It’s probably easier to start with what went right last night, than what went wrong. Efe Ambrose was the epitome of composure, trying to retain possession whenever possible, his transformation since Juventus has been remarkable. van Dijk, Lustig and Izaguirre each did well. Fraser Forster had a few saves to make, but this was one Champions League game he didn’t need to pull off a wonder-save. He was totally exposed for the goal but otherwise Ajax didn’t really stress the Celtic goalkeeper, a clue, perhaps, to the solid performance of those immediately in front of him.
Our top two Champions League performers, Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons, both put in their least effective game at this level. Samaras’ normally-reliable touch and ability to hold the ball deserted him, while Kris looked like a guy returning from injury. Slowly.
The minutia of these games are analysed by each team and after last month’s game, Frank de Boer clearly identified that Georgios was the major cog in Celtic’s machine. The striker was triangulated by opponents each time the ball came near him.
Neil Lennon was left with few choices in the middle of the park. Mulgrew and Kayal would not have been his first choice partnership, given a free hand, but the only practical change there would have been to introduce Joe Ledley. It’s far from clear what difference this would have made.
Celtic persisted in playing down the left long after it was evident this strategy was unproductive. Late in the first half one wag text me to say, “Time to bring Forrest on”, which told the whole story. Anthony Stokes was adrift, largely unconnected to the ankle clipping going on behind him. In short, our play was predictable and correctly predicted by do Boer. We didn’t have a Plan B, which even the best of teams need to avoid defeat occasionally in the Champions League.
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sftb
LOL!
Woeful…fat…slow…diabolical… déjà vu all over again….heartless…..pitiful……clueless……let them eat pies….…clueless…awful…dire….boring….guileless…we can beat anybody at Celtic Park except Morton……the pits….de-motivated ….lacklustre….Willo Flood……out of our depth….Ross County here we come…hungover
The Honest Cover-Up
If Commons and Samaras were fit to play then they didn’t work hard enough.
If they weren’t fit to play they shouldn’t have been selected.
setting free the bears
Excellent post.
I echo other posters frustrations about failing to sign a striker who actually scores goals (at any level) but for folk to talk about jacking it in after last night is preposterous.
Exactly a year ago today I had possibly the best night of my Celtic supporting life beating Barca at Parkhead, thanks to largely the same guys on the pitch and dugout as last night.
Last night’s performance was poor but we have a great chance to beat Milan if Commons and Samaras regain form. Onwards and upwards as always. HH
sftb – Very good summary, we are either up there with the highs or down there with the lows, some middle ground thinking required. I see many posters want the best outcome in their posts, we are punching above our weight in terms of country pop and revenue but want better.
I just think we need to keep repeating the trick of getting into the CL group stage that looks like our goal every season and use it as a shop window for our players, ok as long as the strategy works but this year it very nearly didn’t!
We need to rethink the strategy in terms of mixing it up , not just prospects all the time imo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24836917
abidy should have a wee go at this ….nae squicking noo! braw………..maybe SFTB can set us A Celtic version….that would be akin to Junglitisis……good luck …
Just read the BBC Scotland report about the trouble last night. I have searched in vain for comments from Celtic fans complaining about the police over-reacting or being heavy handed which always appear when “Scottish” fans are involved in trouble.
Jobo @ 13:41
Good man! That`s the way to help lift the spirits. I suspect, though, some don`t want theirs lifted just quite, yet 0:-)
JJ
John Guidetti has yet to kick a ball for Manchester City this season. In fact he has never played a first team game for City.
He was good on loan at Feyenoord last year. Why shouldn’t we have a pop with a loan bid in January? If Feyenoord can afford his wages…
YorkBhoy
Reporting Scotland at 1:30 did have fans talking of the heavy – handed police. The introduction to the News was one-sided against Celtic but the report and footage in general were fair.
JJ
the honest cover-up
13:38 on 7 November, 2013
Correct…..utter nonsense…..!!!!……apparently, Celtic are not allowed to get beat…
timaloy29
as far as I know,Guidetti suffered a pretty bad injury a while back and is only now getting back to play.
After the unprovoked attack on Celtic fans in Amsterdam the night before I can fully understand our fans believing the ‘under cover police’ were in fact Ajax hooligans, especially as (as I’ve heard) these ‘under cover police’ refused to show their IDs and weighed in with fists and boots. Sadly, the facts won’t get in the way of the SMSM’s story.
SFTB
Something must be done about this!
Today’s Corriere dello Sport says this re Milan –
“Very bad ”
“Lack spirit ”
” Depressed”
Anyone know what the odds are for us to beat AC and Barcelona?
Might be worth a 20p wager.
SoT
You have seen more of Milan than most of us.
Can we beat them at CP if they decide on cattenacio?
I’m not expecting our 2 new strikers to be err, on fire by the 26th.
