“We have never taken the initiative in Europe”? Correct me if I’m wrong, did we not win the 1st leg 3-0.
0-2 at halftime would have been a fair reflection? Utter crap! The whole idea of football is to score goals and Anderlect could not do that. Ah but 2 saves from Craig G? Wtf do you think he’s paid to do?
Anderlecht came flying out the traps as they had to get a result, unfortunately for them (and some on here) they didnae manage it. We were poor and my thoughts are that Sinclair and Armstrong have been weak compared to last season. Not been happy with Stuart only signing a 1 year contract. Does he want to leave? On this season so far he has been pretty poor. Must admit only see games on tv as there’s not a supporters bus leaving from were I live so cannot comment on his off the ball movement.
Not the score we wanted but still in Europe. How many nights did we watch our team bust a gut but you knew if we played till Easter we were not going to score. Anderlect scored1 when they needed 3. Tough, happens to the best
HH
jamesgang on
Sandman
BMCUW
Had Gordon not made that save after a few minutes they’d likely had got the required three goals by half time.
Not sure if it came across on tv but the rendition of YNWA wasn’t quite at ‘CL level’, the Zadoc crescendo didn’t quite pierce the eardrums to the same extent. And apart from the GB, the support quickly settled into quiet passivity. We were out of the CL and the bottom line was to avoid a 0-3 loss. That statistical ghost perneated fans and players alike.
We did see the anticipated early blitz. But by the team in purple, not green and white.
We’re out of one European completion. And not very safely into another. But we’ve lost a chance to demonstrate on field progress and develop momentum.
A curate’s egg of a season, at home and in Europe.
HH jamesgang
jamesgang on
Perneated – spellcheck new word of the day!
m6bhoy on
JIMBO67 on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 8:08 AM
Morning all
Nothing has been learned from last year and nothing will be learned from this
But what can we learn that we don’t already know? The CL is a rigged competition run by a corrupt organisation for the benefit of the elite super-rich mega clubs and the rest of Europe is only allowed to participate to create the illusion that it is a pan-European competition so that it can attract mega bucks from corporate sponsors and TV companies.
We and the rest of Europe will never be allowed to be anything other than sacrificial lambs and for this we receive (relative) crumbs form the rich man’s table. This season we have scrambled into the Europal League and we may get lucky and get a kind draw to see us get beyound the next round. However, if we are drawn against better qualification then the outcome is likely to follow the same patter as the CL.
Let’s not kid ourselves – we are the kings of a “wee diddy team” league on the outer edge of of Europe’s frontiers. When we play Europe’s elite then we become the “wee diddy team” and sadly all too often it ends up in an embarrassing footballing humiliation. As the gap between the footballing haves and have-nots gets wider each year, this is not going to change. We may occasionally produce a one-off great result against one of the bigger teams but for the most part we have to get used to more of the what’s been dealt out to us over the past few seasons.
There is an alternative but I don’t think our club has the appetite to take it on.
Gary67 on
On last night, firstly Anderlecht were excellent. Defenders who first and foremost could defend but when in possession played quick incisive passed into the midfield or out wide. Their midfield was excellent, everything ours weren’t. In possession one and two touch pass and move, usually forward into a more dangerous are, out of possession a high press because they knew they could win the ball back. Fortunately for us their weakness was up front where they were wasteful and their delivery from wide areas often poor. No. 32, Dedoncker ran the match from his deep lying midfeld role. We were what we are in Europe, and have been for several years going back to Ronny and Lenny, a team who are incapable of keeping possession. Defenders who panic with the ball at their feet, midfielders who have no confidence on the ball, leaving our forward players isolated and lacking service. This resulted in sideways and backward passed when we should have been trying to push forward, if nothing else to give our defence respite. Playing the second half 5-4-1 was an admission from BR that we don’t have the players to complete with a good EL team (they were quarter finalists last season) let alone in CL. BR for his part yet again picks Armstrong, not remotely good enough in Europe, Sinclair, totally out of for and Dembele, not fit. Our improvement in the second half was down to ON, his first three touches were two forward passes to teammates and our first shot on target.
Too many players who are in a successful comfort zone domestically but are unable to step up. After three windows where BR has signed three first team players its time for major surgery over the next two windows if we want to look like a decent EL team let alone CL team. Ntcham, Kouassi, Ajer, Edouard, Ralston all should be given an opportunity in EL to see what they can do, BR’s tried and trusted have let us down too often in Europe, especially this season where we have regressed from last.
CultsBhoy- Last of the famous international PlayBhoys on
In the cold light of day. The objective set has been achieved.
I think not also helps push the club in to investing in a central defensive pairing that can be relied upon. Also sets a benchmark for our improving players.
Job done.
Well done Bhoys and Brendan!
ItaliaBhoy on
Gary67,
A wee bit harsh but I know where you’re coming from.
The omission of Ntcham baffles me – he looks like our most accomplished midfielder by far. I also think Eboue has done enough to warrant a start. So much of our threat last season was Armstrong and Sinclair – this season both have been poor.
I also think injuries have taken their toll on Simunovic.
The disappointment for me about last night was that we seemed to regress from some of the decent stuff we played in Brussels and against Bayern. Perhaps the nature of the game (almost through, not knowing whether to attack or not) played on the players minds, but it was still worrying how much more comfortable on the ball Anderlecht looked.
