Back in October 2011 I was for calling an end to the Neil Lennon experiment. During the previous season he lost the league after a late collapse, while exiting Europe in August after defeats to Braga and Utrecht. That season Sion’s insistence in not playing by the rules allowed us a backdoor ticket to the Europa League but we were 10 points behind Ally McCoist’s Rangers.
Subsequent events proved there was not enough evidence on show to judge the Neil Lennon era early in his second season. Neil pulled things together, finished a credible third in the Europa League group and never looked back.
Ronny Deila has already made mistakes in his Celtic tenure but does anyone seriously believe he has had the opportunity and resources to build a team? Of course not. He needs to sort out the many cousins of George Weah who have arrived recently from the genuine John Guidetti’s. He needs players who can pass the ball with reasonable accuracy but most of all he needs players of courage and attitude.
I would probably be singing a different tune if we still had Rangers to contend with, long-term development objectives are important but the short-term need to win the league remains absolute, but we don’t, which means short-term targets remain well within grasp.
The memory of Rangers’ many mistakes in the years before liquidation offers another lesson. They sacked Paul Le Guen six months into a badly needed overhaul project. Le Guen was appointed months before he took up the reins and had enough time to watch his new team and scout transfer targets, but even that wasn’t enough to ensure a smooth transition, as he found the Weahs living in Austria. Le Guen was decrying his as a heretic by a club incapable of change.
Despite the tiredness after Thursday and a plethora of injuries, Celtic had enough resources to swamp a tiny football club yesterday. That we didn’t, suggests Ronny has a big job on his hands. From the frustration shown by Scott Brown and Stefan Johansen at their team-mates yesterday, I suggest he builds his recovery around these two.
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What really worries me about yesterdays result. Is that I was not one bit surprised by it, pissed off but not shocked. That really tells me how poor we are. Should RD go? Lets say if he is given his marching orders, I would not be surprised or saddened.
starry plough
What’s David O’leary doing these days?
Celtic and Republic of Ireland international footballer Anthony Stokes will face trial next year in relation to an alleged assault on an Elvis Presley impersonator.
Stokes, 26, of Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, is accused of assault causing harm to Anthony Bradley, 42, at Buck Whaley’s nightclub in Dublin on 8 June 2013.
The trial has been set for 11 May 2015.
Stokes was remanded on continuing bail until the trial date.
Not an expert on Irish law but can Stokes get banged up if found guilty?
LB
More crosses he says
Is anyone ever on the end of one?
This is progress ?
Jesus wept
Take no pleasure in saying it but he’s not up to the job
The fact that those making the crosses couldn’t cross the road doesn’t exactly help matters
ghughes67
15:21 on 6 October, 2014
will that be the same players who lost at home to Morton in the LC, lost at home to Aberdeen in SC and got pumped in our worst ever CL performances.
maybe the same players are the problem
LiviBhoy
15:33 on 6 October, 2014
Celtic and Republic of Ireland international footballer Anthony Stokes will face trial next year in relation to an alleged assault on an Elvis Presley impersonator.
Stokes, 26, of Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, is accused of assault causing harm to Anthony Bradley, 42, at Buck Whaley’s nightclub in Dublin on 8 June 2013.
The trial has been set for 11 May 2015.
Stokes was remanded on continuing bail until the trial date.
Not an expert on Irish law but can Stokes get banged up if found guilty?
LB
—————————————————————————————–
If not, can we appeal?
Kinglubo – we will win the league. Not much debate to be had on that score.
We’re a few short, and very difficult, weeks into the season. We’ve had injuries to our very best players, cruelly exposing others we perhaps thought more of, and we have a new manager. We operate in the dullest league in Europe, and we’re searching for some excitement.
That’s all context for how we’re feeling. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to watching Celtic lose domestic games. Not since the mid 90’s have I thought that was an acceptable result, but it happens regularly enough for me to feel disappointed and online forums like CQN to freak out. What the media, and this includes CQN, can’t cope with is a rather dull, slow process of a team, which is afforded by unfavourable circumstances, slowly re-design themselves in the hope that we might find an even more efficient version of our model of self-seficiency.
