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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hebcelt – the point is that TD has been in the past been known to be less than fulsome in his praise of stoooodent types.
Fair comment TD I hope you agree mhate?
anyway I thought it was pretty funny and in good spirit and lord knows we need a wee chuckle today…
HH jamesgang
TD – smile big ghuy!
HH jamesgang
Gary67
I agree it’s a no brainer..
-We would start all European Qualification at peak fittness
-It would generate more interest and possibly better TV deals (better than Wimbledon/Cricket)
-Better pitches
-Bigger crowds
Etc
tonydonnelly67
15:37 on 7 August, 2014
Ernie lynch
So what if they where students?
####
Does anyone know what’s happened to the real TD67?
This guy’s obviously an impostor.
Had a look at the Europa ties tonight.
Quite a few of the seeded teams are in danger of going out as are some of the better placed non-seeds.
If this happens then it is likely that our opponents will be less illustrious as we are in the seeded draw.
It might not be much but after the last two weeks I’ll take anything.
Line ups at Murrayfield. That is bold.
Summer football would suit me. However what happens should we ever get a decent run in Europe again? We’d be better prepared for the early rounds but could be awkward come February last 16 stuff.
No easy way out is there? Every road has problems.
Also, do any young footballers of quality at Celtic ever grow more that 5.5ft? We have nice tidy players but don’t remember the last really athletic looking young home grown talenthe of muscular tall build.
Maybe they need to go back to basics – mair mince n tatties fur the young laddies……..
Not really sure where we go from mere.
PL has been at it since well before he shoved KM out the door.
He now seems to be obsessed by his bonus.
To the point of wasting his business reputation and the club that employs him.
Everything is about the cash position and generating a surplus.
DD / Irish Raj / Absent landlord does not care how it happens as long as he sees no bills.
When you look back it is easy to spot PL’s dabbling to manage the cash.
Just why did we buy SB in The June just before the year end — help out our pay RP?
I fear we better get used to the new normal — week to week survival in a cold climate.
The last 20 years have been a mirage and the FMcC legacy is now just memories.
We are looking at 30K crowds this season and a £30mill T/O.
We will need to remodel the ground to hide the empty seats.
Looking at all the Top Tier being shut to make the ground look full.
The only part that might survive is the North Stand up to the level of the roof support pillars.
Then we have the squad –£15mill footballing budget is where we are heading
SB might survive but all the high — £12/15K+ — wage earners will be out the door.
And then there is the irony of the only force that might save us — TFOD2.
Will PL be sweating over there results hoping they make a quick job of the Championship.
After all our laughs at their travails and their tribute acts travails …
… The bigot pound will come to save us and get DD to start spending money.
Have the board no shame … ?
… Have we — the support — no shame?
jamesgang
15:37 on 7 August, 2014
hebcelt – the point is that TD has been in the past been known to be less than fulsome in his praise of stoooodent types.
Fair comment TD I hope you agree mhate?
anyway I thought it was pretty funny and in good spirit and lord knows we need a wee chuckle today…
HH jamesgang
________________________________
No, no, no, no, not all students, this was high jacked and taken out of context, you know and Lynch knows the students I was talking about, and that little debate ended up with me getting a yellow card, as a few in here ran to the teacher and grassed me up, and not one of them to this day has put there hand up, that’s why I keep it kinda low, I fight dirty, and they don’t like it, any way Lynch keep up the spin, some day you’ll get a job in the DR.
Bhoylo83
15:32 on
7 August, 2014
Anyone else for Summer football?
==========
No chance. One more way of aligning ourselves with the real diddy leagues is to start our league in March and finish by December.
Gary67 yes I think starting in mid July would be the sensible compromise here.
HH
hard to bear that last night & Sidnet Tim I thought ur article was very good & hit a few nails on the head. Any scouting system that targeted The dutch sick note should be restructured.,Add Puki Lassad Bangurra to that list & you have to wonder what they are looing at. Take out Mcgreggor and I would be tempted to sell anyone who gets an offer. Forster and Van Dyke will go. Ronnie has his work cut out a squad that is lacking pace, mental & physical strength. Football has evolved totally & we are now left toally behind. Long term our only hope is to start bringing in our own players.
PL comes across as smug to me and needs to devise a long term plan.
hail hail
sorry TD
KTF
HH jamesgang
Let’s start the silly questions. They need to be asked.
IF WGS would come back would you take him?
IF MON would come back would you take him?
Would either do DOF on a part time basis to advise PL and the gaffer on signings and pre-season schedules?
Is it something to consider? Is a Director of football an option for Celtic that clearly has a board which is miles away from the fans and it would appear the manager as well as the players?
LB
Is this guy speculating on us eventually getting to a new league, or, that we become so cash rich, that shareholders force board to return cash to shareholders?
http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/aa-rated-nick-train-ups-stake-in-celtic-fc/a766271
Auldheid
You make fair comment as ever.
