Eddie Howe was generous about Celtic when asked during the press conference announcing him as Newcastle manager. In his view, he was unable to take on the task of managing such a club without his regular backroom staff, whom he was unable to convince to move to Glasgow. This was the reason he gave Celtic when rejecting them in May, although I was sceptical then.
Compare that to our own Ange Postecoglou, who accepted the job with nothing more than a list of names detailing those he would work with at Celtic. He knew none of them. The contrast could hardly be starker.
Six months later it is easy to forget what shape the club was in when Ange arrived. A threadbare squad, minus the want-aways, a new CEO in his first job in football with zero on-the-ground experience of European football. Eddie Howe didn’t have the self-belief that Ange has, but Eddie was right to doubt the job could be done with anything less than the A Team.
Newcastle may have all the money the sovereign investment fund of Saudi Arabia can put their hands on, but spending it effectively in January, tempting transformative players into a club marooned at the bottom of the table, will take more than a jab in the arm before bundling them onto a plane bound for Newcastle.
No bad blood with Eddie, he made the right decision, right for him, right for Celtic, although maybe not right for Newcastle, who failed to lift themselves off the foot of the table last night because of a late equaliser from our old pal Teemu Pukki.
I know what you are thinking. Hibs bounced Newco out of the League Cup a week ago, can they repeat the result in the league at Easter Road tonight? Before a win over 10-man St Johnstone on Saturday, that Hampden result was the only time they avoided defeat in six outings. They are a poor team, dare we expect anything……..?
282 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- »
I fancied Hibs in the S/F – the huns we’re in shock Slippy G had forsaken them.
I fancy the huns strongly tonight. Thanks to their financial doping they have much better players and ‘Gio’ seems to have galvanised them.
Even if they win I hope Hibs make them work hard for it. We’ll get the benefit of that over the 4 weeks.
PS congrats Ronny Deila.
The thing is though that Howe was right to think twice about doing it alone – he saw what everyone but the Board seem to see and that’s a club with no infrastructure who are in need to a complete revamp from top-to-toe: no Director of Football or Head of Operations, no Head of Recruitment or scouting, no Head of Sports Science, a medical department which doesn’t have a full-time doctor, a coaching team that consisted of Kennedy and Strachan, and a squad in need of a rebuild.
In those circumstances he was right to want his own team in place. Ange took the job, realistically, because it was his shot at European football and he was desperate for the opportunity. His self-confidence and personality is keeping the show on the road, and he’s recruited some good players but it’s all short-term.
If we’re relying on his knowledge of the Japanese market and contact book for recruitment, that’ll be out of date by summer and we’ll end up in an Ajeti-situation where we’re buying players based on performances a year or more ago!
With the exception of the Head of Sports Science post, we’ve still not filled the vacant roles and worsened the situation as we now don’t have a permanent CEO. We’re a throwback to the old days in terms of football infrastructure and are all in on Paul67’s hated messiah manager approach with Ange. Which will work for a short time but isn’t sustainable. Meanwhile Queens Park go out and recruit an up and comer from AZ as a DoF – we’re being left behind by League 1 sides…🤦♂️
If Rogic is fit , would like to see him replace Turnbull and Forrest replace Abada.
With Bolingoli at left back.
Still think we missed out on not getting Eddie Howe. For me the jury is still out on Ange.
“Six months later it is easy to forget what shape the club was in when Ange arrived.”
No, still getting the cold sweats and nightmares.
Well done Teemu Pukki, arguably a better footballer than the guy he replaced at Celtic but crashed and burned here due to Moneyball, lastminute.com, nonsense.
Let’s have none of this in January please.
Hail Hail
SPIDEY 101
You are right.
Nothing else has changed behind the scenes.
Still no head if recruitment.
I’m sure the WGS review will sort it out, not.
Spidey101 @ 2.11
👏👏👏
Seems a new head of Security is seen as a priority,and their No Higgin about with that role
If folk were proud to be Scottish, St Andrews Day would be celebrated more maybe….
An alternative angle would be ‘Celtic were prepared to move on the existing backroom team, presumably having deemed them non optimal. We then decided to keep them on for reasons unknown’
Ang has made a better start than many (me!) predicted. However, we must look at the entire operation. We remain threadbare. We are solely dependent on one man. Madness for a club of our size and aspirations.
If Hibs take any kind of a game tonight expect carnage.
They won’t lose this league no matter what it takes.
SPIDEY @ 1:01
—–
You make many interesting points.
One has to wonder why would a Celtic board go out of its way to be either wilfully incompetent, or, be so choc-full of idiots who don’t know what they’re doing, that everything it touches turns to sand.? Of course that can’t be the case, and any fair-minded person must come to this conclusion.
Nevertheless we appear to very circumspect in all we do. Prudent in the transfer market/backroom staff, & postponing some previously scheduled infrastructure projects.
It could be the upcoming class action CBC case is having a marked effect on forward-thinking. We have thirty & counting individuals now in the process of suing Celtic as one. No one knows, or, indeed is speculating on, what the final outcome will be for the club.
