Celtic’s perils on show again

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So are we surprised at last nights’ defeat?  There’s some surprise that we scored three goals away from home, which if we count Moscow, is becoming a habit, if an incredibly lax one, but I’m less surprised we shipped four, again.    Even at full strength, we are several players short of being able to play Ronny Deila’s high-energy pressing game, so when the squad is further depleted by rest, injury and the like, we cannot expect to play an expansive game and come away with a result.

Fortunately the outcome didn’t matter, but it will next time out in this competition.  I’m very supportive of Ronny and think we have not even begun to see the real benefits of his work, but he got it wrong when he opened up a game which did matter in Warsaw.  We’ll need to see if he decides to play this way, with many of these players, in the Round of 32.  For then we either need to add appropriate players or change tactics.

There’s been a bit of chat on how attendance figures are reported.  Football clubs report paid seat sales, which baselines attendance at season ticket sales, but the ‘bums on seats’ figure is usually far lower.

The showbiz side of the game will always want to report the higher figure: see – our fans are faithful through and through, and all that.  Only Manchester United and Arsenal report higher average league attendance figures than Celtic in British football.  This claim maybe reliant on ticket sales, but it is an important indicator of the size, and therefore potential of our club in the right environment.  Not to mention the efforts many thousands go to in order to financially support the club, in sunshine or in shadow.

It was still somewhat refreshing to hear the new newco director inform the media that his club attracted less than 16,000 people for a recent home game.  The cynic would point out that if newco fall into insolvency, the excuses are already established – fans are not as loyal as they claim, blame then, not their unfortunate execs.

Many thanks for all the feedback on the 2015 CQN Annual.  You can order yours here, or get a special Annual-DVD bundle here.

As a special offer, everyone who buys an Annual, or bundle, before Christmas will be entered into a prize draw for a VIP Meal of 4 at a Celtic Park restaurant on a match day.  One entry for each Annual bought; pile in.

Our friends Magners, who I increasingly think get what this club is all about, have offered us another pair of Premium Tickets for the Jock Stein Stand on Sunday.  It’s a great way to watch football, especially on a winter’s day.  To enter the competition, email me celticquicknews@gmail.com with the name of the team Celtic play on Sunday in the subject line of your message.  Competition closes at 22:00 tonight, winners will be informed by email tomorrow, so check your inbox!

The deal I have with Magners is that when we make this offer, we ask you to consider making a £1 (or more) donation to our Mary’s Meals Appeal.  We are working towards building a kitchen at Chibwata Priimary School in Dowa, Malawi, which has 909 pupils and does not have food preparation facilities.

With a kitchen – and Mary’s Meals providing food – they will be able to provide primary school kids with what is often their only square meal of the day.  This work cuts infant mortality, improves school attendance by an average of 30%, and increases life chances exponentially.

No matter what you do today, this £1 will do things you cannot imagine.  It will make your day worthwhile.

I’ll be out with my boys on the bucket collection for the Foundation before kick off on Sunday.  If I’ve not coaxed your last £1 out of you, bring another one along to the game.  The spirit of Celtic needs to take care of those in our own community, as well as in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Sorry for all the calls to action todaym in summary:

The Annual, with a VIP Meal for 4 competition.
The Magners’ competition, email celticquicknews@gmail.com
The Mary’s Meals £1.
See you at the bucket collection on Sunday!

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  1. Patrick27

     

     

    I was just about to post this and say Patrick is a Tim surely!

     

     

    Rab Denholm: “Not before time Ally. Never a football manager. The football has been terrible for the last couple of seasons. Hopefully the board will accept – that’ll be the first correct decision they’ve made.”

     

     

    CowalPurple, Dunoon: “Terrible manager, great striker, fantastic guy. Honourable to the last. A Rangers legend.”

     

     

    Patrick: “Gutted that McCoist is walking away. Thanks for the memories.”

     

     

    Duncan, Grantown on Spey: “If Super Ally truly loves Rangers he’ll leave and refuse any monetary compensation.”

     

     

    Andrew, Glasgow: “Such a shame that bolshy fans haven’t given him the time he needed! I mean, what more could he have done? Thanks Ally for all your

     

     

     

    LB

  2. Tallybhoy .

     

     

    Seek out the press conference at Crete ( it is online ) where he loses it and demonstrates the English he learned in Glasgow .

  3. Dexter says PAY THE LIVING WAGE CELTIC PLC on

    Upon reflection, I really think it is difficult to come to any conclusion other than Ronny is not the answer.

