Politics is very much at play in football these days. With Boris Johnson indicating yesterday that he expects up to 10,000 fans inside football stadiums from 17 May, you can expect his Holyrood shadow to propose a similar plan, perhaps a week later/earlier, as has been her way for 11 months.
If the 17 May date feels arbitrary, it is not. Euro 20201 fixtures get underway a month later, offering populist governments a way to compare how far along the recovery road their surviving citizens are. Governments in London and Edinburgh will permit domestic fans to attend games just in time for their flag waving opportunities.
There will be fans at Wembley and Hampden, irrespective of what’s going on in public health, you can bet their lives on it.
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Happy Wednesday eve from a positively spring like Louisville.
Here’s to a day of friendly banter and discussion.
HH!
Sturgeon to blame for everything. Lennon/Board are scapegoats.
what?
COYBIG
I actually completely agree with this. Completely risible leadership all round. A plague on all their houses.
At least we can take comfort from the stellar leadership of our football club.
Well it appears we cant talk about Celtic on Celtic quick news..so lets have another kick at the SNP because there’s really nothing worth talking about at our club
I wouldn’t worry.
We’ll not be at Hampden.
DAVID66 on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:15 PM
NEIL LENNON & MCCARTNEY on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 10:01 AM
DAVID66 on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 9:54 AM
Yeah, moaning about moaning
—————–
NL & M – My attempt at humour, no offence meant apologies.
D :)
Celtic? Well run business, sterling board, committed to fairness and equality. Great management team working in harmony. Nothing to see here Timmy…..Big bad Nicola though…….
One night from previous thread…
You asking me to check the League table???
D :)
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DAVID66 on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:16 PM
Sorry pal, I just assumed it was another one of the clique having a go for my “negativity”.
Trolling sleekits who hate Celtic and despise Celtic Quick News………and the odd tourist.
Might want to pay attention to detail Paul.
Boris misses the Populist vote
The FA Cup Final is on May 15 this year.
What happened to the Holyrood five?
I’m needing the hits but without criticising the board or management. I know, I’ll start another Wee Nippy negative post. That usually does the trick
ONENIGHTINLISBON on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:13 PM
‘Sturgeon to blame for everything. ‘
###
Well that’s certainly Salmond’s view.
And Cherry’s as well, I think, though it’s hard to keep up with it all.
From The Atlantic:
Celtic failed to act and now they’re in freefall. Anger is becoming apathy
By Kieran Devlin – https://theathletic.co.uk/2402850/2021/02/23/celtic-football-soccer/
The biggest danger for those in charge of Celtic is when rage turns into indifference.
When a loss to the bottom-placed team in the league is greeted by a detached shrug, a club know they are in trouble.
Celtic officials can dismiss the anger as a vocal minority on social media if they want, but money talks. Apathy is what leads to season tickets not being renewed and merchandise not being bought. We are fast approaching that point.
Before Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Ross County, Neil Lennon described this season as “not the unmitigated disaster that everyone makes it out to be”. What does he think now?
Lennon has previously described uninspiring narrow wins as “outstanding”. He has explained away dropped points as simply missing a bit of quality in the final third or switching off at a set piece. He may be attempting to protect his job or the players, but the consequence of the Celtic manager’s comments is that standards across the club are lowering.
Despite Lennon’s insistence to the contrary, this season has been an unmitigated disaster. Just look at Celtic’s results and performances in every competition they have played in. It looks likely they’ll be finishing behind Rangers with a points gap not seen since 1999-2000 — or possibly even further back into the bleak quagmire of the 1990s.
The fact this was supposed to be Celtic’s 10-in-a-row season twists a finger into the wound. It is also a disaster for how it has exposed the disconnect between the fanbase and club officials.
The landscape of Scottish football has transformed since Lennon first took charge of the club nearly 11 years ago. The importance of analytics, the acceptance of the 24/7 athlete, philosophically driven tactical projects — these were ideas once limited to the periphery in Scotland. However, they are now foregrounded and respected by most in the industry.
Celtic themselves reaped the benefits of modernisation under Brendan Rodgers. But they are clearly regressing, and not just in their on-field sense of identity. Other department failures include sport science — given the players’ evidently poor fitness — and recruitment — given the nonsensical and expensive signings such as Shane Duffy’s costly loan. This regression is the inverse to other Premiership teams, who are improving as a result of integrating these ideas into their make-up.
There is obviously what Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale are doing with Rangers, but also what David Martindale is doing with Livingston. What Jack Ross is doing with Hibernian. What Jim Goodwin is doing with St Mirren. What Callum Davidson is doing with St Johnstone. What Steve Clarke is doing with the national team.
These are managers with an intellectual curiosity for the modern game. They have built teams with defined Plan As, using players who understand their roles within these systems and emotionally buy into them. They’re tactically flexible in adjusting to the opposition and ever-changing in-game scenarios. They have direction. They have depth. They have purpose.
neil-lennon
Neil Lennon watching his side lost to Ross County (Photo: Jeff Holmes/PA Images via Getty Images)
Celtic still have the most resources of any team in Scotland, by many multiples over every team except Rangers. They also still have in place the infrastructure introduced by Rodgers and Ronny Deila before him — although it seems they are not currently utilised to their full potential.
Worryingly, the talent gap their transfer, wage and infrastructure budget affords them is shrinking. When Celtic drew consecutive games against Livingston last month and were defeated at home to St Mirren, it was striking that the opposition were not only better-organised than Celtic, but also matching them for quality in and out of possession. Those sides were the equals of players on 10-times their salary because their individual talent was maximised by solid coaching on the training ground. Their collective level improved thanks to intelligent game preparation and in-game management.
