I watched Hull batter Leicester City on TV last night without putting the ball in the net. The sheer volume and quality of chances entitled Hull fans to some consolation in the valid football adage, ‘these days happen’. Those absent from Celtic Park on Saturday are likely to assume we similarly battered Ross County, but they would be wrong. County defended throughout but were never under anything close to intense pressure.
This is one of the right times of the season to have a performance like that, they are of little use in the first week in February, when the transfer window is closed. Clues abound as to where we need to strengthen, most pointing to the forward line. John Guidetti’s drop in form over the last month has dropped like a stone, but he’s still comfortably holding onto the striker position. Neither Stokes, Griffiths nor Scepovic are putting pressure on a young off-form player.
There is also the playmaker position, which appears to be on the bench. Kris Commons has been dropped before in his Celtic career, often for important games in Europe, where more industrious, but less talented, players were chosen. I spent most of Saturday’s game waiting on Kris coming on, but if his general level of fitness counts against him for a starting position, his lack of 90 minute outings since his injury earlier in the season means that his late-game cameos look even less industrious.
As I’ve been saying since July, we only have one playmaker and if he’s not playing or off form, we’ll struggle. With a match-fit Commons on from the start yesterday, we would have won comfortably. I’m happy to accept we need a playmaker who’ll cover 15k in 90 minutes, so sign one, but if we’re going to let Commons go, or wither on the bench, sign two, before we end up dependent on one man again.
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Hamiltontim
Sad and messed up as it reads, I think there is.
I for one buy into this talk of buying players proven in the Scottish game, you know what your getting and none of this taking time to settle excuses. A lot of talent out there that can give and match our expensive foreign internationalists over ninety minutes. I seriously hope this is the way we go in the future.
hun skelper/BCW
I’m still naive enough to think that most of those who post on here expressing concerns about all aspects of Celtic are like me, doing it for genuinely felt reasons.
Genuine divergent thinking on the club’s direction is positive and results in a healthy debate on the oul’ bhlog…..it can also be hugely insightful and often laugh-out-loud funny,
imo……it’s the panto rebel /rabble-rousers – hun impostors who wish nothing more than to spoil the sport of supporting Celtic here who pee on the chips occasionally.
Difficult to prevent but easy to spot.
Keep The Faith.
HT,
I don’t think I’ve met a bigger Celtic mhan than your goodself…maybe my granda, but he looked younger:))
Keep up the fight.HH
In my opinion there is no doubt that we have people who come on here to be anti-Celtic and it’s getting worse every day.
bankiebhoy1
I think it’s way more prevalent than at any time I can remember.
Sipsini
Your granda probably felt younger than me too :-)
HT
Takes all sorts I suppose. There’s lots in our support that amaze me with their spite, rhetoric and modus operandi.
I’m surprised you are surprised, given some of the characters you’ve come across. Happily they are in the minority, but the old adage one rotten apple spoiling the barrel is very pertinent on CQN. This morning was a good example.
sipsini
15:00 on
29 December, 2014
thelurkintim,
My claim to fame was the podium on liquidation day…:)
still 51/2 hours to go today.
BFDJ is comedy gold.
totally ill-informed, in denial and desperate a lethal combo
weedurranty
Arthur Numan
True Blue
PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
464 posts
Gender:Male
Location:Canada
Posted Today, 12:58 AM
those who are in charge ( and I grant you that may be difficult to sort out) had a vision to hire Walter and Graeme Souness with only the game vs Them in mind. Can you imagine those 2 getting our lads ready for a one off vs the scum?. the league is already fucked and if we were to win this game, it would give the whole club a shot of adrenaline it so badly needs?
Maybe pie in the sky but just a thought
Took a while wading through their bile,but this is a stoater.
Really tired of reading the same hysterical nonsense day after day on here. I honestly don’t know what planet some people are on. As a peace offering, and as a believer in constructive criticism, maybe some people can dry their eyes, and offer some solutions.
So a few questions for those who greet incessantly about our formation, our manager, our Chief executive, our board, or the great referee / SFA / Media / Holyrood / illuminati conspiracy (delete as appropriate).
Answer any or all of the questions as relevant to your own particular gripes.
1. So we sack RD. Payoff circa £250k – £500k out the football budget. Who are we bringing in? Presumably someone who is told he must play Commons and must play with 2 strikers. Someone out of work or are you paying compensation to another club? What if things don’t improve by the summer? Sack him and bring in who? Or is it only your choice of manager that gets time?
2. Sack PL. Payoff circa £500k – £1m out the football budget. I know someone I trust who has had several dealings with PL and has no time for him, but being a d!ck doesn’t preclude him from doing, at the very least, a decent job. So who are you bringing in to replace him? On a reduced salary no doubt, say £250k. PL’s experience has brought him into several influential positions not just in Scotland, but amongst European clubs. He’s also well versed in sponsorship and the minefield that is player transfers. So which replacement would bring those attributes on a reduced salary, whilst having to work with the financial constraints enforced by the Celtic board?
