Celtic punching with an empty glove

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I’ve watched a large number of insipid end of season efforts over the years. The one that stands out most is home to Falkirk in 1987. It was probably the first time it was clear to me the white flag had been raised on a campaign (had results gone our way, we could still have won the league that day). Only a year earlier the same squad delivered the most unlikely title in the final game.

There was no white flag yesterday, quite the opposite, the league is all-but won. Instead we looked like a team with a lot of players wondering if they had a future at the club. The next two games, away to Hearts and home to Aberdeen, should provide enough focus to allow the level of performance to rise, but I thought that about the semi-final too.

It’s the end of the road for a few players, and for a system clearly few still believe in.

On the way into the ground a few of us wondered how often Kris Commons would be used going forward. He will be 33 in the summer, ahead of the last year of his contract. Whatever the reason he didn’t make the starting line up yesterday (or last week), his 9 minute cameo demonstrated the directness, not to mention game intelligence and skill, that Celtic are badly lacking.

Despite the plethora of No. 10s and creative wide players we’ve recruited over the last two years, Commons remains by far our most effective creative player. Without him we look to be punching with an empty glove; I hope whoever takes over takes note.

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720 Comments

  1. Beatbhoy

     

    __________

     

    Happy Birthday to ye fella

     

    have a grand ole time.

     

    You’ll Never Walk Alone….in the Jungle

     

    Hail Hail.

  2. CQNers

     

    ________

     

    Thanks for yer best wishes yesterday

     

    much appreciated.

     

    Hail Hail

  3. David Hay will be 70 this year.

     

     

    Hard to think he would want that sort of stress now.

     

     

    Main problem is the CL qualification process – very difficult to see us going through no matter who is in charge. Then there is that feeling of the season being over in August.

     

     

    A very poisoned chalice.

  4. Victoria Derbyshire with her green 7 white hooped scarf on

     

    BBC News Channel :)

     

    Not for the 1st time btw.

  5. An Tearmann/Kevjungle

     

     

    Appreciate the good wishes, bhoys.

     

     

    Dharma Bam

     

     

    “Well I never!”

     

     

    I’m taking that as a compliment!

  6. Victoria Derbyshire is a 100% pure hero.

     

     

    She’ll never walk alone.

     

    Nor will you.

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  7. Delaneys Dunky.

     

     

    Thank you! Listening to “Roadhouse Blues”.

     

     

    “Well, I woke up this morning, got myself a buck’s fizz”

     

     

    Disnae quite work!

     

     

    Still……

  8. BIG-CUP-WINNERS on

    Any truth in the Chelsea right baking transfer ?

     

     

    Clue there to who may be the new manager ?

  9. If it had come out at the start of last season that several senior players were not buying in to RD’s methods and were undermining him, would CQN be happy if he had dropped them and played the youngsters for the season?

  10. timaloy29 sleeps on the heated driveway on

    BIG-CUP-WINNERS on 26TH APRIL 2016 10:02 AM

     

     

     

    Suggesting its Steve Clarke?

     

     

    Or Mourinho? ;-)

  11. I doubt many of us are confident of a result against Hearts in next game but I’ve just heard news that makes even a draw unlikely.

     

     

    Apparently Hearts are going to play a new midfield three of Cod n chips: Haddock n chips: Plaice n chips. With Salt n Sauce on the bench if they need freshening up.

     

     

    The serious point I’m making is I think we have lacked a real physical presence in midfield for some time. I’m talking about a big bassa that when he looks into your eyes in the tunnel you are beat.

     

     

    Whoever we get as a manager let’s hope he subscribes to the “big is good” school of football coaching.

  12. Yorkbhoy

     

     

    Yes. 100%

     

    Don’t care about age or stage. Respect the jersey, give your all or gtf

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  13. Anyway…..

     

    Yeez have taken yer eyes off the ball with all of these exotic managers names being bandied about.

     

    Yeez are forgetting one weeeeee tiny detail….

     

    Who is going to be doing the recruiting ?

     

    Desmond ? Who, for 22 years couldny be ersed ?

     

    Lawwell ? Who’ll bring in a subservient puppet the likes of which has emptied the stadium ?

     

    Both of these ‘toxic’ figures have to be gotten rid off – NOW!!!

     

    Celtic are a rudderless ship.

     

    Desmond and, Lawwell have created and presided over this scandal.

     

    Who are they answerable to ?

     

    They are Old Firm-ists who’ll look the other way when we’re being cheated on and, off the pitch after taking your money. Why the fluk can yeez not get that ?

     

    Yeez are not dafties so, why the convenient amnesia ?

     

    1st port of call – Restructure the club after the removal of the charlatans.

     

    2nd port of call – Appoint a Football management structure that brings back the Celtic-ness that will fill the seats again but, don’t fall into this playing football the ‘Celtic Way’ palaver. BTM could have been a success at Celtic Park if,….he’d played football the BTM way that he did at Hibs. He came to Celtic Park as manager and, immediately allowed himself to be consumed by this mind-set-trap of trying to play football the ‘Celtic Way’….ffs, even Mr Stein’s teams didny play football the ‘Celtic Way’ every week.