To shrug it off and imagine that insurance companies will pick up what will be a substantial bill, is bordering on naivety. Of course we may win, either way it would be wise to make contingencies at this juncture.
Bada
If people are proud to be Scottish why would they need a day allocated by Alex Salmond to apply that pride.
I am very happy to be a first generation Scot. I worry that some don’t see me as Scottish enough because I treat certain shiboleths with disdain or boredom.
On a football front.
I like David Turnbull and think he is harshly criticised. He has strengths in his shooting, his scoop pass, support play and his engine. He has weaknesses in his lack of pace and in failing to dominate many games since he came here.
There is one aspect of his game, with Celtic, that puzzles me and that is the David Turnbull 3 point turn. I know that it is applied by David to protect the ball from potential tackle and dispossession. When he uses it as he is hard pressed by defenders, I can applaud him for it. I don’t know if this was true of his time with Motherwell but i have rarely seen him turn on the full or make a half turn. This is a disadvantage to us when he does so in situations where he is not being pressed and does not need to fear immediate dispossession.
Does he overdo it because he is too one footed, too scared of losing possession or some other reason?
I am not one to criticise all back passes or sideways passes as, sometimes, they are exactly what is required. But David can slow down our attacks at times and I’d like to see him grow more into being a confiddent Celt.
Thoughts?
Thoughts are SFTB, that his style of play doesn’t feel like it matches the high pressing, high tempo Angeball.
I think he’s a good player but maybe now a square peg in a round hole?
HH
Is it rather odd do you think, or am I just a paranoid Celtic fan?
Thems get to play Wed, us Thursday, then Thems Sat, and us Sunday. Had it been the other way round and if they were to drop points at HiBs, then for a few hours we would be top of the league, a psychological advantage.
Maybe I should lay of the Lanny
Come on the Tame Papes tonight
KINGLuBO
Kinglubo- Dundee United will have 2 days rest on us come Sunday….
SFTB
the 10 touch turn is his worst attribute. I decided to watch him for the whole second half in Germany and it was clear to me he is nervous to use his left foot. no long passes, short passes, first touch , nothing. He literally did not touch the ball with his left at any point. As a 99% right footed, and crap player , i know that fear of a longish pass with the left but even i tackled with the left.
Astonished he has got to this level with this anchor hanging off him but it isn’t too late to coach/train this out of him. If he could become more 2 footed, his lack of pace, tackling and heading would be worth the great playmaking he would be capable of
Re David Turnbull.
I think he has still to move from best player at Motherwell, but still allowed a few quiet 5/10’s performances, to a mainstay in the Celtic team where 7/10 is the minimum requirement, all the time. He is only 22 and is clearly a talented player.
If he had more pace, a better engine, and didn’t do his characteristic 180 degree turns, he would be playing for Chelsea and not Celtic. I really hope the guy can take his game to a higher level.
Did Charlie Nic’s old man not make him play with a slipper on his right foot to encourage him to use the left, sure I read that somewhere
|I kinda like Nir and Tom Rogic in midfield
KINGLuBO
The boss’s pre match from this afternoon…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPd1qgq7kYU&ab_channel=CelticFC
Round about now somebody is bound to post that Hibs will, Hibs it.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 4:00 PM
Round about now somebody is bound to post that Hibs will, Hibs it.
—————————–
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 12:23 PM
Let’s hope Hibs don’t hibs it tonight. Too much to hope for??
Ange’s Presser
CONEYBHOY
Way ahead of me
Hail Hail
Stay Safe
JHB – I think it’s complacency more than anything. The Board have consistently said they think the fundamentals are strong and I think just assume that what’s worked before will work again if we just keep on the same path!
So they see CalMac, Ralston, Forrest, Welsh, Johnston in the first team and having sold Tierney for big money and consider we have a productive academy. They don’t see that CalMac and Welsh have been around for almost a decade or more, and the other three are in the team out of poor planning and squad management rather than through a proper player pathway strategy that churns out a decent/good player every other year. They don’t see that we lose out on players to Hamilton, Motherwell, etc as the players can see a path to the first team (which is a reasonable assumption on the player’s part) while simultaneously losing players to Bayern, Man City, etc where they have no chance of making it in their first team but see it as a better move for their career! They don’t see that we lack a joined up strategy for our youths, including structured loan deals, first team chances, etc and instead half-heartedly play a numbers game – we even put some of the Academy kids on furlough!
They also think our player trading works – seeing profits on Ajer, Eddy, etc as evidence it’s working. They don’t see the number of wasted punts we’ve made and ended up paying off or that our profits would be better if we handled sales correctly. They also don’t see that if player trading is a strategy, we should invest in sports science people to make the players stronger, fitter, faster and more than a token coaching staff to make players better!
They no longer see the CL as something to aspire to – we are never prepared for it and will only get “pastings” anyway. They don’t see it as a means of growing revenue so we can be better on and off the pitch. They say we don’t budget for the CL but our expenditure isn’t controlled enough that we can miss out on that revenue without a big sale.
