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.
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sportingintelligence @sportingintel 3m3 minutes ago
Newcastle have spent £76.3m on transfers in 2015-16 so far (£70.1m net). Only Man City have spent more, net. Spurs have spent least net (£0)
Newcastle under Mike Ashley…………………….76 mill
Ragers under glib…………………………………….75 grand
Never interrupt your enemy wen they are making a mistake
bye
TD67
We all knew what Craig Thompson would do.
However…i applaud the RC manager….he knew how to win that game, he played to his strengths.
Aberdeen managed to beat RC recently in similar conditions.
No excuses from me…we were well beaten in the end.
We should be doing better in these important games, in that respect, it has been poor.
HH
Ellboy on 1st February 2016 12:07 pm
Gary67
There wasn’t much wrong with Rami Gershon, he’s gone on to be a big success at Gent.
He only played one game for us, never got a chance
Go tell the Spartim
“I actually thought our sending off would come in the Aberdeen game on Wednesday ”
It will. Don’t worry, it will.
Bobby Murdoch
Interesting re Darnell Fisher…
I call the kind of Gym pitch player you describe as character players.
I run a youth team who are quite successful in their age group many of the boys have been in pro youth and or reached / won Scottish Cup at school or Boys Club level.. So they are a talented bunch.
The guys who are the best trainers are not always the best match day players. Our best match day players are our character players. These guys need the real thing to perform at their full potential and can raise their level to what is required.
Deila likes training ground players … Which without the requisite character is a doomed approach.
Attitude as important as ability. Heart is everything.
LIONROARS67 on 1ST FEBRUARY 2016 12:02 PM
Here is the crux of the argument:
– Domestically, in his first two seasons they finished 6th and then 5th. He then won two titles.
– In his first two seasons in Europe he was eliminated from the Europa League at the group stage and finished bottom of their CL group. He then got them to the final.
Now this is one of the hottest managerial talents in Europe and he has had plenty of ups and downs. Dortmund stood by him and were rewarded by some exhilarating football and great results.
Imagine what they would have missed out on if they sacked him in his first two seasons?
Sometimes you have to accept that you aren’t going to win a treble every season or have a European adventure. We’ve had a pretty good track record on failing to win trebles and getting pumped in Europe before Ronny was here.
But hey, this is Celtic fans we are talking about. Forget context. Sack everyone!
A shambles.. Another CF out on loan. And another useless lump brought in. Cole should never havce been signed. Cifti should never have been signed . Bangura. Balde who signs these players. They wouldn’t get a game down the park.
Why were there no officials behind the goals yesterday？
If LG gets injured, we will lose the league.. He alos picks up lotsof yellow cards. The one where he took top off should have been fined 2 weeks wages. Along with any management who knew he was wearing tshirt
KevJ,
Your hero Murdo was a Rangers fan as were scores of others
Let’s get Fisher back to solve our problems.Remind me how many games has he played for SJ ?
Paul67
You me and most people i speak to recognise we are weak and soft yet continually we go to look for flair players to play the mythical system, we need grit and guts and we need it on wednesday, a draw does, RD does not know how to get his team to set up to defend it has been a recurring issue in cup ties and in Europe, the midfield expose our defence time and time again but it the same system and personnel, none of them leaving would concern me.
Thomson cheated at the corner for the second goal and gave us a penalty which was not, a terrible referree who should be chased by his employers due to his apparaisals from the clubs who pay him to be accurate and impartial.
Difficult to argue with any of that, Paul.
Mistakes from Ambrose are hardly a shock, but Lustig’s form is becoming a bit worrying. Didn’t look too clever at the third goal either. Could do with a wee break, but not easy with Janko injured.
Let’s hope Simunovic is back soon and can strike up a good partnership with Sviatchenko.
I believe our manager will come good. If we were exactly in the same position but with the 2012 tribute act in the league,how would we react? I enjoyed yesterday’s game. Fair play to ross county.
If only we had sacked that dud Stein when he blew the treble in 1966…..