I think January is crunch time for Brendan. Will he be given the funds to really kick us on – meaning 2 or 3 first -team signings who can help us make an impact on the Europa. Or will we settle for a patch-up job and see what happens?
What happens will tell us much about the ambitions of the board for the club.
Gary67 on
Legia Warsaw, RB Salzburg, Molde, Ajax, Anderlecht. 5 home defeats in the last 4 seasons to teams who we should be beating at home. Forget PSG/Barca/Bayern etc, they play a different sport from us now, these are middle ranked teams who are coming to CP (Murrayfield in Legia’s case) and beating us easily by playing good possession football and attacking with pace.
traditionalist88 on
Good to see Brendan acknowledge some of the players aren’t up to it at this level(yet?).
The problem is neither have some of the tactics been up to it at this level.
Our excellent home record in the CL was a result of keeping things tight and controlled attacking. At the moment we are extremely lightweight in midfield, technically average and have a centre back who makes you panic every time the ball goes near him.
Ok our away record was always poor but you never feared losing 7/8/9 goals until recently.
We can’t go toe to toe against these teams. Tighten up positionally and pick players who will harass opponents and let them know they’ve been in a game. Good teams now pass around our players like they’re not there. Most worryingly of all Anderlecht looked far superior technically to us last night, were strutting around us and fully deserved the 3 points.
Job done they say but anyone who saw the faces of the players and manager afterwards will know we got away with it last night.
So many problems that you fear an even bigger hiding is on the cards than the 7 PSG hit us for, if we negotiate 4 qualifiers next year.
HH
spootiemad on
I don’t comment often, tend to lurk but here goes. Last night confirmed 2 things that I have thought for a while, Armstrong is not good enough at this level and Scott Brown is our best player, he ran himself into the ground covering for teammates who are simply not up to it at this level. I think that Brendan will realise that to compete in Europe we will need to sign 2 or 3 better players. In my opinion the unbeaten domestic run has papered over the cracks in this squad.
Davidopoulos on
TREBLE WINNERS IN CRISIS AFTER QUALIFYING FOR KNOCK OUT STAGES OF EUROPA LEAGUE
The Slump Continues.
Seriously though, Brendan was pretty scathing about the performance last night and knows that he needs to invest heavily to bring the Celtic team up a level. It’s up to him to manage our exploits in the transfer market, and also manage his players back into a bit of form (Yes, I’m talking about you Scott Sinclair).
Yes, last night was pretty p!sh but this season’s Champions League HAS seen us progress – any alternative view is based in vanity.
Anderlecht moved the ball about with fluidity and energy (they have certainly bounced back under the new manager). However, it was really weird how with 10 mins to go they weren’t bombarding the Celtic goal – they were just passing to each other in defence. If I was an Anderlecht fan I wouldn’t be happy at all. It was a little bit unprofessional.
Objective! …..Qualifying for Europa League, ………..job done move on, malcontents? They’re never happy anyway, fill your boots, but I’m sure the experts will all be in today telling BR how to run the team, another Groundhog Day not that place for me to be today, doubters girfuy,.
HH c yu
erskinetim on
Feel a wee bit conflicted after last night…..
Uefa Cup in February. So, objective achieved, yup.
A comfortable aggregate victory over our pot 3 opponent, yup.
Did they ever really look like taking 3 off us? Nope.
Were we realistically ever going to beat PSG or Bayern? Nope.
So in the grand scheme job done.
But, I dunno, last night was painful. And I know we were playing against a team that had nothing to lose and kinda went for it with 3 up top and fluid movement.
We are still too open and yeah, hindsight is great right, but I’m not sure we are learning from previous games.
Kieran Tierney is to me, the BEST player we have produced in a couple of generations. He really is that good. But our games in Europe have left him totally exposed, he is always 2 on 1. He is clearly also asked to “tuck in” to protect the centre backs which means he is always running 25 yards to close the player or 2 players. It is so glaringly obvious, yet he faces this game after game. That to me is naive. Last night the only protection he got was from Ntcham in the 2nd half. On the right hand side Forrest does protect his full back. Sinclair or Armstrong last night didn’t come close. That to me is glaring and disappointing.
Midfield selection in Europe needs the additional protecting player, whether Ntcham or someone else. It isn’t Armstrong, it isn’t McGregor or Rogic. Don’t really like singling players out, but I’m not really sure what Armstrong is bringing to the table at the moment. I honestly would have switched him for Ntcham after 20 mins last night.
In Europe against any CL opponent there are 2 things we need to do:-
– always go with 2 robust central midfielders. At moment that would be Brown and Ntcham (if we need to buy another so be it).
– protect the full backs. If the game dictates we need to stretch then you can change it.
Also detect from the presser that Rodgers knew we weren’t up to it last night. Got the sense he was pi**ed about it too.
Then again domestically – all is bliss. We genuinely can do little wrong.
Had Gordon not made that save after a few minutes they’d likely had got the required three goals by half time.
Lol, I mean, seriously? Now am leaving.
traditionalist88 on
tonydonnelly67 on 6th December 2017 9:21 am
Comes on a football blog….
Doesn’t want to talk about football…
Leaves….
TonyCSC
jamesgang on
TD
See the door Tony…mind it doesn’t smell your erchie pal.
And see if you take your blinkers off, you’ll enter a new world called objectivity. We await you joining us. More in hope than expectation.
