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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B B
Ive never ever saw J C get off the bench. I think thers a harmony prob there. Both of them are out of tune!!
And Lo, those who knowest best, talk downest to the crowd.
We are wise, and knoweth best, begone to your caves and seek forgiveness from the great Petrus, for he is a mighty lord.
The crowd wailed, and gnashed of tooth crieth out, save us from the serpent hun,…but those who knoweth best, were busy stocking thy treasures to escape like thieves in the night.
The huge crowd, smashed the wooden temple of the high and mighty with great fury, and crieth out….begone imposters, down with the great Petrus, for he is a false god.
HH
James Forrest is praying for The Unconquerable Oscar Knox
13:55 on
7 August, 2014
Good man.
Thanks for the courteous reply to my challenge.
Game set and match to you.
We hold different views,but that`s O.K.
Hail Hail
The one thing everyone forgets…..
Who wants to come to the SP HELL??????
Can we afford the £40-60k per week that some are paying for DIDDYS down south?
Wake up folks……
Poor league….and money beyond our means being thrown about else where…
We’ve tried experienced… Keane, graveson, ljunberg…DID THESE GUYS DRASTICALLY IMPROVE THE TEAM?
Or did you prefer the Wanyama, Hooper and the nakamuras?
Stop dreaming… and get into reality…
Most of the article was correct,however I would back Biton ,he was a very good player last season before a bad injury,and last night was his first competitive game in months,so he could not have been anywhere match fit,This guy delia has turned a reasonable side into a pub side in a few months,it looks like the players don,t like his tactics and don,t enjoy playing
his system,he,s a poor manager who has never managed at any level ,it,s like bring in a manager from the english lower leagues ,totally ridiculous and should lead to the CEO BEING SACKED,(BUT WE ALL KNOW THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN)
macjay1 for Neil Lennon:
And you brother, and all my other brothers and sisters on this site, including Mr Big Wavy!
You know what makes today all the harder to take? I think – and I know a lot of you disagree – that we have the right guy in the dugout. He’s our fourth manager in six years, and what this club badly needs right now is continuity. I loved what he said last night about signing players with passion, and ambition. It’s one in the eye to the guys who will soon be heading south chasing money.
I wish I believed this guy will get the tools to do that job, but the strategy is not to grow the team but to develop players and sell them on. That’s why we’ve bought so many duds, in the hope they end up worth a quid. It’s why we’ll never get what Ronny wants, a settled team that will be together for years.
As long as the current strategy is being pursued, this chaos will continue to swirl around us. And one day, soon, much sooner than any of us ever expected, it will end with a league flag flying over another stadium.
Last night was a symptom of a much wider malaise. We’re making it up as we go along. The real problem with “the strategy” is that there isn’t one.
67heaven
i will counter that with
We have no chance of consistently participating in the Chamions League with the current strategy no matter whether we all buy season books, every new replica strip (even the bogging tartan one), every programme, every Celtic view, every pie, bovril, coke or cardboard Pizza.
Club is on a downsizing strategy with an want for it’s Old Firm injection.
My buying a season book, merchandise, celtic TV will not make a jot of difference to PLC brat pack.
Whether I have or have not is none of your business but stupidly I went against my head and let my heart rule and did. Honestly, today I regret that decision.
MWD says AYE
Ronny…. deserves more than 6 weeks to rid of the deadwood…the ones nit interested in celtic but of their own self interests… and the inferior players not fit to wear the hoops.
It’ll be a long season…
But the bad times allows us to saviour the bad…
Better to prepare before the newcomers arrive
Nye Bevans’ rebel soldier
12:10 on
7 August, 2014
Good Afternoon Timland.
Last night I made a total fool of myself on here
and abused a fellow poster.
I would like to apologize to Turkeybhoy and any
other poster’s who were offended by my stupid
outburst .
No apologies needed for me mate.I can take it,and dish it out.
Unlike some,who dont seem to grasp the meaning of the word “Forum”.
HAIL HAIL.
Siesta time zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The whole club needs a period of freshening up.
pauloantony@2.06
But the bad times allows us to saviour the bad…
——————————————
Typo? Or are you EVEN more miserable and gloomy than the rest of us today!!???!!
;-)
HH jamesgang
G67-Jude- the job might be his before then unfortunately, the anger in the ground was palpable.I was sitting 20 yards from the suits,they were taken aback by the abuse directed at them,they won’t put up with that for long.Predictable rumour of a Board Meeting this afternoon.The manager deserves longer and will have my support,but he looks out of his depth already IMO.