     

    So,….joost gie the keys tae Big McGhee but,….make a deal with him.

     

    Ask Big Mark to – manage – the players at his disposal currently at Celtic Park, without spending any money till the next transfer window if necessary, I say – if necessary – because, Big Mark could….imho…make a Celtic team out of the players who are currently at Celtic Park into a team who would play – The Big Mark McGhee Way – horses for courses….one game at a time. Is it just me or, has anybody else noticed how, Lasley has become a tidy-possession-player….under Big McGhee….instead of the, hunlike thug that he was under the Mullet ?

     

    Big McGhee would play a – passing – moving – possession – hunskelping, style of ffotbaal that would have £millions rolling into the club just by the sales of all the, Treble-winning-hunskelping-DVD’s.

     

    A mean – what’s not to like ?

     

    1st….get rid of the hun-loving-sleekit-deceitful-kowtoers.

     

    Then,….let the magic begin….

     

    You’ll Never Walk Alone…in the Jungle.

     

    ….laters….

  14. BMCUW

     

     

    What a magnificent song!

     

     

    Had to be, as I’d just played ‘LA Woman’.

     

     

    Though that’s at least 4 songs!

  15. O’Neill and Keane, with Willie Haughey as Chief Exec. Guy on a bus from Fife told me on Sunday. He heard it from a guy who’s brother knows a guy who works beside someone who knows Dermot Desmond’s son, and the guy who knows him was on their bus and he heard it DIRECTLY from that guy.

  16. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    TD67

     

     

    You realise that link to Johnjames states that PL voted in favour of allowing King into Rangers?

     

     

    And that he also lied about it?

  17. The Battered Bunnet on

    BK

     

     

    Surprised you’re popping your head above the parapet. Accountants are being shot on sight lately.

  18. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    WEEFRATHETIM

     

     

    Morning,bud. I was gonna tell you about BT’s post when I call you later.

     

     

    Bhoy,yer on the ball for an oul’ fella!

  19. traditionalist88 on

    winning captains on 26th April 2016 8:59 am

     

     

    Not sure about needing a director of football.

     

     

    How about we just appoint a football manager who won’t be a yes man?

     

     

    That’ll save on a big wage for a director of football and that expenditure can be put back into the team.

     

     

    A headstrong football manager working in tandem with the right scouts and coaching team negates any need for a director of football(whatever that is).

     

     

    A director of football is just another fancy titled drain on resources whose role is already performed by specialised personnel. We just have to source personnel more suited to our club.

     

     

    If you say a director of football will help do that, then what is their role going forward?

     

     

    HH

  20. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    BEATBHOY

     

     

    LA WOMAN was the first Doors album I bought. Jee-zoh,about forty years ago!

     

     

    My second was Soft Parade,but I can overlook that. The rest are joooost magic.

  21. Dontbrattbakkinanger on

    Ole Blantyre Kev is fearless.

     

     

    He laughs in the face of overwhelming odds, and whistles cheerfully as he goes out to face the numberless foe.

  22. timaloy29 sleeps on the heated driveway on

    BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 26TH APRIL 2016 10:18 AM

     

     

    Lawwell believed King was good for Celtic. I have that on good authority.

     

     

    He’s skint and a conman. Nobody wants somebody in Govan who will actually invest money or run the business honestly.

  23. Apropos of nothing:

     

     

    I remember when Ronny Deila was appointed. A learned Celt on here ( is there any other kind:-) explained that having lived in Norway, he was struck by the Norwegian tendency to be utterly convinced and super confident about themselves. I know it’s wrong to generalise, but I believe this was Ronny’s downfall in the end,

     

     

    He could not conceive that he might be wrong and was unable to change it.

     

     

    Árd Macha

     

     

    and never doubting cnybis

  24. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    YORKBHOY

     

     

    I stated after the Legia game that certain players had to realise that NL was history,RD is now their manager.

     

     

    Like it or not,they had to play for him.

     

     

    If they were persistently undermining him,I think RD would have been supported by the fans if he had dropped them.

     

     

    I know I would have. Bunch of primadonna sand-dancers.

  25. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    TIMALOY29

     

     

    I believe you. But I think it would have been politically sensible to have opposed him,explaining that they need proper stewardship.

     

     

    And that he would have made the same decision for the fans of any other club in the same situation.

     

     

    He had no chance of winning the vote,he could have skewed the outcome in his favour.

  26. Morning all.

     

     

    Rather than a DoF and a young head coach, I would rather have an experienced manager ably assisted by a coaching team.

     

     

    A bit like big Jock with Sean Fallon and Neil Mochan…

     

     

    Martin O’Neil with John Robertson and Steve Walford…

     

     

    Seemed to work ok.

     

     

    Mind you they had some great players to choose from.

     

     

    Rather different now, unfortunately.

     

     

    HH!!

  27. traditionalist88 on

    If every department at the club is working as it should be there is absolutely no need for a so called director of football – who would no doubt command a significant wage to do, well no one is really sure are they?

     

     

    We don’t have money to waste and any money earmarked to go into the pocket of another guy in a suit in the stands with the title ‘director of football’ should be spent on the first team or on youth development.

     

     

    HH