St Mirren, who are ninth in the Premiership controlled yesterday’s Scottish League Cup Final and won the trophy with an historic and deserved 3-1 victory. Celtic had the bulk of possession but were unable to turn that into enough chances to deserve anything more from the game.
For the third game in succession Celtic went behind from the first corner they had to defend in the game. That weakness was a painful feature of the Covid season is back. Those who successfully campaigned for a return to four at the back will have to contemplate the fact that the defensive formation is well down the list of problems Celtic have. Celtic were exposed at the back throughout the game, St Mirren had more shots on target and more attempts from inside the box, measures of which team was always more likely to score.
For the 35 minutes he was on, Kelechi Iheanacho gave Celtic a taste of what an effective striker can bring to a team. The recurrence of the hamstring injury which has limited him to fewer than 90 minutes since October cast a long shadow over an already dark day.
The performance was consistent with so many this year. When pressed one-on-one, Celtic players get rid of the ball quickly – and often backwards. Reo Hatate was the only one who took the ball in and attempted to get past his man. Without taking any opponents out of the game, there are no options for a forward pass.
In the hierarchy of responsibility, Wilfried Nancy has to take his share, but he is not at the top. The squad is not up to the task and needs a radical overhaul. Such an overwhelming reluctance to take responsibility on the ball indicated they are playing without confidence. Who can blame them? Managers have come and gone, one having publicly undermined them, while the feedback loop when a ball is mis controlled or a pass goes astray would have the best of us hiding on the field.
The challenge facing the new manager is significant. He needs to restore confidence to a squad who look shattered, impose a tactical regime which creates chances and fortified the defence, while nurturing the most fragile collection of hamstring muscles in sport.
You and I laughed at Newco fans who were so unable to cope with defeats they hounded a succession of managers out Ibrox and made the job toxic. That’s not how we fix this problem. The man needs our support right now as do his players.
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TheLurkinTim on 16th December 2025 1:43 am
So from what I understand…Brendan had us competitive with Bayern Munich….and expected our Board to help him improve the squad. What happened was
Brendan was expected to do more with less….he baulked….and waited to see how much he was gonna be undermined…and it turned out it was total.
===
There is an alternative narrative that when DD appointed BR for the second time BR got assurances he would have a say in who was signed and there would be no more wingers turning up he was unaware of.
BR is highly unlikely to have signed up to return to the same conditions that made him leave the first time.
A sustainable budget ceiling would have been agreed that raised the level of signings above the £2 to £3m project player ceiling as apart from the golden nugget MoR turned out to be Engels Idah and Trusty were signed above project level.
The buy low sell high limit went up a notch or two.
The budget set when BR signed up stayed the same but it was not high enough to sign better players than Engels, Trusty and Idah that had not set the heather on fire and BR was unhappy Celtic would not spend above the budget both had agreed when BR signed up.
The Board were unwilling to up the budget as their player trading model depended on players signed at price A would be sold on at price double or triple A.
That is the point that caused the break down in relations not that The Board wanted to spend less but that they would not spend more than the agreed budget.
When a relationship breaks down inevitably in the beginning it is the other persons fault.
That breakdown should have been kept in house but BR broke ranks and in going public incurred the anger of DD who had appointed BR in the first place on agreed terms.
The relationship between The Board and Support has always been divisive but going public in the way BR did has only made the divide grow.
The anger will take a while to subside especially as the normal healing ointment of better football performance and results is not riding to the rescue.
Its a fair scunner so it is, so it is.
Ooops I got Matt O Reilly as a BR signing wrong. It should have been Nicholas Kuhn.
Brain fart.
Auldheid at 3:40am
The best prognosis I have read on here – I’m sold that that is pretty close to how events played out.
Not sure we’ll ever know.
Nite y’all – Tex
Good Morning Fholks – Grand Day To Be A Tim
TheLurkinTim @ 1:43 am,
Excellent synopsis…
Zack Theboard indeed…
Hail Hail
Auldheid didn’t Mark Lawlell scout Khun, before Brendan brought in his own team to scout Idah, Trusty and Engels?
Or Zack the uber staunchies who have contributed zilch to the $80 million in the bank, hate the owners who haven’t touched that money that they accumulate to keep Celtic on top, through player trading cycles, and somehow think they are the heart of our club. Did the GB steal the onion bares supply of deludamol.
Taurangabhoy….