     

     

    This season, we are a Jekyll and Hyde team- sometimes entertaining, sometimes confident, sometimes tepid, sometimes downright rank. Most times, however, we are just confusing.

     

     

    I don’t see the Deila style of play, whatever that is supposed to be. The pressing, high tempo in the first half against Motherwell might be what we are trying to achieve, but there is little evidence that we can sustain such an approach, whether through 90 minutes or more generally.

     

     

    The on field positives from this season are;

     

     

    Craig Gordon- admirably filling the gap left by the Wall;

     

    VVD- both his form and the fact he stayed in August

     

    Denayer- good loan (but can’t see him staying)

     

    Izzy- Getting back to form

     

    Brown- Immense

     

    Johansen- Initially thought he was rank, but appears to be developing

     

    Guidetti- a promising start for a potential no. 9.

     

     

    The negatives re;

     

     

    Efe- dear oh dear;

     

    Charlie- see above;

     

    AM- see last night;

     

    Callum- needs a rest or a loan;

     

    Wakoso/Tonev- no improvement on what we have

     

    Striking department (bar JG)- all too inconsistent/goal shy

     

     

    If we lose VVD and Denayer goes back (both of which appear very likely) and if we cannot secure JG on a permanent deal, we really are hugely weakened. Without them, Deila’s decisions will be further exposed.

     

     

    From what I see and hear, I like RD as a person. Unfortunately that is not enough.

  4. It’s walking away time again he’ll have to leave us,

     

    I can see that faraway look in his eye

     

    They’ve got to close the Big Hoose doon and count the empty seats

     

    And have a whip-round to pay for Ally’s pies

  5. Dexter, I agree with most of that. I thought we were great against Murderwell, but last night was sobering.

     

     

    No way do we possess the pace, power, or organisation necessary to succeed against quality opposition.

     

     

    Unless there is major investment in January, we could be quite seriously humbled in the EL.

  6. 16 roads - Craig Whyte is innocent. on

    Nothing makes sense to me anymore.

     

     

    It was often said that the only condition German soldiers couldn’t tolerant was chaos.

     

     

    A wee bit of chaos is alright to a certain extent imho, yet the majority of us yearn for stability and a degree of order.

     

     

    The Celtic games are very entertaining these days.

     

     

    No point even trying to understand what’s going on – Ronny is definitely a renegade.

     

     

    Hopefully everything works out well for our manager and his team, I think it’ll be all good.

     

     

    Happy enough to just keep winning titles for the time being, then see what happens.

     

     

    It’s interesting to watch anyway.

     

     

    HH.

  7. McCoist offers his resignation notice and will leave at the end of his contract (12 months).

     

     

    He now puts the onus on the board to negotiate a swift resolution in the full spotlight of the media.

     

     

    A club tearing itself apart in front of your very eyes.

  8. ItaliaBhoy

     

    15:10 on

     

    12 December, 2014

     

    Dexter, I agree with most of that. I thought we were great against Murderwell, but last night was sobering.

     

     

    >>

     

     

    Murderwell – the team an icelandic part time team knocked out in July. What level is that?

  9. playfusbal4dguilders on

    16 roads – Craig Whyte is innocent.

     

     

    “No point even trying to understand what’s going on – Ronny is definitely a renegade.”

     

     

    Ronny is clearly a man out of his depth.

     

     

    p

  10. Rangers: Ally McCoist offers his resignation as manager

     

     

    Ally McCoist has offered his resignation as Rangers manager, BBC Scotland understands.

     

    But, as it stands, he will be in charge for Friday evening’s Scottish Championship fixture against Queen of the South – until told otherwise.

     

    The 52-year-old has a 12-month rolling contract with the Glasgow club, who are refusing to comment at present.

     

    So either the club pays his salary up in full, comes to a settlement, or keep him in place for the next 12 months.

     

    It is believed that the players have not yet been informed and Rangers stress that McCoist will be in Dumfries for Friday evening’s match at Palmerston Park.

     

    The squad are due to gather at Rangers’ Murray Park training ground for their normal pre-match meeting at 15:00 GMT.

     

    McCoist had come under increasing pressure after his side slipped nine points behind Championship leaders Hearts.

     

    It intensified after a surprise 3-2 defeat by part-timers Alloa Athletic in the Petrofac Training Cup semi-final.

     

    Bellshill-born McCoist was a Rangers player for 15 years as well as playing for St Johnstone, Sunderland, Kilmarnock and Scotland.