@medtim
That makes sense.
I still don’t see him getting the games when he returns from injury. Negredo, Dzeko, Jovetic & Aguero are still about.
But maybe it wouldn’t make sense to take on a guy who hasn’t played or trained much this season.
It’s a shame but a lad like him might end up only playing reserve football.
this trouble will grow arms and legs…………..unless we come out and bury it
celtic need a P R dept like the huns…………but even better…..cos we are bigger and better so our P R dept should reflect this………
Make no mistake the hun driven gutter press will run with this………..and the driver will come from down goven way!!
SFTB @13.20
Another excellent post. It would be great ( I think !) to share a pint with you one day. Do you intend getting along to any of the CQN “hootenany” events or even a pre-Champios League game meal??
JJ
In defence of those who are irrationally negative after a defeat, I believe that, in most cases, it is because of their great desire to see Celtic win. Love is blind and all that!
setting free the bears supports Celtic’s best fighter- Wee Oscar Knox
13:20 on
7 November, 2013
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Excellent post!
Reminds me of an article a number of years ago about Celtic…….essentially it stated that the genuine perception (among us) was of a hugely successful club fallen on hard times.
As stated again……..apart from the Stein years we are not a hugely successful club….certainly not in a European context.
We probably are the best supporters and a uniquely different footballing entity to everyone else but it is what it is……
population 5.2M……..declining birth rate…….less native raw material to work with…….perennial struggle to attract the quality demanded……less finances than our competitors.
I get the notion some people think we are on a par with Holland?……we are not.
They have 3.5 times more population……much closer integration with their neighbours….a better scouting system…….and a willingness to sell big and buy big if the numbers stack.
Favourites usually win the big events….theres sound reasoning behind that.
I was at the game yesterday and now that my disappointment has mellowed ( slightly) some thoughts on the players
Forster – good to great
Lustig – good to great
Efe – good
VVD – good
Kayal – good . I know he missed a chance, but , one thing that probably didn’t show was he was having to close down two players, and in the main he did that well
Charlie – good , set pieces were poor, but again found himself versus two opponents
Kris – poor , probably his poorest game in a Celtic top. Spent all his time trying to win free kicks & personally looked like BBJ in the latter stages of his Celtic career, with a lack of mobility. I would have hooked at HT
Sammy – poor . Got booked early doors which curbed his aggression, and always had 3 men on him. Had we hooked KC at HT we could have moved him up.
Stokesy – average. I think he is out his depth at this level, and, there is no point in criticising.
Forrest – mixed, his performances in Europe this season probably reflect his overall contribution and highlight he is still a young player with huge potential
Ledley – poor , didn’t notice he was on.
Pukki – good , did more in 20 minutes than others over longer. Showed hunger
Boerrichter – poor , needs to have a look at himself , a couple of times he had the chance to go one on one with the full back and he passed back.
Management Team – poor to average. Should have hooked Commons at HT and Stokes earlier.
Sadly when we lost the goal, I never saw a way back, which is disappointing as Ajax are poor.
Supporters- magnificent, again
so the question i am asking is” did the celtic fans riot in amsterdam”????????????
the daily mail said there was trouble between celtic fans and the police in dam square before the match
i am not talking about the unprovoked attack on celtic on fans on tuesday night
potentially if celtic fans were rioting, this is much worse than the result in amsterdam
i would like to know what happened
A P goin for 4000 winners today.
It’s not a creative midfielder we need.
Who would he pass to ?
Our safety first minimal movement system would render him impotent.
We need creative coaching to utilise the talent we already have at the club.
Pukki needs abt 20 Pukki Pies in him imo.
Gene’s a bhoys name and Phyllis Dietrichson…………..Thanks for the info. I did not think away goals counted at this stage and we would get the nod having scored two goals against them in one match. That Ajax side like Milan were beatable which is frustrating.
Fraser had practically nothing to do last night.
Watched a bit of Porto away to Zenit . I think Porto is the level of team we expect to be on par with. But their performance was miles above the Celtic of last night. They controlled the football passed to team-mates and moved smoothly from defence into attack. They looked like a Champion League team which I’m sorry to say Celtic didnt.
It was shambles .At this level you cant carry passengers like KC. When Pukki came on you could see the difference in fitness alone.
There’s 4 players who have attitudes . Commons ,Samaras ,Stokes and Forrest. Blaming a teammates when theyve make the mistake themselves ,standing or even sitting on the grass arms out stretched pleading to the ref after being musculed off the ball.
I think of Henrik who although being a genuine superstar gave a 100% every game ,who was always on the move and was unselfish and did the dirty work of defending from the front. Thats what we need 10 Henriks .
Sent tweet to JP Taylor to see if club security officer is looking into last night’s events before game….still waiting on response.