We should consider that for a moment…. imagine a child being asked to assess the quality of their birthday cake whilst being dragged around the supermarket wondering why mum keeps buying flower, or demanding to to taste the cake 5 minutes after it goes in the oven and demanding new parents if the cake isn’t the greatest cake made since 2004, or 1988 or 67 etc…
You know what happens when children throw tantrums? Adults stop listening, condescend and sometimes might miss a good point.
I really don’t understand why a long term football fan, or fan of Celtic would want to come on a publicly slate the club at this moment. You can only make yourself look thoughtless or reactionary.
I might have an opinion on the team, or on RD… let’s try.
RD is following a mould a great number of managers are using just now. High tempo pressing and a very familiar formation. It’s not that different from Lennon, but I guess Lennon was more inclined to slow the game. The high tempo game is highly effective, but, it depends on personel. We’ve some great candidates for the style and some that are a long, long way from that physical standard.
I suspect RD needs to learn that winning in the SPL is quite different from Europe or even a cup game. We don’t need to raise the tempo in domestic games, just ensure the quality is there. If anything the SPL needs greater composure. Almost all of our managers have taken time to adjust, even those familiar with the SPL.
I argued with myself yesterday – oh, we’re just like Mowbrays team again. Then I checked the squad mowbray had… not really a discussion to be had there. Ronny has inherited the least talented Celtic squad since Tommy Burns took charge. Mowbray had one of the best, at least on paper.
Most of the players remain have a good age profile and lots of upside, as they say in US sports. We say potential, but the point is obvious, a good coach can do a lot with our squad. Given time.
Ambrose and Commons.
A lot will be said about Stokes and Johansen and Izzy and crazily even Mulgrew gets stick online, but each of these players is fundamentally fit and capable. They all have enough quality that a manager can make something consistently useful out of them. And in the case of Mulgrew – whit? Could play in any league, let’s be glad he’s our player.
Ambrose seems obvious, but, it’s not him that’s the problem it’s the importance of the full back position. I’ve mentioned before, but in modern football full backs make the team. Everyone’s out ball. We can’t play him there. This is RD’s fault. Kayal would be a far better selection, to name one of many.
And then Commons. Don’t want to denigrate a man who has contributed so much, but, as I mentioned in a previous post, I can’t think of a single scenario in which I’d want to put him on the park. Bizarrely if you do he’ll score highlight-reel goals every other game – statistically this is true. But every other contribution he makes is below par. He turns over possession like nothing I’ve ever seen. Most players that lack a good first touch and passing ability aren’t trusted to the extent he is, so we’re seeing something truly unique and quite unpleasant. We’re seeing a guy far, far out of his depth.
And it all comes back to RD’s pressing style. If we give up possession so quickly I’m not sure it can ever work. Commons is the problem with this in the final third and Ambrose at the back. The midfield don’t really have a chance if they can’t trust the right back out-ball and their link to attack is playing so poorly. Neither does RD.
Will we let him drop Commons… for good? Most of you won’t let me off for saying that about Commons, so probably not.
Ambrose might be a solid CB, maybe in a back up role or with a top partner like VVD. But he just
Jings that 3rd paragraph is a mess. Ammunition perhaps… but I’m ok with it.
Yesterday’s loss is not the reason I’m looking at the panic button albeit I’m not ready to press it yet, Its just that Ronny does not strike me as a man who has a handle on the situation. He does not exude confidence or gravitas. His team selections and formations are clearly not working and he is not learning. With the exception of Zagreb game, his substitutions are baffling. Collins is either bringing nothing to the party or Ronny is ignoring his input. With exception of Icelandic minnows we have played 15 competitive games, winning 6 losing 5 & drawing 4, the quality of the football we play is deteriorating rather than improving. The Honeymoon is well & truly over the message must be loud & clear to Ronny. Sh*t or get off the pot.
