There are frustrations for what could have been. Leipzig did not have us under great pressure at any time in the game, but concentration dropped for three minutes, which settled the outcome.
I initially blamed Dedryck for the opening goal, but on second viewing, the incident was more nuanced. Eboue Kouassi almost got a touch on the ball, meaning Dedryck waited on the second ball instead of attacking the cross. Eboue himself only reacted when the Leipzig attacker nearest the right wing failed to get a touch on the ball.
Cristian Gamboa went to ground and didn’t get near the ball for the cross leading to the second goal. Unforgiveable, but we are parachuting a player into a high level of football when his annual game time is measured in dozens of minutes.
Despite defeats in Germany and Austria, Celtic are not out of contention. Leipzig are nowhere near as good as Salzburg. We have beaten better teams than them at a packed Celtic Park. Get a win next time out, or even a draw, and the remaining fixtures favour us.
By the time we go to Trondheim, Rosenborg will be out of the tournament. Salzburg end the group at Celtic Park, when they will have already have top spot confirmed, and want to avoid injuries, suspensions and hopefully be keen to give experience to squad players.
I have spoken highly of Jozo for years, but the sight of him leaving the field on a stretcher after going down holding his ankle confirmed any remaining doubt about how appropriate his physical frame is for competitive sport.
Was Brendan resting players with an eye on Sunday? It looks like it. Mikael made an appearance from the bench, while Filip Benkovic was also fit enough for the bench. If these two only have one game in them this week, the semi-final at Murrayfield is the wise choice.
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RUGGYMAN
Good post.
Token Tim
You can be my defence coach anytime…..
TopGunCSC
If Brendan got the players he wanted during the summer, do you think we would have lost the last 2 European games?
If yes then its Brendans fault.
If no then its the Boards fault.
Managementmadesimple.com
Or do we also factor in injured players, huffy players, out of form players and are we to include in our analysis stupid mistakes by individuals also.
Managementmadeaweebitharder.com
H.H
Tradionalist88 and Token Tim
Agree on all points.
Interestingly, the great Barca side of the last 10 years. Although flooded with players who have a trick and can do something different, I was always amazed how little time they gave our players on the ball.
They might be geniuses with ball at their feet. But their midfielders and forwards also knew how to put opponents under pressure.
People will revert to the size of Barca and the level of player they can afford. But surely the principal is the same. How difficult is it really to coach midfielders and forwards to put a shift in, when not in possession of the football ??
Martin Oneills would have used this present lot for his reserve team.
FAN-A-TIC on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 1:52 PM
Lowlights of last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL9lDhmLzmE
A perfect example of your point at 3.21 min of this clip. We were v lucky not to concede another goal from this.
Ruggyman and Tradionalist88,
I agree with both of you, as Ruggyman especially may have noticed from my last post.
Too many sand-dancers around. I’m sure both of you, like me, played with and against several of them.
Great to have on your side when things are going well, but when the going got tough, they disappeared.
The thing about each and everyone of those players you listed Trad, is that whilst they were all great players with skills and “fancy stuff” in abundance, they all, to a man, were hardy bassas! Real substance as well as fantastic ability. But they are few and far between. That’s why they stood out from the rest.
I love nothing more than seeing a player take on his opponent and leave him having to pay to get back in, but I also love to see a player sliding in and rattling the very teeth of his opponent, after having won the ball clean as you like.
I also agree that coaching these days appears to be stifling the natural ability out of manys a young player. There seems to be a conformity now to a player playing in a certain “box” and not straying from that area.
play the position and thats it. Sad really.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Ruggygman
It’s not hard. It’s a state of mind. An attitude that’s adopted or not adopted. The inner voice that tells you to bust a gut to close them down….tired or not. Or a voice on the touchline or a half time that you’re too scared to let down.
Barca were brilliant exponents of this humble, yet noble, industry.
So too was some Bhoy called Larsson. Team player first, global superstar a distant second.
