Playing three at the back creates a specific role for the wingback. Wilfried Nancy had Alistair Johnston on the right when the pair were at Montreal. Johnston’s pace, endurance and ability to cross from the byline is perfect for this formation.
Alistair’s return is months away, so the manager will need to come up with an alternative to reinvigorate our right side which has been poor all season. We don’t have a perfect facsimile. Anthony Ralston can hit the line and cross, Colby Donovan has energy, but we have only seen a small sample size.
Yang is the best crosser at the club (oh yes he is), but he is not a wingback. Similarly, there is nothing I can see in Daizen Meada that suggests he is a better option through the middle than Johnny Kenny. Daizen, though, has the energy and pace to play wingback, he is an obvious choice to move wide.
As we discussed yesterday, playing Daizen in front of Kieran Tierney, with Auston Trusty in the middle and Liam Scales left, is a better deployment of resources than Sunday’s lineup.
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Dixie Deans was a hero of mine in the days when I used to go to Celtic Park wearing my tracksuit and football boots just in case they needed me as a sub.
I have vivid memories of him scoring 6 goals in a 7-0 win over Partick Thistle. My Mum didn’t believe me when I got home and told her. TBH, as I was writing this I wasn’t entirely sure that I hadn’t imagined it, so I hit Google and true enough, he scored 6 v Thistle in a 7-0 win on 13th November 1973.
It was a post-war record for the number of goals scored by a player in a single match. Jimmy McGrory holds the record of 8 goals in a single match.
Rest in peace, big man.
John ‘Dixie’ Deans rip 🙏
HH
Dixie Deans RIP Celtic Legend
Win with Wilfried ✌🏽CSC
Is JSP still injured? I think he could play right side of a back 3
So Paul, what you’re saying is that we don’t have enough centre backs or wing backs to play 3-4-3.
And neither do we have a striker.
That’ll vex the new guy.
Dixie 6-0 Thistle: https://www.celticfc.com/news/4872
Thanks for pointing out in a roundabout way that we don’t have the players that fit the new manager’s system. Presumably his model includes having forward players actually capable of scoring a goal or two. Too bad we don’t have any.
I fear for the guy. What a rotten hand to be given. A riven club, wracked with injuries to key players, really poor quality (though I do see recent improvement in Yang) and the toughest run of fixtures in the entire season.
More than that, he is seen by many as a barometer of the Board’s competence, so he won’t be given the benefit of the doubt he deserves. A few poor results and he’ll become a whipping boy in lieu of the Board.
I don’t think a defeat to Roma would harm him too much. Most of us expect that against a much stronger opponent. However, a loss to both Roma and St Mirren coupled with wins for Hearts and the huns in the league and we’ll be speeding towards Russell Martin territory of noise.
Be interesting to see how the chances get created in this system. Always thought of it as being better suited to the less ball-dominating teams. Crystal Palace probably play it better than anybody.
Daizen played wing back for Japan in a recent outing, if I’m not mistaken.
Dixie Deans, Requiescat In Pace.
RIP Dixie
“Yang is the best crosser at the club (oh yes he is), but he is not a wingback”
All about opinions I suppose.
If we are talking about crosses from the right specifically?
IMHO …
AJ and Jota are better
(And yes they are “at the club”)
Colby is close to being just as good (and he is available).
Just a penchant or foible of mine.
I don’t like wing backs on either side with broadly similar profiles or skill sets.
In terms of balance to the team, for me, one has to be more offensive, more “creative”, and takes up a slightly higher initial position than the other …
… who I’d prefer to be stronger defensively by instinct and positioning
But with both having the same general mandate to “get up there quickly / get back and cover quickly”
Absolutely, non-negotiable Must Have requirement for both positions, IMHO ?
They need to be the two most aerobically fit players on the park.
I think Daizen and Colby come pretty close.
The Army,Government, MI5 getting absolutely torched re the Steaknife Inquiry
“ If Daizen was clinical he wouldn’t be at Celtic “
Dontbrattbakinanger CSC
The manager has to play a formation that suits the current squad, not shoehorning players into his preferred system, use the next 2 Transfer Windows to get the players that suit what he wants
From last blog. It’s all about goals, especially the ones we’ve lost out of the team:
At approx this stage last season (after 16 games) we had 44 points and a goal difference of +40 (GF 44, GA 4).
At the moment (after 15 games), we have 32 points and a goal difference of +14 (For 25 against 11).
At the same stage Hearts had 16 points and a goal difference of -7. (having played 2 more games than us).
This season they have 35 points and a GD of +19.
To state the obvious, goals win games and the team with the best GD normally wins the league. It is a good prediction indicator.