We’re not a few weeks into the season, we are nearly three months …
We shouldn’t overthink the RD situation… I one of us were randomly selected from CQN and told to manage Celtic with the depth of squad and other advantages we enjoy. We would probably be higher than 6 th place right now…
lawwellsacountant
13:56 on
6 October, 2014
Not surprising some Celtic fan,s cant see Delia is shit ,after all a load of them thought Salmond and mr Sturgeon were good
PROUD TO HAVE VOTED NO DISBAND THE SNP SACK DELIA COLLINS AND PIRATE PETE
Utter trumpet.
could Stokes gets banged up for assaulting Elvis impersonator? He’ll be tearing his hair out at the prospect…
Have we burned our bridges with Stuart Baxter?
Hamiltontim
14:10 on
6 October, 2014
Turkeybhoy
13:22 on 6 October, 2014
Good post Paul.If anyone seriously thought that RD could come in and change around a club the size of Celtic in a few months they are deluded.He inherited a load of dross.
—————————
The ‘dross’ he inherited won the league by 29 points, had the highest home win (6-0 v Inverness) and the highest away win (5-0 v Motherwell).
The manager has changed a winning team.
That team also lost to Morton,had our lowest ever points total for CL,got pumped out of the SC,and included,Balde,Derk,Pukki,a load of others who have been sent out on loan.
He has been saddled with Tonev,Bergets,Wakuso,Scepovic,none of whom have really shown anything yet.He has a host of 1st team players out injured.
Really surprised you are on the negative side.
Sir Paul
Ah Very Seldom..if evah.. Disagree wi Ye,pal..
Howevahhhhhhhhhhhhh..
Ah believe that ye ur climbing up the wrang tree..when..
Ye Suggest that Ronny Builds his Bettah Moose-Trap..aroon
Broonie n Steffi!..
Broonie.. In Ma opinion.. Has Bid a Disaster fur Many Years..
In Keeping him in the Team.. we hiv bin Prevented frum Abuildin’ a Propah
n CORRECTLY, Functionin’ Mid-Field.
Steffi, is ..at Best… a Very Enthusiastic guy..who means tae dae Well.. but….
somehow.. He Disnae quite Manage tae Dae it.
Na..Pal..
Sure, You Ur Damn Right.. when Ye recommend that…
we need tae Build a Bettah Mid -Field.. but..
Ah wid Be maist Reluctant tae Use These Two ..
They..in Ma opinion..mind Ye.. MA OPINION..
ur Baith… Faur removed Frum Bein’ Worthy Subjects . Who wull Anchor a Noo n Up tae Date..
Noo n Improved.. NEW MIDFIELD.
An suggest that we Start wi.. Young Henderson.. as oor First Appointment..
in The Construction of that Mid Field..
Our Present Mid Fielders.. should Be Gradually, Released..as We Commence
tae Abuild THAT… Bettah Moose-Trap.
Bottum Line..
Celtic, need tae Re-Build thur Mid Field..
n….
That’s Awe She wrote.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Completely agree with the article. The reaction to some results as we set out to achieve fundamental change is ridiculous
Celtic 0-1Saint Johnstone
Rangers 4-2 Celtic
Ross Co 1-1 Celtic
Celtic 2-2 Hibs .
Celtic 0-2 Kilmarnock .
Celtic 1-1 Saint Johnstone
Saint Johnstone 1-1 Celtic
Ross Co 3-2 Celtic
Lennon’s team after Euro games in his 1st 2 full seasons, and that was after he had 5 months working with the team in the 2nd half of the Mowbray season. Hysterical overreaction yet again from some, who’s only solution to trying to change and improve is to vent, rage and stamp their feet.
I suspect many of the loudest voices criticising have never achieved anything personally, and have no clue what is involved in transitioning . Try checking the dictionary definition of supporter. What it doesn’t say is the role of a supporter is to undermine and destabilise. As usual these hyper criticial “experts” won’t come on and admit they got it wrong when things get better. Their contribution is destructive and damaging. If you can’t support the club at least don’t damage it
DBBIA
It’s doubtful even ole Ena Baxter would fancy the gig
Billy Davis
al least we will swing some balls in then….,
another unexpected visit fro kilbowie kelt…thanks again for breaking the monotony.
