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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!!Bada Bing!! on 26th October 2018 3:03 pm
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.
======
Spot on. And we dont have any of that.
Craig Gordon is a senior player and his reaction to losing a goal is to look sheepish or stare at the ground. With defenders doing the same its no wonder they lose focus.
But it comes from the top. The only reason we showed a bit of ambition and went out and recruited Brendan Rodgers was because Dermot Desmond wanted to put Sevco back in their box after they beat us on penalties at Hampden and he didnt like their reaction.
Now the fire generated by that is on the wane and standards/desire are slipping again.
Its time we got passionate about winning and not winning because other people are questioning us or taking great joy in beating us. Even domestically losing a couple of games brings out the gloaters like Kris Boyd and the reaction is oh well, now we’ll find some form and shut them all up. Why not do it anyway?!
Rodgers didnt get the players he wanted so hard to judge him though there are some obvious tactical misjudgements trying to go toe to toe with the big boys in the CL and getting a severe hammering etc.
But there is a severe lack of fight and communication and it will cost us again.
We can only hope the damage is limited to Europe.
HH
I played amateur football and one season as Christmas approached our team was bottom of the league. A new coach was appointed, a coach who was very modern in his approach with great emphasis on pass and move into an open space. Anyone making a pass and standing still at training was immediately substituted. Those same players who had performed poorly prior to Christmas went on to record an unbeaten run for the rest of the season.
As I watched the game unfold last night it was clear to me how little our players run into an open space after making a pass. Contrast with the RBL players who were top class exponents of it, especially in the second half where they ripped us apart down both full back areas. Its not rocket science, all the good teams do it , particularly Barcelona. Its a fundamental necessity so why does Brendan not see that ??
JJ
Surely you’d expect us to praise what’s praiseworthy and highlight what’s not?
Doesn’t mean I support or love my team and less. I’m all in – stubbornly so, you might say!
But I’ll still call it as I see it bud.
HH jg
Bada Bing
I like these stats on different clubs. I.e Ajax
Someone done something similar with R.B Salzburg the other week.
Shows however what can potentially be done with same or less outlay as we have incurred on players and wages.
I’d blame Ntcham for the loss of the first goal. He didn’t show moments earlier for a pass from Tierney. Tierney clearly shouted to let him know he wasn’t pleased. Ntcham then sulks around and loses concentration at a thrown in leading up to the goal and gets caught in no mans land.
Tierney ( as he frequently does) isn’t close enough or positioned to make the cross harder for the opposing player. Kouassi makes a hash of timing and aggression Boyata is unsighted and then Gordon dives the wrong way.
That goal is reminiscent of the goals we lost vs AEK. Clearly the second Gamboa could have stayed on his feet.
Both goals you need to ask why we gave possession away in the first place. Who lost it and who didn’t help them?
Most galling thing for me was that we could have controlled the game but gifted them possession under no threat. RB has no real press and allowed us to pass up the middle and put to the wings without challenge. Maybe they knew we didn’t have enough to get past them when the ball got into those positions but we seemed to give up as though the players job was done if we just got past half way.
Mullet- our inability to stop crosses into the box is startling, see previous comments re Chiellini and the like, not comparing abilities, but positional sense and desire should be a given. HH
JeromeK67
I agree. It’s more noticeable in Europe that tbe team needs to work harder when it doesn’t have the ball. It was always the case in recent years.
When you see the amount of running the Lions did in the heat of Lisbon it’s incredible.
Lost these in the night. No idea what page, time, etc. Apols if you saw them, but I’m in the twilight zone of watching Baseball World Series, operating on U.S time all week, heid up my erse.
Anyway, FUN-ish…
SANDMAN’S DEFINITIVELY UNREPENTANT RATINGS
‘I though making the new Halloween movie was scary, but I’ll bet my tremendous funbags it’s nowhere near the anxiety levels of a Celtic away performance in Europe.’
Jamie Lee Curtis.
‘Coloureds, bitches, skanks and witches – I’ve super-injunctioned them all, but my fat bigoted pompous butt won’t clench tight enough to defy a Sandman Ratings publication.’
Sir Phillip Green.
‘The wean’s no mine right? It’s Harry’s. Now f### off ma doorstep and go back tae yer Child Support Agency, mate.’
L.Griffiths.
Gordon: 7.5/10
The Pink Panther pulled off an astonishing save to stop a humbling turning into a rout. Inspector gadget fingertips got enough on that low rasper to shake the post and spare the blushes. Nearly blocked the second, no chance with the first. Still the best shot-stopper in Paradise since The Wall.
Gamboa: 4/10
‘He’s only good for taking care of petite fanny Neymar…’ was the cry. And with good judgement. Great pace and enthusiasm for the cause coupled with flashes of mentalness. Blew it at the second by attempting to savage the advertising hoardings, And missed them. And the ball. And the man. Ended up scratching his arse while we were scratching our heads.