WereYouAtTheMatchCallerCSC????
HH jamesgang
jamesgang on
Smell???
Ffs
I typed hit…I swear. Sorry!!!
My iPhone had other ideas.
Sorry!!!
ernie lynch on
In retrospect in seems like the result in Brussels was a bit of an outlier rather than a true indication of where Celtic rank in European terms.
There’s a lot of improvement needed.
The post match conflab on BT with Larsson, Hartson and Sutton discussing the campaign was interesting. Sutton summed things up well ‘They lost in the tunnel’.
I posted at halftime last night they were pretty to watch but ultimately toothless and it would take a spectacular collapse from us for them to get their required goals.
That being said we didn’t play well and none of us wants to see Celtic lose at home.
The CL is a fix and has been for years although that doesn’t make accepting Celtic current position in that fix any easier.
Personally I haven’t watched the CL for years except when we’re playing as it seems taxes and financial fair play only seems to apply to the smaller teams so good tho’ Messi et al are they part of the same corruption and as someone wisely said this morning they play a different sport from us now. Major league sponsor based shite I call it!!
I think it’s important to remember that Brendan is also fairly new at the Euro game, I think one campaign with Liverpool and now two with us.
These are hard lessons for us as fans to take and to accept but as the dust settles on last night we are in the Euro league and we will play two more games against quality opposition which for the group of players and management team can only be good.
Pride brusied but realistically perespectiveised this morning:))
cathedral view on
I’d say it’s difficult to judge how far we’ve come under Brendan. Domestically unrivalled but struggling to make a decent impact in Europe so far.
Last seasons Barca, Man City, Borussia M replaced by PSG, Bayern and Anderlecht. The Champions League is unforgiving.
From fourth to third and the chance of a run in the Europa so on the face of it progress.
Outplayed for much of the game last night leaves us concerned as to where we are on this journey.
Anderlecht were better than us last night but then again they had to be. They had no option but to give it everything.
This is a far better looking anderlecht side than the one we beat 3-0 recently. This is the side that ran Bayern close a couple of weeks ago. A Bayern side who just beat PSG.
It’s a League, we finished third. That was the target.
A good performance and result in the next round of Europe will go a long way to answering the questions raised last night.
Looking forward to Monday’s draw.
cv
Joe Filippis Haircut on
I think Brendan realises European football is not doing his reputation any good the wider football world sees Scottish football as a footballing back water.We could draw any of the other 31 teams in the Europa league and struggle badly I would bet money that all the other 31 teams will want to draw Celtic as they will see it as an easy passage to the last sixteen.The team at Parkhead are currently just not good enough and if we truly have ambition to compete in Europe we need better players and Brendan needs to move on the players who are not good enough . H.H.
Davidopoulos on
starry plough
Hmm, the CL is a moral dilemma; we want the money but recognise that it’s one big fix.
Good point about Brendan in Europe – he still has much to learn. He seems to be a bit better at game management in knockout style competitions (e.g. CL qualifiers).
We’re ranked 48th Ernie and Anderlecht are at 31 so we just put out a team 17 places above us:))
Positivity CSC
Greenpinata on
CELT55 on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 12:34 AM
Glad we’re through, but very disappointed with losing. Have you ever seen such poor crossing from two teams in a game? Most of Anderlechts went for goal kicks and most of ours went for throw ins. To think that David Beckham made a career out of that one skill…
==========================/==.
I agreed with your post until the last sentence. David Beckham scored over 100 goals in his career, 65 of which came from free kicks. He is also the only England player to have scored in three world cups. Even his biggest critics cannot disagree with that aspect of his game.
HH.
ABZMike on
It was always going to be tricky against a decent team who had nothing to loose. Gordon’s early save was key, but Anderlecht didn’t have a huge number of clear cut chances after that, and had pretty much given up before the end. Second half was much better – As well as the subs who were very effective (why can’t Olivier be more consistent…) whatever rockets BD fired round the dressing worked. Maybe he should try that before KO next time.
The lack of confidence in the defence permeates through the whole team though. Trouble is Boyata thinks he is Baresi and strokes the ball stylishly to Armstrong or Brown.. and oops he’s under hit it and it gets intercepted and comes right back. Happened at least three times last night and countless other occasions in the CL campaign. That doesn’t need a multi million pound transfer, just get him to hit the pass properly when under no pressure.
The defence in particular needs improving – But fans of every team in Europe will say the same.
Saint Stivs on
For me, I havnt read back, last night was really painful.
Fortress Parkhead is now a drive through points pick up for all Euro opponents.
I get that they had to come out and play, but we gave them so much space. The left side was hopeless.
At a point around the 85th minute, we had a corner. We took a short one, in a way just to retain the ball. Whats that all about ? We seemed to be settling for the 0-1.
I want us to play defensive away from home. Here I want us to attack.
If we get any reasonable level of team in the europa draw we will get pumped.
ernie lynch on
STARRY PLOUGH on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 10:14 AM
I think we got lucky in Brussels with that result. It would be a mistake to set too much store by it in assessing where Celtic are at the moment.
Brendan’s major task is to sell the Celtic idea to good young players like N’tcham and convince them to be part of our story and what we’re building but the cynic in me thinks that those days are gone where smaller teams can make an impact in the CL and to be honest they’re long gone.
