You can train to be a football player for years, hone your skills and work on your fitness, but there are situations you can never prepare for until you are in the spotlight. Yesterday Mark Wilson had to field questions about his team-mates’ performance and his manager’s position, after another abject performance which drew criticisms from Neil Lennon towards the players.
Mark gave a textbook response to the BBC, “I don’t like slagging my team-mates off but we have to do better.
“Football is a result-driven game but we don’t want that [Neil Lennon sacked]. We are firmly behind the manager and we love working with him and the coaching staff.”
We should be in no doubt that harsh words are being spoken in the dressing room and team spirit must be awful, but the outside world need to see stoic unity.
Read issue 3 of CQN Magazine free online here or buy a print version at Magcloud.
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TBB
Is far too eloquent. He will get cut off at the meetings. The board have hired Jim Traynor to chair them ;-)
HH
Awe_Naw is a currant bun. There–I’ve said it. It was I who mentioned Billy Davies in a post yesterday, mentioning that even if he is a hun, he would do a better job than the present incumbents. Is that a reasonable statement? I think it is. Our present lot climbed fast and furious yet just failed to make the summit. They are now sliding back down a glacier inspite of throwing ice-picks and crampons at their team. By the way A/N–if the label inside your Yamaha classical guitar has a Made in Japan label, and is genuine, you have an excellent guitar. Even Made in Korea is good, because the excellence inspectors were still operating. Think of Volkswagen and Skoda and you get the idea. Very sellable on EBay. In the meantime, someone mentioned Davie Hay and Willie McStay. That now, really does look good.
The Battered Bunnet says:
30 October, 2011 at 16:35
Bravo Sir !
Bravo.
is willo Flood available in January ?
ernie lynch- we always go for the cheaper option,which Neil was.PL, our very own Arthur Daley is ultimately to blame for where Celtic lies today IMO.
dallasnomore @ 17.46
Would Rangers have won the game with ten men? Who knows they might well have done (fluky breakaway) but the sub who replaced Naismith did score their first goal.
To answer your question as to what has changed….in my opinion nothing has changed. Rangers still get the benefit of most decisions…..Collum/Brines/Murray etc are all still refereeing…..and I would say that statistically we are more likely to have a player booked first whereas for them an opposing player is more likely to get booked first. Will it ever change? Don’t think so.
Raymac
I have not been labelled a hun since my initial old firm united assertions. Thanks for the reinvigoration. The guitar says Nippon Gakki Co Ltd.
HH
Zbyszek
Just finished watching Lech Poznan vs Legia. Only caught the second half but thought your team took a bit of a beating. Stilic and Murawski played well for Poznan but Rudnevs was off form for most of the game. Legia played mostly on the counter attack. Zyro, your second half sub seemed to have a bit of pace and suits a counter attacking team.
If the Huns win next Saturday, they will be 15 points ahead and we will be playing a 6 pointer against Motherwell on Sunday, now whoda thought that at the start of the season.
Its enough to drive ye tae drink, i’m off.
Raymac,
Billy Davies is a no from me. I honestly never read your post. That came from the recesses of my diseased mind.
HH
if not now then when
for how much longer do CFC have to serve up this substandard,lazy,poor football which is completely devoid of application and passion
then players are off form but where is the coaching… the set pieces are dreadful ,the substitutions bemusing and the selection of players out of position…well
12 pts …do we let it get to 20 …do we wait until the next hun game , do we wait until the LC semi …
there are no signs of recovery ….none
Paul67
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
The prepack route for Rangers Newco FC
Watch the media coverage of these events carefully. If and when the decision time comes, the case to acquiesce to Rangers Newco’s demands will be overwhelming. Sincere ‘impartial’ observers will do their upmost to convince us all we must do whatever necessary to save Rangers for the good of the Scottish game. Some voices will even tell you Celtic need Rangers Newco. Whatever part of my club is dependent on Rangers I am willing to lose
A/N, given that label means you have a genuine guitar. It was only in the late 80s that copies came around, and they were crap–easily identified by a half-decent player. It sounds as if it’s between 1965/70. I’m not a classi8cal guitar player,but I know the early Yamahas were very good, because Yamaha wanted to crash the markets in the USA and Europe.
I will start by saying as a person I love Neil Lennon as a player he was emense and when his life and his families lives were threatened he had courage that I doubt that I would have had. However,its as a manager we are asked to judge him now and he is found imo wanting on his man management skills and he is imo found wanting on his tactical knowledge and imo he is found wanting in his judement of the media.There is only one way this will end if he doesnt resign and walk away with his head held high there is no shame in admitting the Celtic job is to much for you. As much as I would love to I cant see Neil and his management team turning this around we will suffer more poor results as the season goes on and the support drifting away and when that happens he and his management team will be fired. So tonight I hope Neil has a trusted advisor who is advising him to resign walk away and still be a Celtic hero.H.H.