What next 88
Did you pay to get in?……………….. serious question.
Huns agree on a fee with O’Halleron I’m hearing? Anyone concur?
I didn’t attend yesterday’s match no.
The Green Man, to paraphrase we’re turning into Aston Villa, we’ve got serious problems, it stems from Sevco loving DD.
Vale Bhoy, do u know of a bookie who’ll take the bet, I’m going for 30 minutes, just after we’ve taken the lead. That may sound a tad jocose, but we all know it’s a good bet.
tonydonnelly67 on 1st February 2016 12:25 pm
Huns agree on a fee with O’Halleron I’m hearing? Anyone concur?
=======
Yep, strange one on many levels. Still has to agree terms mind you…
HH
A lot of comments about our scouts today. Imagine yesterday was the first time you had ever clapped eyes on Leigh Griifiths and he is our most important player at the moment.
One good pass then a bad game which will have left him hurting.
When we made moves in Scotland to bring in good young players like Scott Allan and Ryan Christie
I thought, yes that makes sense.
When we make moves for a winger from Holland with a very poor record, and by all accounts his team are ‘happy’ to let him go because he doesn’t feature in their plans I think this is poor policy.
Ciftci scouted from up the road ant yet more cash poured into the bottomless pot of wasted cash on poor strikers.
Hmmmmm, I definitely didn’t see this coming?
#Rangers have agreed a fee with #StJohnstone for Michael O’Halloran. Mark Warburton’s media conference is now due to start at 4pm.
Ellboy, aye. Ciftci was scouted thoroughly. He was the main target. I didn’t fancy him so why did the club?
Beatbhoy, the touch was more than enough to award a penalty.
Don’t clip the heels of a player running across you in the penalty box.
Twentyfirstofmay1979, yes, McGregor going off left us short in the middle.
Greenpinata, “Don’t panic!”
Far better than Private Fraser’s regular phrase….
Chairbhoy, the board believe we need to be a Champions League team, trust me on that.
Sacking a manager after a failure is first and foremost about not making things immediately worse by lunging into another bad appointment. Ronny has a very poor squad. This needs to change or nothing will improve.
In short, it is a multi-faceted problem we have, not just the guy picking the team.
Bournesouprecipe, for me it was a penalty all day long.
i’vehadtochangemyname, good question. Really don’t know.
Cultsbhoy, disagree. Expecting to win both cups because Rangers were liquidated displays a lack of historical perspective. Rangers denied us very few trebles over the years. This is yet another in a very long line of League Cup failures.
Moneyball is not about recruiting cheap and selling on at a profit. That is no more than common sense and would make a very poorly selling book. Moneyball is about finding value that others overlook. Completely different metric (I have read the book, which was about the metrics, not the story in the film).
Dessybhoy, agree. We seem to sign every winger available………..
GlassTwoThirdsFull, hope so.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 1ST FEBRUARY 2016 12:01 PM
Another first for Celtic as a crowd gather in the car park to protest about signing a striker.
Haha. It’s probably not a first, though. There were a few when we signed leigh griffiths
GO TELL THE SPARTIM
Bonus and Failure Culture.
DD praising the worst cheats and bigots in football.
Jam Tomorrow.
Bankier and Livingston.
Behave Yourselves.
Handshakes all round.
HH
Good Afternoon Gents. Glad to see Cifti rumors this morning, Watched Ronnie watch him last week before st johnstone game thinking what was i thinking with this guy.
Problem is he was Ronnies top choice in the summer. That there lies the problem. Was he or is ronnie just saying that because of budget restraints or he was getting the player like it or not.
Kazim, Has all sort of attitude problems and will bring disharmony to an already rocky squad.
I fully agree with the sfa issues, They hate us and always have but a more astute manager would still got something out of the game.
Still gutted about the game but its becoming the norm of late.
Some great posts and opinions on here today, keep em coming.
So we have Leigh and Cole up top then for the rest of the season. :(
KLV
PAUL67
“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”
————————
Paul,
The challenge as I see it ISNT about what his job is – that’s clear as day.