The Board has been in place for too long and has no football experience outside of Celtic – it’s stale, bloated and outdated while football has moved on. Money means we aren’t likely to go back to the pre-Tommy Burns days of 4th place finishes, but we’re drifting further and further into obscurity in a European context and will soon be considered alongside former CL winners like Red Star, Bucharest, Notts Forest (if we aren’t already) – once great clubs that have fallen into relative obscurity!
a) I don`t think Sevco are anywhere as near as poor as is often claimed on here;
b) I don`t think Sevco will win this evening.
From what I saw of the Motherwell v Dundee United game, United could have a week off to rest and wouldn’t make any difference!
Aw naw. Another Rangers love-in.
Not for me.
Buggering off.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 4:07 PM
Ange’s Presser
———–
really enjoyed that. Josip will be a bit scared at training tomorrow!! The way his eyes narrowed 😲
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 4:27 PM
If your comment is in response to mine at 4:23pm, then I have failed to make my MAIN point clear which is that I think they will drop points tonight.
imo the title will be decided this season on who takes the most points when we play thems.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 12:59 PM
Unlike the league, the league cup doesn’t carry a £30m CL bonus and a desperately (for Sevco) needed lifeline, therefore I am expecting the officials to play a much more prominent part in tonight’s game.
*and that’s about the size of it, last season tae. It was all about access tae the Euro $, eff all tae dae with 55 although they really milked that.
Unfortunately for them slippy like naesurname in 1997 and the sleekit gardener in 2011 they effed up that up again.
IMHO I don’t believe they were too upset at slippy and his high falutin backroom staff bailing out, too many promises which they in turn used tae get their investors tae throw good money after bad.
Although we won the SC in the delayed final played during the 20/21 season there is no way we would be allowed any silverware last season, that would have too many questions asked as in if we were good enough tae win any trophies then why did we capitulate in the League.
Not so this season as I fully expect us tae win the LC in 18 days time and probably the SC on May 21. I also, madhun, cheaton and the 3 jump the dikes notwithstanding, feel the League this season is still a possibility.
There are all sort of calls on this site and others for our Board tae make a more proactive approach tae the cheating, lying, stealing that’s been going on, but allegedly when the much maligned big Gas Meter had a go at them, the minor league player that now runs the game told him tae GTF.
As our Chairman said at the recent AGM we don’t run Scottish football, he’s absolutely right as that scabby mob dae unless they are put under pressure by outside forces which HMRC and the City of London police did.
If we, Celtic FC, make any move against the governing body then not only we but other clubs as well as the national side face severe penalties, which will go down well, not, in a country that has no time for us.
So it’s up tae us, the support, similar tae the support of other Scottish teams when they threatened tae withhold their support unless the deid team were sent packing tae the lower echelons of the Scottish game.
How do we do this, well don’t boycott any SPL games as our club needs our support but do boycott any and all scottish freemason association games including internationals and let their sponsors know we’re also boycotting their products.
What’s really galling is that everybody and their granny, who travels east, are doing all they can to help them and yet they are still throwing money about like a man with no erms, they don’t give a donald duck and are thumbing their noses at the rest of society.
CONEYBHOY
Maybe it was me but I got the impression Ange is less than confident about Chris Jullien’s return fitness ?
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 5:20 PM
CONEYBHOY
Maybe it was me but I got the impression Ange is less than confident about Chris Jullien’s return fitness ?
————–
aye, I wouldn’t expect to see him this year which is a really bad bounce for the player and the team to be out for a calendar year minimum. Can’t remember an injury that long with any other player other than John Kennedy who was at least 2 years
Good evening all from Rutherglen.
Spidey101
The Board has been in place for too long and has no football experience outside of Celtic – it’s stale, bloated and outdated while football has moved on. Money means we aren’t likely to go back to the pre-Tommy Burns days of 4th place finishes, but we’re drifting further and further into obscurity in a European context and will soon be considered alongside former CL winners like Red Star, Bucharest, Notts Forest (if we aren’t already) – once great clubs that have fallen into relative obscurity!
Good post
I agree we need freshness in direction, and thought we were getting it with Dom McKay, – whoosh what happened there
I disagree with the European context you paint, we still by and large punch above our weight and the much maligned Neil Lennon actually won our first ever Europa group in some style, just the season before last, beating out first Serie A side on home soil.
We play in a pauper’s league and generally batter equivalent teams from Europe, despite having little or no TV money that props up the game you correctly say has moved on. We’ve beaten most of the giant nations and for the first time in living memory could well have beaten a Bundesliga club in Germany. In an Sachsenring Zwickau or Neuxchatel way we’ve moved on with regualar Euro football after Christmas. We’re actually disappointed( some are outraged ) don’t know why when we lose to technically very good sides such as Ferencvaros or Cluj.
The CL until next season was made more and more difficult to reach never mind compete in by ‘money’ This is money Celtic will never have, and back to context, 15 titles in 21 years, a European final and 4 trebles in a row, is a lot of things but not stale.
The Sevco scramble to win this years title for automatic entry, outs itself in nearly every game.
HH
BIGRAILROADBLUES on 1ST DECEMBER 2021 5:49 PM
Good evening all from Rutherglen.
————————-
Get back to yir ain bit…I’ve phoned the polis !
said it before the julien will decide when he want’s to play again.