Poolbhoy,
Will the huns still be with us next Saturday.
Kelvin Wilson Billy Davies favourite. Where was the review panel with that tackle ?
HH
timbhoy2 doing his best as usual impersonating a hun.
Peter K
HUN!
REPOSTED; Awe Naw…
Great you are back to regular posting…nae BS fae yersel.
Still enjoying the remainder o yer honeymoon in thailand? Did ye get the guitar at Mo Chit
(weekend market) in bangkok? Hope ye bought a pair o wellies as well.
Anyway take care & Hail! Hail!…..Chok dee!!
After reading the vast majority of posts over the last 24 hours, I felt moved enough to share my views on the current plight of our great club.
On reading the blog regularly, I must say, I am taken aback at the level of apathy pouring out from a number of articles written by respected contributors.
We seem to have fallen into the abyss, certainly when many start trotting out the old “this is our lot” line. Of all the things I have heard from Celtic fans over the years, it has never been one along the lines of taking it on the chin – was this not a bone of contention during the Mowbary experiment(!)?
Having been born into a Celtic daft family 32 years ago, I may not have the same collage of experiences as some of the posters here, or those who have attended matches home and abroad for a large portion of their life and, who have lived through the good the bad and the ugly times that life (and football) invariably throws at you.
However, what I do know, is that accepting our lot is not an expression, feeling or standard that is in our DNA. Not now. Not EVER.
In fact, I am shocked that some believe this is all we can now expect, and seem willing to sit back and absorb whatever comes our way.
I can only go on my own experiences and I think back to 1994.
The press were gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of our great club going to the wall. Oh the laugh they would have. The copies they could sell. The future was, well, dark, dingy and caked in Royal Blue – much to many of these imbeciles joy.
I was 15 and had been attending matches since I was about 8, and so, hadn’t seen too much success with my own eyes, apart from the Centenary season. I just couldn’t get my head around why all of this was happening and why there was such voyeuristic interest from the hacks who were gathering like vultures.
There was light though.
A year earlier, Celts For Change were formed.
The overriding feeling of the time was apathy (sound familiar?) and something had to be done in order to, both save the club from ruin, and return it to some former glories. This filled me with immense pride, even as a youngster and typified the essence of what my parents and old Granda had always alluded to when talking to me about Celtic as a boy.
This community, fight, ability to organise and use intelligence and guile to change, what seemed like, the impossible. Unique to Our Club.
This again was highlighted by the Celtic Share Issue and the huge amount of fans who put their hand in their pocket in order to make Our Club the best it could be.
This, to me, is the embodiment of what Our Club is all about.
There will always be differing opinions, but the acceptance of mediocrity is NOT in our make-up.
Since Fergus McCann took over, we have returned to the kind of trophy success we should expect at a club like Celtic FC. It hasn’t always been Barca-esq, and there have been times when we have under-achieved – but that is the beauty of football…
The one constant during this time though, has been, that we have never been a huge spending club. Indeed RFC have continued to outspend us. This is not my concern.
The difference now seems to be that we are rudderless. No cohesive plan, no five year footballing plan, no priorities (other than the balance sheet) and somewhat leaderless.
The three managers over the last 15 years who have managed to foster a winning mentality have all had decent experience:
Wim Jansen
Martin O’Neil
Gordon Strachan
They all had differing approaches to football, but they had experience at the top level – without being a Trapattoni, Hiddink, Ferguson, Mourinho etc.
It is no coincidence that they all won the league – 7 times in 10 seasons between them.
Investing in a decent manager normally brings about decent success.
This was still in a time when they were financially doping. Evading tax and providing Advocaat with two top class teams – one for home one for Europe (co. The Daily Record).
You see good management, scouting and tactical awareness can trump anyone. Even those who “spend a tenner for every fiver” you spend.
Due to the rudderless course the club seems to be on at the minute, we seem to have thought it would be a good idea, not only to invest in a coaching team who have no experience at the top level, but a team chocked full of youngsters, promising players and journeymen.
This is why we are at this juncture. Wrong choices, at the wrong time.
Nevertheless, we still vastly outspend the entire league (bar one side) and yet find ourselves scrapping with Motherwell for third place. This is an extension of the shortcuts we are intent on taking.
This squad of players should still comfortably beat the rest of this league considering the talent and international caps they have accrued in their short careers. Most of our first team squad would walk into any of the other sides in our agricultural league. Even the ones we think aren’t good enough – Samaras. Check. Majstorovic. Check. Loovens. Check…
You get the picture.
The upshot of all of this is that we are performing so far below the standard these players are capable of and that is because we are leaderless from top to bottom.
