It feels like rock bottom this morning and, as far as Europe is concerned, it probably is. The ties against Legia were our worst performances in Europe. Neuchâtel has a horrible 90 minutes, Artmedia was a 20 minute collapse, and we beat Utrecht comfortably at home, but this was abject over two games.
There are unfathomables, for example, it’s hard to know why a defence which was so solid last season is suddenly inert, but it will surprise no one we didn’t make Champions League football this season. The day Neil Lennon left I suggested it would be a huge ask and it’s proven to be.
We are less than two years since the high point of recent seasons, finishing ahead of Benfica and Spartak Moscow in the Champions League, but the decline can be traced slightly further back than that.
We had an 18 month purple patch of player recruitment, starting when Fraser Forster, Gary Hooper and Emilio Izaguirre arrived in summer 2010, continuing with the arrival of Wilson and Wanyama, and ending with Mikael Lustig’s signing in January 2012. We were bringing players in for a few million who were Champions League calibre.
Since Lustig, the strategy hasn’t changed, but despite signing a raft of players, for much the same money, only van Dijk has improved the team. Most are, at best, misfits or squad fillers. Things started to go wrong with the bizarre signings of Miku and Lassad in late August 2012 and ramped up last summer with the arrival of Boerrigter, Pukki, Balde and Biton. There are more, of course. Some, like Griffiths and Johansen are hitting the modest levels expected of them, but we’ve been missing the target at an alarming rate.
Ronny Deila has so far brought in a six month loaner. He’s working pretty much with the squad Neil Lennon scraped into the Champions League with last season. He’ll now know what you and I knew about the squad months ago. Most importantly, he needs backing from the club as well as the support.
He has to refresh the squad, try to clear out the deadwood, and perhaps accept that one or two of our reliable performers in recent seasons are beyond their peak. It’s critically important that whatever has been going wrong since Lustig’s arrival is put right. Stop haemorrhaging millions of players who cannot command a starting place and start finding value.
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Auldheid
I’m pretty sure I have a fair bit that points the finger at Celtic and their participation in conceviening the OB Act.
I thought I remembered you commenting on some of it.
Robert88
You have a point. Even when the SPL was ranked about 9th and we had an automatic CL slot the same thing was thrown at us by English fans.
Sure even when we beat Blackburn and Liverpool within weeks of each other in the Uefa Cup the perception didnt change – we were just lucky!
The potential in Scottish football exists because we have a number of clubs with medium-large fansbases – I don’t think this is being utilised enough at present.
HH
People think spending a few millioneach on 3 or 4 players on £20k a week will solve our problem….
I mean look at kayal…..
His first season…
If we went out and paid £5m on him on £25k pw it would have looked good business.
Look at him now….
On a 4 year deal? That would be £10m down the drain on 1 player
The club is at a real crossroads
Appointing Ronny was a huge gamble that looks even this early that isn’t going to come off
He had SIX years at his club in Norway to get things the way he wanted – he will be lucky to get six weeks here
Even at this early stage it looks as if he has lost control of the dressing room with players either unwilling or unable to carry out his instructions
The decision to play his new signing in the first leg but not the second suggests that he has either lost his confidence or is taking advice from his players
Either way it adds up to the top guy not being in charge of the dressing room
He might very well be an excellent coach but it looks as if the job of manager of a big club is currently beyond him and do we really have time to let another relative rookie learn on the job?
Without doubt the attitude of some players has been totally unacceptable and they should be disposed of ASAP!
My biggest fear is that the board and PL now hesitate to take the action required
If they truly believe in RD – then they have to gut the dressing room in next two weeks and bring in the players that RD really wants
Personally I would bin both the management team AND the players and start from scratch but that is unlikely to happen. — instead we will probably get the worst of both worlds
RD will limp on with a dressing half filled with guys who don’t want him and won’t put in a shift
We will probably limp along just ahead in the league until we get gubbed in the SC in January or February – which might force the board’s hand!
If it was me I would do all in my power to get someone like Malky MacKay and give him some money to spent on some decent hard working pros from the lower end of the Championship
/ top end of League One as well as any decent Scottish talent – like the bot May at St J.
Might not do much in the CL but would win everything in Scotland for a few seasons and give us a chance to build in Europe!
HH
Why the hell did Celtic attend the Shame Game Summit?
Harald Flatpack,
The voice of sanity and experience. Personally, I blame Thatcher for the “I want it now” and “we deserve better” nonsense that, imo, underpins a lot of stuff on here nowadays. I have been watching Celtic for about 20 years more than yourself and, basically, the first 10 were the poorest I’ve ever witnessed. There were few, if any highs, and then it all came gloriously right.