But the PLC are mistrusted for a reason and the OB act is certainly not a good example to sight to explane their position in a good light.
Without the findings of an individual on this blog (official docs) the position of our club in the OB act would not ever have been admitted to by our club. In fact i do not believe they have ever admitted to being one of the standard bearer’s for the acts formalisation and neither have they apologised for their part in the creation of a dreadful and criminal piece of legislation. Their position on it may have changed now since their part came to light but they have work to do before they can be trusted.
Also their Pr is shocking and if you ever get an opportunity to speak to them again maybe you should advise them that it is also good practice to reply to negative comments on social media as well as the positive. If complaints go unheard while all the happy clappy back slaps are replied to then how can fans be expected to trust them.
As for Resolution 12. I believe that your group have been very well managed by Celtic on this issue and cynically have my doubts that it will come to anything unfortunately. i hope I am wrong as the work you guys put into this was outstanding but i believe the club are boxing clever with you.
MWD says AYE
ronny deila was put in a position by the board where he was expected to deliver CL qualification with a squad that had suffered our all time record home and away defeats in Europe in 13/14
With the squad weakened further by loss of samaras (and brown and Forrest to injury )
Akin to giving the guy a penknife to chop down an amazon rainforest
This was not Ronnys fault or the fans fault or the msm fault uefa’s fault, the big bad premierships fault or any of the usual cqn bogeymen
Desmond and lawwell have failed the club
Re Summer football: Earlier start to the season surely must be worth a rattle. Scottish football has been on a steady decline and the financial real politik means that is unlikely to change. If the decline does continue, we are faced with declining advertising, merchandising and TV revenues (we already have domestic competitions without a sponsor). Further, we would have the opportunity of exposure to a wider audience without the competition from more popular leagues.
Also, we would obviously be better prepared for competitive games come July/August.
Crowds would be bigger and, leaving aside certain away venues, families from outside Scotland may actually take the opportunity to take a weekend or midweek break to the better travel destinations of, for example, Inverness/Aberdeen/Edinburgh/Glasgow.
A move to Summer football or a significantly earlier start would take some courage and big thinking. Are the SPFL/SFL up to it?- probably not, but if we don’t ask then we won’t change….
mental & physical strength.
Yes I think this is the problem with the players, what ever RD is telling them and teaching them, they seem to forget what it was he was doing and saying as soon as they leave his side and cross that line, there is a system there but no shape to it, I know that sounds daft but I can’t put my finger on it, and it think RD has the same problem, and I doubt if he is going to come right out and say that some of the players are to thick to get it, I don’t know, just a thought?
…..been away out for a couple of hours …… are you lurking, Oldtim67…….If so, please let us know how you are today…..
Oldtim67 had an accident in one of the lounges last night…..cut both his legs, after a trip…… as witness to his wonderful personality, he made light of it …….. The First Aiders did a great job ……… Just hoping your OK today, Oldtim67 ……!!??
-Tojo-
12:46 on
7 August, 2014
& well done Robbie Nielson.
training with 10 v 11 prior to Hearts visit to Ibrox.
Pressure right on the ref.
I think Hearts could win the championship.
I watched them against a very strong Man City and they were terrific.Robbie Neilsen has done a great job.They passed City off the park for long periods.Everything is pass and move.Will be interesting to see them at the weekend.
surely to jeezuz, you all know what the td67/student jokey/thingy is ?
Dexter
All too idealistic tbh.
Look at the League of Ireland. Nobody bats an eyelid. Ok they don’t have a history or the crowds many of our bigger clubs get but still, summer football doesnt help them.
It will be of no shock to you to learn that top footballers like to have the summer off too. Tell them we are playing March-December? Forget it. If you think things are bad now…
An earlier start, say mid July, would be a suitable compromise.
HH
If we go for summer football then does that mean we have given up hope of ever employing a player who is good enough for the WC or the Euro Championship?
I think they will be dancing in the Streets of Pittodrie and Tannadice at that one.
Interesting idea but on balance a big no from the Pudong jury.
If we get summer football does it follow that we will in fact get good summers?
MWD says AYE
Summer football
We are already in a diddy league. We may as well be as fit and as match ready as the best teams from the other diddy leagues when we play qualifiers against them.
Yes, it’s a culture shock and we’ll have difficulties when the World Cup/Euro competitions are on, but hey, look where we are today.
For me it’s a no brainer; YES to a summer season. I suggest February till November. If we do progress to group stages of either Euro comp, that will be our end of season play offs. We also won’t have away trips to Inverness immediately prior to an away tie in Europe.
So in a nutshell oldtim67 was p!shed ;)
Just kidden, hope he is ok.
Could PL have done any worse if he had tried?
Will we soon see the dreaded banner …
Agent PL — Return to base, mission accomplished?
@Morrissey23rd
Retweet if you think majority shareholder Dermot Desmond should attend the Celtic AGM this year. #CelticAGM #Celtic
Summer football
NO!