Frankly, I believe, any manger worth his salt could come in and get this team playing at a better level and with a more coherent tactical awareness. Playing like a TEAM and not a collection of individuals. A manager is like a parent. Whatever they teach the players (kids) are the attributes they will demonstrate to the world. Good or bad.
Our players are showing nothing more than disdain and disrespect for the fans and famous jersey they are wearing. Not that NL is teaching this, but it suggests they clearly don’t respect what he is teaching.
I very much love Neil Lennon and last season he did “Bring back the thunder”. He did so under pressure that no other human being should have to take. A disgusting back drop of hate.
He did a marvellous job.
Nevertheless, the team are now going backwards. The team of young players are not progressing in a time when they should supposedly be getting better with each passing month, each passing game. At the minute we will finish way behind the leaders – a 25 point penalty excluded.
This is not what Celtic is about.
As well as humility, charity, political awareness and community, we are also about winning. Success. Trophies and 60,000 fans packing the stadium.
At the moment we have none of this.
Despite this, many seem to have settled into “Ces’t la vie” mode. I find the apathy and willingness to accept this situation more worrisome than the performances.
Even the boos at the end of the game yesterday were apathetic, like a bunch of smokers who had turned up for the wrong group meeting and couldn’t quite muster a breath between them.
When the booing becomes lacklustre, then we know we have a problem. A problem of even caring enough anymore.
The blaming of RFC, the SPL, referees, the establishment etc etc etc is valid to a point. But only so when we uphold our end of the bargain. At the moment we are not doing that and therefore, all outside gripes hold no weight.
It is our own fault!
I am not banging the drum for a some sort of sack the board nineties revival. However, what we do need to do, is make our voice heard. Demand the sort of success we think we are capable of. Demand a manger or coaching staff who can mould this bunch into a team that can at least beat Hibs or St Johnstone or Hearts.
This is not a lot to ask.
I am not looking for net spend of 20m, or five Premiership players to be added to the squad. Just to play at the standard that we are capable of. To show a modicum of passion. To illustrate heart, desire and a will to win for this club and its unique supporters.
The reason we are where we are right now is because our board have been negligent. They have appointed a rookie and rookie back-team staff. They have sanctioned the purchase of a rookie first team squad.
One of these ventures has to change. Whether it is going with an experienced manager with a history of developing young players and a promising young team, or a young promising manager supplemented with a squad of round the block professionals.
A decision in the summer is too late. When does it get to the point that enough is enough? When they are on the precipice of 9 IAR again? They will be at 4 by then, and that has come in a supposed crisis!
Not this time. Not again.
We need someone with balls and gravitas who can grab these players, and this club, by the scruff of the neck and scare everyone to the core. If they don’t do the business, they are out on their ear.
Let’s see if they can move onto the so called bigger teams/leagues after apparent failure in a tin pot league like the SPL.
If their head has been turned and they have chucked it because they want a move or a new contract. Good riddance.
If they don’t want to sign a new contract. Good riddance.
If the CEO doesn’t want to buy the players on the list. Out him and we, the fans, will make sure that he is the next one we are saying “Good riddance to”.
I know times are tough, but we, the Celtic Family, need to be on the same page, traversing the same steep hill, all singing from the same hymn sheet.
If we all agree that just now is not acceptable and we all agree that Celtic FC is every much about success as it is ‘Win, lose or draw’, then why are so many meekly accepting our demise?
We need to pull together, as one, to reintroduce the values of what this club is all about.
And that doesn’t involve rolling over and dying…
In a depressingly short period of time we seem to hav egone from ‘Something inside so Strong’ to ‘Something inside so Wrong’.
Fix the XI.
PFayr
What do you think is the problem at the moment mate?
Raymac,
It’s a great guitar. Been playing for 30 years. I could not hear it right cause the market was really loud. I asked the guy and he said 3000 baht. I then got the wife and she haggled him down to 2000 baht. I thought the D string was dodgy. Took a chance brought it home. Tuned it up. Played tears in heaven and I was ecstatic then the D string snapped under the recent tuning. Left me even happier. No bad for a hun ;-)
HH
Some brillaint posts lately bhoys, the current situation is bringing the best out of CQN
For awalkacrosstherooftops if you’re lurking:
Just discovered a whole wheen of Blue Nile songs I hadn’t heard. Thank-you youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfZFaP3nNsc&feature=related
Micky-T
Sorry bud.
Your cqn name is too similar to a Hobby Tony v1.0 hit.
Still here. A week to go. Wednesday is the big day here as far as the floods go. Thanks for your fine post.
Love to Rancho also.