HH jg
Glasstwothirdsfull
I hear you.
Modern day footballer’s / defenders are being coached first and foremost to try and be footballers. Get the ball down make passes etc. The very essence of defending is being lost. It is almost a dying bread / art.
I was pleased to hear Jose comment and draw attention to the quality of Bonnucci the other night. Both he and Chiallini are a dying bread. That mentality of “thou shall not get passed” .. Proper old school. Guard their goal as if their lives depend on it.
DILLAGAFBHOY
We would be less vulnerable if we pressed and played higher up the field.
Difficult to do if you don’t pass in a forward direction.
Any hoo I wasn’t overly confident going into last nights game as it wasn’t the first time I’ve watched US in Europe.
Looked to me like an OK start from us, but the concentration levels dropped and before you could shout wake up ya tube we were 2 down and at that point also out, as I said not my first time watching us in Europe.
It became bloody obvious that we didn’t want to push forward and risk losing a 3rd, now I ain’t really a gambler myself and when back in the day I used to put a coupon on my golden rule was never ever back against Celtic ( thats maybe why I’m skint),however low and behold somehow we managed to get a corner in the second half, now by this time me and wee shades both knew that the game was over, so to add a bit of spice to the game I bet him ten bob that RBL would score from our corner, bandits cost me ten bob anaw.
??????
last night’s game should not be taken in isolation.
For all Rodgers’ success in the domestic scene, he has proved unable to step up in Europe.
This is similar to his record at Liverpool.
The logical conclusion is that he doesn’t know how to set a team up for Europe, or his football philosophy does not lend itself to competing at that level.
There also seems to be something wrong throughout the football department at the club.
Questions over the qualities of players signed, the amount of squad players signed and the mentality and character of many of them. Also the training methods that appear to cause more injuries than actual game time.
Lennoxtown is cluttered with players who don’t fit in and who are happy to see out their lucrative, to them, contracts.
To watch Celtic teams repeatedly clueless on foreign soil, repeating the same errors, game in, game out, points the finger in one direction.
There is a school of thought that says that you can only repeat the same message for so long, before the recipients of that message switch off.
In other words, they get fed up listening to the same voice.
It could be the band needs a new lead vocalist.
ruggygman on 26th October 2018 1:59 pm
True – for a team with so many internationals, we are very naive at times away from home in Europe.
If there is a mistake to be made, you can be sure we’ll probably make it. And find a few new ways to make mistakes while we’re at it.
Gamboa diving in last night summed it up, then he got on his feet and just gave up the chase as if the ball was already in the net.
If we made those mistakes in our school team we’d have been told all about it. Think back to the goal we lost at Firhill – there wasnt much comment about it but Jack Hendry could have stopped their attacker getting the shot away if he’d done what Gamboa did last night, or even applied a little pressure on their player.
All too easy.
We’re so weak at the back Boyata actually looks like a player sometimes. Then you remember what the alternatives are.
HH
THE TOKEN TIM
I think KT has had some of his best qualities coached out of him which is manifesting in him being a less assertive player.
I worry that a natural ballplayer like Mikey Johnston will suffer from the same.
In a proper system players can play without fear.
Our reactions to turning over the ball magnify the risk of trying an individual piece of skill or forward pass.
Messi loses the ball on occasion but understands that his team is set up to recover it.
We need to be coached in positional responsibility and position without the ball.
FAN-A-TIC on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:10 PM
It was interesting Boyata actually did pass forward to McGregor who was being closed down so he immediately passed it straight back, Boyata then tries to pass it right and scoops it into the air. Their midfield were on it in a flash, only a fingertip onto the post prevents another goal. Very very sloppy and unnecessary.
DUBAIBHOY;
Yet if we let Boyata, Compper, Jozo and Gamboa go in Jan – and Benkovic returns to Leicester too – our backline will be permed from Lustig, Hendry, Ajer, KT and Izzy. And mibby Scott Mckenna FFS.
ruggyman
good comments.
i am affraid we have had the same problems for a few years.
very light in the mid field and forwards none of them could tackle a fish supper.