The challenge IS about whether his rigid system employing lightweight players is compatible with the days of adversity where you need to dig out results, defending at times as if your life depends on it, have balls and courage, put the physical boot in.
Some of our players do have that courage?? Tierney has it in spades, Griffiths has it, Brown has it………anybody else?
My worry is that he CANNOT see this gap. Or his absolutely dire need for a sitting midfielder.
stokes and cifti aren’t exactly the greatest losses to the squad. Signing cifti was obviously not someone’s finest moment but rather than having him sitting around stinking the place up and fighting with his team mates better to move him out and get someone else in. He might also fight with his team mates but he should st least get a game
Go tell the Spartim
Not a gambler but that sounds like a sure thing.
I have not heard one Celtic fan calling for the manager to go as a result of us not winning the treble, not one !
The issue is that fans look at the big picture, are we getting better, was this a one off, are we learning from our mistakes, are we showing tactical know how, are the signings improving the team.
The answer is no, this is why some fans are questioning our manager and some calling for him to go.
Personally I see no improvement in 2 years, his big signing of the summer, nowhere to be seen.
Paul, you mention Eric looks like he could be our best defender, after one game as a sub, that is how bad the rest are !
I must confess I was a huge fan of cifti. His size and technical ability, not yet seen in the hoops, was a welcome addition to our squad. Cole has spent much longer being a poor player. I’m hoping cifti will come good for us, he’s certainly young enough.
Would O’Halloran not be a better option than Kazim-Richards for us? Don’t actually rate either but if your grubbing around the bargain bins on the last day of transfer window would we not be better with what you know. A Celtic supporter and no off field baggage.
Gary67 on 1st February 2016 12:37 pm
Forgot, O’Halloran’s agent isn’t Dudu Dahan.
Not only was Cifcti another costly mistake he was also considered ahead of Stokes in the pecking order during the 6 months both were at the club.
Can’t blame Lawwell for that. Stokes has his limitations but technically and physically is a far better player than Nadir
HH
Can’t agree with you, Paul. It’s not about winning trebles. It’s not even about winning. It’s all about delivering on promises and on expectations. There’s no passion; there’s no high intensity; there’s no apparent man-management; there’s no evidence of tactics; there’s no clear recruitment plan.
Deila says “judge me on Europe”. OK, then; failed. He says he’ll not have loan signings and we’ve had more loanees than I can ever remember. Some are great, mind you. Blackett; now, there’s quality.
He’s driving the club to oblivion and we’re letting it happen. Of course, it’s not all his fault.
The board, in its arrogance, is treating us contemptuously. DD can’t be arsed to attend AGMs; the chairman tars us all as bigots at one of the said AGMs; we have barons on the board who have no idea as to Celtic being more than a football club; we have custodians who do nothing to ensure that we have a level playing field, literally after yesterday, in respect of match officials’ quality, SFA/SPFL treatment of dodgy member clubs who fiddle their books whilst the authorities turn a blind eye and in respect of Scottish so-called government’s and Filth Scotland’s abuse of Celtic supporters.
We deserve better. We demand better.
We are not getting beat on skill.
We are being out muscled and bullied by teams with inferior players.
Apart from being well established into their seasons, Maribor and Molde were physically superior to our team.
The tale of the tape on this Celtic team doesn’t make for encouraging reading.
I can’t see us changing soon, based on the players who have joined recently or are expected to join.
A rare last day of ‘a window’ and the problem isn’t who we sign, but who we’ve signed.
erskinetim I agree we are light on brave players. we have lots of flair and light players as the Hamilton game showed but when we are up against workman like teams forget it, we usually get dominated all over the park especially MD,
shooie Your right its bigger than yesterday, over all are we going in the right direction under Ronnie? For me No we are not. Paul has mentioned he has a poor squad to overhaul, but a lot of those players Ronnie has signed and it is still the best in country by a mile and Ronnie still struggles to pick the right team.
KLV