Looking at the dates of EL fixtures. If, and its still a big if, we qualify for the EL group stages, it’ll mean 4 home games being moved to a Sunday. Not ideal for many.
Talk about fiddling while rome burns…or rather clapping.
Dear oh Dear.
When will you wake up.
The gravy train will ground to a halt soon….because you will realise, that when paying fans begin to chant in unison GTF, to the CEO and his cronies…the gig is up.
The days of being hugely rewarded for failure are over.
When the people who fund the club chant GTF….the PLC better listen, or they wont be there…simple as that.
So for those who think PL can do what he likes, you better think again.
Sack the Board
HH
G67- i would rather give the EL a miss at the moment,we will struggle to qualify right now.
Paoloanthony, I was in no way alluding to bringing in experience at that kind of cost. I was meaning Barry Robson, Stephen Crainey types. Players that could inspire others with some energy, players with a feel for the club to ease us through transition.
Would Man U give us Fletcher for 6 months and we pay part of his salary? Bold move immediately written off by most happy clapping eyes on the money men … But have we asked?
James Forrest is praying for The Unconquerable Oscar Knox
14:05 on
7 August, 2014
O.K.
But what if guys are determined to move on.
Hoops? Wanyama? Ki?
What if guys are promised on signing on for Celtic that they will be permitted to move on to a “bigger league” if an acceptable offer is received? Perhaps acceptable means an actual pound figure.
Is F.F. in that category?
Is V.V.D.?
Now these are questions I would like to have answered before I condemn the ” Bored.”
Having said that, if Ronny is “ousted” I would expect whoever recommended him to bite the dust also.
If that`s P.L.,then so be it.
Whether it is Ronny Deila or anybody else in the hot seat, can anyone honestly say that 24 days is enough to get the team ready for the season, change the players in and out , turn what is left into a team, get into the Europa league and have a squad for the season to meet the domestic challenges?
Any comment from our glorious leader after last nights debacle!
Welcome to the Kneejerkers and Punters’ Social Club.
It’s not just the team that has gone into a decline over the past few years.
This once influential Celtic blog has become a playground for bitchin’, scratchin’ and name calling.
Very rarely is there constructive comment or a view on the wider implication of the game in Scotland from the corruption at the top of the game.
Thank God for TSFM, which has replaced CQN as the forum for intelligent, respectful debate and analysis.
TET.
You mentioned that Wilson’s reasons for leaving Celtic, due to family reasons, were made up lies from the club.
I think you know that the lies came from the Forest end, via their player recruitment man, Brian O’Neil, of Celtic fame.
Neil Lennon’s quote was that if they had told Celtic the truth, then they could have got him for £1m less.
They paid for trying to be smart.
Last night should be a line in the sand at Celtic Park.
It had been coming for the last few years and, I think, there is a certain perverse relief that it has arrived.
I hope and expect a positive outcome from whatever deliberations, which will also sideline those whose agenda feeds off every bit of negativity.
I, too, am angry.
sean thornton
Eh ……. naw!
macjay1 for Neil Lennon:
I think a lot of those guys would have stayed if they believed we were serious about adding quality to the team. Had we gone out and spent every penny of the Wanyama money, for example, do you think Hooper would still have gone?
I think if we give the players a reason to believe, they will. The same as the fans.
Players now come to Celtic because they see it as a “stepping stone”. To success? No. To money. Pure and simple. I’d rather we didn’t pursue that type of player in the first place, but to get those guys of genuine ambition … we have to show some.
I see a Peter L getting a lot of stick, and much of it deserved, but the real problem is actually you and me .
Our club is controlled by one individual, who hasn’t been at an AGM for years, and I suspect hasn’t attended too many board meetings either.
I also suspect that Peter L does as good a job as anyone could in managing that individual.
So, why are we to blame, quite simply we let him buy the shares, we let the board change our articles of association, and we now find ourselves in a position that via ownership and proxy, one guy controls over 50% of the club, and I suspect nearer 65/70%.
Self inflicted
Thanks James Forrest for the love. We’re all hurting and I happen to be a little more appreciative of the god awful environment we live in than your narrative tends to but that’s ok (I live amongst the maniacs who follow the EPL down here). I’m also uncomfortable with the personalising of our problem down to the individual level.
