After a home defeat to St Mirren in November precipitated Gary Holt’s resignation as Livingston manager, the West Lothian club have won all eight games played, by any measure, they are the form team in Scotland right now. They were 13 points behind fourth placed Hibernian after that St Mirren defeat. Hibs have played three games more than Livingston since then but the gap has shrunk to 7 points.
That should illustrate how Livi will be a more difficult opponent than Hibs were this week. New manager, David Martindale, will fancy his chances of making a name for himself at Celtic Park tomorrow.
Celtic are still without their 13 isolating players, as well as the long-term injured, although Nir Bitton returns from suspension and will likely replace Stephen Welsh. I expect David Turnbull to move into the middle at the expense of Tom Rogic, with Ewan Henderson starting on the right as he finished against Hibs.
Neil Lennon might be thinking long and hard about Diego Laxalt, who conceded the late foul Hibs equalised from on Monday, and did the same at Ibrox, preceding the corner kick Newco scored from. It is not totally Diego’s fault that we cannot defend set-pieces satisfactorily, but we need to find a way to stop him conceding them. Replacement by Greg Taylor is an option.
I have no suggestions as to what we do up front but would not be surprised if Mikey Johnston moved inside. On the positive side, Livingston will not know what to expect from us.
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Happy Friday from a Louisville celebrating 120 hours left of Trump. Get your pardon requests in now before it is too late. Wonder if Bitton put one in?
Higgins vs O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals today then onto Celtic Park tomorrow for more fun on the green stuff.
HH
come on the celtic
Braw
Welsh was excellent v Hibs,leave him there,why not play Bitton in midfield, as he is a midfielder…..
Come On You Bhoys In Green
D :)
JG- they say never meet your heroes, as you may be disappointed, you’ll have no issues when it comes to Voguepunter 👍
Drew1967
From last thread. :)
Its my bhoyish good looks that even full me into thinking I am younger. :)
My wee Grandson Riley (aged8) tells everyone his Granda is 32, he might have to rethink that as his mother is approaching that age :) but what a bhoy the wee mhan is Drew, a good wee footballer to and he loves the Celtic.
D :)
Every away team arrives @ CP confident these days.
full = fool Doh
Bada 😉👍🏼
VP – if you hang out with Big G, I just presume you’re always well turned out. Goes with the territory!🤷🏼♂️🙃
BT – a We Survived Lockdown Hoot will be well earned and much needed at the end of all this.
HH jg
Be a good idea to play Laxalt in his position, or not at all
He is as much a full back as Frimpong
Pingback: Livi will arrive at Celtic Park confident | Celtic FC News Now
Notthebus
That’ll never catch on!
😉
HH jg
A lot is going to be made in the coming weeks about Rangers winning the 55 , we have to do all we can to stop the Lie.
An interesting look back over the official coefficients from the Uefa website https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/club/#/yr/2011 (you can filter by country)
In 2010/11 Old Rangers coefficient was 51 (1st best in Scotland)
In 2011/12 Old Rangers = 39.5 (1st best in Scotland)
In 2012/13 Old Rangers = 19.5 (2nd best in Scotland)
In 2013/14 Old Rangers = 19.5 (2nd best in Scotland)
In 2014/15 Old Rangers = 13.5 (2nd best in Scotland)
In 2015/16 Old Rangers= 1.5 ( 3rd worst in Scotland)
In 2016/17 Do not exist on Uefa table ? ( you need 3 years accounts to be allowed a Uefa ranking)
In 2017/18 New Rangers ? = 0.25 (worst in Scotland with no previous history on Uefa table)
In 2018/19 New Rangers = 5.25 (3rd best in Scotland with 1 years history on Uefa table)
My theory is there are 2 Rangers (Old and New) hanging around the Uefa coefficient table as the Old Rangers has not been officially liquidated.
Play Welsh, not Bitton. He’s got potential and needs experience. He might make a complete arse of it, but if it’s good enough for Lawwell on 50 times his salary it’s good enough for him.
Let’s face it, after this year’s complete nervous breakdown at the club we are facing years of austerity, with prize assets sold to balance the books and a reliance on young players coming through.
Lennon has already completely blown it, so I don’t see the upside in giving Duffy and Bitton game time ahead of Welsh.
You could argue Duffy is getting paid £40K a week and should be made to earn it, but again I cite the Lawwell money for nothing precedent.
How Nir is still at the club after 5 years or whatever God knows he isn’t a defender, nor is he a midfielder no positional sense, mobility, can’t read the flight of the ball. Actually could say the same about Rogic, again, how he’s still at the club nobody knows. Tricks and flicks galore looks sensational, but they never come off …no discipline at all has had three good moments in a Celtic shirt….etc…
Have only picked out these two players but in truth of course as we know could select 3 or 4 others. This season, we have been well and truly found out, mainly because we don’t have a goalkeeper, too many players living on past laurels, promises of being allowed to leave not materialising for them and as a result key players just not giving a sht.
Anyway happy weekend everyone !
Paul67
Who’s the manager?
Welsh deserves to keep his place
focusing on a couple of fouls by Laxalt is not the way to pick a team or tactics. His fouls are not noteworthy in any other ream (inc past Celtic teams). Turnbull gave away the ball and fouls many times vs Hibs but we defended as we should. Use Laxalt while we can, got more bite than the rest of the team put together
The fact Turnbull was moved to the right vs Hibs provides further proof that Lennon has no idea what he is doing and the good formation with him at 10 was pure luck. Remember he played our worse midfield defender at LB against Cluj when he had a LB
Whoever plays 9 has to pay that position. Harper was all over the pitch and Ocko-Flex did stay in the middle but did nothing.