Chris Sutton who I like is still living to a certain extent in a time where although we had a very good team under Martin, blessed be his holy name:)) the gap was not engineered to be so wide as it is now.
In other words we hand a chance of defending our reputation at home now we seem to be makeweights in the competition even at home:((
Brendan can improve this I hope and for me it’s the midfield he needs to sort out, without the midfield doing their jobs the defence has no chance.
Big George hit the nail on the head tactically this morning, Broonie and Boyata being dragged all over the shop by Armstrong lack of awareness.
Give big Oli a run and let’s see what Kouassi can do..
On to Easter Road and another tough test for Brendan’s Bhoys!
HH
Gary67 on
starry plough on 6th December 2017 10:14 am
ERNIE LYNCH
We’re ranked 48th Ernie and Anderlecht are at 31 so we just put out a team 17 places above us:))
The Belgian league is ranked 9th of 53 by UEFA, Scottish league is 26th (probably in bottom 10 if you remove Celtic’s co-efficient contribution). Despite a poor campaign we still punch above our weight, but the gap is growing and shows no signs of getting better.
Greenpinata on
My friends in Celtic,
In the cold sober nearly light of day I have come to the only feasible conclusion.
The issue we have in Europe ( and there most definitely is an issue ) is psychological rather than physical. All the training and tactics will not help some of our players.
We need a sports psychologist to get into the minds of the players. It is the only answer and I am not jesting. Failing that hire a voodoo doctor.
BMCUW,
I can tell you’re angry, nevertheless you have spoken some hard truths that need to be aired.
HH.
Ps : “ Celtic jerseys won’t shrink etc etc “ Well they bl@@dy well have.
I don’t think anyone is setting any store on that result Ernie but the fact remains it was a good result and we knocked out the Pot 3 team.
Their fans will be more disappointed than ours this morning.
Tactically we have a lot to learn but what to do eh??
Keep winning in Scotland and seek improvement in Europe!
Davidopoulos on
starry plough
Chris Sutton who I like is still living to a certain extent in a time where although we had a very good team under Martin, blessed be his holy name:)) the gap was not engineered to be so wide as it is now.
——————————————————————————–
I was pondering this during the game last night: “Is the game so different now compared to when MO’N’s team were making a fortress out of CP?”
I came to the conclusion that most European countries have modernised and improved how they play football. There has been extensive investment in grass roots football in most UEFA countries for the last two decades. Tactical awareness is at a much higher level in European football than it used to be. Technique is much better.
What about us? Well, Scotland just stood still. A country that still advocates hoofing the ball up to a striker. Still flying into crunching tackles like it’s something to be admired. And it’s from that backdrop that we try to draw our talent pool, and against that backdrop that we try to attract quality players from elsewhere. It’s not conducive to success on the European stage, is it?
Btw, England were well behind as well up until about 10 years ago but they eventually wisened up.
GuyFawkesaforeverhero on
I travelled to the game with genuine concern that Anderlecht would knock us out. Europa quarter-final, sixteen places ahead of our uefa ranking, country coefficient more than double Scotland’s, all indicated trouble ahead.
Thankfully, they didn’t have the strikers required to overturn the Brussels result and hearing the final whistle was a mighty relief. Thought our back four stood up well, midfield struggled with their movement and we had no punch to throw up front. No point flaying players for not being as good as we want them to be. Better players would improve us. Better thinking would improve these players.
How do we do that? I’d suggest spfl teams be allowed to play their thirteen against our eleven, except Doncaster might vote it through. Hope the manager finds a different way to get us up to speed.
Celtic forever.
Davidopoulos on
I saw on twitter that Henry Onyekuru was getting some great reviews for his performance last night.
I thought he flattered to deceive.
At certain points in the first half Celtic were on the rack and he produced…not very much.
ernie lynch on
Interesting to see that posters have now finally come to a realistic view of Armstrong’s abilities as a footballer.
South Of Tunis on
Last night ?
The significantly better team won . Fortunately they didn’t seem to believe they could score the goals they required . I watched them playing away to Lokeren ( 13th in a 16 team league ) : Anderlect won 2-1 -playing exactly like they played last night . Pass and move with technique and intelligence . .
Lokeren played in exactly the same way -they were simply less good than Anderlect . That said Lokeren gave Anderlect more of a game than Celtic managed to do … Celtic seem to really struggle when they realise that the opposition isn’t Aberdeen / Motherwell / Ross County etc
Europa League – a kind draw please – lots of good teams ( and some not so good ) . All of the Italian teams in the draw ( even the shambles that is Milan ) are better than Anderlect . Napoli might end up in the Europa — If they are still in the running for Serie A come the next round -I very much doubt they will take it seriously .
Celtic have time to improve . -passing / shape / movement and mentality
And to be certain, three games in a week against the hammer throwing likes of Motherwell is not ideal preparation for CL.
LynchieBhoy on
Good morning Bhoys.
Still disappointed with last night’s showing. We were way off the pace for some strange reason. Armstring and Sinky, in particular, were terrible. Olly upped the tempo when he came on and full credit to him for that. Also, I met him outside the stadium late last night and he’s a lovely bloke, very kind and respectful to the fans.
I’d like to see Jonny Hayes get an extended run in the side now, surely with Paddy injured and Scotty off form, Hayes deserves his chance. Also, I think Mika needs to be rested as he was very poor last night and looked lethargic.
