I thought the penalty had to be a dive. There’s no way Efe would clatter into the player like that, I was sure! The error wasn’t even schoolboy stuff. Ambrose and Mikael Lustig were caught square-on, the latter not goal-side of his man, and therefore unable to see the run. The incident is symptomatic of an error-prone season for the defence.
Referee Craig Thomson got that one right but missed Craig Gordon being held at County’s second goal. Unlike Efe’s split-second intervention, this was a clear and persistent infringement and should have been spotted. County can also consider themselves unfortunate to concede a penalty for an awkward hand ball, and Stefan Johansen should have received a red card for his late lunge at an opponent.
Notwithstanding the foul for County’s second, they then got two free headers within 8 yards of our goal at a corner kick. The man-to-man system is in no way better than our zonal system if your players cannot follow the flight of the ball.
I’ve said often enough before that teams can steamroller straight through the middle of us – when we play so expansively, we need real authority to control things in the middle of the park. The authority coefficient visibly increased when Scott Brown arrived but not sufficiently so.
Erik Sviatchenko looked the part when he came on. Always available for a pass, keen to take a touch, and regularly played 30-yard forward balls. It is no great stretch to suggest he could be our best defender.
What did we learn from yesterday? Primarily that we’re not good enough in many positions:
Kieran Tierney continues to shine as an 18-year-old left back. Sviatchenko and Simunovic may establish a solid central defensive partnership, but we have little more to boast about in defence.
When we are up against a disorganised Hamilton Accies, our nippy wee guys will do a lot of damage, but not every game suits nippy wee guys. The qualifiers won’t.
This is not the time to ask questions about the manager. I don’t know who it was in the media who first suggested he needed to win the treble to keep his job, but it’s absurd.
We’ve won the treble 3 times in the 70 seasons it’s been available. The league title is a vastly easier competition post Rangers liquidation, but very few times in those 67 seasons we didn’t win the treble did Rangers deny us both cups. This result is no worse than our previous two exists in this competition to Morton and St Mirren, or countless before them.
The first thing you do when you get rid of your manager is attempt to recruit a better talent. Can you imagine who would be interested in a job where you had to win the club’s fourth treble in your first two seasons or face the sack? It’s no way to run a club and would guarantee a downward spiral.
The manager’s strategic job right now is to improve the squad this month, build a defensive unit as sold as we had last season, and identify targets for the summer to prepare for the Champions League qualifiers. None of this would improve by lurching off plan right now.
204 Comments- Pages:
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COYBIG
Ajer deal off due to sell on % disagreement?
HH
There’s a plan?
From previous
If you’ve read my posts over time you’ll know I’m a lover of goals per game and minutes per goal stats.
Colin Kazim-Richards’ stats are woeful.
310 league appearances, 42 goals, 27 assists 18,752 minutes.
Terrible.
TRADITIONALIST88
It would be nice if we were able to agree to any sell-on clauses as we had no intentions of selling-rather,we were looking long term and building a team.
(Snaps fingers,comes back to reality)
WEEMINGER on 1ST FEBRUARY 2016 11:05 AM
If you’ve read my posts over time you’ll know I’m a lover of goals per game and minutes per goal stats.
Colin Kazim-Richards’ stats are woeful.
310 league appearances, 42 goals, 27 assists 18,752 minutes.
Terrible.
———–
He’s spent a lot of his career on the wing
WEEMINGER
Swap one deficient striker for another.
Ciftci out, Kazim-Richards in.
Wow, thats clever eh.
KR…wont even make the first team.
Bench Fodder.
Like you say, his stats are woeful.
They wont change.
Im seriously starting to question the sanity of PL.
HH
Mentioned this before but it’s amazing how many important penalties we’ve missed since MON –
Henrik against Basel and Boavista, Thompson against Lyon, Hartson, Sammy, McDonald against the Dead Club and yesterday. I’m sure there’s more.
