Celtic frittered away another two points at Kilmarnock this afternoon after a performance which ultimately showed depths of determination but was marked by shockingly bad organisation.
Kilmarnock’s opener in 25 minutes could not have been simpler. An 80 yard high ball was collected on the edge of the Celtic penalty area by Heffernan, who turned and picked out the onrushing Dean Sheils, who was initially being marked by Beram Kayal but the Israeli failed to match Sheils run, allowing the Killie player time to pick his spot and score.
The home team were encouraged by the opening goal and continued to press forward. Fraser Forster did well to turn over a blistering shot from Kelly which was destined for the top corner. Kilmarnock’s pressure was rewarded on 40 minutes when Kayal and James Forrest stood off a ball conceding possession. Sheils crossed for the offside Heffernan to score but the assistant referee didn’t flag so the goal stood.
Seconds before half time Charlie Mulgrew was short with a back pass and James Fowler chipped Forster to give Killie and three goal half time lead.
The first 28 minutes of the second half were miserable for Celtic as the team appeared resigned to a fate similar to the Celtic team which visited St Mirren Park in March 2010 but Anthony Stokes had other ideas. Stokes missed what was surely the worst chance of his career early in the first half when the scores were still level, and saw a good penalty claim denied on 71 minutes, but instead of hiding he stepped forward.
James Forrest, who also stood up to be counted throughout, ran at the Killie midfield and was fouled 25 yards out. Stokes struck the resultant free kick perfectly into the top left corner.
Two minutes later Stokes collected the ball from Ki 28 yards from goal in what seemed like a safe position but his swift turn and inch-perfect shot beat Jaakkola in the Kilmarnock goal.
Kilmarnock were now rattled and Celtic were level on 79 minutes. Daniel Majstorovic got on the end of a long free kick at the back post and squared for Charlie Mulgrew who headed home.
Having scored three times within seven minutes and with over 10 minutes of the game remaining the Celtic support had reason to feel confident their team could collect all the points but it was Kilmarnock would should have tied up the win in the final minutes when Heffernan found himself unmarked inside the Celtic six yard box but headed over, however, the home team will be happy to have collected their first point in four games.
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tyrehoops
HH
beamish -and stay well clear of the ole similes ;/)
OK bhoys and ghirls …..its refreshment time…off to pub and bookies.
i see a cork and naas on today..Any of the irish ghuys got any tips?
HAIL HAIL
Aldersyde Avenue……behave yourself……
we can go ahead and sack neilly bhoy if we think thats the way forward
but me i dont think it will make one blind bit of difference
if the alternative to lenny is owen coyle or similair with a 2 million pound war chest
for me if there are sackings to be made they now need to be made higher up the tree
the downsizing is the root cause of the problem,
the lack of coherent strategy for growth is the problem
8 short years ago we had larsson and suttom and hartson and co in the uefa cup final
i just cant see us getting there again in the next 8 years and that not lennys fault
paul…
a cannae get these fags to light..they smell of burning plastic!
hail hail
Scott Brown, Dan, Glenn Loovens, Darren O’Dea, Lukas Zaluska
Just some of the players whose contracts expire at the club in June 2012
Philbhoy- Tony is a canididate but is further down the pecking order.
James Keatings played with James Forrest in the U-19’s 2 years ago and had a great understanding, he picked up a bad knee injury last season so don’t know if he is ready yet, I watched him a few times and looks the real deal.
He and McGeough are the 2 best prospects.
Good piece in the Scotland on Sunday today
about John Robertson’s autobiography ‘Super Tramp’.
Paul67 et al
It is exactly a year to the day when Celtic beat Dundee United 2-1 at Tannadice, with Gary Hooper scoring a last minute winner. Remember that? That was the day when Neil Lennon found out what he was up against. It was also the day the SFA found out what they were up against, a united Celtic front behind our Manager. For the rest of the season Neil Lennon had to fight on all fronts, in some cases literally, for Celtic Football Club. He did not deliver the League title, mistakes were made on and off the pitch, but it was not for the lack of effort from him, from those around him, and those out in front of him. For his efforts, and despite the disappointment, Neil was saluted by a packed Celtic Park in our final match against Motherwell, and again against the same team at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final. That was then, this is now. After a mixed start to the season some, many maybe, of his erstwhile supporters come now not to praise Neil Lennon, not to salute him, but to put him to the sword.
For the cause, I hope you understand.