I still have nightmares about Kellys and Whites running Celtic. Our current Board do a far better job than them, who felt they had the God-given right to run Celtic for their own ends. They almost ran us into the ground. Thank Ghod for Fergus.
Auldheid…. summer football has been In place for 3 years and the people I know say its a revelation… and can’t understand why everyone else hasn’t followed suit.
Whose idea was FoCUS? I forget.
Celtic will not remove the poison from their product. Above should read.
HH
Hi All.
Strangely, I don’t feel terribly depressed or upset after last night’s shambles.
There is a time for everything and time for Lennie’s team and approach have ended.
We’ve reached the nadir – now its time to build it back up again.
(Time for regulars to scroll past)
One thing above all else the new regime have to address is the physical & psychological conditioning of the players which, IMHO, is disgraceful (a few notable exceptions).
We’ve just witnessed the commonwealth games : Athletes, boxers, swimmers, tri-athletes, cyclists earning modest amounts but yet are SO DEDICATED to their conditioning because they know that without it they will fail.
Compare and contrast with our squad of players many of whom earn more than £10,000 per week.
New broom – if selling Forster, Commons, Matthews, Balde and Van Dijk brings in £30 million then lets rebuild the squad and, crucially, change the mentality.
And if the bevvy merchants can’t hack the new regime (regardless of how talented they are) get rid of them.
Hail Hail
since 2005 three successful celtic managers who won three titles each have walked away from this club.
this board is clueless and keep making the same mistakes.
o’neil, strachan and lennon would rather be unemployed that work for this board and have this club and their reputations dragged down..
I look at celtic park… I look at deidco.. and know that our custodians have our clubs long term future at heart
I leave you bhoys to look after oldtim and he has a fall and gets held back from guvung PL a mouthfull..
neither would have happened on my watch…. 8))
Harald Flatpack,
Thats an excellent well balanced rational post.
We learn more about ourselves in bad times than we do when things are going well.
I actually wonder what kind oflives some people have on here when you read the rantings.Your post was a breath of fresh air.
The Kelly’s and the Whites’ shafted us, unlike our present incumbents (sic). Didn’t the Kellys’ and the Whites’ win the Big Cup?
If that is incompetence I want a time machine to take me back. At least they were honest thieves (sic) back in the day.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo:
Only 12 more months and the Huns will be back, our board,like son of Dallas and his mates, are squirming in anticipation.
It’ll be interesting to see the bookies odds on who’ll win the league.
Jeepers, some lads want to bin almost the entire squad, talk about an overreaction. We got badly hockeyed by what looked like a decent team. We will have to wait & see how good Legia really are. Yes we do need major surgery but talk of ditching 70/80% of panel is silly. FF & Virgil are likely to be sold, I think Derk & Amido have had enough chances and they should go, but beyond that we have to hold on to what we have until new guys come in and prove themselves.
Harald Flatpack
Spot on.
Was dismayed by our support’s overreaction yesterday. Sure it hurt, and sure it’s been coming, but some of the bile being spouted, much of it picked up from the Sun and Record, must’ve given Celtic’s enemies some real joy.
It’s unfortunate that the new manager has been caught up in the negativity that has been gathering apace for a few years now.
Heading out for the second night in a row — this time to Steve Earle in the Bandstand.
Ach well life goes on but still moaning.
Kit
and the bug lie that we are not an integral part of the bigot brothers will be lost on those still paying for it, when they had the chance to do something about it. Socialist conscience my arse
Joe RoyalCSC
Big even
It simple really , Lawwell could have ensured Celtic dominance for a decade.
He has failed.
He has mismanaged the budget on projects who have not delivered. He has hired a coach who is vastly out of his depth. He will make Mowbray look like Mourinho.
Lawwells failure has cost Celtic £60M of CL money.
What disappoints me is that when the SFA or The Ibrox Club make a mistake there is a forensic analysis of the responsible esp Campbell Ogilvie by all esp Paul67
Now we have our CEO is failing miserably but Paul67 is afraid to call him out. I hope Lawwell is not pulling your strings too hard.
Latchford
Paul67 has never went near that natrative since the 5 way agreement.
Go figure ?
HH
Awe_Naw
The irony of it all.
The Huns coming back up may be the saviour of our bank balance; In the short term at least.
Our bean counters are now counting the Hun dollar instead.
Just spoke to oldtim, he is sore but ok, nurse was in today to dress the wound., said he would post later.
Have any of the Green Brigade been arrested post the Motherwell match yet?
Has Celtic finished the draft complaint post their supporters, and life blood, being kettled?
Has Celtic ever categorically denied being part of the ‘Five-way-agreement’?
