After collecting one point from their previous five games, Livingston fans can scarcely believe the result and performance their side recorded against Celtic yesterday. A goal from a breakaway on 25 minutes was enough to shatter Celtic’s early fluency. For all the flattery achieved by pounding opponents at Celtic Park, there is a fragility about Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Andrew Shinnie nipped in front of Stephen Welsh before thrashing a shot high into the net. The central defender should have done better but it was an excellent finish from Shinnie. The move started when Celtic were exposed on the right as Livingston won possession in the middle of the field.
The way we setup, we are going to concede chances and goals on the counter; going behind should not have had the consequences that followed. Instead of provoking a clinical reaction, Celtic’s early assured touch deserted them.
James McCarthy started his first game since May and is clearly well off pace. Mikey Johnston came on for his first appearance of any sort since May, he also needs time before we can expect anything like his best.
While central mid took much of the focus, our wing play was no better. Jota was significantly less effective against Livingston than against Betis on Thursday, and Liel Abada’s devastating runs into the box just didn’t happen. The only real pass mark was for Joe Hart, who made an instinctive save that prevented the home side doubling their lead.
We won on nine consecutive visits to Livingston between 2001 and 2007 before an 11-year gap until the next visit. Since returning to the West Lothian venue in 2018, we have played five, drawn three and lost twice. I am not fond of blaming the pitch; we have ample access to artificial pitches to practice on. Be ready next time.
So what now for our league challenge? News from Ibrox that Motherwell took a point to limit the damage of the afternoon was a merciful relief. A four-point gap is bad enough but six points would feel daunting. We are still in the race largely due to the fact that our only genuine opponents are well below the form they enjoyed in the two previous seasons. Whoever sorts out their form first will win the title.
Lots to consider, Ange.
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Honeymoon Over !
Well and truly over.
Especially with that away record.
BIG JIMMY on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:08 PM
I received an email a few minutes ago claiming to be from the ” NHS”, and it looked genuine enough asking me to Accept or Decline an ” Invitation” to a Covid Passport.
I clicked on Accept, and provided my name and home details, and my mothers maiden name and my mobile number.
This then led me to the next page which was asking ME to provide ALL my Bank Details.
I declined to do so.
At that point, I then also clicked on to DECLINE the Passport Invitation…
I can only assume that it was/is a SCAM ?
Does anyone know ?
Cheers.
HH.
Bad day when our keeper is our best player against Livingston.
God help us!
Paul 67 et al,
I am on the journey with AP. For better or worse.
I am acutely aware the manager carries the can Ange will know that too.
However maybe prudent to mention at this early stage that I am pretty sure the fans will not tolerate replacing our manager when the Strachans and Kennedys remain.
Hopefully this ” warning” will not be needed.
HH.
Paul
For all the flattery achieved by pounding opponents at Celtic Park, there is a fragility about Ange Postecoglou’s side.
———
Mentally weak squad individually and collectively.
Sergeant Major Hart is going to have to earn his stripes among this shower of punts, showponies, crocks and hasbeens.
BIG JIMMY on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:09 PM
Scam.
https://www.tsscot.co.uk/covid-passport-scams/
https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1439868090553143298/photo/1
Ange should have made it clear that he wanted new coaches.
If he hasn’t then he’ll soon get what he deserves.
On the other hand, if he has asked for new coaches and not been given them then he won’t be here for long.
Either way wee suffer.
After last seasons turgid football, thumping home wins against St Mirren and Dundee had us all in high hopes for the season.
Strip everything away and we’re left with one singular laudable achievement – knocking AZ out.
That’s it.
Ange needs to step up because his fine words aren’t being matched with results.
I think ‘form’ is the outcome we are looking for Paul67 but it’s the inputs that are killing us…
Ange’s purist approach with the wrong set of players, some of whom (like McCarthy) are just ill-suited to what he wants. Will they adapt quickly or will Ange, until the right mix of player arrives ? If he keeps getting people foisted on him to make up the much-needed numbers (like a Scales, Shaw and Uroghide) then we are in trouble and can expect more of the same.