Jay Lefevre was our head scout and was from 2019 until recently.
Let’s get away from the nonsense that the Lawwells sign all the good players and Brendan Rodgers signs all the bad ones.
Fholk might think you want to deflect the conversation away from the disasterous six months our Board have had.
They might think you want to misdirect away from the abject display in the League Cup final – a display and result that was completely on the Celtic hierarchy.
What do you think Gasperini would have made of the difference in Celtic in one year? His Atalanta team played Brendan Rodger’s Celtic in Bergamo, his Roma team played Wilfried Nancy’s team at Parkhead.
This Board are an absolute disgrace…
Zack Theboard…
Hail Hail
Chairbhoy no one is denying the board had a very poor recruiting 6 months, or longer. They admitted it themselves before being howled down. You know the next window is January and the real next window July. That doesn’t stop the malcontents offloading every shitty thing in their life on Celtic with the board the main target, at every opportunity, every day and it’s getting boaring. A decade of dominance has transformed the best fans in the world to sevco wannabe clones. Wtf happened there. That’s not on the board.
Auldheid
I didn’t say money went to directors outside what they’re paid, you asked what is Celtics purpose, I said it is to raise as much money as possible which goes to the plc and they the plc bank it and don’t spend it to improve the team, that is their operational model and has been for decades now, this includes transfers in and out.
Chairbhoy yer man Jay was head scout after Mark Lawlell who was chief scout when Kühn was signed. Unfortunately we are not a rich Rome based club and attracting talent to the east end is much easier from a couch than the real gig.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0hCwtNJmRMxLKHdr5LfXqI?si=QfZVpWo5S3OJhFv0mtxlrQ&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A6dkfjBPlH0UPrmqDbOVL0b
Taurangabhoy….
No he wasn’t, Jay was head of scouting before Mark Lawwell was head of recruitment, while Mark Lawwell was head of recruitment and after Mark Lawwell was head of recruitment.
Kuhn is a very good example of how Celtic should go about their business and how Celtic shouldn’t go about there business…
He is scouted by Jay Lefevre’s team.
Mark Lawwell’s team do the analytics
Brendan Rodgers and his team like the look of the reports and data.
The Manager talks to the player and he comes to Celtic.
He has the right attributes and is supported and developed by the staff at Lennoxtown.
He helps with goals and assists, up to and including the highest level.
He is sold on for a considerable profit.
That’s how it should be done.
Then you get the cult of personality and the suits screwing it up.
All the people who want to take credit, all those want to make profit, those involved in the blame culture, all the corporate politics, all the not fit for purpose “models”, so you don’t spend the money made from Kuhn on recruitment and you don’t replace him.
Is all nonsense that gets in the way of straight forward processes and procedures that you want in place to maximise the efficent running of the football club.
Hail Hail
Good morning CQN.
Another day in Timdom.
Somehow I don’t think it’ll be our happiest day ever.
But interesting nonetheless.
Bumpy ride ahead.
Strap yourself in
… or alternatively … just get off, of course.
Free country.
Have a good day all.
Chairbhoy earlier …
“Let’s get away from the nonsense that the Lawwells sign all the good players and Brendan Rodgers signs all the bad ones”
Respectfully, who in CQN is pitching this line?
Mark Lawwell left the building a year before Brendan did.
Others on here have suggested we stop talking about Brendan because he is no longer part of the equation.
Fair enough I think.
What’s good for the goose and all that?
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full @ 7:12 am,
With all due respect I think you are addressing the wrong ghuy.
Auldheid was the one that mentioned Brendan Rodgers
Taurangabhoy was the one that mentioned Mark Lawwell.
Take it up with them
Don’t take it up with me!
Hail Hail
Just read back and I sound a bit tetchy this morning…
Apologies, wrong side of the bed!?
Have a good one Celts…
Hail Hail
Taurangabhoy – are you Ross Desmond? Talk about not reading the room! sorry but the idea that Celtic fans are malcontents, have shitty lives, are the same as Sevco is utter nonsense. Here they go again blaming the fans for getting pissed off that the club are going backwards and making bad decision after bad decision. The level of anger that most have is this is all self inflicted and from a position of strength and dominance from where we should be taking steps and making plans to improve and grow they have set the house on fire. Its the rate and scale of the drop off that begets the reaction we’re currently experiencing, its the inexplicable parsimonious investment strategy , its the lack of ambition, its the god awful communication and lack meaningful engagement with supporters. This is not a surprise, it’s been in the post since Ange left and the continued downsizing and poor management and planning of the football business has come home to roost and it’s all self inflicted. Our opponents have not improved in fact you could argue the opposite so how do we find ourselves here? We have regressed and not just a little – tell me this, how do you expect a regular supporter to react to our present position?