Anyway we leave for Glasgow Airport soon and look forward to our next trip over from Éire in the New Year. Thanks again to AngelGabriel for the superb ticket.
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A lot of merry & bright on the ould blog tonight.
“We have never taken the initiative in Europe”? Correct me if I’m wrong, did we not win the 1st leg 3-0.
0-2 at halftime would have been a fair reflection? Utter crap! The whole idea of football is to score goals and Anderlect could not do that. Ah but 2 saves from Craig G? Wtf do you think he’s paid to do?
Anderlecht came flying out the traps as they had to get a result, unfortunately for them (and some on here) they didnae manage it. We were poor and my thoughts are that Sinclair and Armstrong have been weak compared to last season. Not been happy with Stuart only signing a 1 year contract. Does he want to leave? On this season so far he has been pretty poor. Must admit only see games on tv as there’s not a supporters bus leaving from were I live so cannot comment on his off the ball movement.
Not the score we wanted but still in Europe. How many nights did we watch our team bust a gut but you knew if we played till Easter we were not going to score. Anderlect scored1 when they needed 3. Tough, happens to the best
HH
Sandman
BMCUW
Had Gordon not made that save after a few minutes they’d likely had got the required three goals by half time.
Not sure if it came across on tv but the rendition of YNWA wasn’t quite at ‘CL level’, the Zadoc crescendo didn’t quite pierce the eardrums to the same extent. And apart from the GB, the support quickly settled into quiet passivity. We were out of the CL and the bottom line was to avoid a 0-3 loss. That statistical ghost perneated fans and players alike.
We did see the anticipated early blitz. But by the team in purple, not green and white.
We’re out of one European completion. And not very safely into another. But we’ve lost a chance to demonstrate on field progress and develop momentum.
A curate’s egg of a season, at home and in Europe.
HH jamesgang
Perneated – spellcheck new word of the day!
JIMBO67 on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 8:08 AM
Morning all
Nothing has been learned from last year and nothing will be learned from this
Jimbo67
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
But what can we learn that we don’t already know? The CL is a rigged competition run by a corrupt organisation for the benefit of the elite super-rich mega clubs and the rest of Europe is only allowed to participate to create the illusion that it is a pan-European competition so that it can attract mega bucks from corporate sponsors and TV companies.
We and the rest of Europe will never be allowed to be anything other than sacrificial lambs and for this we receive (relative) crumbs form the rich man’s table. This season we have scrambled into the Europal League and we may get lucky and get a kind draw to see us get beyound the next round. However, if we are drawn against better qualification then the outcome is likely to follow the same patter as the CL.
Let’s not kid ourselves – we are the kings of a “wee diddy team” league on the outer edge of of Europe’s frontiers. When we play Europe’s elite then we become the “wee diddy team” and sadly all too often it ends up in an embarrassing footballing humiliation. As the gap between the footballing haves and have-nots gets wider each year, this is not going to change. We may occasionally produce a one-off great result against one of the bigger teams but for the most part we have to get used to more of the what’s been dealt out to us over the past few seasons.
There is an alternative but I don’t think our club has the appetite to take it on.
On last night, firstly Anderlecht were excellent. Defenders who first and foremost could defend but when in possession played quick incisive passed into the midfield or out wide. Their midfield was excellent, everything ours weren’t. In possession one and two touch pass and move, usually forward into a more dangerous are, out of possession a high press because they knew they could win the ball back. Fortunately for us their weakness was up front where they were wasteful and their delivery from wide areas often poor. No. 32, Dedoncker ran the match from his deep lying midfeld role. We were what we are in Europe, and have been for several years going back to Ronny and Lenny, a team who are incapable of keeping possession. Defenders who panic with the ball at their feet, midfielders who have no confidence on the ball, leaving our forward players isolated and lacking service. This resulted in sideways and backward passed when we should have been trying to push forward, if nothing else to give our defence respite. Playing the second half 5-4-1 was an admission from BR that we don’t have the players to complete with a good EL team (they were quarter finalists last season) let alone in CL. BR for his part yet again picks Armstrong, not remotely good enough in Europe, Sinclair, totally out of for and Dembele, not fit. Our improvement in the second half was down to ON, his first three touches were two forward passes to teammates and our first shot on target.
Too many players who are in a successful comfort zone domestically but are unable to step up. After three windows where BR has signed three first team players its time for major surgery over the next two windows if we want to look like a decent EL team let alone CL team. Ntcham, Kouassi, Ajer, Edouard, Ralston all should be given an opportunity in EL to see what they can do, BR’s tried and trusted have let us down too often in Europe, especially this season where we have regressed from last.
In the cold light of day. The objective set has been achieved.
I think not also helps push the club in to investing in a central defensive pairing that can be relied upon. Also sets a benchmark for our improving players.
Job done.
Well done Bhoys and Brendan!
Gary67,
A wee bit harsh but I know where you’re coming from.
The omission of Ntcham baffles me – he looks like our most accomplished midfielder by far. I also think Eboue has done enough to warrant a start. So much of our threat last season was Armstrong and Sinclair – this season both have been poor.
I also think injuries have taken their toll on Simunovic.
The disappointment for me about last night was that we seemed to regress from some of the decent stuff we played in Brussels and against Bayern. Perhaps the nature of the game (almost through, not knowing whether to attack or not) played on the players minds, but it was still worrying how much more comfortable on the ball Anderlecht looked.
