I’m hoping suggestions Stefan Scepovic and Kris Commons are struggling for fitness for Thursday is a classic attempt at European football disinformation.
Back in July I wrote about Commons “dependence on one creative talent feels like an unnecessary vulnerability”. We remain (unnecessarily) dependent on our only creative talent, as subsequent games without him have established. If he’s not in the starting line-up, we’ll need a radical change of system.
Bringing a second creative talent to the club should be a priority. On this subject, I hear Bosnian fulcrum, Semir Stilic, who we were reportedly interested in a few years ago, before he detoured for a indifferent spell in Turkey, is now back in Poland with Wisla Krakow and eclipsing his earlier form for Lech Poznan. We could do worse.
Shocked and stunned at the news Rangers International’s nomad, Daniel Stewart Securities PLC, have had trading in their shares suspended by the Stock Exchange as they were unable to file their accounts to year-end 31 March 2014 on time. The Ibrox club’s board will be incredulous that the diligence they carried out to ensure they were dealing with an advisor of standing overlooked some fundamentals.
Four days out from the Great Scottish Run, which I’m doing for the Foundation’s work for Health, Equality, Learning and Poverty. This is our Foundation, established and run by Celtic fans for 19 years. It’s an important part of the story of where our club came from and what’s important to our mission. Any donations here, from £1 up, are welcome.
Thanks to everyone who has helped.
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big wavy
You are probably spot on.
I am just a supporter making an observation.
I want Ronny to be a success. I want every Celtic manager to be a success. Ronny is straight talking. I like that.
WGS used to say it’s not about systems or formations it’s about players.
Let’s see how they react tonight.
LB
Livibhoy
The next window could be fun!!
Philbhoy
Who would buy unfit players who will not do what they are told but want to earn £10k+ a week?
LB
Livibhoy
Cheers fella and it wasn’t a criticism of you either. That’s what the blog is for and whilst I am convinced you are probably Leigh Griffiths none of us have the crystal ball to see how this one pans out.
Winning all four tournaments in season 1 would be a giggle though :)
Livibhoy
We do it seems, however, help is at hand!!!
I said earlier in the season it is the managers way or no way…
The players need to shape up or shape out..
We bemoaned our lack of fitness in last night years cl group.
If eating chips and drinking to three in the morning won us the league by a country mile last season then we should expect to at least equal that achievement under the new improved regime, right?
big wavy
Hahahaha.
I was Peter Lawwell a few months ago.
I tell you what look at Leigh Griffiths on Youtube and look at our other strikers and decide how good Leigh can be at scoring goals. If he was foreign people would be raving about him. The Bhoy scores goals.
LB
Syd
We had no opposition last season AND we were worse than dreadful in Europe.
How did we get on in the League and Scottish cups?
We were on the slide last season but Neilly thought winning the league was all he had to do.
It was time for change and I wish him well for the future.
Healthy lifestyle and high fitness levels.
And absolute minimum for any celtic player ffs!.
Livibhoy
I agree about Griffiths.
The signing of 2 strikers and his non appearance in the team makes me think, and I could be wrong, that he is not doing what Ronny wants them all to do.
Could be wrong.
Livibhoy
I’ve heard Leigh Griffiths speak. I thought he was foreign :)
Seriously though, good player but I would imagine not great at the maturity stakes, which equally maketh the man.
Tom Molach, Prestonpans Bhiys,
Thanks.
Having read the interviews with Ronny I have to say I like what he is saying.
I cant defend his record, but as he says himself, if you dont make mistakes how do you learn, if you arent learning how do you improve?
I can say he has a plan(not seeing the results of that on the pitch yet), but he certainly seems to know the direction he is heading in and where he wants to go.
Bit of a bumpy road to start with admittedly.
philvisreturns
There’s a lot of truth in what you say. Normally, as others have already pointed out, the most successful change happens gradually. For whatever reason, Ronny has tried to implement change more quickly. Maybe he has been unwise or feels that the prevailing circumstances at the Club necessitate that he acts more quickly. If we are to compete at a European level at CL group stages and beyond on a more regular basis then I wholeheartedly support what Ronny is trying to achieve and I hope he gets the time to do it.
Where he needs to be more persuasive is with team selection and tactics. I would like to see players played in their proper position and a more cautious attitude away from home in Europe especially when we are in a good position – leading or drawing – with not a lot of time left on the clock. Ronny’s in charge of the team. The players need to give him 100% support for the sake of the club and the fans while that remains the case. There is also a principle at stake here. John Collins left Hibs because he was trying to introduce the same type of measures and to make the players more professional. We know that they turned against him and went crawling behind his back to Rod Petrie. The same thing may, or may not, be happening to Ronny at Celtic. Professional footballers are cosseted from the realities of everyday life and are pampered beyond belief. They get away with things for which fans in normal working life would suffer instant dismissal. This situation needs to change. For far too long has the tail been wagging the dog. We cannot have a situation where lazy, stroppy players win every time a manager tries to introduce them to the realities of modern life for top sportsmen.
I totally agree with you about players not always being the brightest or least impulsive of human beings which is all the more reason why they cannot be left to dictate how they will behave to the manager. The future of Celtic depends on the manager being allowed to manage.
Philbhoy
I don’t think we were on the slide in the SPFL as we had a really strong finish and played some good stuff. This season we have no Hibs or Hearts to contend with and, logically, we should be able to at least equal last season’s position. So far, we appear to be underachieving.
Europe is another matter but don’t forget the company we had in that group last year.
Doc
We are possibly in a position tonight though where we need to ask Leigh to play and score.
You aren;t fit son. You don;t live right but gonnae go out and bang the goals in for us.
LB
What manager said “they drink together and win together”. Words to that affect.
Agree players should be as fit as possible.
livibhoy – Aye.