We’re just going round in an endless loop at the moment and not sure it will end well for the affable Aussie.
HH
GREENPINATA on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:12 PM
The fans have bought their season books.
What they gonna do?
Hold up a banner?
Big Jimmy
Has scam written all over it and even giving out address , telephone number and mother’s maiden name would be ill-advised.
BIG JIMMY
It’s a scam.
Any uninvited mail in any form that asks for your bank details is a scam.
To be fair, this has happened to me too.
You type ‘effluence’ and it auto corrects as ‘fluency’
Another away defeat and no goals scored.
We’ve only had 200 + days since Neil left. (I’m scared to work out how long since Brendan left) Fans need to be patient. Pay up and be patient.
Unfortunately I see some of the old failings still happening . Back passing , sideways passing . We should have had that game over by halftime . Had we been playing yet we would not have scored . Livingstone were getting stuck into us , something we don’t do to other teams , again I can see a light non combative outfit . Now I’m not on the training ground but we signed two boys from Sheffield Wednesday who came with the reputation of being able to mix it and with skill attached . None of them near the team at present . The big Irish boy scales can definitely mix it and has skill a plenty , I’m not saying I know more than the coaching staff but we signed these lads knowing of there abilities maybe a bit of faith in them and get them ready for action soon . I don’t know what has happened to David Turnbull But the lad is off the boil , and dare I say it t I don’t think he has it in him for the rough and tumble games , as is Tom rogic although he wasn’t the worst offender yesterday , unfortunately jota looks the same , clever player but is always looking for the tackle coming in . A pick up in performance is badly needed , we can’t afford many more slip ups . Ange has taken responsibility he seems to take it too often for my liking , and I’m not sure he knows his best team by a long shot . Finally was sorry to read that he hasn’t been responsible for a couple of our signings , if that’s true then I’m afraid interference is again a problem to our managers , and blows out the water that ange takes no s@@t from anyone . But all just my view of things . HH
VALE BHOY
If he has / if he hasn’t.
Thems the facts then.
I’m neither looking for a ledge nor building gallows for the man in charge. Not even close in this hoose.
It’s looking like Ange does not have ‘the Tuchel touch’ I’d hoped he would bring and, as he says, the buck stops with him. He says he’s hands-on with everything; training, team selection, strategy and transfers etc.
I really felt the international break would give him to space to recharge and get us fired up.
Like Brendan and Lenny’s teams before this one, we weren’t bad, but we were blunted by a deep set defence.
I wish I knew more than what Ange, Brendan and Lenny did about thumping the Livvys and Killies of this world.
Paul, as for the statement ‘Be ready next time’, surely, surely that’s been the lesson learned after every game where we dominate possession yet fanny-ann around without an idea of how to bludgeon our way through these 2nd rate barriers?? Didn’t John and Gav brief him on what we’d surely encounter?
Still believing Ange.
GREENPINATA on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:12 PM
The fans have bought their season books.
What they gonna do?
Hold up a banner?
——————–
Possibly, and what a good idea.
Use the example of Leigh Griffiths. When the fans vocally turned against him at Parkhead the die was cast.
Bear in mind, LG split the Celtic support. Vocal unhappiness with GS and JK would be almost unanimous.
How do you think the sponsors would like that ?
HH.
I’ll be very honest. If we drop points against Aberdeen then I’ll have reached the end of the road with Ange. There’s only so much polishing a person can do before you have to admit what you’re holding isn’t a bar of gold.
GREENPINATA on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:26 PM
The sponsors would be grateful for any additional publicity that might arise.
The idea that this board can be influenced by anything the fans do short of them refusing to buy season books is utterly delusional.
It is what it is.
‘Ange here or Ange there’ is merely a smokescreen surely…
He should have been offered the ability to acquire players that met his system. It was the breaking point for Rodgers and Neil alluded to the fact that players should have been moved on as they wanted a new challenge.