Auldheid
I don’t hold any romantic notion that Celtic as it is is a plc , a company there to look after shareholders in the company,the Charitable Catholic founding of the club is carried out by the Support and the Foundation the plc give that donations occasionally, but at its core Celtic plc is a business run by businessmen which the Celtic first team a cost to that business.
Notion other
Moisey I don’t do the room. I didn’t when the room hated the bunnet, I don’t now when I see our fan base implode on a guy just in the room, asking what has he done degrading his character one fuckin week in. He has done far more than most of the wannabes taking selfies and he won’t lose sleep over the hate. How do I expect a regular supporter to act. With dignity, with humour, with guts to step back up and get back on track, support your team. I have colleagues who support teams who never win anything but the6 support. I have a lot more respect for them.. Hating the board saps the confidence of the players, lining up with the daily record noise up or just going along with the mob, harms Celtic. Problem is I no longer expect much from a part of our support who seem hell bent on their own agenda. How about just waiting until the next two windows. Not a huge ask, unless you entitled regulars have any miracle ideas. Not holding my breathe. We are diminished and I don’t mean the club, I mean the support.
So they spend as little as possible on the team in the hope that project signings excel and are sold for profit boosting the bank balance , don’t mention team building that’s a fantasy. 5yr deal excel sell at year 2 ,or 5yr contracts fail moved on loan at great cost to Celtic Football Club.
from the guardian today,an outsider looking in?
GOING IN TWO-FOOTED
In keeping with pretty much everything else you’ve read, seen or heard about the Scottish League Cup final, you’d be forgiven for presuming today’s Football Daily will almost entirely be devoted to the fact Celtic is run by an incompetent bunch of cheapskates who appear to consider their paying customers an entitled rabble of insubordinate plebs, with only a cursory mention of plucky little St Mirren’s actual triumph at the end. Except that’s not how this daily football email rolls and by sneering at everyone else’s coverage of the Buddies’ not-entirely-surprising Hampden Park triumph, we’ve now mentioned their win twice already, which means we can exclusively devote what remains of this section to going in two-footed with our views on the Scottish champions.
While the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is rooted in deep-seated, historically complex social, political, and sectarian divisions that make even the most trivial slight feel like a declaration of war, Football Daily has been highly amused to note that it is fuelled by even more absurd levels of pettiness than even grizzled cynics like us thought possible. Not content with seeing Rangers descend into the status of bona fide bin-fire at the beginning of this season, the Celtic board couldn’t just revel in their rival’s misfortune but instead felt compelled to shout “Haud ma bevvy!” and try to out-do them in the utterly avoidable self-harm stakes.
Where to start? There was that miserliness in the transfer window. The embarrassingly early exit from Bigger Cup. The resignation of Brendan Rodgers and subsequent divisive and self-serving statement from majority shareholder Dermot Desmond accusing the recently departed head coach of being “divisive” and “self-serving”. There was the AGM, abandoned shortly after it started due in no small part to the fact both Desmond’s son, Ross, and the Celtic chief suit, Peter Lawwell, treated their audience with such condescending disdain, it’s small wonder the fans present didn’t raze Celtic Park to the ground in righteous anger, rather than just shout a few entirely justified unpleasantries at assorted members of their club’s breathtakingly arrogant hierarchy.
Upon realising they’d dropped a massive b0llock by treating the customers who keep the club’s vast reservoir of cash topped up, Celtic set about trying to appease them but obviously couldn’t even get that right. Having welcomed back the popular Martin O’Neill as interim head coach until they found somebody the fans were inevitably going to consider a downgrade, the Celtic board will have been pleased this elderly but safe pair of hands managed to steady the ship on and off the field. However, rather than hang on to their favourite Martin, Desmond, Lawell and chums elected to bid him farewell in order to appoint somebody new ahead of a trio of big games against the league leaders, a team of Serie A grandees and a rabble of comparative church mice in a major cup final.