Looking on the bright side for once – we would have been happy enough to be still 7 points behind TFOD at noon yesterday. I went out at 16 50 having only half checked the scores and assuming they had won 1-0.
In a way, we’ve come out of it slightly positive as it was looking as if they would never drop any points. I know we will because we’re fragile at the moment. Perhaps other teams might have a bit more belief against them now and not being beaten before they started.
The managerial ‘lost the dressing room award’ must go to the French rugby coach, Marc Lievremont, who has called his players ‘spolt brats’ after they disobeyed his orders to go out on the town after their less than epic efforts against the unlucky Welsh. After they lost to Tonga, he got a few cases of beer in to clear the air at a team meeting. None of his squad showed up. Somehow, though, they’re in a World Cup final.
is there anyone who finds it sickening when we are told we must live with in our means and get used to things as there is
no money in the game and it might die, while at the same time those same merchants of doom are collecting or deferring [not refusing]there huge bonuses,
so its ok to downsize the calibre of player at celtic park and employ a completely inexperienced man as manager of said players,
fail miserably in four years on were it counts or should count,now if this is not obvious to fellow fans that there is a conflict of
interest then i give up we are finished, peter lawell and others have made more money while we have been failing than they were when we were winning why would they change strategy.
Celtic Mac- Good point.
Anybody know how Hugh Dallas’ libel case against Steven Craven is progressing?
Tamrabam……”the downsizing is the root cause of the problem”……..of course it is, we are in the middle of a recession which is going to get MUCH worse, and last for MANY more years yet……. the Board strategy is spot on….the Club’s survival………THERE IS NO MONEY IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL, and many Scottish Clubs are going to go to the wall…..rankers first since their ‘STRATEGY’ has landed them in all sort of financial shoite…….(I’m pleased to say….!!!)…….our problem is not the Board, not the manager……..our problem is the character of some of the players ……..thet need to get the finger out, and not stroll about the park as if they are for a walk in the countryside…… Neil needs to get hungry / ambitious players like Manyama and Bangura on the park….
good afternoon a great goal from a free kick by Larsson the Sunderland one against the Arsenal 1-1 Regarding yesterday everybody and his Granny could see Hooper was injured and should have been off earlier than he was.Why could Lenny and the coaching staff not see it.Regarding Centre halfs two Bo Bo Baldes would do for me
H H
67Heaven … I am Neil Lennon..!! Tick Tock !! says:
16 October, 2011 at 14:03
Agree 100% – too many folk think money = success and or good player. That team yesterday should have been able to beat Kilmarnock and did not…poor formation, too many petted lips and off form players.
I hope that Lennon gives Hooper and Kayal the kick up the erse that they need and realises it is not Samaras that is going to get him the sack – there are a few others that will do that long before Samaras does.
I’m Neil Lennon(tamrabam0
I have to agree that downsizing and zero expectation of playing success on the boards part is a huge reason for the mess our club is in.
But a coach could have a major impact on steadying the ship.
Neil Lennon is a Celtic legend but unfortunately he is hopeless as a coach.
This is not a reaction to yesterday on my part as i have voiced frequent concerns since the start of his tenure.
When he took over from Mowbary i did not see much improvement on the football side but gave him credit for improving the morale and attitude of the team.
Last season our European performances added to my reservations as i thought his tactical contribution’s cost us.
Subsequent league failures when we had the chances only added to my disquiet.We never seemed to have a proper playing system and most of our successes came from our individual talent’s rather than great tactical strategy.The tactics in the 2-0 win against the huns with Sammi’s great performance that were used in evidence of Neil’s tactical genius was because injuries and suspension left us short of options.
The 3 raws in a row were a perfect example of when the individuals dont get us the result we have no plan b.We failed at every vital junction last season.
This season brought more of the same in Europe.
The criticism of individuals by the coach and uneven treatment of players while refusing to take any responsibility for his obvious coaching failings all have me convinced that he has to go now.
deep down i suspect that even the most ardent ahhpy clappers know that yesterday we were very close to conceeding 4 in a row
But no need to worry because we are pretty much without any debt as long as we sell Hooperand or Izzy to balance the books
over the years i have listened to absolute claptrap on here about how priviledged we should be to have such a good board behind us, and that i should get real and try to understand simple economics
Well i always thought that i did understand simple business practice anyway, but maybe not.
Anyway, IF the huns do make it four in a row.