Until we have a club that prioritises the football side of things over and above egos in suits or a concern that too much ambition ends the secret ‘OF’ pact that must be sold as a package, then we’ll continue to stumble along aimlessly. Ange is merely a symptom of it.
HH
A weak team physically and mentally that will shine occasionally, but will win hee haw.
The huns are bang average, but will stroll it. Points differential will reduce, but only because they will secure fewer points in a more competitive league.
Wouldn’t altogether surprise me if Hibs finish ahead of us this season.
The club’s at or close to its nadir in this cycle. I expect us to improve in the coming years, but this season will be poor fare. Huns will bag the £40M and probably dominate the next 3-4 years. The leadership of the club is a joke.
Was similarly pessimistic last season and for all the white noise from the happy clappers was proven right. Fully expect the same baseless optimism from them this time around. 💤
Kennedy & Strachan are still here with Ange’s approval. If his terms were that he bring in his own backroom team, then either they’d be there, or Ange wouldn’t, simple as that.
Now…. to blame Strachan & Kennedy, is like blaming the bass-player & the drummer because the vocalist is singing out of tune.
Yesterday was the first game where we didn’t show up on the front foot, my take is that Ange took responsibility for that but maybe assumed the players were ready to rock especially after our performance against Betis. We may get beaten again but I’ll bet we won’t be as lacklustre, insipid & lacking intensity again because he won’t accept that.
We’ll have our attitude correct for thursday against RR, Sunday against DU & will compete & perform against Leverkusen. Come a week on Sunday the panic merchants led by the Hun media will be panicking beforehand again.
HH ☘️
JHB,
Nothing is as simple as that at Parkhead. We just don’t know. The same as we don’t know the reason a much vaulted and headhunted CEO only lasted 72 days.
What we do know is that GS and JK are part of our management team and should share collective responsibility.
HH.
Without Kyogo upfront we are very static and do not have the players to create space for others and move the way he does, we are really missing him. If that makes us a one-man team then so be it until we maybe get the same quality from the same league in the winter transfer window. Ajeti is nowhere near the same class as our “Japanese Bhoy” and it shows. Hurry home Kyogo! por cierto
GREENPINATA on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:43 PM
“What we do know is that GS and JK are part of our management team and should share collective responsibility.”
I agree, but In that vein, they also share the responsibility for getting us into the EL group stage putting out a very good team in doing so, and, also they share the drubbings of St.Mirren and Dundee. It is very early days in this league campaign and once we have our strongest team on the park game after game and the results are not forthcoming then I’ll start to think this is not working, but we are nowhere near that yet, por cierto.
JHB on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:38 PM
Kennedy & Strachan are still here with Ange’s approval. If his terms were that he bring in his own backroom team, then either they’d be there, or Ange wouldn’t, simple as that.
###
Or maybe he knew he was in no position to bargain, took what he was offered and was grateful for it.
Seems more likely.
ERNIE LYNCH on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:16 PM
GREENPINATA on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2021 12:12 PM
The fans have bought their season books.
What they gonna do?
Hold up a banner?
——
https://image-cdn.neatoshop.com/styleimg/54486/none/kiwigreen/default/338154-20;1483718675v.jpg
having stated, out loud, in person, that he consistently works with the existing staff that are in place to assess their capabilities, at several jobs he has been in, and that he has no preferred backroom staff of his own, why are some casting doubt on Ange for taking the job as is ?
BACKROOM STAFF:
ROSS ALOISI is currently the assistant coach at Adelaide United.
““I know Ange reasonably well and have kept in contact with him over the years as well. But I think my focus is the task in hand and that’s a game against Sydney FC at the weekend.
Everyone wants to work with Ange. I spent a bit of time with him up in Brisbane when he first started coaching the Brisbane Roar, the first season that they won the championship.