     

    He had been assistant manager at Ibrox under Walter Smith and stepped up as his successor in summer 2011 while Rangers were still in the Scottish Premier League.

     

    Following Rangers’ financial problems, he led the side from the bottom tier of Scottish football by winning two consecutive league titles.

     

    They began this season as favourites for the Scottish Championship title, but attendances have fallen significantly amid continued fan dissatisfaction with the board and criticism of on-field performances.

  11. Ronnie has said enough times what the strategy is, HamiltonTim.

     

     

    Obviously you expect it to click straight away.

     

     

    There were plenty performances at home last season which were comparable to Hamilton, alas, you will tell me that it’s not performance but results that matter.

     

     

    Except of course in the Europa League when Ronnie is getting results, then it is performances that matter

  12. Hately:

     

     

    Ally “offering his resignation but not actually resigning until he can sort out a beneficial financial package”…

     

     

    … is like a new signing.

  13. from the FF heid hun

     

     

    ____________________________

     

     

    It’s also worth noting that staff including McCoist’s secretary Laura Tarbert, who had 40 years service stretching back to Willie Waddell days, left the club yesterday with the absolute minimum allowed under legislation.

     

     

    Oh, and it might cross the Board’s mind that having the manager undermined by others in the club’s employ might not be the brightest nor the most ethical business practise.

  14. 16 roads - Craig Whyte is innocent. on

    playfusbal4dguilders

     

     

    15:14 on 12 December, 2014

     

     

    —————————————-

     

     

    That’s debatable.

     

     

    HH.

  15. I wonder if the BBC will do a video on Sally’s reign like for Lenny – so show every single cup defeat like they did for Lenny?

     

     

    Somehow , I doubt it

  16. Dj67YNWAsupportstheresignartionofLAWELLandDESMONDtheSECRETHUNS on

    I know it took some time but, patience is a virtue. I today present you with an opportunity to sign a petition (via change.org) to show your full support for Mr Allister McCoist which will bring to the attention of the The Rangers Board Of Director’s our dismay at the potential resignation of the Sevco Manager.

     

     

    Please share this petition around to all your friends & family & make a wish come true this Christmas for the entire Celtic Family.

     

     

    https://www.change.org/p/rangers-board-of-directors-reject-the-resignation-of-ally-mccoist

     

     

     

    COYBIG!

  17. from the FF heid hun

     

     

    ____________________________

     

     

    It’s also worth noting that staff including McCoist’s secretary Laura Tarbert, who had 40 years service stretching back to Willie Waddell days, left the club yesterday with the absolute minimum allowed under legislation.

     

     

    _________________________

     

    Is that her Wullie used to slap Aboot when Glasgow Rangers lost a game ;)

  18. 16 roads - Craig Whyte is innocent. on

    Propaganda and lies.

     

     

    Pravda.

     

     

    The BBC.

     

     

    Same thing.

     

     

    HH.

  19. the long wait is over on

    notthebus

     

     

    “might not be the brightest nor the most ethical business practise.”

     

     

    Really had a good belly laugh at that.

     

     

    Suuuuuure , that’s been a major criterion in board room decisions at Ibrox for many a year.

     

     

    Absolutely PMSL here.

  20. 16 roads - Craig Whyte is innocent. on

    There are no borders or boundaries in the human mind.

     

     

    Conditioning.

     

     

    I once read that the German soldiers on the Eastern front used to tie cord around their heads to stop their ears from falling off, due to frostbite.

     

     

    They kept fighting on,despite the deadly cold.

     

     

    Ronny Deila isn’t going to walk away.

     

     

    HH.

  21. lennon's passion on

    There’s bad blood between sleekit and collymore. When collymore assaulted Ultima Johnson it was Sleekit she was out drinking with.

  22. I see the BBC default explanation of the Rangers demise is now to refer to financial difficulties. Absolute borrocks. Smoke and mirrors from the national broadcaster.

  23. playfusbal4dguilders on

    16 roads – Craig Whyte is innocent.

     

     

    mate everthing is debateable, but thats my opinion.

     

    have held it since I first heard his name being linked with Celtic and I can state many results to back it up, which I feel more than outweigh any counter arguments.

     

     

    play

  24. Professional golfer Marc Warren: “Ashamed to be a Rangers fan right now, how some of the fans can treat someone who represented us at our darkest time and gave his all.”

     

     

    Only ashamed right now? Where has he been?

     

     

    LB

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