I suspect Ronny being relatively young and relatively inexperienced is a factor here.
I think Gordon Strachan had a lot of similar ideas and faced similar challenges to Ronny, but Gordon had decades of experience in the top tiers of Scottish and English football to draw on.
He had a better handle on how to deal with “personalities”.
I also believe that, in some ways, we regressed under Neil Lennon. Seems the drinking culture WGS had tried to stamp out made a comeback, and that ultimately cost Alan Thompson his job.
Neil got results though.
Ronny strikes me as an intelligent man. I don’t expect him to keep doing the same things and expecting different results. (thumbsup)
Philboy,WOW you are getting steamed right in this morning I’m agreeing with almost everything you are saying and enjoying it also,waist any smaller yet? ;-)
Just about to leave LLG to head back home for a little bit more work in the afternoon then out early for a bite to eat and the game. #Excited!!
Oh and on the “male” Nurse debate, some of the best practioners of the noble art of nursing are men.
They prefer to be called nurses rather than “male” nurses though.
The male part being pretty self evident.
Believe me, I am in the perfect position to know.
Having been one for several years, I’m quite well qualified to opine.
BT, have you had yer bedbath yet?
:-)
SexualsterotypingCSC:-)
Livibhoy
No he’s not. If he was comparing our players to amateurs he would say something like: “The players here have an amateur approach”.
He doesn’t. He says the Champions League represents the highest standard. If we want to compete with them, we first have to behave like them. That’s first base. If you don’t understand that, you’re as well playing amateur football.
Ronny is apt to use contrast to get his point across. He said previously, for example, that if he is fired for trying to make the players into top class athletes, that’s not a problem for him. It’s a problem for Celtic. And he’s right. Great use of contrast too.
The issue many of us have is that while Ronny appears to concentrate on athletic performance and lifestyle, there isn’t a great deal of evidence yet that indicates he’s got a similarly robust plan for the football.
But while many roads lead to Rome, the city wasn’t built in a day. Or a season for that matter. We do though like to see progress.
Found the quote on Google. Was Richard gough who said” drink together win together” when asked about Huns 9 in a row.
Get changing Ronny we know the outcome of that mob. Run you lazy bleep.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy
Any players going behind the managers back to Peter Lawwell or anyone else should be fined and transfer listed.
Hibs got it wildly wrong with Collins.
JC got things wrong too. His shock methods and running about at training with his top off didn’t get the players motivated but he made an under achieving club winners and won a final 5-1. This is Hibs we are talking about. I spoke to my Hibs mate about it yesterday. He blames our stuttering start on JC and says trouble follows him. He said JC was a failure at Hibs and would not make the top 5 Hibs bosses in his lifetime. He is mid 30’s! He has seen Hibs win one trophy in the flesh in his life and JC won it. That is one of the reasons Hibs are a failure as a club. Their fans are deluded when it comes to managers. They want flowing football and will sacrifice winning trophies to have it. They also then like to booze with the players. Not surprising that so many ex players have pubs around Easter Road.
Ronny is the man at Celtic Park though and JC as coach is a good fit I reckon. They are certainly on the same page with their thinking and methods.
I’m hoping for a good reactioon tonight.
LB
Football has moved on.
Players are finely tuned athletes and are going to miss out for a slight twinge.
In the lions era not playing not paid. There lies another difference.
As Jessie j says it’s all about the money…
timmy7_noted
Don’t know about waist but lost a pound yesterday!
Woohoo!
LiviBhoy,
Griiffiths has a choice to make.
Take what his boss has said on board, learn and develop himself professionally, or leave the biggest club he’ll ever olat for.
His choice.
Deila…naw sorry not for me, when Berget got off the plane , knew none of the players, had hardly played the previous season and was started in Warsaw,well that was beyond me…he talks a great game but his record is really poor., If he wasnt coming out with all this talk about athletes and profesionalism and was being judged purely on performances and results…well i think more people would be unhappy.
The Battered Bunnet
Fair points. Do the players have your intellect or will they read it differently?
LB
Doc
I agree but are current first team players living a similar lifestyle to LG? That is where a problem could arise.
LB
Philbhoy,sadly I probably found it :-)
Right off back to raintown enjoy yourselves tonight lhads.
LiviBhoy, my point stands for every single one of them. They will be better players for it.
The fittest hardest working teams are often the best and most successful.
Barcelona, when I have seen them live have an incredible work ethic, all of them, including the superstars.
That is what we should be trying to emulate, in terms of fitness and work ethic at the very least.
Livibhoy
They have neither my intellect not my athleticism.
Thank heavens :¬)
Doc
How long did it take them to get to those levels?
They can also go out and buy players for £10m+ and discard players for next to nothing if they need to.
Our club strategy is different to Barcelona. They build teams to win things. We build teams to sell players.
LB
Goooooooooooooooooooooood afternoon
Bhoys & Girls
Just under 8hr till K.O.
Lots going on in the leftclick household so cant wait to get to the game.
Lucky fiba socks (drying on line) Check
My old fav Efe to score anytime in 90 mins( I know I know) : check
Let the people sing : check
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&feature=related&v=zhkdy0AOpaM
Looks like dawkins/darwin, the angriest dog in the world. (thumbsup)
livibhoy
Agree with you. I think John Collins and Ronny will prevail in the battle to change the philosophy at the club. It was an embarrassment to hear Tony Watt and Bahrudin Atajic’s’ coaches during last season’s loan spells criticise both players’ lack of fitness.
Hibs are a car crash of a club. I wish Alan Stubbs well and hope he has success with them but there is something seriously flawed with a club that has a decent sized support but continues to perform so poorly season on season.vas you say John Collins not rated by them but gives them their only trophy in decades.
Language caberfeigh