I think January is crunch time for Brendan. Will he be given the funds to really kick us on – meaning 2 or 3 first -team signings who can help us make an impact on the Europa. Or will we settle for a patch-up job and see what happens?
What happens will tell us much about the ambitions of the board for the club.
Legia Warsaw, RB Salzburg, Molde, Ajax, Anderlecht. 5 home defeats in the last 4 seasons to teams who we should be beating at home. Forget PSG/Barca/Bayern etc, they play a different sport from us now, these are middle ranked teams who are coming to CP (Murrayfield in Legia’s case) and beating us easily by playing good possession football and attacking with pace.
Good to see Brendan acknowledge some of the players aren’t up to it at this level(yet?).
The problem is neither have some of the tactics been up to it at this level.
Our excellent home record in the CL was a result of keeping things tight and controlled attacking. At the moment we are extremely lightweight in midfield, technically average and have a centre back who makes you panic every time the ball goes near him.
Ok our away record was always poor but you never feared losing 7/8/9 goals until recently.
We can’t go toe to toe against these teams. Tighten up positionally and pick players who will harass opponents and let them know they’ve been in a game. Good teams now pass around our players like they’re not there. Most worryingly of all Anderlecht looked far superior technically to us last night, were strutting around us and fully deserved the 3 points.
Job done they say but anyone who saw the faces of the players and manager afterwards will know we got away with it last night.
So many problems that you fear an even bigger hiding is on the cards than the 7 PSG hit us for, if we negotiate 4 qualifiers next year.
HH
I don’t comment often, tend to lurk but here goes. Last night confirmed 2 things that I have thought for a while, Armstrong is not good enough at this level and Scott Brown is our best player, he ran himself into the ground covering for teammates who are simply not up to it at this level. I think that Brendan will realise that to compete in Europe we will need to sign 2 or 3 better players. In my opinion the unbeaten domestic run has papered over the cracks in this squad.
TREBLE WINNERS IN CRISIS AFTER QUALIFYING FOR KNOCK OUT STAGES OF EUROPA LEAGUE
The Slump Continues.
Seriously though, Brendan was pretty scathing about the performance last night and knows that he needs to invest heavily to bring the Celtic team up a level. It’s up to him to manage our exploits in the transfer market, and also manage his players back into a bit of form (Yes, I’m talking about you Scott Sinclair).
Yes, last night was pretty p!sh but this season’s Champions League HAS seen us progress – any alternative view is based in vanity.
Anderlecht moved the ball about with fluidity and energy (they have certainly bounced back under the new manager). However, it was really weird how with 10 mins to go they weren’t bombarding the Celtic goal – they were just passing to each other in defence. If I was an Anderlecht fan I wouldn’t be happy at all. It was a little bit unprofessional.
Objective! …..Qualifying for Europa League, ………..job done move on, malcontents? They’re never happy anyway, fill your boots, but I’m sure the experts will all be in today telling BR how to run the team, another Groundhog Day not that place for me to be today, doubters girfuy,.
HH c yu
Feel a wee bit conflicted after last night…..
Uefa Cup in February. So, objective achieved, yup.
A comfortable aggregate victory over our pot 3 opponent, yup.
Did they ever really look like taking 3 off us? Nope.
Were we realistically ever going to beat PSG or Bayern? Nope.
So in the grand scheme job done.
But, I dunno, last night was painful. And I know we were playing against a team that had nothing to lose and kinda went for it with 3 up top and fluid movement.
We are still too open and yeah, hindsight is great right, but I’m not sure we are learning from previous games.
Kieran Tierney is to me, the BEST player we have produced in a couple of generations. He really is that good. But our games in Europe have left him totally exposed, he is always 2 on 1. He is clearly also asked to “tuck in” to protect the centre backs which means he is always running 25 yards to close the player or 2 players. It is so glaringly obvious, yet he faces this game after game. That to me is naive. Last night the only protection he got was from Ntcham in the 2nd half. On the right hand side Forrest does protect his full back. Sinclair or Armstrong last night didn’t come close. That to me is glaring and disappointing.
Midfield selection in Europe needs the additional protecting player, whether Ntcham or someone else. It isn’t Armstrong, it isn’t McGregor or Rogic. Don’t really like singling players out, but I’m not really sure what Armstrong is bringing to the table at the moment. I honestly would have switched him for Ntcham after 20 mins last night.
In Europe against any CL opponent there are 2 things we need to do:-
– always go with 2 robust central midfielders. At moment that would be Brown and Ntcham (if we need to buy another so be it).
– protect the full backs. If the game dictates we need to stretch then you can change it.
Also detect from the presser that Rodgers knew we weren’t up to it last night. Got the sense he was pi**ed about it too.
Then again domestically – all is bliss. We genuinely can do little wrong.
Hence conflicted!!
I was leaving but forgot to repost this.
Had Gordon not made that save after a few minutes they’d likely had got the required three goals by half time.
Lol, I mean, seriously? Now am leaving.
tonydonnelly67 on 6th December 2017 9:21 am
Comes on a football blog….
Doesn’t want to talk about football…
Leaves….
TonyCSC
TD
See the door Tony…mind it doesn’t smell your erchie pal.
And see if you take your blinkers off, you’ll enter a new world called objectivity. We await you joining us. More in hope than expectation.
WereYouAtTheMatchCallerCSC????