The concept that “best players = best team in the league” to which the club seem to adhere is antiquated. It reeks of complacency, even arrogance, in an environment where the importance of marginal gains is increasingly recognised.
Big clubs do not rest on their laurels or point to past glories as the current season crumbles. They do not accept mediocrity. Bayern Munich sacked Niko Kovac when they were only four points behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach in last season’s Bundesliga, a few months after he had won the league and cup double. Damning results and, more importantly, performances suggested their domestic dominance was under threat, so they acted swiftly to address the issue. Under new man Hansi Flick, they won the title by 13 points and lifted the Champions League trophy.
Juventus sacked Maurizio Sarri after one season despite winning the league because they were embarrassed in Europe by Lyon and defeated in the Coppa Italia final by Napoli, but also because performances were not of the standard expected. Chelsea sacked club legend Frank Lampard this season despite him finishing fourth in the previous campaign.
These sackings might seem harsh, and there’s no guarantee that change will prove the better option. Although Bayern have achieved immense success under Flick, and Thomas Tuchel is working out well for Chelsea so far, Juventus are struggling under Andrea Pirlo and have little chance of winning their 10th league title in a row. But sanctioning these decisions is how big clubs behave in order to remain big clubs. It is the opposite of the complacent arrogance that Celtic have displayed this season.
Celtic have not behaved like a big club this season. Not only have they allowed mediocrity to seep in, they’ve actively enabled it with excuses around COVID-19 outbreaks and wantaway players, as well as constant allusions to prior success as if that has any bearing on the ongoing situation. It is much harder to dispel mediocrity than to permit it.
This season was effectively over by the close of the November international break. The opportunity to salvage it lay in taking action in the 34-day window between the limp 2-0 defeat to Rangers in October and the tepid 2-2 draw at Easter Road in November. That option wasn’t taken, and Celtic continued their freefall as a consequence.
Continued inaction for the rest of the season makes progress in Europe and a sustained title challenge next season increasingly difficult. The lower standards fall at the club, the harder it is to course-correct the decline.
Chairman Ian Bankier wrote in his statement to fans last week: “All decisions we take will be taken calmly and rationally. We will not make hasty decisions that we might regret.”
But that decision was already made in the autumn. What’s happening now is a formality, the self-destructive delaying of the inevitable. The scale of that self-destruction, and the apathy it generates, is snowballing.
Paul 67,
I think we need to look and address glaring problems closer to home.
HH.
HOT SMOKED and DAVID66 previous article – thanks for the info’ re Madhun and the SFA. Would like to think “unbelievable” but that would be silly, verging on the stupid.
A few of us on here get a wee dig in about too much political stuff posted,maybe we are the wrong ones..
……
10,000 will that be our season tickets sales for next season , if you know who is still in charge
Who would win in a fight between the wantaways and the stayedtoolongs?
Seems Celtic didn’t beat a top half team from 27th September, till 10th February, 5 months……..that wee pesky Nicola……
James forest
How very adult of you
It really doesn’t help when our dear leader doesn’t like football or alcohol.
Quite funny though:-
Paul 67 deflects our problems onto NS.
NS deflects her problems onto Celtic.
HH.
I know that no-one will care less one way or the other but puerile and inaccurate comments as in this editorial are why I now visit CQN maybe once a month rather that 4 or 5 times per day when CQN was lively and relevant. It is a football blog, not Politics for Eejits.
Tim Green,
Thanks for posting that. Sobering summary. It appears that the very basics of running a football team in 2021 is alien to our mangement team and we are now being schooled constantly by a series of managers, recent being John Hughes, who appear to use evidence at their disposal to get the best of their limited talents oin the field.
Build a “decent” European team and the league will take care of itself. Build a professional system and the fat and unfit will leave. Interesting few months ahead. I’m hopeful for a new start in 21/22. You gotta always look forward…
HH
timgreen
Thanks for that, it’s a well thought out piece.
For me, too many people connected with the club are only interested
in comparing us to our enemies from Govan – the world is a much
bigger place than that.
Also factor in Neil Lennon’s complaining about the timing of the game
on Sunday. He gave the players an excuse to perform badly and several
of them grabbed it with both hands.
Think what you want privately but moaning is never productive.
TIMGREEN on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:31 PM
YES
What a poor article. 2 days ago Celtic were beaten by Ross County, we’ve just received the news that Julien & Forrest will be out longer than anticipated & our much discredited CEO is retiring at the end of a disastrous season in which we’ve seen some of the most abysmal results of the last 20 years. Oh and the rumours are that we’re going to lose one of the most highly rated youngsters in European football in a few months
Tim Green,
Is it not a political decision that is stopping us going to games.? And having to take 6 buses to Dingwall. ?
Football is governed by politics exactly the way our lives are currently governed by politicians.
HH.
C’est la vie.
JAMES FORREST on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:29 PM
Do you always have to be so abusive,if opinion is contrary to your own.
Eleven players have played at full back under Neil Lennon.
Cluj CSC
BSR…”Who would win in a fight between the wantaways and the stayedtoolongs?”
I don’t know but there certainly would be a rank full of taxis waiting to take them to the airport…
How many buses do Ross County use,when they come to CP?
https://twitter.com/hamishcarton/status/1363616393984430082?s=08
Good to see the Club sticking to their guns,re banning Sky…….embarrassing…..
BIG WAVY on 23RD FEBRUARY 2021 12:41 PM
Totally with you on your optimistic ambitions but it needs a complete change in mindset throughout the Club to move away from the “Celtic-minded” recruitment obsession towards a recognition of the extent and pace of change in football. And, as Markiebhoy says, we need to drop the Govan mob as our main benchmark and focus on Europe. Gear up to be a mid-level Euro challenger and our wee back yard will take care of itself.