HH
ASSONOFDAN IM A BIGGER CELTIC SUPPORTER THAN WHAT YOU ARE .I BET YOU ARE ONE OF THEM ARMCHAIR SUPPORTERS.CALL ME A HUN OR WHATEVER ,BUT THERE A THOUSANDS LIKE ME WHO HAVE THE SAME OPINIONS ABOUT NEIL LENNON AND LAWELL ,TIMES UP
seanbhoy
imo there is a significany lack of workrate and passion …no drive no cohesion and no fight
spineless bottle merchants at times
injuries have hampered us but we should be capable of beating SPL moderates we are not
we are a poor side with no sign of improving
i am very very concerned
AWE NAW 1654
Careful,mate.
I read recently about a Chinese fella who went for the all-over-body experience by having a bath in among the little blighters.
One swam up his urinary tract,damned near killed him!
Wouldnae dae,what wi you just in the honeymoon stages…..
Did the clocks go forward six days.
Fireworks in the Gorbals.
Anyway, just getting dressed for the big night in Sharkeys. Going as a ……….naw secret!
Hail hail
Estadio
Setting Free The Bears
Big thank you for that. I think we were better in the first half, they were better in the second half. Very often we let the other team to play on our half. That was fifth or sixth game without lost goal. Agree that Rudnevs was off form today but shown marks of good striker.
That Zyro is only 19 years old. Like 3 other players today he is the product of our Football Accademy. Our goalkeeper who made few excellent saves came for free in June. We spent nothing on him.
Zbyszek/SFTB
Top three in Poland versus top three in Scotland.
How do they compare, football wise?
Hail Hail
Estadio
I have heard several variations of the rumoured fall out between Neil Lennon and Kriss Commons from several different sources, all reporting their own impeccable sources.
The trouble is that the details of the rumour vary in each telling. Some are passing on the FF rumour that the coaching staff turned up drunk and unfit to run a professional training session. Some state that Commons intervened on behalf of a younger player to defend him from Neil’s “unfair” criticism. Some have Commons complaining to the Board about the coaching staff. Some have it that the issue is with Thommo not Neil.
You can see why it is easy to dismiss these rumours as the heated invention of those who feel the need to be “in the know” even when the knowledge is invented, gilded and twisted.
And yet the rumours persist. Re-circulated here today as back up for those who feel they need to add some “colour” to the already bleak evidence of the league table, in their desire for Neil (not Kriss, never Kriss) to go
Here’s what I particularly do not get about the alleged breakdown. Every rumour places this fall out as occurring prior to the Hearts game where Kris was selected by Neil, where he played well for the team, before he was sent off for a reckless challenge.
Now, if Kriss had burnt his boats with Neil, and any reporting of the management to the Board, would have been a severe challenge to any manager’s authority with a player, surely Neil would not have selected him for the Hearts game?
Does anyone really feel they have the definitive truth on these matters? (If you do, please do not trail them on these pages). And if your version is definitive how do you account for the differing “impeccably sourced” versions? And how do you account for the Hearts selection if Neil was punishing him?
I wonder whether we are not deducing there must be dressing room unrest because we have had poor results. “He’s lost the dressing room” has always floated around the no. 3 slot in the Football Cliches top 20 behind “No Plan B” (a perennial no.1) and “bizarre team selection” (as if there was ever a consensus about this subjective opinion).
Bobby,
I am genital wart free. He wiznae, and although I am big it never touched the water. ;-)
HH
A wee bit fed up today after weekend’s results & that coupled with me travelling up to Aberdeen tonight/ Offshore tomorrow…really I was on a downer. THEN came on CQN for
my daily fix & I am reinvigorated..not because the results change but fellow tic fans are also hurting & some particularlly fine posts today( Snake,james Forrest,TBB,Awe Naw) this has
totally changed my mood …Thanks Lads !!
Take Care…..I’ll post again fae the rig..
Micky T
Estadio
I’ll let Zbyszek field your question with more authority.
I thought the players i saw were skillfull enough and tactically deployed but I also felt the tackling was nowhere near as rough as SPL tackling.
The likes of Ian Black and Lee McCulloch would get sent off in the tunnel pre-match anywhere but here.
PFayr
The lack of effort yesterday was a disgrace.
I think that was what disappointed me most.
Br\o/gan R\o/gan Trevin\o/ and H\o/gan says:
29 October, 2011 at 12:11
Ah used tae go for guitar lessons when ah wis about 20 many moons ago,the teacher wis that good at playing it wid make you weep.
Romance being a particular favourite.
Your piece gave me the same feeling well done fantastic effort.
Romance
….PFayr says:
30 October, 2011 at 18:19
Agree with your summary, the lack of application in the last 2 homes games has been very poor……….. and is consistent with a team with no idea what they are doing or indeed any motivation
Still , the international break will give Dignity the chance to pull the plug , particularly if he lose next week at Motherwell, and gives the SPL / SFA 2 weeks to get their story straight.
offforadrinkwithMrsEKBHoyupearlytomorrowCFC
Sirbeardybhoy
Great post sir.