HH jamesgang
Smell???
Ffs
I typed hit…I swear. Sorry!!!
My iPhone had other ideas.
Sorry!!!
In retrospect in seems like the result in Brussels was a bit of an outlier rather than a true indication of where Celtic rank in European terms.
There’s a lot of improvement needed.
The post match conflab on BT with Larsson, Hartson and Sutton discussing the campaign was interesting. Sutton summed things up well ‘They lost in the tunnel’.
DAVIDOPOULOS
I posted at halftime last night they were pretty to watch but ultimately toothless and it would take a spectacular collapse from us for them to get their required goals.
That being said we didn’t play well and none of us wants to see Celtic lose at home.
The CL is a fix and has been for years although that doesn’t make accepting Celtic current position in that fix any easier.
Personally I haven’t watched the CL for years except when we’re playing as it seems taxes and financial fair play only seems to apply to the smaller teams so good tho’ Messi et al are they part of the same corruption and as someone wisely said this morning they play a different sport from us now. Major league sponsor based shite I call it!!
I think it’s important to remember that Brendan is also fairly new at the Euro game, I think one campaign with Liverpool and now two with us.
These are hard lessons for us as fans to take and to accept but as the dust settles on last night we are in the Euro league and we will play two more games against quality opposition which for the group of players and management team can only be good.
Pride brusied but realistically perespectiveised this morning:))
I’d say it’s difficult to judge how far we’ve come under Brendan. Domestically unrivalled but struggling to make a decent impact in Europe so far.
Last seasons Barca, Man City, Borussia M replaced by PSG, Bayern and Anderlecht. The Champions League is unforgiving.
From fourth to third and the chance of a run in the Europa so on the face of it progress.
Outplayed for much of the game last night leaves us concerned as to where we are on this journey.
Anderlecht were better than us last night but then again they had to be. They had no option but to give it everything.
This is a far better looking anderlecht side than the one we beat 3-0 recently. This is the side that ran Bayern close a couple of weeks ago. A Bayern side who just beat PSG.
It’s a League, we finished third. That was the target.
A good performance and result in the next round of Europe will go a long way to answering the questions raised last night.
Looking forward to Monday’s draw.
cv
I think Brendan realises European football is not doing his reputation any good the wider football world sees Scottish football as a footballing back water.We could draw any of the other 31 teams in the Europa league and struggle badly I would bet money that all the other 31 teams will want to draw Celtic as they will see it as an easy passage to the last sixteen.The team at Parkhead are currently just not good enough and if we truly have ambition to compete in Europe we need better players and Brendan needs to move on the players who are not good enough . H.H.
starry plough
Hmm, the CL is a moral dilemma; we want the money but recognise that it’s one big fix.
Good point about Brendan in Europe – he still has much to learn. He seems to be a bit better at game management in knockout style competitions (e.g. CL qualifiers).
ERNIE LYNCH
We’re ranked 48th Ernie and Anderlecht are at 31 so we just put out a team 17 places above us:))
Positivity CSC
CELT55 on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 12:34 AM
Glad we’re through, but very disappointed with losing. Have you ever seen such poor crossing from two teams in a game? Most of Anderlechts went for goal kicks and most of ours went for throw ins. To think that David Beckham made a career out of that one skill…
==========================/==.
I agreed with your post until the last sentence. David Beckham scored over 100 goals in his career, 65 of which came from free kicks. He is also the only England player to have scored in three world cups. Even his biggest critics cannot disagree with that aspect of his game.
HH.
It was always going to be tricky against a decent team who had nothing to loose. Gordon’s early save was key, but Anderlecht didn’t have a huge number of clear cut chances after that, and had pretty much given up before the end. Second half was much better – As well as the subs who were very effective (why can’t Olivier be more consistent…) whatever rockets BD fired round the dressing worked. Maybe he should try that before KO next time.
The lack of confidence in the defence permeates through the whole team though. Trouble is Boyata thinks he is Baresi and strokes the ball stylishly to Armstrong or Brown.. and oops he’s under hit it and it gets intercepted and comes right back. Happened at least three times last night and countless other occasions in the CL campaign. That doesn’t need a multi million pound transfer, just get him to hit the pass properly when under no pressure.
The defence in particular needs improving – But fans of every team in Europe will say the same.
For me, I havnt read back, last night was really painful.
Fortress Parkhead is now a drive through points pick up for all Euro opponents.
I get that they had to come out and play, but we gave them so much space. The left side was hopeless.
At a point around the 85th minute, we had a corner. We took a short one, in a way just to retain the ball. Whats that all about ? We seemed to be settling for the 0-1.
I want us to play defensive away from home. Here I want us to attack.
If we get any reasonable level of team in the europa draw we will get pumped.
STARRY PLOUGH on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 10:14 AM
I think we got lucky in Brussels with that result. It would be a mistake to set too much store by it in assessing where Celtic are at the moment.
DAVIDOPOULOS
Brendan’s major task is to sell the Celtic idea to good young players like N’tcham and convince them to be part of our story and what we’re building but the cynic in me thinks that those days are gone where smaller teams can make an impact in the CL and to be honest they’re long gone.
Chris Sutton who I like is still living to a certain extent in a time where although we had a very good team under Martin, blessed be his holy name:)) the gap was not engineered to be so wide as it is now.