And this morning, after Celtic were subjected to back-to-back-to-back trimmings by Hearts, Roma and St Mirren, the club’s top brass will have listened in mounting horror as O’Neill sat in the TalkSport radio studio, trying his best to sound more diplomatic than smug as he revealed he would have happily stayed at the club for longer and fielded a succession of calls from distraught Glaswegians all begging him to return immediately if not sooner. We can’t help but feel genuinely sorry for Wilfried Nancy; through no great fault of his own, Celtic’s new boss already looks like a dead man walking just eight days and three matches into his reign because the geniuses in the boardroom couldn’t wait an extra week to stick a contract under his nose. Still though. St Mirren, eh? Weren’t they absolutely marvellous?
Morning all.
The biggest issue for me is that we have players saying they specifically don’t like the training.
Nancy hasn’t even found the dressing room
let alone lose it.
It looks chaotic.
Still it’s all about the short term and then the longer term –
Short term I am 100% sure Nancy will be sacked at some stage either in the next few weeks or before the season ends.
Long term I am sure the board will come out on Thursday or Monday or at some point over the next disastrous few weeks to tell us Nancy is here long term to establish the type of club that this blog would have us believe is a sustainable route to success which is playing the likes of Kwon and shaping buy low sell high on an industrial scale.
I’d love to see it tested to prove but we may already be seeing that with the wheels falling off in the last 10 days.
So what’s the mid plan then when Nancy fails? MON and Shaun from whenever the board decide it’s ok for them to decide enough? Will we then head hunt another manager who will take the Kwon route?
How quickly will that take place?
What are we doing in the transfer window? This one and the next?
So if all of this is about the long term and trying to squeeze value out then the managers job would be absolutely key. And… it looks as though we have hired a lame duck which is a change from just re-hiring the sane guys we don’t like twice.
It’s a bag of sick isn’t it
TBhoy
and the GB dont support the team ?
and GB havent done anything for Celtic ? around the world ?
Just not your kind of guys.
And btw, it’s not just the GB. It’s a collective.
Hear what you’re saying about support/unity etc – but that works both ways.
Would you rather we still had the Whites & Kellys ?
Do you honestly think that WN has taken the right approach to taking over the team ?
A complete cluster feck from those in charge and calling for unity & blaming the bogey men wont hide that,
Do those colleagues of yours support teams that have 70m sitting in the bank?
Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been confirmed as the new head coach of Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah.
His first role since his shock resignation in October, the Irishman has replaced Spanish coach Michel, whose departure was confirmed just hours earlier by the Saudi club, who currently sit fifth in the league table.
In a statement on their official website, Rodgers’ new club confirmed the appointment of the 52-year-old. It said, “AlQadsiah Club is delighted to confirm the appointment of world-renowned coach Brendan Rodgers as head coach of the first football team, a move that reflects the club’s ambitious vision and its rapidly growing sporting project.
“The Northern Ireland-born Rodgers is regarded as one of Europe’s most prominent coaches, boasting an impressive track record, including in the English Premier League and European competitions. He is widely known for his expertise in building competitive teams and developing players, as well as for implementing a modern, possession-based attacking style of play.
In other news Mark Lawells entry in the Merrylee Autumnal Gardening & Horticultural Extravaganza said he was delighted that his late blooming Fuchsia’s earned him a bronze medal in the now annual event. One to look out for in the future, no doubt about it.
Ok so you are indeed Ross Desmond doubling down in true DD style. The fans ( all of them as to don’t discriminate) are the problem and they should take whatever is fed to them and be thankful – that is the nub of your point.
It’s not the people making the decisions or handling the recruitment that is way out its depths it’s the fans.
I agree with you regarding fans of smaller clubs and I admire their ongoing support despite limited success however using St Mirren as an example where are the thousands that were at the game on Sunday every other week? No where to be seen it’s the success or smell of success that brings them out. If St Mirren having reached this plateau, sold all there best players and manager, which is very possible, and did not replace them effectively despite bringing in juicy fees and they got relegated and struggled to get back up – how’d you reckon those fans would react to that? I’ll answer that for you – they’d be furious they did not build on success, they’d be mad that they blew a financial advantage over their peers, they’d be raging that financial success was not replicated on the pitch and the crowds would disappear. Does any of this sound familiar!