Boyata: 6/10
Long live the King of the New Sieve! Fantastic Dedryck moment of non-ball-watching which delivered the opener on a plate. What’s that, you say, argumentative reader – Kouassi put him off? No, he shouldn’t have. Big D should have been primed for deflections, nicks, chaos. It’s his job. January. Windae. £10 million. Taxi.
Recovered well enough but damage was done.
Jozo: 5/10
Ghostly presence was no early Halloween rumour. Spent the game tying to find his mojo. Ended up ineffective, marking and chasing shadows and timing everything poorly. Hope this excursion gets him back on track.
KT: 6.5/10
One of our very own still burning the fuel like a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier runway; but can’t get the momentum for his season to take-off. burnout might be right – he’s all action but the zest is missing. Still played his captain’s role well.
Kouassi Eboue : 5/10
Looks the part. Acts it occasionally but can’t get his engine or tackling up to speed. Rather than drop him, give him a run of games to prove his worth or ship out in Jan.
Sam Jackson : 5/10
Muthaf#### ain’t gettin’ his muthaf######’ goddamn act together. Played like a muthaf##### for most of the game before he shaped up to give us some righteous muthaf##### moments but blew his big chance late on – although it was some muthaf##### save.
Morgan: 4/10
Damn, hoped the kid would shine but he disappeared. Stuck to the wing when he’d have been as well roaming freely to link up with Eddie.
Calmac: 3/10
Pranced, scampered and gave the ball away. Manager’s pet got found out.
Broon MkII? LOL #1.
Sorry, the wee mhan was all at sea, and drowned. If the iron curtain was still up would have traded him for a stale loaf, three bananas and a picture of Debbie Harry circa ’78.
Christie: 6.5/10
Determined. May shape up into a promising standard of midfielder. No longer lightweight or hiding, added some grit, has the feet to do damage – like Kouassi, needs a run to prove himself. First suggestion – shave yer heid son, look more menacing.
French Eddie : 6/10
Our quicksilver spiv playing the loner role looked a handful to begin with – sooo close to opening the scoring – but was isolated again and suffered from no service. He’s no lone striker so the midfielders need to get up to him quicker. And provide options.
Subs:
Nah. Mick was solid-ish, however JH and SS – played like men reluctant to take part but forced into it. 4/10.
BR: 6/10
He’s a nice fella with an attacking philosophy and a dynamic outlook. But without Broon in the side we lack the true grit (see what I did there, Marion Morrison fans?) mentally to succeed. and even then, many players seem to feed off the managers seeming insouciance for taking a Euro-pumping.
We don’t have the level of player he worked with down south, the depth of squad to maintain his utopian ideals in the arena of European conflict ; this Celtic side seems to lack the scrapper’s attitude that can bridge the quality divide in vital moments during games where we risk being swamped.
Digging in is not our thing, or Brendan’s desire. But it’s how we achieved some of our finest Euro results in recent history. Sometimes we have to think more Franco Baresi than Doctor Socrates. Can BR do that?
OVERALL: Pish/10
The Baldrickian cunning plan to dress up as Borussia Dortmund had them fooled for half an hour. Then they realised we were more Yellow Mellow (see what I did there, hippies) than Yellow Peril (see what I did there colonial xenophobes?).
Ever ridden a daunting rollercoaster full of anticipation and swagger then realised the experience is a bit too much for you and will induce giddiness and nausea? Welcome to being Celtic in Europe.
P67’s headline
“frustrations for what could have been”
——–
i didnt feel that last night
i just felt an acceptance of the predictable coming to fruition
the attempts to defend those 2 goals were laughable…again…
looks like we have chucked it when it comes to competing in europe
oh well, look forward to pumping hearts on sunday anyway
Who would in a fight between the uber supporter and the uber keyboarder?
Looking at the figures posted early from https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/903hze/european_clubs_revenues_wage_bills/
We are currently 50th in Europe in terms of the size of our wage bill. But we are actual lower than average if you look at the wage bill compared to turnover in the top 50 clubs listed. We are 58% and the average of those 50 is 62%
We could spend another 5 million euros, in wage bill terms, to put us at the average.
Interestingly if you take the English clubs out the average 5 actually goes up to 63%, or an extra 6 million euros in wages.
Lets hope we spend it well.
Hail Hail
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 26TH OCTOBER 2018 4:03 PM
Surely it depends which one is a Celtic Da.
Either way the Celtic Da wins every time
Hail Hail
Let’s all- I wasn’t disappointed at FT last night, I expected it,that can’t be right……
I’ll take a stab at Sunday’s team
—————— Gordon———————-
Lustig Hendry Benckovic Tierney
———-McGregor Ntcham————-
Forrest Rogic Edouard
—————Griffiths———————-
RM- LG not even training mate…
Alternative team for Sunday now every first team scapegoat has been fully used.
De Vries
Ralston Hendry Compper Izzy
Allan Benyu Arzani
Hayes Sinclair Johnston
We hate every other squad player csc
Cheers Bada… suspected that.
Edouard up top.
Maybe give Christie a chance wide left ?
