Bayer Leverkusen manager, Gerardo Seoane, summed the game up, “We also made some mistakes, but we had [goalkeeper]Lukas Hradecky saving us, it was a sensational game from him.
“The victory was earned. Maybe the scoreline was a little bit too high, but we deserved to win.”
Celtic were back to their flowing best in the opening 25 minutes but confidence, composure and any chance of competing in the knockout stages of the Europa League evaporated when Leverkusen took the lead. The home side regrouped at halftime and again took the game to the Germans, but the unfortunate loss of a penalty brought that resurgence to a juddering halt.
It is a worry that the heads go down when a goal is lost; the same happened a week ago at Livingston. As well as everything else, a resilience gene is missing from this Celtic team.
We will know by Sunday evening the wisdom of playing Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor last night. Nothing was gained from their appearance. Kyogo was thrice through with Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky to beat but could not convert. Still, his impact on Celtic remains transformational.
Leading up to his second great chance, he opened play up with a sublime touch that switched the ball to Liel Abada. No striker in recent Celtic history could do things like that. Jota continues to settle into his new surroundings. Leverkusen defenders quickly learned to back off him and to send reinforcements when the ball went to Celtic’s left. A front three of Jota, Kyogo and Abada has a great deal of promise.
Oh David, what happened? Turnbull seemed caught in two minds, between clearing the ball out of his box and allowing it to run out of play. Playground stuff that would have me overcome with paranoia if it happened in certain domains. I don’t think I have seen as poor a goal against Celtic, Leverkusen must have wondered what happened as much as the rest of us.
From that moment, the collapse seemed inevitable. Our full backs were well up field when 3 v 2 left Joe Hart exposed for the second; halftime could not come soon enough. Hart played well throughout, without him, our season would look in far greater danger.
Expectations were so low I think we had all emotionally factored a result like that in. Despite what in any language is a drubbing, we were able to create better chances (against a far better team) than we have in recent weeks. With Kyogo and McGregor back, the worst of this slump will be behind us. The return of Juranovic, Taylor, Forrest and Jullien will help, but central midfield will remain light until January.
The season could pivot one way or the other on Sunday, we will find out then if the corner has been turned.
447 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 12
- »
A win on Sunday and we come back from the break with Forrest added to the squad.
Get through October and we’ll have Juranovic, Taylor and Jullien to come back.
The fixture list will also see us play our hardest games at home through November and December.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel but fail to win on Sunday and that light will be that of an oncoming train.
Squire
Yep, that should have been a one year contract and see how it goes.
Think that was Dom’s ” mistake “
JPH on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:28 PM
Why should Ange get time? That simply ensures 30mill for gers this season, possibly setting them up for 5/6 in a row. We sacrifice that to satisfy anges ego?
—-
The Gers were liquidated in 2012 my friend. Sevco or The Rangers if you want to be polite. But they can never be Rangers.
Looks like Turnbull is the new whipping boy. Why as a support do we need to have one? Are we all superstars everyday in our chosen professions?
PSG have Mbappe/Messi/Neymar up front
The rest of the team stay goal side of the ball and let them 3 do their work
At Celtic we have Ralston/Montgomery/McGregor/Rogic/Turnbull/Jota/Kyogo/Abada up front
The rest of the team stay goal side of the ball and let them 8 do their work
67ECW
MARKIEBHOY on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:19 PM
There are literally hundreds of players out there without a club.
Our organisation should know about these players – hey maybe they do but I doubt it
———————–
There’s reason’s why these players don’t have clubs, we don’t need more basket cases taking a wage
My heart sank when I heard Eddie Howe had decided it wasn’t for him
My heart sank when I heard Ange said he would be delighted
67ECW
I had to check the year ?
Things feel very familiar to last year
Once again we are looking to turn the proverbial corner !!
67ECW
Article assessing our midfield for anyone interested.
https://www.celtictrends.com/post/turnbull-mcgregor-rogic
MARKIEBHOY on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:32 PM
Squire
Yep, that should have been a one year contract and see how it goes.
Think that was Dom’s ” mistake “
——-
No, think outright purchase of Juranovic was what did for McKay.
McCarthy a Desmond vanity signing
Sexy ex-EPL with Irish connection to keep the ooh aah brigade sweet.
Out of contract Robbie Brady next
An dun
Go raibh maith agat as an freagra.