Look, everyone wants to go to Europe and coach, but the reality is that there are obstacles that you have to cross and it’s not my main focus at the moment. Like I said, I would love, like everyone else, to go to Europe and coach, but we have a big game coming up and we want to give it our best shot.”
Looks like we may have to wait, again, till the J League finishes before anything happens on that front, por cierto.
BTW, is that ‘fragile Celtic crack’ as good as the devil’s dandruff or purple-cap varietals?
#boomerhoomer
JUSTSAYNOCSC
When a club ‘hits the skids’ after a hitherto successful period, it never bounces straight back. Look at the likes of Liverpool ( 20+ years without a title win), Leeds ( historically), Man Utd (recently) and us -fifteen titles from 1965 to 1988, then none till 1998.
Now I know this is ‘two-horse’ Scotland, but a barren period of 2,3,4 years could happen. If “they” win it this season and get CL money, things won’t get easier.
” If “they” win it this season and get CL money, things won’t get easier.”
Hearts and Hibs are 1 point behind the league leaders and they haven’t played either of them yet, Motherwell went away to the team they are 2 points behind and got a draw, more than we did. CL money is there for everyone to take advantage of, so far this season it’s wide open to who may benefit from it.
Fair enough summary Paul.
Agree with others that, crazy schedule permitting (and now transfer window out of the way), it is about time Ange brings in a new coach of his choosing.
Even if it’s just another stony faced hard ass to hourly/daily/weekly set expectations and standards as we progress through the bumpy times.
Tough job in full glare. Absolutely no hiding place.
Squad and individuals still not fully ready for the challenge.
(Yes – we all get that shouldn’t be the case.But not Ange’s fault)
Hard yards ahead.
I get the sense the majority of fans will stick with Ange.
Some will chuck it if we lose to Aberdeen.
Perhaps it’s just as well these types of supporters weren’t prominent between 1927 and 1965.
During that 38 year period (half a lifetime!) we won just 3 titles.
Hail hail
Know your history
Acquire and then keep the faith
thats the spirit.
Where’s the Celtic rollercoaster?
Celtic away in 2021.
Livi 0-1 ❌
Betis 3-4❌
Huns 0-1❌
AZ 1-2❌
Jablonec 4-2✅
Hearts 1-2❌
Midtjylland 1-2❌
—
Hibs 0-0❌
Huns 1-4❌
Aberdeen 1-1❌
Huns 0-2❌
Dundee U 0-0❌
Ross C 0-1❌
St J 2-1✅
St M 4-0✅
Killie 4-0✅
Livi 2-2❌
Huns 0-1❌
When Neil Lennon could no longer be used as a human shield to fend off total collapse of a club they reluctantly gave us Kennedy, he’s still there now aiding and abetting the man from nowhere, who couldn’t beat Almondvale which really is a car park with a few shopping trollies. Jailbird FC couldn’t believe their luck, but we never win in the Spaghettihad, all the more reason that AP should have had a side prepared to do just that, on Sunday. A good manager would have did his homework weeks ago, and please stop this nonsense of wingback/fullbacks its killing the club. Picking Bolingoli was akin to throwing petrol on an open fire after what Celtic supporters have gone through praying for a left back.
£20M ? -peanuts to the EPL, but an awful lot of money spent by Celtic standards and with the absence of Kyogo Celtic look bereft, but most of all suddenly managerless.
Backed to the hilt by the Celtic fans he’s just fallen out of the bed with a resounding big fat crash on his honeymoon that never really got off the ground. So far he’s held up his hands up to his mistakes, the problem is they are a never ending daisy chain. The Dom McKay mystery doesn’t go away it just deepened and all of Celtic’s signings went backwards in a three sided full stadium Celtic support, with the rest on hesgoal. The ‘smart’ money was on Rainjurz we’re told when Eddie Howe baulked, the dark nights are in, we don’t even resemble a team we’ve got millions of wingers again but they couldn’t find a bye line with a sat nav.
Gone by Christmas and take the board with you CSC