RM- BR hopeful that Rogic will make it, Christie was our best player last night IMO
B-B Yeah I read earlier in the week that Rogic’s knee problem isn’t a new thing. And that they have been managing the injury through the last few weeks. I’d expect him to make it.
Rogic and Forrest have been pivatol to everything good we have done this last couple of weeks
Bada
Christie deserves a run of half a dozen games. Imho
HH jg
Fair enough summary Pablo but should be noted that BR bought Gamboa.
I quite like the lad but he
– is a foreign player (it is harder to settle and no inherent emotional attachment)
– is a converted winger
– has been inserted into a defence that doesn’t think defensively.
Notwithstanding his great pace, difficult, for me, to see how he can be a success as an aggressive full back.
Hail hail
Sandman
Brilliant analysis as usual.
Nail on head re Calmac – his purple patch disguised the fact that he has no dig whatsoever.
Posted missing when the chips are down.
Replacement for Broonie ma bahooki!
TK
Universal Credit is coming …like the Winter…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dqa8k3QXQAA_aWP.jpg
Braw
As a corollary, I feel enormously frustrated that a widely accepted prospect at right full back (somewhere between half decent and Tierney-esque depending on your point of view) has not been developed over the last two years.
Where is Anthony Ralston?
negative tactics get negative results
CG has got worse at his distribution with the ball at his feet ,and he was poor to start with as BR noticed and brought in deVires to replace him , but that didn’t work , his distribution has got worse why should this be.
KT’s football ability is going backwards at an alarming rate of knots, why.
we have a quantity squad but lack the quality , far to many players getting big money for he-haw , get rid .
Quality podium hattrick, charliebhoy.
A quote earlier on the blog from someone on the train en-route to Berlin : “…If Brendan Rodgers rested players he should be sacked on the spot…”
DON’T TALK PISH
HH
BGFC
Folks
I’m seeing few posts which seem to drop Izzy into a Willow Flood type signing – very short memories here.
There are lots of issues with our transfer dealings (one of which is Izzy should never have left) but the resigning of Emelio is not one of them.
I would happily select Izzy as a backup to KT. Izzy is in my book of real Celtic men – and in 60 years I’ve seen a few.
Leaveizzyalonecsc
Jamesgang
Mon the Celtic Granda’s CSC
Dedryck kept the score ‘respectable’
Now, I know this won’t happen, but I’d really love it if Brendan were to give us a quick player by player run down of the list below and say what it is they need to do or change in order to come into contention for a place in the team –
Ralston
Compper
Bitton
Arzani
Hayes
Allan
Benyu
Mulumbu
Johnston
Linked to this, whilst I know that we have a specific 25-man squad for Europe, I think we can draft in any of our reserves if we were so minded to? So the same question applies for Euan Henderson and Jack Aitchison (possibly on loan??)
—————— Gordon———————-
—Lustig— Hendry Benckovic——Tierney
———McGregor Ntcham————-
——Forrest Rogic Christie
—————Edouard ————
Injuries Aside CSC
With Broonie out for a while I would go with Mulumbu, Kouassi and Ntcham plus one another from TR Calmac, Christie etc, give Kouassi a run and see if he’s got it and with Mulumba in there it give Ntcham some space to go pass the ball and make things happen.
Hearts will come for a battle on Sunday and we need to get into gear from the off to secure the win.
I soon as I saw the team last night I thought we would lose you can’t expect guys like Kouassi Gamboa organ and Christie to be match fit with their lack of game time.
Our defending of the throw that lead to the first was criminal and even though is was a pretty shite cross they still scored:((
Gamboa Gamboa Gamboa if you’re going to go like that you need to clean out the ball the man and the first row of spectators!
We fashioned a couple of decent chances and again Lady Luck did not favour us in front of goal.
With a full team we can give Leipzig a better game at Celtic Park but they’ll be well up for it as well they looked liked they were cruising most of the second half last night.
Bring on the mini scum..
KTF
surely you would have thought with italy having the best defenders in Europe that our representatives would be seriously looking at ‘ageing’ defenders with their experience to assist our mamby pansy defence oh just remembered that dosen’t fit into our buy inexperience and sell on.
I seldom if indeed ever make a cup of tea during a Celtic game particularly in Europe but i must admit I did last night when the Germans got two goals inside four minutes against the run of play -collapse. I watched new Rangers only for the second time this season and i hate to say this, but they played Spartak Moscow off the park but they could not score and Moscow showed how to defend.
looking at Leipzig and Spartak these teams are no great shakes and Celtic should have nothing to fear, but for God’s sake get the defense sorted.
i agree with Paul, Celtic can still qualify from this group.
JinkyRS
Great shout. Short memory syndrome.
Emilio Izaguere, the Celtic love you more than you will know. Whoa hoa.
YNWA
WDH
So did CG with a great fingertips save onto the post. Magic save that kept it respectable.
YNWA
DD
Cheers – we have a long overdue pint my cyber friend, I’m sure we could cover a few bases.