The Dead Club never missed any crucial spot kicks AFAIK – and they got more of them.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 1st February 2016 11:09 am
TRADITIONALIST88
It would be nice if we were able to agree to any sell-on clauses as we had no intentions of selling-rather,we were looking long term and building a team.
(Snaps fingers,comes back to reality)
========
Absolutely. If only, eh.
HH
Yesterday it was a penalty and the red that followed was a consequence, however the decision was open to debate. The contact was minimal and I do not believe such that the referee could have seen it clearly so the decision was made on the balance of probabilities (we assume).
Earlier in the season at Aberdeen, Griff was clean through and 2 yards from the keeper. Everyone in the stadium and watching on tv saw it was a penalty and a blatant red card. But no red was given.
Who was the ref on both occasions? Yep, you’ve guessed it.
And as I’ve said earlier the second goal is as blatant a foul on a keeper as you will ever see.
Aye but we did not get liquidated yesterday and we came so close, so everything is great, right :)
Apart from KT…..who are the Tims / Celtic supporters in the team ? Never mind moaning about mibs….they do now, what they’ve always done. The players don’t fear the manager….coz they know that he’s a puppet. Celtic could end the season trophy-less. Collins, Keane, Big McGhee or…Jim McIntyre-ar-la should be given the keys of the dug out but…..they’d probably all refuse them coz they know that the club is being held in PL’s grip which has, parked the club on the hard-shoulder….waiting the return of the died huns which will, demoralize Celtic as a club and….the died huns will mibbery their way to 5 titles in a row whilst all the re:12 stuff is still being dragged through the courts…..don’t fear the future…embrace it. …..aye….
Sell on clause, sanity clause, santa clause
So what the player can actually contribute to the team is inconsequential ?
moneys too tight to mention.
Balancing the books is a lot more exciting than winning games of football, what are you lot moaning about, get your priorities right ffs.
We could have been liquidated yesterday and the board saved us from that, rejoice.
Our forward planners are failing miserably.
Ronny should have been relived of his duties after the Europa League but doing so now would be counter productive.
I don’t think their was a poster on here who backed the signing of Nadir Ciftci. Yet
Paul explained at the time that he was our number one choice & had been scouted extensively. Surely alarm bells must now be ringing with Llawwell in regards to our scouts & the judgement of our coaching staff? Whoever sanctioned this signing should be sacked with immediate effect.
Kazim Richards looks like being the next mistake, although he can’t be as bad as Ciftci. One things for sure, we lack power in the final third so perhaps Richards will provide this. We can only hope.
On Ajer. If we’re going to lose this boy for an extra 5 or 10% on any future sell on fee then this seems like more inept forward planning. The boy by all accounts has great ability, losing out on him could be the difference between qualifying for future years CPL’s.
Do the deal FFS!
Paul67
Clatter? He barely touched him!
Now ,Considine did “clatter” into LG last year 2 or 3 yards from goal as he was about to shoot, and, of course, Thomson decided that was only a yellow card. Much more of a red yesterday, given that CG was favourite to get to the ball before the RC player, had he stayed on his feet. Less of an obvious goal -scoring opportunity, yet the red was out before the RC player hit the bog of a pitch. MIB had zero interest in taking time to consider the situation, as the rules state he should in these circumstances.
Having said that, as I posted yesterday, we were guilty of poor ball retention in the minutes leading up to that incident, thus allowing an initially shell-shocked RC to creep back into the match.
Hail Hail!
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 1ST FEBRUARY 2016 11:04 AM
There’s a plan?
Yes and RD’s plan is a defensive disaster
Full backs high up the pitch, both C/B play 40 yards apart, 2 central midfielders defend the whole of the midfield, its a fatally flawed defensive plan
If we arent lurching off plan at the start of next season expect more of the same
11 v 11 yesterday, we would have done the business no problem. Massive overreaction as expected. One mistake and/or break of the ball turned the whole match on its head and as usual, crucial refereing decisions went against us.
See it for what it is. A bump in the road.
Whoever sanctioned the Ciftci signing….needs relieved of their transfer duties.
I dont believe RD has any say.