But the gist of my point? Whatever they are called they are laughing their heads off. And all the way to the bank. Might it be unwise to suggest we could face liquidation due to last year and this year’s atrocious performance. Both very much overseen by appalling managers who put themselves and their egos before the millions of celtic fans all over the world.
Sack the dud
jph on 1st October 2021 1:28 pm
So do you trust the board to select a new manager? I wouldn’t send them for milk..
the_huddle
Yes I understand that feeling but surely they can’t all be useless.
Hatem-ben-arfa has no club, offer him a pay as you play deal.
Thanks timmy.
Callum Davidson St Johnstone. Won 2 cups. Must be better than this dud.
And cheap.
Anyone expecting a change of tactics last night has not been listening to our Manager the belief in his philosophy is total
So on we go to Aberdeen and I see very little change in personnel in fact I hope not if Ange bottle’s it now imo
he will run the risk of loosing the dressing room
some of our play going forward last night was very good and if produced on Sunday will see us gain a much needed victory
all is not lost yet and if we can put a run together plus allow the Manager to recruit who he wants in January
could be game on
HH
I don’t recognise a lot of view points in my fellow Celtic fans anymore, maybe I’m just getting old.
Talk of sacking the manager at the end of September , to me, beggars belief. I never spoke to anyone prior to Ange’s arrival that didn’t agree the magnitude of the job was enormous, and yet here we are weeks into the new season and for some they want him fired…Poor Old Wim would have been lynched by now!
Also, booing of a former young ex Celtic player who earned a massive move to one of the nest teams in Germany and providing the club with a mammoth transfer fee…what was that all about
thats the spirit.
Unpopular opinion but I think Soro might need to come in and see if he can play himself into some form.
No, it’s not ideal and people will scream that he simply isn’t good enough but the fact is, he’s the only one at the club who plays that role. Turnbull and Rogic can’t play together as our midfield is non-existent out of possession.
I don’t want Ange sacked – it’d be ludicrous at this stage but if he persists with the two in the engine room, we will drop more points and his position will become untenable. Surely he sees this.
It’s easy to criticise the defence but if they keep being put under pressure, they’ll concede – sometimes great goals, sometimes sloppy ones.
January is a notoriously hard window but whoever is in charge of recruitment needs to fill that gap and just hope we’re still in touching distance with Sevco at that time.
Bhoy from the Boyne at 1.44,
Excellent article, good read, and I even agree with the conclusion! :-)
Like all of us there is no question I want Ange to succeed.
My own issue is similar to others, I just don’t get this ‘inverted full back’ style of play. As I see it we are asking full backs to be midfielders. That’s just not going to happen, I am sure there are full backs out there that could do this but there will be none in anything like our price range never mind what we have in the current squad.
Of course it will ‘work’ for most domestic games but frankly any set up should win us most games in the league, it’s not that style that’s winning us these games.
As we have seen we are being punished regularly when the full backs playing in midfield, they are caught out either through poor passing or exposing us in the wide areas as they are out of position.
The benefits of this style of play are not worth the risks, we simply won’t have the type of player that is good enough against the key opposition we will play for this to work.
Brain v Heart = Dilema
Every man deserves a chance – all men are equal – no arguments from me
When I watch Celtic I sometimes can’t believe what I am seeing
It can look naive, schoolboy, rudderless
My brain kicks in and says this is worse than Lennon last year
My heart kicks in and says Kyogo looks a good player and Jota now and again can have a go
Then Rogic loses the ball in their half and I search for a pillow
Because I know CV and Starfelt are on their own
Then I read celtic QN and my heart fills because some decent people think we will be Ok – we are going to turn the corner (I remember this from last year) – in Ange we trust (in neil we trust)
Then i look at our last 6/7 results
I do not know who to trust
Our Board have failed our club over the past 3/4 years by not forward planning
The debacle with Eddie Howe and then Dom McKay are not coincidences
Having PL remain in the building is poor judgement
Spending £10m on Ajeti and Barkas is not unlucky
Keeping NL in a job for too long was not loyalty
Having Kennedy and Strachan in the dugout is simply stupid
And appointing a guy from the Japanese league was at best a huge gamble
Those decisions have done more for slippy and the huns than anything they have ever done for themselves
We are about to hand them a pot of gold to f–k us with – £50m in the CL
We are making one bad decision after another
So what’s to be done – not a lot i’m afraid
Assuming there is no chance of the Board changing
We are stuck with Ange
We have 2 hopes
The proverbial corner appears this Sunday
The Huns get a load of injuries (they will not get suspensions )
My final message is to our 2 full backs
Stay in your own half until we are 2 nil up
To our 3 midfielders
Stay between our goal and the ball
If our 2 full backs stay in position
And our Midfield stay in position
There is a chance Ange will stay in position
67ECW
“Central midfield will remain light until January ”
That’s the problem Paul. Lost 3 midfielders and brought in 1.