HAIL HAIL
Twisty, cheers, got it 6/1 ,well done.
What really gets me is all this nonsense about RD cant manage a club of our size !!!!!!.And what size would that be?.Playing in the SPL,minnows in Europe.Dont take my word for it.How many times have we had guys on here saying”Who wants to come to us,we cant get any decent players”.Now all of a sudden we are this super club again.
The only way we will ever get back to that level is with guys who think like RD.Maybe not him,but from that mould.Or maybe many are just happy with the status quo,which has got us eff all since 2003,and are happy just to finish ahead of the huns.
We are six points behind, with five teams in front of us. In order to overcome that deficit in two matches, they would all need to drop points, which is not possible. If a team is doing well — or poorly … — it will continue to do so. If the team doing poorly manages to changes it fortunes, that does not mean the one doing well will stop doing so. Thus, realistically, a team should be expected to make up average of one point a week. That being the case, the soonest we could hope to be in first, would be after Motherwell on 6/12.
LiviBhoy @ 14.51
They’ll catch him through the various spelling mistakes……………wait a minute, doesn’t narrow it down enough
Kojo
Fair play to you, read back after game and you kind of predicted yesterdays poor performance (though I think you gave us a draw, or tie as you say in usa) Totally agree that we should have the youngsters in just now, no-brainer for me
HH
clearly lawwellsacountant can spell ‘No’ better than he can spell ‘accountant’
then again he only needed to spell ‘x’ in the unionist box on the voting slip
IsItNotAboutTimeWeStoppedGoingOnAboutTheReferendumCSC
Billy Davies ??????????????????????????
this is my first time writing on here. I have to say I like what paul says but in order to get the team to play the way RD wants them to play he would have to change 80% of the squad. The board won’t give RD the money for that. We need to spend big time. If Neil Lennon had been offered half of the money he made for the club (just in transfers) he would never of left. He seen this coming. The way fergie seen it coming at ManU. Celtic need to through the transitional period. RD needs a full season to get us through that. We know we will win the league. I would bet my house on that. The most important thing is when rangers do eventually come back to the top league, celtic are the top team in Scotland.
Look while we do have a few duds, we have a squad well capable of winning the League at a canter. However if we are set up wrong with 2 wingers on the wrong wings and Kris as part of our midfield we are vulnerable in every match. Go back to a 4-4-2 and start winning matches & collecting points, if we build up a handy lead we can do a bit of experimenting.
kingsnake
Over the season and previous seasons, all the other teams outside Celtic for the past couple of years and the old firm, have proven even without playing us or them, that they cannot be consistent enough to mount a challenge. So even a piss poor Celtic will win the league, an average Celtic side won the league at a canter last year.
Thanks to whoever mentioned Billy Davis – it gave us all a much needed laugh at a difficult time. Comic genius!
Keep up-to-date with the latest football activities in the South West region on Twitter @sfa_southwest
Youth coaches from Rangers and Celtic were guest speakers at a recent South West region coach development day.
Over 100 coaches from the grassroots and professional game were in attendance in Ayr as Martin Miller – Head of the Junior Academy at Celtic – and Jim Sinclair – Academy Director at Rangers – explained the philosophy behind their youth development systems.
Martin has worked at Celtic for 16 years, joining from grassroots club Mill United FC.
Martin shared the Celtic Academy’s purpose – ‘to create champion’s league players’, the objective – ‘to create a world class academy’, and the philosophy – ‘to develop the player, and the person.’
“What I’ll share with you today won’t bring you instant success or a result on Saturday,” he said during the presentation.
“Winning is important at Celtic, but what we want to do is give these young players skills that will be with them throughout their whole career and will become part of their football DNA.”
All staff involved in the Academy know the values and philosophy, and the club ensures that parents and players also know the purpose and – most importantly – the hard work and effort required to achieve it.
Celtic’s Junior Academy recruit and develop players aged seven to 12, before they progress to the ‘Intermediate Academy’ from 13-15 and ultimately the ‘Professional Academy’ from 16 to 20.
Celtic’s Junior Academy coaching sessions commence with 20 minutes of passing routines, followed by 25 minutes of ‘Celtic Turns’.