One player in the Spartak Moscow team stood out for me.
The centre half and captain.
The never gave the irritating, but a bit of a handful, Morelos, a sniff, even though the Columbian used all of his snide tricks to try and unsettle him.
What frustrates me most is that there are many fans from the past who think being a hardworking team is much easier than being a skilful team.
It takes much more time, in fact, for one player to have the confidence that the other 10 players in the team will be in their exact position in a given situation and that the other 10 players in the team similarly know where you’ll be and what your job is at that specific time.
That is what skill actually is, to have the skill set to know exactly where you are in relation to all of your team mates should be a skill that comes naturally after years of hard work in the training ground.
To this team, and in fact a skill lacked by many a British footballing side, but more so due to ineffective coaching, here in Scotland.
?
THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:12 PM
When reading your post; For some reason David O’Leary sprung to mind.
I’d imagine any future purchase of players will be heavily dependent on a reduction in our relatively high wage bill. Not an unreasonable request in my opinion. Some of the players we have on our books that we’d happy wave bye bye to were bought before Brendan joined the club, but not all by any stretch of the imagination.
Another factor in releasing funds, I’d hope, would be past performance in the transfer market and as usual it is a bit of a mixed bag. This might not be a complete list of Brendan’s signings but it isn’t far off it. I’ve add my rating of the player during their time at the club.
Maybe money will be made available, but i doubt it will be unconditional.
Moussa Dembele – 9
Odsonne Eduoard – 8
Olivier Ntcham – 8
Filip Benkovic – 8
Scott Sinclair – 7
Scott Bain – 6
Lewis Morgan – 6
Patrick Roberts – 6
Jack Hendry – 6
Youssouf Mulumbu – 5
Kolo Toure – 5
Cristian Gamboa – 5
Jonny Hayes – 4
Dorus de Vries – 3
Eboue Kouassi – 3
Kundai Benyu – 2
Charly Musonda – 2
Marvin Compper – 0
Emilio Izaguirre – 0
Daniel Arzani – 0
Hail Hail
Giorgio Chiellini-
https://youtu.be/5EuPFh6M1b4
Hebcelt
Wee bit o local news :-)
https://twitter.com/TheScotsman/status/1055794174283468800?s=19
Hope your good
HH
GREENPINATA on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:29 PM
?
THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:12 PM
When reading your post; For some reason David O’Leary sprung to mind.
*****
I think that is sometimes the curse of the charismatic manager.
After a while, the charisma begins to sound like ego……and that’s fatal.
As a support, many of us have been similarly charmed.
Perhaps it is the soft lilt of the voice, or the verbal jersey kissing, but, ultimately, the W. L. D. column tells the tale.
If BR does leave/gets replaced, there will be blood letting on social media, as he has been granted sainthood or even God like qualities by many.
However, in football, it is the ba’ in the back o’ the net, that counts.
DILLIGAFBHOY on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 1:28 PM
Aye right. It could have been 5-0 had they taken their chances. A 3 min min drop of concentration my jacksy.
——-
I don’t think they got out of 2nd gear for the most part. They also left their best player Werner on the bench throughout. Has they needed more goals they would have come with ease.
DILLAGAFBHOY
Which comes back to my point possession in that area leads to trouble.
He tried to force a pass to only man available which is often the case due to our poor anticipation and movement.The resulting turnover usually creates panic and headless chicken amongst our players.
Only game i have see more than one midfielder showing for a pass for defender was against
St Johnstone were McGregor and Ntcham both did.
It was refreshing to see our system work for once.
THOMTHETHIM
You make to much sense.
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:29 PM
Giorgio Chiellini-
https://youtu.be/5EuPFh6M1
******
Over the last few year he has become my favourite player from another club.