3. Buy out / force out DD. I don’t have any facts to hand, but if someone can dispute that DD has put more money into Celtic than any other individual in the clubs history, then i’ll see what I can dig up. In this scenario, what’s more likely?
a) An individual or consortium with off the radar wealth ploughs their own money into the club, whilst circumventing UEFA FFP rules to ensure we win the league by 30 points and maybe make the CL group stages every season.
b) An individual or consortium buys the shares and adopts a high risk strategy using our money, to ensure we win the league by 30 points and maybe make the CL group stages every year. If we don’t make the group stages of course, courtesy of a tough draw / bad performance / referee decision, well the financial model is burst and everything must go.
c) An individual or consortium buy the shares and leverage the debt onto Celtic, ala Glazers or Craigy Whyte, effectively meaning we pay for the takeover of our club, and watch the product on the park disintegrate further as we service those debts.
d) An individual or consortium buys the shares, calls a press conference to declare Rangers are a new club, that Scottish football / society is corrupt and anti Celtic / catholic, and renames the stadium the Tiocfaidh ár lá Arena. Whilst the fans revel in the new ‘in touch with the fans’ regime fighting these injustices, the new power brokers quietly follow the Charles Green / Mike Ashley model of picking the bones off the carcass, by siphoning off the retail and sponsorship deals, whilst awarding large salaries and lavish bonuses for routine achievements.
If you answer a) or b) then please name the person(s) who are going to provide that kind of financial backing. If it’s c) or d) we probably won’t know who they are till it’s far too late.
Bankiebhoy & Syd
We should be proud of it.
As my Da used to say to me
“Where they talking about me. Good ! As it means they are leaving some other poor undeserving sod who cannae handle it well alone”
To make it quite clear, I’m not at all happy with what I’m seeing on the park. But I’m dammed if I will stop supporting the best team on the planet because we’re going through a bad patch. Every team goes through transitional periods, Barca, Real and Rang…..ok I put them in for a laugh, eh, wit dae ye mean a laugh??? Lighten up ghuys, we will come through, believe. KTF.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
If Ashley is the business man he claims, he has a well paid coach twiddling his thumbs at the moment.
McCoist for Newcastle
Were
notthebus
Surely the compensation fee would be prohibitive ?
Water off a ducks arse
HHo
favourite uncle,
You know what I meant ;))
JonnyRambo67
I’m disappointed you actually penned that Question 1 mate.
On a complete tangent…..
Possible Ebola case being reported in Glasgow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30628349
awe naw
I think you mean ba……. Ach you know wit I and you mean. Hahaha.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Parkheadcumsalford
ok mate…..i have indulged you.
Wins, draws and losses in our oppositions next games after playing us.
Aberdeen P2 W2
Dundee Utd P2 W1 L1
Hamilton P1 W1
Inverness P1 W1
St Johnstone P1 L1
Kilmarnock P1 L1
Dundee P2 W2
Partick P2 D2
Motherwell P2 D1 L1(cup on pens)
St Mirren P2 D1 L1
Ross County P1 D1
Goin by that teams do ok after facing us or perhaps their form does not drop after their exertions against us.
Dundee certainly do ok afterwards!
Might be interesting to you….then again…..maybe not! :)
HT
I agree, but I think that is to be expected.
The worse it has gotten for the huns, and the more the internets has allowed us to investigate “currant affairs” the more huns with an agenda, professional or amateur, will have needed to get at Celtic influencers.
HH
HAMILTONTIM,,
I really dont think that any REAL Celtic fan ever wants the team beat,but,as you are on here regularly,you must have witnessed the glee in any bad result from the RD haters.
It is ridiculous.A couple of weeks ago the team missed around 8-9 gilt edged chances.That somehow boiled down to the managers fault in their eyes.
I am no blind follower of RDs.I think he could do better with selections,positions.I also sympathise with him,on injuries,players playing well for a couple of games,then going off the boil,having around 10 players who are just crap.Not easy to get any head of steam up.
January should tell us a lot.
I blame those Casuals!!!!!!!!!!!.
BCW
I’m disappointed I had to pen any of it. But since sack RD seems to be a common and often repeated opinion on here, it would be interesting to hear who is being brought into replace him.
the glorious balance sheet
We’re all going to die!!
Awe Naw.
Yes. There only target is Celtic tho’, they have no other objective and no other target.
HH.
bankiebhoy1
Indeed their death has only increased the quantity though not necessarily the quality of the troll. They used to make me laugh :-)
sipsini
18:38 on
29 December, 2014
favourite uncle,
You know what I meant ;))
yes I was hoping you would do the double.
Thunder Road 1840-
Dundee United have to contend with three “derby” teams….Aberdeen in the New Firm derby, Dundee in the Dundee derby and they have a Tayside derby v St Johnstone.
The form book goes out the window in these games and St Johnstone in particular always seem highly motivated against them and get good results. They`re a bit of a bogey team for Utd these days.
I think this local derby thing was far more a factor in Utd dropping points to St Johnstone on Saturday rather than it being a case of Utd shooting their bolt after beating us the week before.
Bamboo 1843-
Well if the Ebola claims me I`m instructing my missus to buy the good bits of my history and to reincarnate me as The the glorious balance sheetco International 5088 :)
dream team management –
henrik , lubo,
owners
the fans, sell up dd we will buy them.
CEO –
the woman who runs hibs.
jonnyrambo67,
Are you Peter Lawell?
bournesouprecipe
18:17 on
29 December, 2014
Time we got the CV’s submitted!!
Seriously though, some of the stuff debated on here is common sense, so why would someone like RD persist with a system which is contrary to the current staffing.
Utilise system which suits current personnel then effect change over time.
turkeybhoy
I was one of those who wanted an appointment like Ronny; young, European and with new ideas.
I’m desperate for him to succeed and not just because I’ll be proved wrong if he doesn’t :-)
There are many who like me remain unconvinced by his tenure thus far. The majority of posters on here are only expressing and reflecting the views of the wider support.
Your last line made me laugh let’s call a truce!!!
favourite uncle,
I’ll go for the tripple.
Burt lancaster/ Tony Curtess..cfc
Hamiltontim,
Believe me,I am far from convinced also.More so by some of the players.
The time to judge RD will be at the end of the season,and after a transfer window.
I have never needed a truce with you.One poster I always read and respect.