We would be as well making PL the manager, he obviously thinks he knows about football.
HH
What the feck have we become, that we are being humped by Ross County in a cup semi-final. – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/ross-county-v-celtic-live-updates-7/comment-page-35/#comment-2765908
Lol, that’s a good one, no thought put into it at all, but funny.
I remember getting humped in a cup final by Partick Thistle, and several lions played in that game,
Aye yer right…what have we become, lol, good wan.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/ross-county-v-celtic-live-updates-7/comment-page-36/#comment-2765951
The decisions by Thomson were as predictable as ever, he couldn’t wait to show the red card and then “missed” the obvious foul on Gordon. An equally poor decision was to take McGregor off straight away, in fact the timing of all 3 subs is open to scrutiny. Anyone think that Broonie was going to help reverse a 1-3 scoreline with 15 mins to play ? Armstrong is not a player who’s going to burst a gut when we’re up against it, definitely think he should have been sacrificed instead of Callum
HH
Celtic are now…..just another club.
There is no Celticness to be seen…
….so sad…
…..the ghosts of the Jungle are weeping
…so sad…
Paul 67
In my opinion a good summary.
Common sense in a sea of turmoil.
As the new ” Dads Army” film debuts maybe we should ponder the original words of Clive Dunn.
HH
ELLBOY
There were loads of posters saying that Ciftci…would get better…blah, blah.
He was a good player etc.
Like i said, whoever sanctioned it….is a halfwit.
HH
Sack the board or…..the died huns will be back to show yeez what death really means….so sad.
ELLBOY on 1ST FEBRUARY 2016 11:21 AM
Paul explained at the time that he was our number one choice & had been scouted extensively. Surely alarm bells must now be ringing with Llawwell in regards to our scouts & the judgement of our coaching staff? Whoever sanctioned this signing should be sacked with immediate effect.
——–
If you sacked managers after a poor signing, you’d have to sack every coach in the game.
Sack! Get rid! Get them tae!
I’ve posted here for a while and there is a never ending demand for new players. An never ending demand to sack everyone after a poor result.
When Celtic have a bad result, never mind a bad run, everybody thinks the damage is irreversible and needs change in all department.
It’s rubbish and shows the complete lack of patience in the modern football fan. People are waxing lyrical about how Klopp did at Dortmund. I bet none of these people were aware of him before his team got to the CL final. I bet none of them saw the struggles involved in his first three seasons at Dortmund.
People forget that Klopp got it spectacularly wrong in his first two seasons in Europe before getting to the CL final (out of Europe before Christmas despite being German Champions)
Nonsensical and hysterical reactions as per.
Taking off McGregor was probably a mistake, either Armstrong or GMS could have been taken off. Who knows if would have made a difference?
Kevjungle – try and keep calm it’s not that bad.
TD67
You might think its ok to get humped by Ross County…thats what you think, fair enough.
I think it was bs.
We should be beating Ross County.
No excuses.
What we have become…quite obviously…is a team that is not good enough.
You disagree…no problem.
HH
timaloy29 on 1st February 2016 11:09 am
There are defenders with better goal scoring records, never mind wingers. Our very own Mikael Lustig has a comparable goal contribution (less goals, more assists).
I very rarely criticize our signings ahead of actually seeing them perform, but between his stats and his off-field antics it just looks like a bad idea from start to finish.
timaloy29 on 1st February 2016 11:30 am
People forget that Klopp got it spectacularly wrong in his first two seasons in Europe before getting to the CL final (out of Europe before Christmas despite being German Champions) Nonsensical and hysterical reactions as per.
It would be nonsense and hysterical to make an analogy like you have just done suggesting Celtic will win the C/L under RD next season
Why no just sack the wans that brought Ronny in ?
Have we progressed since last season?
Does the current group of players have a better chance of qualifying into the CL than this season?
If the answer is Yes and Yes then carry on.
If there’s a No or 2 x No’s then questions have to be asked and decisions made re. the manager, the people who appointed him, the whole player recruitment policy and scouting.
