No complaints, the better team won and should have won more convincingly. Newco’s 0-1 at Celtic Park, without a fan in the ground, is one of the greatest achievements in the club’s history. It was a terrible performance from Celtic but might not have been their worst, or second worst, performance over the previous 8 days.
Just as against Ferencvaros on Thursday, Celtic opened well and could have gone ahead, but the concession of a goal destroyed all cohesion and confidence. Newco could have doubled their lead within minutes of going ahead. The visitors created a flood of chances for the remainder of the game and would have been out of sight if they were less wasteful.
Celtic were unable to lay a glove on Newco for most of the game. After going behind, the only moment of promise for the champions came seconds after halftime (reflecting a similar temporary bump at Ibrox a week earlier). It was not sustained.
Colby Donovan was again the best Celtic player. He took responsibility, carried the ball past opponents and never tired. Mika Baur also showed why he was called up to the German national squad last week. No one else earned pass marks.
Do not confuse this with a lack of effort. There was plenty of that on show, Celtic players endlessly chased shadows to no effect. It was an exercise in tiring futility. It was also a rare opportunity to see many tactical formations all fail on the same day. Ever wondered what a Celtic team with three wingers on at the same time would look like? Now you know; if looks desperate.
Martin O’Neill is so experienced in the game it would be impossible for any PR person to advise him, but if that were not the case, he would surely have been discouraged from throwing doubt on his own position post-match. Whatever he and the board decide in the weeks to come, Martin put speculation into the minds of Celtic fans with his “It might be time to wrap it up” comment. It is impossible to unsay certain things.
It wasn’t the goalkeeper’s fault, or the captain’s, or the forwards. It was not even the manager’s fault, so let’s not scapegoat. We are where we are because of three years of drift. I predicted this in the State of the Club Report at the start of the season and see significant challenges ahead, which we can explore in the days to come.
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Mon the HOOPS
“No complaints, the better team won….”.
Agree, but what gets me is the better team aren’t very good!
Good to know it’s no-one’s fault. Gives me great confidence that the same people not to blame can fix it.
Good article, Paul. Respect
Just read your linked article of 31 July.
You made some very accurate calls.
I still don’t think R2ngers (or Ferencvaros for that matter) were brilliant.
Just structured, fit and acting in unison.
“Teams” one might call them, in fact.
Silver lining?
We’ve got good players. Quite a few.
We’re living the dreaded curse of “interesting times”
Bumpy ride will likely get bumper.
I think we all know it needs changed,do it now,Sinisalo is a dud BTW
I blame the Drifters
Anyone who didn’t see this coming hasn’t been paying attention, I’m afraid M’ON has ran his course and I’m hoping for a new managerial appointment.Martin could leave with his head held high and legendary status intact incredible tile win last season and if he goes now he would leave with his side top of the league.His health is imost important.
I’d hoped for better from the article, though appears derangement syndrome is still with us.
3 years of drift? Might as well just name him at this stage.
(Of interest – Dom McKay left 5 years ago this month)
We’ve been regressing far longer than 3 years, though I get the narrative has to be shoe horned around personal grievances
Anyway, my very late new year resolution is to be less negative and play whatever small part I can in the rebuild that’s surely coming. I may already have failed!
God Bless Martin O’Neil, may his next coffee be a cappuccino
If, and I emphasise IF, MON does leave we need to get the choice of his successor and coaching staff right.
But therein lies the problem. No decent, self respecting manager would touch this unless there are fundamental changes about how this club is run. I do not want the second and third rate stuff who are always sniffing around in the background and who offer no new ideas.
We always seem to look backwards vis-a-vis managers. Perhaps the cars of our Executive are permanently jammed in reverse or their heads are screwed on back to front. Get that changed.
A great example of “Tell me you still harbour a grudge against BR, without telling me you still harbour one…’
Two years ago we had record turnover and our best performance in Europe for years. All we had to do was build on it but didn’t.
So in fact a one and a bit year drift. Sorted that for you Paul
Let’s not forget Beaton and Walsh cheated,for Fernandez 2nd yellow,and it could be argued his booking was similar to Trusty red card at Swinecastle, different game if that happens
Way more than three years of drift…
If I were a betting man (I’m not)
AND … no perhaps about it …
… disrespectfully talking about a successor to Martin while he is still our manager
Steve Clarke might be in with a shout.
Available.
Does “organised”
Perceptibly “safe”.