In other words we hand a chance of defending our reputation at home now we seem to be makeweights in the competition even at home:((
Brendan can improve this I hope and for me it’s the midfield he needs to sort out, without the midfield doing their jobs the defence has no chance.
Big George hit the nail on the head tactically this morning, Broonie and Boyata being dragged all over the shop by Armstrong lack of awareness.
Give big Oli a run and let’s see what Kouassi can do..
On to Easter Road and another tough test for Brendan’s Bhoys!
HH
starry plough on 6th December 2017 10:14 am
ERNIE LYNCH
We’re ranked 48th Ernie and Anderlecht are at 31 so we just put out a team 17 places above us:))
The Belgian league is ranked 9th of 53 by UEFA, Scottish league is 26th (probably in bottom 10 if you remove Celtic’s co-efficient contribution). Despite a poor campaign we still punch above our weight, but the gap is growing and shows no signs of getting better.
My friends in Celtic,
In the cold sober nearly light of day I have come to the only feasible conclusion.
The issue we have in Europe ( and there most definitely is an issue ) is psychological rather than physical. All the training and tactics will not help some of our players.
We need a sports psychologist to get into the minds of the players. It is the only answer and I am not jesting. Failing that hire a voodoo doctor.
BMCUW,
I can tell you’re angry, nevertheless you have spoken some hard truths that need to be aired.
HH.
Ps : “ Celtic jerseys won’t shrink etc etc “ Well they bl@@dy well have.
ERNIE LYNCH
I don’t think anyone is setting any store on that result Ernie but the fact remains it was a good result and we knocked out the Pot 3 team.
Their fans will be more disappointed than ours this morning.
Tactically we have a lot to learn but what to do eh??
Keep winning in Scotland and seek improvement in Europe!
starry plough
Chris Sutton who I like is still living to a certain extent in a time where although we had a very good team under Martin, blessed be his holy name:)) the gap was not engineered to be so wide as it is now.
——————————————————————————–
I was pondering this during the game last night: “Is the game so different now compared to when MO’N’s team were making a fortress out of CP?”
I came to the conclusion that most European countries have modernised and improved how they play football. There has been extensive investment in grass roots football in most UEFA countries for the last two decades. Tactical awareness is at a much higher level in European football than it used to be. Technique is much better.
What about us? Well, Scotland just stood still. A country that still advocates hoofing the ball up to a striker. Still flying into crunching tackles like it’s something to be admired. And it’s from that backdrop that we try to draw our talent pool, and against that backdrop that we try to attract quality players from elsewhere. It’s not conducive to success on the European stage, is it?
Btw, England were well behind as well up until about 10 years ago but they eventually wisened up.
I travelled to the game with genuine concern that Anderlecht would knock us out. Europa quarter-final, sixteen places ahead of our uefa ranking, country coefficient more than double Scotland’s, all indicated trouble ahead.
Thankfully, they didn’t have the strikers required to overturn the Brussels result and hearing the final whistle was a mighty relief. Thought our back four stood up well, midfield struggled with their movement and we had no punch to throw up front. No point flaying players for not being as good as we want them to be. Better players would improve us. Better thinking would improve these players.
How do we do that? I’d suggest spfl teams be allowed to play their thirteen against our eleven, except Doncaster might vote it through. Hope the manager finds a different way to get us up to speed.
Celtic forever.
I saw on twitter that Henry Onyekuru was getting some great reviews for his performance last night.
I thought he flattered to deceive.
At certain points in the first half Celtic were on the rack and he produced…not very much.
Interesting to see that posters have now finally come to a realistic view of Armstrong’s abilities as a footballer.
Last night ?
The significantly better team won . Fortunately they didn’t seem to believe they could score the goals they required . I watched them playing away to Lokeren ( 13th in a 16 team league ) : Anderlect won 2-1 -playing exactly like they played last night . Pass and move with technique and intelligence . .
Lokeren played in exactly the same way -they were simply less good than Anderlect . That said Lokeren gave Anderlect more of a game than Celtic managed to do … Celtic seem to really struggle when they realise that the opposition isn’t Aberdeen / Motherwell / Ross County etc
Europa League – a kind draw please – lots of good teams ( and some not so good ) . All of the Italian teams in the draw ( even the shambles that is Milan ) are better than Anderlect . Napoli might end up in the Europa — If they are still in the running for Serie A come the next round -I very much doubt they will take it seriously .
Celtic have time to improve . -passing / shape / movement and mentality
High teens and sunny (18 ) — way down south —
Choon for the day –The way it is .
https://youtu.be/XQfNq0jSY9I
DAVIDOPOULOS on 6TH DECEMBER 2017 10:40 AM
And to be certain, three games in a week against the hammer throwing likes of Motherwell is not ideal preparation for CL.
Good morning Bhoys.
Still disappointed with last night’s showing. We were way off the pace for some strange reason. Armstring and Sinky, in particular, were terrible. Olly upped the tempo when he came on and full credit to him for that. Also, I met him outside the stadium late last night and he’s a lovely bloke, very kind and respectful to the fans.
I’d like to see Jonny Hayes get an extended run in the side now, surely with Paddy injured and Scotty off form, Hayes deserves his chance. Also, I think Mika needs to be rested as he was very poor last night and looked lethargic.
Anyway we leave for Glasgow Airport soon and look forward to our next trip over from Éire in the New Year. Thanks again to AngelGabriel for the superb ticket.
HH