We need to give Ronny much more time and resources before we can assess how good he is. We haven’t given him the resources as yet nor the time to make an educated decision on his future. Remember how much time we gave Mowbray and Neil to get it right, he deserves at least the same courtesy.
As for those saying we did well last year with same players lets just look at how well we did. We beat Shakhter Karakandy, barely and that was with players we now didn’t have available due to injury or suspension, we had Forest and Brown Injured and we sold our one proven European performer in Georgios Samaras. We have invested nothing in the team of course things are going to falter. Last season we got made to look weak in the group stages and we did not even win a domestic double so for any one to claim the same players did better last season they are living in cloud Cookoo land.
Clearly it is very much down to the limitations of the players we have at our disposal. Jock Stein could manage those players and do no better than Ronny managed in the second game, in the first game of course Ronny had much room for improvement. This season we did “worse” in champions league qualifiers because of injury, lack of investment and a much less unfavourable draw against a team far superior to HJK Helsinki let alone Karagandy. If Ronny can win us a double or even better a treble for me he will be an improvement over Neil Lennon. To suggest similarities with Tony M is laughable as unlike Tony there is no taking it on the chin, he learned from his error in playing an unfit Berget and he saw the same game we where seeing more than Neil ever did and possibly even more than Strachan. Ronny will live or die by his ability to stop that happening in cup games where one loss or draw cannot be tolerated after Ronny has had the chance to get substantial player recruitment. I expect us to recruit many players whilst not spending much in hard cash, it will be down to Ronny to make the most of the chicken feed cash he will be given.
If after this year we only manage to qualify from the Europa league group stages and say make the quarter finals of that competition but we only win the league then I will be willing to let the negatives have there day and get rid of Ronny but not before. Ronny must win 2 cups to this year whether that be the league and the league cup or the Europa cup or the Scottish cup in order to remain manager, and that is because he is not a Northern Irish Celtic fan or a Scottish fan so he needs to do more to convince the high expectations of our great club founded by Brother Walfrids Socialist Charity. But whilst we are still in 3 cup competitions it is far to early to demand his removal, we gave Mowbray much more time on the back of much worse performances. We overlooked Neils and Strachans poor starts (doing well in the return legs with much more money spent than Ronny has been given thus far is hardly a fair comparison) we even overlooked Neil’s repeated cup stutterings so if Ronny can get us a cup this year in addition to the league to me he will go down as a very good Celtic manager. I will say folk saying we might not be top of the league come November are living on another planet.
Keep the Faith. Back The team, not the board regime. Back Ronny. In Ronny we trust. When we wake up tommorow be grateful that we are still all tims, even the horrible ones who love Israel and oppose either “compasionate” conservative charity or left wing Socialism, things which help to give the poor a better life in Gaza, in the east end, in Africa.
Please donate money to SCIAF, please Join Friends of Palestine. Please undertake fund Raisers to raise money for the poor of our own country and those in even worse poverty abroad. Lets Keep the name of this great club great. Please support the demands of fans groups to give Celtic Employees a living wage. Please remember this we are the greatest supporters of the most socially just club in the world, when we wake up tomorrow that will still be the case, when the zombies wake up tomorrow their club will still be dead.
CELTIC’S away match against Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday, August 23 has been moved back by 24 hours.
The switch is due to the Hoops’ involvement in the Europa League play-off during the previous midweek.
The match will also have a 12.15 kick-off time.
I wonder has summer football ever been properly discussed at the SPFL/SFL
Turkeybhoy
16:05 on
7 August, 2014
-Tojo-
12:46 on
7 August, 2014
& well done Robbie Nielson.
training with 10 v 11 prior to Hearts visit to Ibrox.
Pressure right on the ref.
I think Hearts could win the championship.
I watched them against a very strong Man City and they were terrific.Robbie Neilsen has done a great job.They passed City off the park for long periods.Everything is pass and move.Will be interesting to see them at the weekend.
———————————————-
‘pass and move’……oooooh what I’d give to see a wee bit of that!!!
HowHardCanItBe?CSC
HH jamesgang
For me the 64,000 dollar question is do we trust this guy to rebuild the squad – or do we cut our losses now and get someone else in? Tough question, glad I don’t need to answer it.
“If after this year we only manage to qualify from the Europa league group stages and say make the quarter finals of that competition but we only win the league then I will be willing to let the negatives have there day and get rid of Ronny but not before”
I’d be over the bloody moon if that happend !!!! after the last few weeks
oldtim67
Hope you are ok mate. You survived a whole day at Aberdour with BT no problem yet come to grief in genteel Auld Reekie. Those hospitality lounges are dangerous.
HH
James Forrest is praying for The Unconquerable Oscar Knox,
Wonderful article.No doubt you will get the usual suspects clapping you out.
Keep up the great work.
1. Summer Football
2. Safe Standing Areas
3. Licensed Stadia
Sounds good to me!
B-)
Or do we just let Scottish football die..