The Drifters
🎶 Down by the ‘ board walk ‘ 🎶
Well we can’t say we weren’t warned:
Yes, Paul – you got it absolutely spot on with your analysis:
https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/the-new-klopp-set-to-loom-over-celtic/
Surely the most incoherent, haphazard performance since Mowbray’s last game.
Oh well – at least we can be thankful that the disastrous Rodgers has gone and with him all of the problems…….
Dodgy keepers are like buses , none for ages then two come along at once.
3 years of drift?
You mean the Board? Why not say so?
There are a lot of really fair points made on this blog yesterday and this morning. What I find really sad was to hear booing at HT and FT. I understand the anger at the self created position we find ourselves in but there has to be a better way to get that across. We didn’t lose yesterday due to players not caring.
Change is needed at board level and that surely goes without challenge from any fans. Surely?
Paul has expressed concern and criticised the board/club in the last couple of seasons and this is necessary moving forward. I don’t want to see us lose our soul any further so I would like to see change from within the current framework. We are not an ambitious club and we lack the required quality of staff to take us forward. This must change or we will continue to go the same way over and over.
This is not the fault of the fans as I have read. Yes, some are entitled but the vast majority of those that attend CP are not. What we want is a club that TRIES to improve. The summer window was embarrassing in how we carried it out. As soon as CL qualification fell short we cancelled several signings. Meanwhile our main rivals for the title went and spent £20m.
We had Duran and Baur start yesterday. We had Hogh and Hassan on the bench of the £25m front three we signed. One of our 18 year old loan signings got 4 minutes and the The Ox didn’t come on nor Johnstone. Four other signings were not in the 18. Therefore 2 players out of 11 started.
MON will decide what he is doing and hopefully very soon. I imagine from his comments he will leave. What can change in 3 months that you think you can do the job, to not? Health? maybe. Transfer? Probably. But, anything else?
We don’t look coached. Why does nobody say to Duran, Nygren and a few others that you will not get fouls for just falling over? Every game this week it has been the same. The “floaty” ball from free kicks is about as effective as playing with a balloon.
Board room changes are needed, key personnel is needed to be brought in and obviously we lack certain types of players in key positions. However, we do have enough not to turn in performances like that yesterday. Fight was not the issue. An inability to tackle yes, stand your ground or play to any kind of plan definitely.
The club will not be unified as long as we continue as we are, with our transfer approach and insistence on net spend every transfer window.
No booing.
No disrespect to MON or Mcgregor. Constructive criticism is fair enough.
Aim your anger in a constructive way and try and push for internal change. I understand it is difficult when a board treats you with such disrespect but it is the only way.
48,000 attended v Ferencvaros. 55000 against LASK. There is a definite breaking of some people in the support. The continued lack of ambition, the annual failure to even compete in Europe and the constant in fighting. Even when we win we always have issues.
They need to look at this because I imagine it will be circa 45000 against Celta vigo. Some people will silently vote with their feet
Its not 3 years of drift, its a couple of decades of great domestic success but never using that as a lever to push forward across the whole Club. If Sevco had been in our shoes they would have applied the boot to our throat and never let go.
Our club has never been unified in that same time period with division a constant theme. Club v fans, fans v fans, Club v manager. Someone with a bit of balls has to get in there and sort this out.
fans versus manager staff and players.
the boos and vitroil directed at our own on thurday was disgusting,
it continued yesterday.
the podcasts and blogs are even worse today.
Brendan’s fault. 😂
It’ll be a long time before we drift to the CL knock outs that’s for sure.
All roads lead back to LASK. There was perhaps a deeper lying issue before that but I’m afraid there is no way back from losing a four goal lead in a game of such magnitude.
It’s clear from the players body language and performances that the coaching staff and the manager have lost the dressing room. Carter Vickers comments after the game yesterday confirmed this. There is no plan a never mind b or c. It’s over for Martin and he should do the decent and honourable thing and step down. Now is the right time.
Following his recent health scare and ongoing uncertainty at the club the executive team should have contingency plans in place for a replacement. Several highly respected managers are available. The appointment of whom should be of the highest priority and without delay. I cannot say I have much confidence in Nicholson et al to deliver when the moment inevitably occurs, as it almost certainly will.
Evidence and experience guides us in all walks of life. I sincerely hope Martin does not repeat the mistakes of Neil Lennon and overstay when the best interests of the club are to the contrary.
I thought CCV was fine yesterday. Donovan a credit to himself. Baur fine. Duran ok first half. The rest dire.
When the US trust fund, which had already been successful with Leeds Utd, took over Sevco and set up something approaching a modern football organisation with a director of football, it was obvious that this would be a real challenge to Celtic.
