cannae take anymore of that on FB!!!
MWD said AYE
Philbhoy you had a look at todays Sun -hope you did,nt buy it – dearie dearie me. I would,nt believe the date in that rag. Hail Hail Hebcelt
Mighty Tim, I hope justice prevails and you bhoy is home tonight vindicated.
Good luck to you both.
So the last time we played the best team in a Europa League Group Match was at home to Atletico Madrid when we got beaten 0-1 in front of 33,257(BBC).
Compare this to last night after fans have deserted us in droves and the attendance for an equivalent game is now down to 32,414.
Also that season we got 6 points from the games, this season we already have 8 and potentially 11.
SOAL
later
MWD dont click or get the ear plugs in.
45 minutes and counting
HH
hebcelt
No, of course I didn’t buy it.
Although I didn’t think my post needed a smiley!
Mibbe it did!
Saw a few budding Mc Cullochs at the 17s game last night at M P!!! Should have saw red!!
Heard last night Adam Mathews has asked to leave in January if we get a offer, the injuries are getting on top of him and he thinks a move might help apparently.
Not a bad move IMO good player but hardly plays 3 games on the bounce HH
SFTB….
Have to agree with your assessment.
If the zombies get in I’ll be sad but I’ll be pleased to have the empty seats around me filled again.
I wonder, should Hearts and Hibs get back if there would be any ST increase? I would hope the premiership marketing team could make something of the return of Edinburgh!
HH
hun skelper
Agree, time for both parties to move on.
Is there a Christmas CQN mag out yet??
Thought we where unlucky last night, after the first 25-30 mins we where by far the better team and with the rub of the green could have drew or snatched the win. Put it another way we’ve had worse defeats, got beat went through not to bad is it HH
I could be mistaken but from where I was last night, Jock Stein lower, I thought that he booing at time up was directed more at the ref than at the team. Second half was decent and Tonev impressed when he came on.
RD has brought in wholesale changes to our team, change is better done gradually .
Making the team fitter is a good thing but ultimately it doesn’t make them better thinkers therefore better footballers .
Looking forward to the new year with potential new players and European football HH
Good afternoon friends
Jude,
how did the ’17s get on yesterday?
Kicked off the park in classic hun style?
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
marky68
as was pointed out earlier apart from mcgregor and gordon all of the starting line up were lenny’s men
The team are fitter ?
how is that ever measured by perfomance on the park.
What had changed for the better in this whole sorry mess ?
Anyone give me 3 things , players or contribution on the park now that is better than last season ?