BADA
They torched themselves by their actions . Glad it’s coming out . better late than never .
Can’t be long before it becomes Brendan Rodgers’s fault for not signing players to fit a system he didn’t play……
So P67, Wilfried doesn’t (yet) have the optimal players to play the system he wants.
(A case of Le Havres and Le Havre nots, you could say)
Can I just state that I liked the essence of what I saw v Hearts and thought we owned them for 60 before a certain ‘je ne sais quot to do’ took over. Mrs Quad also didnt think we were as bad as the bedwetters claimed.
My MoTM was Yang (never thought I’d type that), who made a decent go of an entirely new position for him. Loving how he’s showing a bit of dig and gave Milne more than he took from him. Will Wilf encourage him to stay?
Be honest all; Hearts are pish ! I said Devlin’s attitude would suit us – I’m wrong. He’s a limited niggler and virtually none of Bloom’s analytics picks would be good enough for a Celtic jersey.
We were undone (imo) by some inept finishing and inattentive schoolboy defending. Incidentally, we saw WN hook Nygren right after that goal as punishment for failing to mark properly. Good; send a message.
I feel/hope it’s gonnae be alright w the big man at the helm.
LeGlassLeHavreFull CSC
PS: RIP Dixie 🍀
Translation – “poor player trading, coupled with injuries, results in current Champions considering nonsensical formation changes”
We are almost in Hail Mary territory. It didnt have to be like this.
the Bada Bing on 9th December 2025 12:21 pm
The Army,Government, MI5 getting absolutely torched re the Steaknife Inquiry.
Bada,keep in mind that from early day the so-called security services had this same knowledge on the other side,all organisations loyal to the union were infiltrated too.
All hidden now to come out in 100 years
HH
Deniabhoy
Yeah – once again wickedly struck down by the rotten bad luck which always seems to hit us when we try to strengthen from a position of strength…..
Yang is the best crosser at the club.
It’s double down day.
Does this pish mean they have a deal done for Jota in January?
https://jimcraigcsc.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/if-you-know-the-history-6th-may-1972-celtic-6-hibs-1-scottish-cup-final/
Bada Bing
Re Pussey
I thought he did ok at right back and is well capable of playing right side of a 3.
I am assuming either injury or attitude keeping him out as it is a better balance to have him involved imo.
CELTIC V ST MIRREN
PREMIER SPORTS LEAGUE CUP FINAL | HAMPDEN PARK | DECEMBER 14 | KO 3:30PM
– Tickets for this match are now sold out –
Best fat bastard of a striker we ever had, bear of a man.
…RIP Dixie
What happened in the North regarding Mi5 RUC and other agencies will never be fully known.The shadowy figures in government circles,British army and serving members of UDR will make sure certain matters will never be known.The old boys network in the bodies I have mentioned are no friends of the RC/ Nationalist community,and ‘secrets’ that have been kept from the public domain will remain just so.Loyalist murder gangs were managed by security forces to eliminate not just IRA/INLA members,but those who were sympathetic to republican views and the murder of RC members who were murdered,simply because it bigotry from protestant para militaries.No way will the truth ever be recorded….too many out will make sure that is the case.
I guess a lot depends on what our formation actually is. At Montreal AJ played as a wing back in a 3-5-2, Sunday we seemed to start 4-2-3-1 but changed a couple of times. We’ll probably see something different again on Thursday.
Personally I don’t see any problem in a fluid formation when you’re attacking, we’ve been too predictable for too long and been blunted by some pretty basic teams and coaches playing basic tactics. Defensively is a different story, though, Thursday is another lesson in the steep learning curve curve
We have to start somewhere, Wilfried needs to make his own mind up about the players and work out who he thinks can fit into systems that he’s much more familiar with than me. He’ll never get a perfectly balanced squad, sometimes the square pegs work out better than expected.
It wouldnt help with BW’s immediate needs but the right side would benefit from having Maik back in the squad if we can. The Bundesliga II isnt the biggest test of his defensive ability but he’s had three assists in his last 4 games playing in a back 3. Hes had a run of games to prove his fitness, he was always the best passing center half we had, hopefully we can recall him in 3 weeks time
RIP Dixie Deans
Bhoyjoebelfast- a lot of what you say was actually outlined in the press conference half an hour ago
RIP Dixie – another childhood hero no longer with us
His story about being in Australia and meeting a certain ‘pop-star’ of the day is halarious – worth checking out
\o/
So many recollections of Dixie both on and off the park over 54 years or so.
Almost ALL good or great. Sadly he will always also be remembered for 1 bad. Such is the lottery of penalties.