Do our board have a plan about how to run the club on a 40 million quid turnover
is that plan to simply cut wages even further and (usually) reducing the quality of player
is that our objective for the 5 in a row seasonanyone, can cut costs and lose the league, thats not really an achievement.
last time the huns got on a run like this it was probably around 6 in a row when i personally realised that there was a serious threat to our record
i wonder when that moment will dawn again, 5 in arow? maybe six in a row, maybe we will wait until its seven.
but i tell you this bhoys, (rab c accent) if we continue with the currect tact this is exactly where we will end up
some one at CP has to break the spiral of descent over the past 8 years, if we dont Its a long way back.
Leaderless on the pitch and rudderless off the pitch, running out of cheaper options and SB sales simultaneously
forgot to Add when Charlie made his mistake for the third goal.i thought of the old Addage When in doubt put it in row Z .Did he not make the same type of mistake against Motherwell last season in the defeat there
If those players in the main were not signed by Neil Lennon then it is likely that is the reason why they don’t play for him.
Now Neil himself has said that Kayal was his boy and he himself had seen him in the Champions League. Fair enough. Forrest is his bright eyed boy and I believe Charlie Mulgrew was a Lennon signing and Kelvin Wilson is undoubtedly Lennon’s man who he wanted from day one.
Some of the others are obviously influenced by his coaching team but others do appear to have been Lawwell and John Park influenced.
Phil Mac Giollbhain has said he knows for a fact that Bangura wasn’t a Lennon signing AND HE NEVER EVEN SAW THE GUY PLAY before he signed.
That is criminal in my view. Now Phil has said it on the podcast beyond the waves – http://www.spreaker.com/page#!/show/hail_hail_media
if you don’t believe me. Phil seems very angry about this and he is right when he says there is no way anyone can do the job without control.
He went to the board in the summer and asked for certain players and never got them.
If Neil is getting dictated to he is not our manager, he is merely holding the baby. The last manager in total control was Martin ONeill and before that Jock Stein. Even Big Billy was hamstrung by the board but I don’t think Billy McNeill, Macari, Davie Hay and Tommy Burns were put into a position like this one.
Here is 3 ex celtic i would go for to replace lennon,mjaliby,parker.john collins.john hughes,and roy aitken.all 3 knows what it is to play and win the celtic way,celtic dont wait any longer before and believe me its going to worse while the 3 present coaches are still in charge.
kelvin bhoy, and tick tock
SURVIVAL?? do you think celtics objective nowadays is and should be all about survival?
and do you think that simply cutting wages to match income is applaudabvle or should we be trying to increase income so that we can increase wages/quality
do you thionk that buying pool plyers instead of first team players will help our survival
do you think that the huns recent 30 million quids worth of CL money helped our survival or theirs?
whitecrook tim?
who are you?
we must be neighbours
Snake Plissken
I know for a FACT Neil Lennon says “we (Celtic) watched him for over a year”.
Kelvinbhoy…….correct, the media chose to focus on Samaras, and when they have ‘destroyed’ him, they will move onto someone else…..same old , same old…!!
By all accounts, the current bbuns were thier usual crud yesterday…….I blame the ref……he took his eye off the ball, thinking St Mirren wouldn’t score……LOL
Can’t wait for the January window, when whyte will sell ‘anything that moves’….
Tamrabam……..I’m afraid your philosophy is on a par with that of the current buns……and look where that got them……….honestly, things are going to get a LOT worse financially for Scottish teams….!! someone said to me yesterday that the rankers players are being primed to expect delays in wage payments from November (serious cash=flow problems reaching critical point)…….thought that was a bit of an exageration but it may account for their ‘form’……!!??….not to worry, though, the refs will step in……..!!!!……lots of LOL….!!!
Is there any update on when it is time to panic?
U
no longer live there.my brother Gerry Mcghee does
Snake……..EVERY player needs to be the manager’s choice………don’t know where Phil got the info but, if accurate, THAT is a REAL worry…..
notthebus
Celtic isn’t Neil Lennon.
He also said Fraser Forster was his first choice keeper from the start of the season. OK but why on earth look at two other keepers?
Lenny is saying one thing in public but what he thinks privately is another matter which neither you nor I could know.
Bangura regardless of who signed him looks an absolute dud and if Neil Lennon did really want and sign him then it would be a bigger mark against him.
i know gerry well, i used to live about 3 doors away
I’m Neil Lennon (tamrabam) says:
16 October, 2011 at 14:21
Maybe wrong but sure that RFC wage bill is less than ours so that argument is not worth anything. Brown, Samaras, Loovens, Dan etc, etc on a par or more that Rangers top earners…..