I wonder who is going to scout the new midfielders . As Tosh Mckinlay says. I’ve not had a boss since March.
This is where we are as a club.
The gers, the teddy bears, the sons of william, the queens eleven, the dignity personified,
terms of endearment
hhhmmm
JPH on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:28 PM
After three months?
New guy fails to deliver something you are happy with – repeat?
Short term thinking results in short term gains, if any..
NOTTHEBUS on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:57 PM
100%.
Instant success or nothing….pathetic.
SAINT STIVS on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:15 PM
That’s what I was thinking. Don’t think I’ve ever heard them referred to as “the Gers” on here….
I think publically advertising for all those footballing department jobs is the “mistake” that did for Dom. That had the ability to affect market confidence & thus the share price & so might well have annoyed DD.
Not a hanging offence per se but having acted unilaterally, after turning down the offer of help, and without having first cultivated “friends” on the board and elsewhere to help smooth the waters it might have been seen as one.
The crazy thing is, we could have scored 6 or 7 against Betis and could have scored 4 last night. But we don’t need a team with 7 or 8 attacking players. The Lions proved that. I think the lineup for Sunday will tell us if Ange can/will adapt or not.
67 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:11 PM
Those decisions have done more for slippy and the huns than anything they have ever done for themselves
We are about to hand them a pot of gold to f–k us with – £50m in the CL
———
That’s all you had to Saaaayyyy….
SQUIRE DANAHER on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 1:47 PM
McCarthy a Desmond vanity signing
If the manager had/has no say in signings then we are fekked,
The whole point of brining in Ange was to give Celtic a change of direction. That change is brought about by using players who are comfortable with his style of play.
If Ange is being “given” players then this will only end one way.
GEEBEE1978 on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:21 PM
SAINT STIVS on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:15 PM
That’s what I was thinking. Don’t think I’ve ever heard them referred to as “the Gers” on here….
———
I refer to them on here and in company by the H word, or the G51 club.
No-one of my acquaintance uses the R word, or any term of endearment such as the G abbreviation in any circumstances.
onenightinlisbon on 1st October 2021 2:27 pm
Been saying that since the day he joined us, no one, and I repeat, no one knows what is going on or is too embarrassed to tell us.
I heard a journo on the wireless this morning referring to last night saying that its not good enough for a club the stature of Celtic, are we really a big club if we don’t have a scouting dept? I don’t think so. As ever the sound of silence from the board is overwhelming, spineless tory leeches.
Agne Is the right coach at Celtic ,to lose 4/0 to a top German team 2nd in the Bundesligue is nothing to be ashamed of, we had our chances but couldn’t take them ,Ange knows he needs better players ,McCarthy ,Rogic ,Turnbull are to slow up against better and fitter players ,I personally thought Starfelt had a decent game last night ,as for Biitton take away his sometimes rash tackles, he isn’t a bad player,So if fans want Ange sacked who is to replace him.?
67 European Cup Winners on 1st October 2021 2:11 pm
Not sure about your team shape :-) but pretty much agree with the rest.
CELTIC40ME @ 1:08
“Easy to forget Turnbull is not long turned 22 as well. A lot of responsibility on such young shoulders.”
Two of the Leverkusen players who scored against us last night were teenagers. They dealt with the responsibility the way they were trained and the way they are paid for. If you are good enough, you are old enough. The proportionately much older Turnbull was atrocious, in all facets of the game. Couldn’t pass, couldn’t track back, couldn’t tackle, couldn’t hit a coo’s arse with a banjo or a free kick, couldn’t take a corner, fell over farcically to gift wrap them the first goal. Should have been mercifully withdrawn. Apart from that, he handled the responsibility quite well.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:36 PM
I hope he is able to assert his authority re signings and the direction of the club.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 1ST OCTOBER 2021 2:39 PM
It’s a last ditch attempt at devending – Im aware it will never catch on !!
67ECW