He seems to get better each season and now plays with a smile on his face, which belies his rugged facade.
Some very fine, constructive posts today, and a rare consensus building on what ails Celtic abroad.
The video posted by South of Tunis re Chielini was very instructive. Along with Baresi and Maldini, one of the finest defenders ever, and smart enough to have considered his life after football by investing in an education. It should be mandatory watching for many Celtic players, especially Griffiths.
One thing I have always noticed about Giorgio, while playing for both Juve and Italy, is his fierce concentration, which never lags, and is fired up with intense interactions with his goalkeeper while under pressure. Gordon would do well to watch Buffon’s yelling interactions with Chielini that kept them both focused for 90 minutes.
IniquitousIV
FAN-A-TIC on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 2:52 PM
THOMTHETHIM
You make to much sense.
*****
Thank you. I try to be as dispassionate as possible when thinking about Celtic. Until kick-off, of course.
Trying to catch up due to work keeping me busy. How dare it eh?
so now doing a P67 of old here:
Number12 @ 1:32pm
I agree entirely. Is their an inferiority complex wheedling its way inside our player’s minds now when it comes to Europe and that is holding them as opposed to against our SPFL opponents?
Glasstwothirdsfull @ 1:52pm;
Reading the game and anticipation, massive skills that set the really good defenders apart from their peers. As you say, those abilities, like tackling, seem to dying traits.
JamesGang @ 1:55pm
;-)
50 Shades of Green @ 1:58pm
ManagementMadeHarder! Well put.
Ruggyman @ 1:59
As I said earlier, all great players at Barca, but in spite of their physical lack of height, again all hardy boys!
FAN-A-TIC @ 2:18pm
Agree with those points.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
From all the blood letting and carnage after a defeat, there are always nuggets of insight amongst the garbage.
However, it seems the rhetoric remains, its BR’s fault apparently. Basic tenets for those clambering or meandering for a new “band leader”
CELTIC WILL NEVER COMPETE IN EUROPE (AS THE YANKS SAY PERIOD)
WE WONT PAY TO COMPETE……………………………………………………………………………….. EVER (NOT THAT ITS THE BEALL)
IF WE GET ANYWHERE ITS USUALLY DOWN TO HAVING A FIT FIRST 11 AND LUCK
Becarefulwhatyouwishfor CSC (as ever homage to BSR for his intellectual property rights)
Chiellini takes as much joy and pride in keeping a clean sheet, as a striker does in scoring a hat trick.His desire can be copied.
Quadrophenian, that’s why BR wants PL to step up to the plate, but he only acts when absolutely necessary.
We never buy before CL qualifiers because he’s paranoid about spending before qualification is secure. So every year he risks failure as that is in the budget and anything else means more heated driveways in PL land.
As a CEO when PL looks at headcount he sees an abundance of CH’s so will refuse to spend until x go.
https://twitter.com/markocooper/status/1054840082228752385?s=08
Some stats on Ajax,who have less turnover, and a lower wage bill than us.
Our biggest problem is the never ending list of happy clappers / board sycophants who provide a laundry list of excuses to explain our failure in Europe.
We have had everything under the sun to explain our failure and our lack of desire to fix that failure.
This season was all about the CL being too hard — the EuL was really our level and guess what happens we perform well below ther low expectations and they wonder why.
We have no heart because we were given no heart.
The story from the exec level is keep the money flowing locally and that is enough.
The players aren’t stupid — it is just a case we have given them an excuse and they are using it.
CQN – a blog like no other!
Seriously good readin’ this last few hours on a Long Weekend finish!
Well played Bhoys.
HH all Hoops.
When I look at the expert analyses on here, I realise that Celtic fails so often in Europe because we have employed the wrong people.
CQN ,after a defeat, does not offer much evidence for the Greatest Supporters in the World accolade.
I think I will come back on after a victory.
Cheerio for now.
JJ