You speak about buying players as though you just find a wad of cash and the best players come……countless managers over the past few years have had money and spent it on exactly what you have said – nothing more than pool players so the argument about money is wrong too. It is not the amount you spend it is what you spend it on and for what we have spent over the last few seasons we shoudl have better quality.
Whether you like it or not that it is not Peter Lawell or anyone else’s fault – it is the managers who have frittered our cash on rubbish……Murphy, Dan(who cost nothing but is on £18k a week, Lyndberg(same), Loovens, etc, etc.
The Board do need to think about loosening the purse strings but it is no guarantee of success and I think we all need to wake up to that.
Only watched match on tv but there were times when everyone in the dugout were standing perplexed. Other times they were all giving out orders at the same times also.
Some points Lenny was looking sullen sat motionless in the box.
There seems to be too many chiefs in there. Cannot imagine it is.helpful as a player to see your dugout as sixes and sevens.
An experienced head is needed to keep calm when all around are panicking.
Snake Plissken
You’ve moved the arguement on.
You are implying Neil Lennon is being undermined by sources unknown in player recruitment and team selection.
I contest there isn’t a shred of evidence to support this
he is in Australia working at present and meetind an old friend Alan Hughes
Curious choice of substitutes yesterday.
Regardless of injuries – there are surely a couple of u19s who could have offered more options – we had an entire alternative defence, 2 full backs and 2 centre halves sitting on the bench..
Substitutes
24 Zaluska,
04 El Kaddouri,
12 Wilson,
22 Loovens,
25 Rogne,
67 Wanyama,
14 Bangura
Kelvinbhoy……..I actually get quite frustrated at some of the posts from fans who really do need to wake up to the fact that the long term survival of Scottish Football as ay kind of ‘product’ is at stake here……one or two clubs have realised that ‘reality’………..and it has all eminated from the SDM reckless / (allegedly) criminal strategy of SPENDING MONEY THEY DIDN’T HAVE
kelvin bhoy
i think you are correct that the huns have a smaller wage bill but then they have concentrated on buying players who are first team players rather than pool players, eg jelavic
what about this question then bud
do you think that the manager would have bought the likes of dan and sammi if he had more money available?
but i do agree that a club with a wage bill in excess of 30 million should be able to beat a club with a wage bill of say 3 million quite easily and quite often and that many of our signings are over paid
the likes some of the players you mentioned such SB etc fall into that bracket
but im not sure that lenny signed them
imo for what its worth, we need to stick with NL as boss
we need to front load our spending (for example takes the next three years budget up front for the manager)
this will involve some debt
the money should be spent on genuine first team players, no more dans or glendas or rognes or ki
that way we can improve the quality of the first 11 at the expense of the size of our pool
further spending during the next three years is only when we sell on players, or if the front load results in additional monies such as CL or increasing SB sales
failure to do this and to continue on the current path will only lead to forther downwards spirals of less good players resulting in less SB sales and euro income
up_over
The problem is two fold.
Personnel, and playing style.
The Celtic side and the way it’s set out has not been right, long before NL arrived, the sad thing is NL hasn’t changed the mindset, of how we attempt to play.
Nothing changed from Parkhead (v St Johnstone) to Ibrox, to Edinburgh and then Kilmarnock
Adam Matthews is a younger fitter Mark Wilson, very comfortable on the ball, but he’s not a great defender especially in the air, and I’ve yet to see him defend the right back area, especially at the back post with any cross ball ( a perennial full back problem at Celtic ) This puts focus on central defenders the minute a ball passes over them, as it does continually sometimes as early as in the first minute of the game, (Sion) as Celtic go charging forward, leaving exposed vulnerable, and poor defenders behind to counter the inevitable breakaways.
Cha Du Ri isn’t a full back either, he was at fault in the 1st and 2nd goals at Kilmarnock, in conjunction
with Dan Majstorovic in the CB position who sadly isn’t fit for the purpose, as he’s terrified to attack and head the ball in every game he plays, instead he ball watches, freezes and the results are there for all to see.
More terrifying, is the fact that Rogne and Loovens are sitting on the bench, passed over in his favour.
In the meantime we have seven or eight CB’s, some away on loan, all with faults, and because of the way we try to play their frailty will show.
The format of how the game is attempted must change, or the results will stay the same.