No idea what we should do up front other than see how it goes and sub early if we can’t score
Paul
On the positive side, Livingston will not know what to expect from us.
——
We do not know what to expect from us.
GARNGAD TO CROY on 15TH JANUARY 2021 12:26 PM
A lot is going to be made in the coming weeks about Rangers winning the 55 , we have to do all we can to stop the Lie.
=======================
Talk about fiddling whilst Rome burns!
Stuff them, I care not a jot what they are, what they have been or what they will become. Celtic PLC and the many fans pre-occupation with them has led us to where we are today.
We reap what we sow.
Livi have shown what difference can come from changing manager of underperforming team.
Efficient and effective leadership shown by the Livi board.
Other underperforming teams should take note.
Neil Lennon should think long and hard, if only
You can understand the thinking on Monday – get as many of our first team players on the pitch as possible. Rogic can’t play wide, Turnbull played there a lot (most of the time?) for Motherwell. I think if still rather have Turnbull and Rogic starting instead of playing Henderson out of position to accommodate Turnbull.
I don’t know how Livingston set up, with so many players unavailable we need to think more about countering the strengths of the opposition, especially a team in such good form. Hopefully that plays into the thinking
Could have been worse I suppose
Might have been playing Ferranti Thistle
http://celticbynumberscom.ipage.com/dubai-silver-lining/
The Dubai FUBAR is well covered in the latest Huddle Breakdown (https://t.co/WEv66e8seX?amp=1) but a tiny silver lining may be the chances afforded some youth players.
One took his chance vs Hibernian.
Livi are top of the form league and will be our toughest match this year of that I have no doubt.
BSR…Wink(big bad john) Martindale is the manager.
https://twitter.com/NCCeltic/status/1350064525287022594?s=09
Good banner
P67 says
‘I have no suggestions as to what we do up front but would not be surprised if Mikey Johnston moved inside’
I hope you don’t mean that failed trick of him being our CF, would be better playing Bain for his height😵😱
Celtic are still without their 13 isolating players, as well as the long-term injured, although Nir Bitton returns from suspension and will likely replace Stephen Welsh. I expect David Turnbull to move into the middle at the expense of Tom Rogic, with Ewan Henderson starting on the right as he finished against Hibs.
absolute shocking state of affairs , a team like Livi fancying their chances against us at Celtic Park.
Why would you replace Welsh a centre back with Bitton who is never a centre back.
Why create a right side position for Henderson who you said earlier is not a right sided midfielder.
Square pegs and round holes , or is it first in dressing room grabs a jersey gets a game.
The Green Brigade calling for Lawwell’s resignation is an inevitable outcome of his foolish loyalty to Neil Lennon.
I’ve a certain amount of sympathy for Lawwell but Neil Lennon’s poor job performance this season looks certain to have ended both their Celtic careers.
would be better to play Duff y as centre forward as we ended up doing at the last game against thems , he causes enough damage in our box , so why not leave him in theirs.
RC
I’m playing all the right players but not necessarily in the right position
Eric Morecambe CSC
Gene- VG
I think it’s likely that Peter Lawwell will leave the club this year, or at least, the succession plan will be implemented. My sense is he planned to go coincident with the Ten, and having blown it in extraordinary fashion, he’ll be offski in any event.
The peg on which Lenny’s jaiket hung fell off the wall two ago or more months. Any lingering, distant hope he clung to of winning the title this season evaporated with the Dubai calamity.
The last time we changed CEO and manager simultaneously was 1999, with Allan McDonald and John Barnes combining to such good effect that Barnes was chopped after 8 months, McDonald shortly thereafter. The resulting damage needed a £20M share issue to repair.
The previous time was when wee Fergus appointed Tommy Burns. The early optimism returned a single Scottish Cup in three years.
Before that, the twinning of Terry Cassidy and Liam Brady was conceived out of wedlock.
Changing manager of course is a well observed risk, but is generally undertaken within an established leadership structure. Changing CEO occurs less frequently, and is typically of little concern to the everyday operations of the club.
Considering the context: The financial impact of Covid-19 has consumed much of the available cash; The poor results in Europe and absence of fans at matches will have hammered income; the inevitable antipathy following a bust season on the park will affect season tickets renewals and merchandise; and the probable need to dismantle and rebuild the first team at the end of the season.
Cash reserves spent, losses posted, income hammered, top players offski.
A new CEO needs time to acclimatise and learn the ropes, while a new manager needs to build a new team as cash-essential European qualifying zips past.
The prospect is unlikely to appeal to an experienced manager, the very type that could handle the circumstances. While there will be a queue at the door for the CEO role, and the candidate might already be lined up or in place, a capable manager seems a more difficult brief to deliver.
The outlook beyond the end of the season is really rather unsettled, isn’t it.
“ On the positive side, Livingston will not know what to expect from us”
—-
Oh I think they do.
I expect more set piece calamities with a slow build up and little or no chance creation. But mostly I expect us to concede numerous chances from set pieces.
and goalies sh** scared to leave their line and take the ball and everyone in the vicinity other than flapping their arms about like a big whoose.
THE BATTERED BUNNET
As an optimist for the most part – I see us as retaining our position as Scotland’s top club. We’ve in built corporate and infrastructural advantages over Sevco.
We’ve a few players we can sell to finance a squad rebuild.
A top managerial appointment and I see us bouncing back next season.
The danger of regression is clear though and if the next manager is as bad as Lennon then we’re in an awful lot of trouble.
The interims next month will give us first sight of the task ahead of us in the next 6-18 months.
So, Livingston improved with a new manager and not a trip to Dubai? Bit old fashioned maybe, but hey if it works……..