Has Celtic decided to redistribute Peter Lawwell’s bonus, post the latest shambles and give their less privileged employees the living wage?
Has Celtic a clue as to the culture of our club beyond marketing lip service?
But everything is okay, I woke up this morning and I was still a Tim.
TLWIO
Hope you are well,
On summer football, we could get a serious uplift in our broadcasting rights if it happened & if we had people who understood media rights & value.
Switch on Sky during the summer and it is full of cricket, vintage EPL, and monster trucks.
You only need to look at the number of pre season tournaments / broadcasts of foreign leagues to see there is a huge market for football junkies in the UK during summer months.
A well run competitive summer league could fill a huge gap,and generate increased commercial revenue
Macca
“they didn’t know what they were doing, that’s my impersonation of what’s going on”
starry plough
Maybe it’s just me but I’venever seen anything that makes me think that Mikael Lustig is a centre half, good full back and defender big risk in the centre of defence. This could also be me but the partnership of Efe and Golden Bollocks had as much with Efe to do as it did with Golden Bollocks!
Free the Efe One!
—————-
I don’t really get the lovein about Lustig, lots of here go on about how he’s our only real CL quality player yet is often posted missing in our biggest games (when not injured). The guy was rank last night.
I know goin to the Brandywell to watch Derry City on a balmy Friday evening to watch a league game has more of an appeal than when the League of Ireland played football in the winter months
parkheadcumsalford
17:56 on 7 August, 2014
Harald Flatpack,
The voice of sanity and experience. Personally, I blame Thatcher for the “I want it now” and “we deserve better” nonsense that, imo, underpins a lot of stuff on here nowadays. I have been watching Celtic for about 20 years more than yourself and, basically, the first 10 were the poorest I’ve ever witnessed. There were few, if any highs, and then it all came gloriously right.
I still have nightmares about Kellys and Whites running Celtic. Our current Board do a far better job than them, who felt they had the God-given right to run Celtic for their own ends. They almost ran us into the ground. Thank Ghod for Fergus.
—–
Ghuys, I think you are treating the Celtic supporters as being naive if you don’t think we realise there are swings and roundabouts throughout the history.
The issue for me and many others is that those peaks and troughs came mainly through outside influences ( i.e. A corrupt rangers gaining advantage in the 90’s/00’s and unable to contest with the financial clout of them in the 80’s ).
For me and many supporters our current predicament is self inflicted and it is that which is causing the angst at a time when we should be dominating Scottish football and making real inroads into Europe.
We could all see our squad quality diminishing ( what happened to ” we will exit each transfer window a stronger squad ‘ ). Our best players being sold. Replacements are ‘ projects’.
This is Glasgow Celtic FC not a plaything.
I sat in the company of about 150 fellow Celtic fans in a pub in Santa Ponsa last ( Flamingos ) night and watched the game unfold. One pub full of fans and the scene was mirrored in the Irish quarter in Santa Ponsa and I am sure elsewhere in holiday resorts around the world. We are a massive draw and are currently being managed akin to a new club setting out to see how much funds it can obtain to stay afloat.
That board mentality has to change. By all means manage the books but stop this ‘project’ strategy, as it is killing our club ( and delivering our own mhan made trough )
Hail! Hail!
the_huddle
I like him I think you can rely on him most of the time and he gets in about it, these last two games no one came out with any gold stars..
I hope we keep him, seems to get the club…
Starry plough and the_huddle…..
Each to their own. I sometimes think fans have short memories. Lustig has been with us 2 years and a bit… His form was very good & consistent, then last year had to under-go a major hip operation.
It’s no wonder he isn’t playing to form at the moment, but unlike some others I remember many of his better games, and given the guys bad luck.. Willing to cut him some slack
Latchford
I think we do need to be careful that we do not become what we despise.
I am sure you do not equate ensuring “dominance over a decade” with ” being back in our rightful place” thinking, but it veers towards it and it is a line we must not cross.
We get where we are by earning that place and on occasions when we do not earn it then we try earning it again.
Dominance cannot be ensured nor will it llast.
Trying our best at being the best sits easier with me.
More forgiving when we fail too.
I’m always willing to give our “lesser” players the slack as well they are limited, with the so called stars then really they need to be ones that stand out in the big games, drag us over the line in close games etc. I just don’t see it with Lustig and a few of our other higher paid players.
ruggygman
One of my favourite players mate just don’t see the push to have him at centre half..
I noticed hmrc will be appealing to the high court re orcs tax dodging..
Pauloanotony the prize goes to you for the most stupid defence of the board ever. You said the following.
Kayak if we paid £5m for him we would have waster 10m. Well what did we pay for him? Stop making up absolute drivel.