This involves an array of ball manipulation exercises used as an introductory activity before all training sessions and matches where players receive between 2000 and 4000 touches of the ball.
Jim joined Rangers as Academy Director in August 2006 from his role as Director of Football Development at the Scottish FA.
Jim’s presentation focussed on the theory and philosophy of the Rangers Youth Academy, and the importance of player recruitment in the overall process.
The key aspects assessed are: attitude, ability, awareness, and athleticism. Jim explained the key competencies required under each of these headings, and what they mean for scouts in identifying players and coaches with the responsibility of developing the players further.
He used examples of top players and top managers to highlight what this skill-set might look like and again highlighted the importance of effort and determination for any young player looking to progress through the system at Rangers.
He pointed to the number of academy players who have played in Rangers’ first team, with the majority of these players being recruited between the ages of nine and ten.
He also made reference to the importance of ‘winning’ as part of the Rangers Youth Academy.
Grassroots football supported by the Scottish FA incorporates the Positive Coaching Scotland programme.
This is a philosophy aimed at creating a football culture where young players are developed positively, learn to win through effort and develop skills for life through footballprogrammes.
Jim’s vision of success through effort and a player-centred development programme compliments PCS ideals.
“We want to win,” he said. “We want to win every sprint at training, and every 50/50 tackle. In any competitive sport you should want to win. We might play and lose 5-4, I’m not kicking water-bottles and behaving like an eejit because we don’t win, but I want to try to win, and I want to know my players are trying hard to win.”
Scottish FA South West Regional Manager John Brown said: “One of the most interesting parts of the day was the very different approaches both clubs had to developing players.
“This gave all attendees great opportunities to debate and discuss what they had seen – and possibly even challenge their own ideas on coaching and development.
“The day provided another assurance that there is not only one way of coaching, or one way of developing players, nor is there a ‘magic drill’ or exercise that will revolutionise player development.
starry plough
15:20 on 6 October, 2014
Billy Davies FFS…
I give up…
it was only a suggestion! :) He’s available, he is highly thought of as a coach, he would be someone who could get a team together to win the league, he wouldnt take any boardroom interference, he isnt Owen Coyle, I would expect he is in our price range, what is there not to like! :)
Though what effect getting involved with us would have on him and his family by the hordes I shudder to think!
And I would rather have him that David O@Leary anyday! :)
Robert88: The past is the past, the present is now. What might’ve happened in previous seasons has no meaning or bearing on current performance (or lack thereof). And it would seem the other teams have found some consistency by playing an inconsistent, at best, Celtic. (Even St. Mirren took heart from last week’s effort into a win this weekend …)
owenjohn1888
are you a hun?
There’s that many on hand expert coaches on CQN, – I’m sure RD will be fine.
Looks a lot like Che Guevara
So you were actually serious ?
Looks a lot like Che Guevara
That wasn’t a serious suggestion, it would be like suggesting Alan Curbishley or Ron Atkinson.
turkeybhoy
15:50 on 6 October, 2014
Hamiltontim
14:10 on
6 October, 2014
Turkeybhoy
13:22 on 6 October, 2014
Good post Paul.If anyone seriously thought that RD could come in and change around a club the size of Celtic in a few months they are deluded.He inherited a load of dross.
—————————
The ‘dross’ he inherited won the league by 29 points, had the highest home win (6-0 v Inverness) and the highest away win (5-0 v Motherwell).
The manager has changed a winning team.
That team also lost to Morton,had our lowest ever points total for CL,got pumped out of the SC,and included,Balde,Derk,Pukki,a load of others who have been sent out on loan.
He has been saddled with Tonev,Bergets,Wakuso,Scepovic,none of whom have really shown anything yet.He has a host of 1st team players out injured.
Really surprised you are on the negative side.
——-
Do you think the current team under Ronny will win the league by 29 points?
He’s been ‘saddled’ with players? So you don’t belive he brought in any of the loan players?
I’m not on any side mate I’m just really, really concerned.
You do all know that the SMSM are lapping this all up.