T4
Just a little of the topic, well not really as I predicted it would happen during our CL game as it’s just the way thems do things over there, Sevco have appointed David Somers as acting chairman at the comedy club, David Somers :Former Chairman of the Audit Committee Overseeing The Commission For Racial Equality no less, honestly you couldn’t make this up.
T4
I saw a few pints getting chucked about last night
See what you have started
Love
Philbhoy.
Currently , Milan are a shambles. Injuries, fitness problems, loss of form etc . A Club at war with itself and a Manager who might not make it to Christmas.Support is mightily p’d off.
.
They are very poor defensively,they don’t have the players to play cattenacio
My thoughts and not just related to the 1-0 loss to Ajax: much of last night’s problems lie in the conflicting ways the Team are set-up to play/ defend in the CL .v. SPL.
For us (a Pot 4 Team), the CL requires a very compact back 4 unit with defensive midfielders deployed to spoil/ break-up the play in front of them and the 2 wide-players supplementing the 2 full-backs when under pressure. In the main that leaves 2 forward players to plough a proactive role – mid to upfront. In theory that requires; ball-retention, accurate passing (short and sharp) and prevention of the opponent breaking on us in numbers. However, it needs a creative midfielder and a clinical finisher in order to reap any dividends.
We are seldom (if ever) required to play in this CL mode in the SPL – our players more often than not find themselves higher up the pitch; the 2 full-backs in the wide player positions and the upfront areas are often occupied by variations of a 3/4 mix of attackers. Sheer weight of numbers/ pressure normally results in goals (results) despite the lack of a creative midfielder/ clinical finisher.
In the SPL we often have 50% (back to middle) possession – we get time to knock it around (often taking 2/3 touches) – misplaced passes are often retrieved because we have superiority of numbers – we get umpteen opportunities to recycle the ball – we are happy to knock it sideways and backwards and restart the same laborious process because we know that the away team will eventually crack. When we do get closed down, the opposition often concede free-kicks and we use them to our advantage (a fair percentage of our scored goals).
Sure it wins us games – but we are seldom taxed and any number of players can often be described as lax during domestic games. It is not the ideal training recipe for European games – these games are the antithesis of what we face on a week to week basis in the SPL.
What’s the answer? If I knew – maybe I would be on the coaching staff! Besides an injection of pace and creativity – one answer might be to adopt the philosophy of Stein/ MON Teams in domestic games. More often than not their Teams played with intensity for 90 minutes that punished the opposition for every mistake they made – relentless play; focussed individuals, eliminated complacency and promoted all-round teamwork.
If we are to make any in-roads in Europe – we need a radical rethink on how we set-up for domestic games – particularly from middle to front. Pointless making excuses about playing 6 games more than our CL opponents (we’re Pot 4 and it comes with the territory) – all 3 of them play in superior technical leagues than we do – I doubt we are taxed to the same extent as them domestically.
IMO – it’s imperative we get 3rd place minimum in the CL Group Stages. We need the game time – the last 16 money is pointless if we cannot make on-field progress. Otherwise we will just recycle ever decent player we unearth and over time wage disparity with the likes of the EPL will make it more difficult to find them and keep them.
………….. and don’t start me on the Academy! :-)
H!H!
Josimar is Neil Lennon @ 12:56
“hi
i’m trying to sort out my proxy vote for the AGM.
should i allow marie mccusker at the celtic trust to be the proxy if i want to vote for the members resolutions i.e living wage and licensing etc?
many thanks
josimar”
If you support Resolutions 10, 11 and 12, I recommend you give your proxy to the Celtic Trust via Marie. Here is an easy way how to:
http://www.celtictrust.net/?func=d_home_article&id=438
Remember you can still proxy your attendance to the AGM. The more people in the room visually and vocally supporting those resolutions, the better.
Let me know if you have any more questions. HH
west csc
We were watching live webcam on and off for 3 hours of the supporters in the square . It seemed to be just singing dancing ,kicking a ball around with some police joining in.
If there was a full-scale riot it must have over as quickly as it started.
Philbhoy
Italian odds for Celtic/Milan
Celtic-21/10
AC Milan 5/4
Draw 21/10
thanks bamboo
at least someone is willing to answer my questions
usually the posters here ignore stuff that makes them uncomfortable
babboo
“I think Porto is the level of team we expect to be on par with.”
Where did that expectation come from?
Porto are a Pot 1 seeded team with a co-efficient of 104+. They are the 7th ranked team in the CL, just behind Arsenal. Are Wenger’s men to be our benchmark too?
We are a Pot 4 team, ranked 20th out of 24 with a co-efficient of 37.5. We need to overtake the likes of Anderlecht, Leverkusen and Basel beefore we can look at the likes of CSKA, Marseill and Shakhtar, before we even look at Porto.