It has been made easier for them because Celtic have a dysfunctional board stuck in the last century with an owner for whom the club is no more than a hobby.
Both the owner and his supine board have no ambition for the club.
What next? The owner’s son to take over and more of the same?
He’s the only manager in the club’s history who has repeatedly questioned things.
__
A year since this cowardly leak to the sun…
Imagine being so up your own hole that you think the above statement is an insult !
Nobody thought it would be this bad CSC
MAZZY from earlier. Spot on my friend.
We have some good player but, most are square pegs in round holes. Hogh and Duran getting it in the neck, but ask, what support are they getting and no ammunition, both great players.
Two thngs i don’t get. Why does MON put himself and his family through this, especially at his age and secondly, why is out board so shit scared of Desmond. He is nothing but a bully boy, and I would love it if someone told him to gtf. Aint gonna happen
kinglubo
Rodgers would have been horrified at what he saw yesterday.
Also get , get the ex Motherwell guy , offer he cant refuse and all that, or Ange
DD is a a good businessman no doubt and if he can turn a good profit on his investment, he will take it, guaranteed
kinglubo
We are not fit who’s responsibility is that, be best at the things that don’t require skill, aint happening,nice of you to broaden this out to include BR, our football department coaching scouting is a joke , as is the fitness and conditioning, MoN time is up if he doesn’t say cheerio the Board need to act and the charlatans on the coaching and conditioning side likewise need to go.
BSR
Signing a backup keeper for your backup keeper .
World class CSC
The one thing not a lot of fans are kicking up a fuss about is this.
If John Beaton would’ve sent him off it’s a different game, and our board sit on their ars*s, and say nothing whereas the 🐀 McInnes applied pressure to referees during the week regarding Naderi.
Granted we aren’t great but if that decision is made it’s a different outcome, our 100% record is intact and it gives the players a lift and after the international break we have good players back.
The quicker Celtic start growing a backbone the better for all.
McInness played a blinder a couple of days before the game and that’s why Cheating Beaton didn’t send him off
How did we lose 8 CL qualies in just 3 years?
There’s 1 consistent in all our failures – the suits.
Everything else is a symptom.
We are a colourless, characterless, chaotic.
An insipid shambles.
At least we made a profit in the window.
quadrophenian – Spot on. Deflect, deflect, deflect. The bogeyman still haunts some. How can blame not be attributed largely to the current manager and team?
In the real world, the Celtic team’s fitness, selection, set up, tactics, in-game management and substitutions are 100 per cent the responsibility of MoN and his coaching staff. And he’s had months to mould it into something a lot better than what we are seeing.
Until Sunday, MoN has, I think, played 433 in every game since he came back despite our midfield being posted missing most weeks. He has regularly played Tounekti, he won’t drop or substitute Cakmac, he threw a bit part keeper into the Ibrox game, he plays our in form striker as a winger to accommodate a striker who can’t buy a goal etc etc etc.
On Sunday, we saw a brief attempt to tighten things up before the most surreal batch of substitutions left me gobsmacked. Tounekti, Forest. Hasan and Hough all on the park together was surreal as we played 424 and still couldn’t trouble their keeper.
Bur for Paul, this debacle somehow lies at the door of a manager who had the audacity to ask DD to match his ambition.He may not be to your taste or mine, he may have somehow offended you personally but for God’s sake focus on the here and now and stop scapegoating a man who has long since left.
Put the blame where it belongs starting with DD and his lackeys. Admit that Martin is no longer a good manager and that his coaching staff are woefully short of the required standards for Celtic.
Martin’s achievements will place him on a pedestal for evermore. What he did for us last season was astonishing but it was a short term band aid to a gaping wound. And despite two transfer windows and months of training, the team has regressed massively under the current coaching team.
I got to my first ever game against the unmentionables yesterday. The atmosphere was electric. I’m made up I’ve seen one. Our footballing skills were atrocious. There’s something very wrong – no idea what it is. I’ll go back and look at paul67’s report. I hope we haven’t already turned decent signings into bad players.
Paul67 et al
At the start of season 2024-25 we had just returned from a successful mini-tour of the USA, were looking forward to the new look Champions League format, which many of us would suit us better. We had freshened up the squad, and from there we got to the play-offs of the CL, won the League Cup and then the League, and were a late Maeda miss in the SC Final from yet another treble. And scored over 150 goals over the piece.
That was just two seasons back Paul, when er Brendan was still our Manager.
Lets get on board that driftwood…..