Celtic fans, except perhaps the young ones, are used to adversity and have suffered many lows over the years. I am 59 so have seen plenty of bad days but what makes me and many other angry is from positions of strength and financial superiority we have continually failed to take the next step. The lack of ambition and the characterless conservatism of the major shareholders is mind numbing whilst nobody is suggesting going bat shit crazy with spending can anyone honestly say that we have done our absolute best and pushed on, have we pushed the budget just a little more, he’ll have we ever had a net spend??
People get exacerbated with players because sadly that is the only outlet. It’s not perfect and I try not to do it but to watch what we have become from a position of absolute strength and with our huge financial advantage it’s beyond frustrating. It’s not entitlement to expect to win where we have such a huge advantage, it’s not entitlement to expect players to work there arses off and it’s not entitlement to expect a hugely overpaid executive to to manage the football side of the business better.
We don’t get angry and frustrated when we lose to teams around our level and beyond we’ve lived our whole football lives like that and we’re famous for appreciating good football and great teams when they came along. Where we are now is regularly getting beaten by Euro teams that we dwarf financially and structurally and the direction of travel is not up it’s down.
So sorry if we are not all signed up to the happy club but perhaps if the club showed some ambition and faith in the football the fans would too
Moisey17 on 16th December 2025 10:33 am
It’s 10.35am
And that is the post of the day.
“Credible sources speak of unrest amongst players unimpressed by the new regime and the training”
Stephen McGowan on The Celtic Way today.
Personally I can’t see who else can be blamed except Brendan Rodgers, the Green Brigade and the various other working class peasants who fund the club. Anti-establishment oiks the lot of them..
As well as Nancy our teams whatever title he goes by needs to learn how to deal with the media, they are going to tear him apart, totally out of his depth on and off the pitch
A bad government blames the voters.
dessybhoy on 16th December 2025 8:49 am
Auldheid
I would describe Celtic as a global community club in a PLC straight jacket.
It is an ill fit but it is what it is.
Celtic do meet some Foundation costs.
Fergus set up The Charity angle and it became The Foundation when DD was in situe and has gone from strength to strength.
My underlying point is that as a PLC a lot more could go into shareholders pockets than does if main purpose was to make profit for them.
The paradox is that more income could be derived from investing in players of higher quality to participate in the CL but that carries a risk that the PLC is not willing to take although it would increase share value.
There is an explanation for the profit and that is to spend more on better players would make the SPFL less competitive than it was up to last season.
An indicator that this is a factor is our wage bill and Rangers has been fairly close in previous 2 seasons.
It is the interdependent nature of football that explains the thinking of those running Scottish football clubs.
I grew up supporting Celtic in the belief Rangers were our toxic rivals and Celtic hated them in much the same way as the support.
However once the interdependent nature of the game became apparent that view changed.
In a sense the idea of toxic rivalry was good for business took over and was fueled by SDM to make him money but he lost sight that without Celtic he would make less.
The man should be arrested for crimes against Scottish football including murdering its integrity.
RC on 16th December 2025 10:46 am
As well as Nancy our teams whatever title he goes by needs to learn how to deal with the media, they are going to tear him apart, totally out of his depth on and off the pitch
====
From a communication angle I dont see how he passed interview but having a manager/coach from USA does make Celtic attractive to an American audience and investors….
Al-Qadsiash said: “Brendan will be joined by experienced Assistant Coaches John Kennedy and Jack Lyons, who will work alongside First Team Coaches, Alvaro Gomez Rey, Antolin Martín and Set Piece specialist coach, Elliott Tyebo.”
Good to see John Kennedy and Jack Lyons getting a well earned break there.
Hail Hail
I just read an article from Forbes on newsnow. It’s questioning what it says about the standard of MLS managers after WN disastrous start. Reading it brings up so many red flags about WN not being suited to Celtic. It mentions that the fans aren’t really that involved with the teams they support and the teams get very little media interest. Was a worrying read.
itscalledthemalvinas on 15th December 2025 10:26 pm
Where is Tontine Tim ?
Will have an ask around ictm :-) its been a while
HH
Hierarchy of responsibility.
Our well paid players must share responsibility. They have collapsed and are not doing the basics.
Are they giving 100% ?
Our captain has a rile to play here as all the senior players have.
What do we discuss at our huddle at the start of every game.? We thrash out how we are going to win.
Nobody knows the players better than Callum McGregor. Take some responsibility and tell the team how to win and potentially face the managers consequences later.
Very difficult to castigate when you are winning
HH.
HH.