It’s a complex problem and needs a complex solution, a fair degree of luck and maybe a bit of repositioning by us as fans (I know that last one is unpalatable, even as I type it)…
Anyway hail hail fella
james forrest is praying for the unconquerable oscar knox
14:05 on 7 August, 2014
pauloantony
14:06 on 7 August, 2014
I agree with you both, we have (we being the Board) to back Ronny and sooner rather than later. He may indeed turn out to be a bad appointment, time will tell. We need Players that totally buy in to his vision. Players that not only have passion or dare I say with the Hearts of Lions but have the quality to bring pride back to our Club.
I do not have the answers as I am not qualified. However, I am a qualified Celtic Supporter who only wants my Team to go out and do their best, not to let themselves down but more importantly not to let us down.
A very good mate of mine whose views I respect immensely disagrees with me on Ronny’s ability to turn things around and reckons he will be gone by Christmas. I so hope he is wrong.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
ttt
Quick reply, off to Malaga with the grandweans.
I know the lies came from the Forrest end, but the spin wasn’t questioned, that was the point I tried to make, badly as it turns out >}
Defo off oot
HH
James Forrest
Its all about the £ with players, that and the joke that is Scottish Football.
Oh come on Thom the Tim, tsfm has been invited for Holy willies. The football supporting bourgeois.
Censorship there is taken to an extreme. Mind you if someone had a mouse trap for bungle or the multi headed Kojo beast it would improve the intellectual properties if this site.
Thomthetim
“Thank God for TSFM, which has replaced CQN as the forum for intelligent, respectful debate and analysis”
I bow to your greatness, how dare we, the dregs of CQN complain.
We are no match for your intellect.
HH
HH
Lennybhoy
Any snippets fella you are picking up that you can share with the battered and bruised here ?
.
When Ronny Delia and John Collins left the St Pats Vs Legia game with 40 Minutes to go..
The made 2 Massive mistakes for Rookie European managers..
They missed how Legia score goals when they are on top af a match..
And
They missed How the can play away form Home in Europe..Even when the pressure is on..
Funny Paul67 mentioning Lenny being a hard act to Follow..
In Delia..We basically have a Moyes-Ferguson Scenario..
While i don’t believe Ronny has lost the Dressing room..l believe he has No where near got its respect..
Playing a Former player and Norwegian (Loan player) in the first leg of a 20 Million Winner takes All game may Turn out to be His greatest mistake..See Fellini..
001
TTT
“Last night should be a line in the sand at Celtic Park.
It had been coming for the last few years and, I think, there is a certain perverse relief that it has arrived.”
====================================
In a nutshell!
Well done
Fed up with all youse andy walkers,we should sign all these scottish duds,these are the players who we thrash every time we play them,last season I did not see one good performance from a scot in any game against us,we are bad enough already without bringing in rubbish
Just had a thought there. If Mjallby wanted to be a manager rather than an assistant and was leaving the club was he in the running for the top job when Neil Lennon left?
Just a wee thought I had about the man who probably organised our defence which has become a shambles in a matter of weeks.
Obviously DMcG is also a loss to the coaching staff as the full backs have not looked the same this season. Is DMcG set to return to work anytime soon?
LB
Off the park, what was going on with:
A) We went two down and the GB started chanting that Lawell should GTF. That’s not supporting the team. BUT… almost immediately the Police were sent out to stand directly in front and to film the GB. What is that all about. Did Lawell send them?
B) I was in lower East. Not long after the above, a numpty who had been a nuisance a few rows in front of me since before the game, was led away by stewards. Celtic fans gave him abuse and he wanted to have a go with them. Why was he allowed into the ground when so obviously drunk as a skunk?
C) After Legia scored there first goal, there was a punch up in the upper east tier. From below there looked like a real chance that the protagonists and possibly innocent bystanders could have fell over the balcony. What was that all about? Felt sorry for the young female steward who was closest to the melee. Did the police intervene at any point or were they too busy working on their strategy for antagonising the GB?
Bawsman
12:34
I am aware of that. It means our market for players isn’t as large (although we’ve managed to bring in non internationalist players in the past with a bit of extra work – Wanyama springs to mind!) but it doesn’t prevent us from using a similar model.
well done the eejits for singling out the gb – there was animosity, from drink and frustration towards the poles in every part of the ground – not just from the gb
if it wasnt for the gb – this would have been a legia home match – for all the difference it would have made
as for complaining about being in amongst the green brigade – they were there the last time, there were thousansds of seats you could have moved to – we walked from next to the top tier legia to tjhe tier above the grean brigade (apologies if you were physically unable to move)