Ronny has went off on one re CKR signing apparently
RT REV DAVID HAY
Cant say i blame him.
Must be tough having people like PL telling you what to do.
Especially when they sign dire players, and you get the blame for it.
PL has a lot to answer for.
HH
This is not the time to ask questions about the manager.
Yes it is,with his lack of tactical nous and stubborn use of a system that suits neither players nor team he is well out of his depth.Clubs with any ambition are proactive they dont dither like our board are doing.It looks great on paper young ambitious manager,identify young players sell them on,meantime crowds are dwindling, not for the first we have struggled against a team of journeymen.Yesterdays man of the match had his contract cancelled by League1 Shrewsbury Town.Going down to 10 men shouldnt be disastrous,tighten up the midfield dont make the game so open instead our manager is caught like a rabbit in the headlights.When is the time to ask questions of the manager?next season after another attempt at qualifying for Europe that is providing we win the league.
Well another Efen game then
He may have had some bad luck in the past – returning in important games when not ready and being badly found out but i’ve been wandering for a long time what he actually does well – he’s not a centre back as he has no positioning sense, no brain never mind a footballing one, and cant header – at all defensively or usefully in attack- he has all the disadvantages in terms of discipline/decisions of bobo but none of the benefits
Also think there are questions over Lustig – he looks very frustrated – and at 29 i’d question if he is going to get any better
We all know we need a proper defensive midfielder bitton didnt offer much of that yesterday and looked knackered/laboring after about half time
I still dont know why we tried to pick proper to the line wingers on that pitch with one small striker occasionally in the box, attacking midfielder fine, but winger without a target is just strange to me
Technically you can say the penalty/red was within his remit, but was he still in control of the ball? was he still going towards goal? I think he could have chosen to make it a yellow and will unfortunately start people saying again if it was the old rangers team he would have….
Pitch once again was a disgrace – I think the way our winters are going questions will be asked about the wisdom of having 3 big stadiums like that in glasgow and not one has any sort of roof on it – but again we should come to expect this (if not accept it) and have a plan B in terms of play
But im sure scott brown or someone will roll out and say dont blame ronnie, we didnt turn up, we’ll do better next time – for about the 10th time this season….
If, Ronny cuts himself loose of the PL puppet-strings….his flag will fly forevermore on the ole Jungle roof.
Hi Paul67,
“This is not the time to ask questions about the manager. I don’t know who it was in the media who first suggested he needed to win the treble to keep his job, but it’s absurd….
……The manager’s strategic job right now is to improve the squad this month, build a defensive unit as sold as we had last season, and identify targets for the summer to prepare for the Champions League qualifiers. None of this would improve by lurching off plan right now.”
I don’t usually repost from a previous article but following your as per usual, well thought out and presented lead I have reposted my thots on Ronny…
It seemed pretty obvious after the Molde games that Ronny didn’t have what it takes to be Celtic Manager, pity but there it is.
The thing is what are the powers that be at CFC doing about it? Well Ronny is still in place at the end of the transfer window, for me this can only be down to three possibilities;
1. The Board haven’t seen it yet and are backing Ronny to succeed with his plans
2. The Board see it but still have faith in Ronny’s team improvement techniques to allow him to carry on building to the Summer
3. The Board see it for what it is and feel that our only priority is to become Champions of Scotland and think even Ronny can get us over that line. So they’ll save their budget right off this Season and start another new build with a new Manager in the Summer.
Earlier this month I posted that our activities in this transfer window would be a good indicator of where the Board were in this regard.
Will keep my powder dry until the window closes but I’m thinking
MMMMMmmmmmmmmmm…
Hail Hail
Lustig has been shocking all season and during this time he has been elevated to vice captain, which is symbolic of how shambolic we currently are.
The number of goals and chances we are conceding due to his poor positional play and lack of awareness is increasing.
If Janko is injured for the season then we should recall Darnell Fisher.
Every time he pulled on the jersey he looked a good player.
He couldnt be worse than Lustig so why they hell not??