He was brave and stepped up first that night. He was brave and took the knocks a striker took in scoring as he did.
I recall the game TBB referenced earlier and also his run of 5 games scoring immediately after we signed him only for him not to score v the Huns and of course my dads pal said it was because he was one of them.
Reality is he was one of them but he became one of us and a great one at that. Following on the footsteps of giants he wrote his own history with 2 cup final hat tricks.
One of the best of Big Jock’s ‘conversions’. He helped a fragile team to a good few competition wins in the early 70s in an era when the Lions and the QS kids were transitioning out.
I get folk saying yesterday that cups don’t matter so much as priorities vs Europa League etc but he really loved a big occasion. Scoring 2 cup final hat tricks remains a record.
For this 10-13 year old, at that time, he became a hero. Later in life, after his pub days, he always enjoyed his work at Celtic on game day and must have been asked about that penalty and those hat tricks in equal measure.
RIP John Dixie Deans.
I remember watching Sportscene one Saturday night at the end of the programme, they announced that we had signed Dixie for 20 grand,how the transfer market was back in the day.
If we persist with 3 at the back, it’s in Wilfried’s head.
3 at the back breaks up the defensive cohesion we’ve seen from a CB pairing of Scales and Trusty. Do we need 3 CBs when we have 75% of the ball most games ?
Yang has played his best football on the left wing under MoN, we’ll be breaking that up too.
The midfield 3 of Hatate, Engels and CalMac looked solid – Engels and Hatate were playing their best football this season under MoN – both were dreadful on Sunday with no idea what positions to take up.
If Wilfried continues to change his formation multiple times during games with players unaware of their roles then it’s all on him.
If he persists with a formation for which we don’t have the players to implement, he owns it.
Footballs a bit mad isnt it, Brugge sacked Nicky Hayen yesterday.
According to Belgian football expert Sacha Tavolieri, Hayen has not been satisfied with the squad at his disposal, which has led to ‘internal tensions’ within the club.
There’s obviously more to it than that, the club says it’s down to poor recent results and theres a vacancy at Ajax that might explain it, but we were told in the Summer that theres was
the way to conduct your transfer business – a fully functioning football model that we should be copying (even though we had been doing it before Brugge)
A quick look online has some Brugge fans using old favourites like “not backing the manager” and replacing the best players with inferior ones, even, honestly “sack the board”
From Dixies autobiography
Perhaps the most unlikely Celtic connection I remember happened during my spell Down Under with Adelaide City. Our manager Rale Rasic came up to me one morning just before training and introduced this bloke who he said was going to join us for some of the workouts that day and maybe play in a bounce game later. I didn’t know him from Adam. Rale said he was a musician and a keen footballer but the name just didn’t register.
I remember he was quiet-spoken, almost shy and his hair was long and looked, frankly, as if it was matted together and needed a bloody good wash – not that I was one to talk about anyone else’s hairstyles, I might add. I thought it was strange that Rale wanted a local photographer to get a picture of us together. As we waited patiently for the snapper to get his shot, I said to him: ‘Sorry, what was your name again?’ ‘Bob Marley,’ was the reply.
Here was a star idolised by millions and recognised the world over. Except, it seemed, by me. In my defence, I should say I’m not a great music man. I probably wouldn’t know a Bob Marley song from a Bob Dylan song. But looking back at it now, it seems amazing that I didn’t know who Bob was. I can almost hear people saying: ‘Eh?’ What happened next, though, left me absolutely speechless.
A couple of minutes went by before Bob piped up: ‘Are you the same Dixie Deans that used to play for Glasgow Celtic?’ It’s a question I was used to hearing but somehow the king of Caribbean music was the last person I expected to ask it. ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Oh, you know I’m a big Celtic fan. I would love to go to Scotland to see Celtic Park and maybe even kick a few balls there. I know all about Jock Stein.’
Aye, right, was my immediate reaction. He must have seen the slightly puzzled look on my face but right there and then Bob Marley, reggae god and music superstar, reeled off the names of the entire Lisbon Lions team. I was struck dumb. I remember wanting to say something or just laugh, but my vocal chords seemed to seize up on the spot.
Here I was, 10,000 miles from home, and this Jamaican guy was repeating the most famous line-up in Celtic’s history. Turned out Bob was more than just a football fan, he was a real student of the game. And it seemed that Celtic’s exploits in becoming the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967 had even reached the Caribbean.
Bob said: ‘I love reading about British football teams and Celtic has always been my team. And now it is my son Rohan’s team. He’s only six but he loves Celtic. I can’t tell you how much I envy you having played at Celtic Park. Mr Jock Stein, he’s the man.’