Sentiment this week is all so familiar from nine years ago, almost to the day. 15 October 2011 was when Kilmarnock established a three goal lead over Celtic, only for Anthony Stokes (2) and Charlie Mulgrew to save the blushes with a draw.
When an opportunity arose that week I felt I had to tell a ‘senior source at the club’ that his manager was not up to the task and that Rangers were on their way to winning four-in-a-row. The response included “get a hold of yourself”, “Emilio will be back shortly” and “we’re going to win the league”.
I was wrong about Neil Lennon and the league, it was a lesson. We have made mistakes every season since, as has Neil, including several this season, but some perspective, Odsonne, Ryan, James, and Christopher will return, as will Hatem, Nir and Mikey, whle Albian and Leigh will reach full fitness.
What you saw at the weekend is not the team who are going for their fourth consecutive treble, or who topped a difficult Europa League group a year ago. We will improve significantly and I’ve no appetite to be told to get a hold of myself again. There will be no need for a towel retrieval service. If you write this Celtic team off – including the manager – you have not been paying attention.
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CQN CelticKremlinologists now pondering if PL has just told us that the return of Izzie in the winter transfer window will be our only – but great – piece of business!
Seriously Paul, if you want to conduct an historical analysis, make it recent to make it meaningful.
We’ve gone from scoring for fun against a bunch of patsies in blue, to parity and now inferiority. Not in terms of depth and skill in the squad, but in terms of form, shape and performance on the pitch.
This predates NFL. Their improvement was inevitable and anticipated. Our’s shouldn’t have been.
So don’t look back to rugby park a decade ago. Look instead to NFL’s consistent inability to avoid defeat against decent teams in Europe, the only other decent team in Scotland, and our eye-bleedingly turgid performances at times this season.
NFL. Celtic Legend.
Won 9IAR.
Won’t win 10.
Will we?
HH jg
Thursday will be a two or three nil defeat.
And frankly, I couldn’t care less.
Sunday is all that matters. A good win to get us back on track.
Let’s give Neil two more league games, a chance to turn it around.
Pitch forks down, please!
Paul67
How dare you suppoort another under fire Celtic manager you did the same
as the majority of Celtic supporters did with Gordon Strachan Tony Mowbray
Ronny Deila Neil Lennon in his first spell, and now you’re at it again.
You could start a blog with that sort stuff …….. Oh wait
Same old Celtic supporters always supporting CSC
Paul67
I don’t want to be disrespectful but I do not buy this “wait til so and so is back” line.
1) we have been serving up guff since the start of the season when, in no particular order, Christie, Edouard, Forrest were all available. I don’t see how their return in itself solves the issue.
2) we have prided ourselves that 10IAR is more than likely as we have the best and biggest squad.
I fear you are indulging in the wishful thinking which has been evident on here over the past 72 hours.
As an aside, I hope that this contribution contains sufficient working for those who complain about such things.
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you, Paul67. Even with most of those who were missing on Saturday, we haven’t been convincing so far this season. Imo, we are going backwards.
From the previous blog…..
WESTCRAIGS on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 11:57 AM
Covid will be used to favour sevco.
If sevco are ahead in the new year they will call the league and award them the title.
If we are ahead they will keep the league going until they can get ahead.
If we stay ahead there will be another clamour for null and void.
the politicians and the football authorities will do everything they can to help sevco.
These are dangerous times for our club.
——-
These are dangerous times for our club. And for all clubs.
And we entered these times with a squad big enough to field 2 teams in the SPL and the financial backing given by a season ticket sell-out, despite many of us knowing we’d be unlikely to set foot in Celtic Park this season.
No other club in Scotland had the inherent advantages we possessed at the start of Covid.
Covid didn’t oversee a transfer window that left us with no fit or trusted strikers at the start of CL qualification.
Covid didn’t play Ryan Christie as a loan striker in that vital tie.
Politicians didn’t put NFL into some ‘dugout lockdown’ on Saturday, preventing him from getting off his erchie and offering his team guidance or support.
UpWithThePitchforksCSC
HH JG
In other words you had a moan at Peter this week about Neil and he told you to get a grip 😂
NFL. Celtic Legend.
Won 9IAR.
Won’t win 10.
Will we?
———
That’s the question that needs answered for fans. Hopeful mantras that only focus on the first line have run their course.
I think we are months past doing the sensible thing and any major change comes with a risk but that doesn;t mean we shouldn’t do it.
ERNIE
I wholeheartedly concur with Option 3, por cierto
NOTTHEBUS on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 12:22 PM
Neil Lennon took over a double treble winning side and then spent £35m in 3 transfer windows. Has any other manager received that money in such a short space of time?
He has the strongest overall squad of any Celtic manager in recent years. Against that backdrop, are we to be amazed by a good domestic record?
When up against better quality opposition in Europe or Sevco, he has had a lot bf bad results. Of course, he had Lazio,but nothing like a couple of last minute goals and a FF masterclass to paper over the cracks and give a false impression of our quality.
We haven’t been able to play the same players for any extended period this season. Hopefully we can settle down with the same 11 and get some consistency into our selection and play, hopefully! por cierto.
Lone striker ….. calling myself out before Hot Smoked does!
Neil Lennon took over a double treble winning side and then spent £35m in 3 transfer windows.
and the coaching staff have made them poorer players or didn’t fancy them
I feel Ernies post, at the bottom of page 1, deserves a repost
ERNIE LYNCH on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 12:51 PM
Realist options at the moment, none of which might be enough.
1. Do nothing and hope for the best.
2. Sack the manager and replace him. The people who appointed him to chose his replacement.
3. Speak to the manager, ask him what further support staff he would like to bring in, or changes he would make if it was up to him, and do it if at all possible
Pingback: On writing Celtic, or their manager, off Paul67 - Celtic FC News Aggregation
Dearie me , even the clique will struggle to buy that leader!
3. But , Neil should be banging on the door of the person who hired the current coaching staff that he inherited with the ultimation either they go or I walk and not waiting for the powers at be to talk to him.
Please allow me to add option 4…
Realist options at the moment, none of which might be enough.
1. Do nothing and hope for the best.
2. Sack the manager and replace him. The people who appointed him to chose his replacement.
3. Speak to the manager, ask him what further support staff he would like to bring in, or changes he would make if it was up to him, and do it if at all possible
4. Trust the manager who has a proven track of winning league titles over two spells with our club whilst achieving some great results in European football into the bargain.
HH
Not bad Paul.
Players to come back and, hopefully, a renewed purpose among the collective following Saturday’s miserable showing.
Is this the nadir? We’ll know in a month.
Your ‘senior source at the club’ comment was interesting in terms of its defiance (albeit to a private audience).
Essentially ?????? ….
“p*** off you. We know what we are doing and we are gonnae (NOT going too) win the league!”
If so, I applaud the sentiment.
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat now.
I am generally supportive of our board and admire their strategic ability.
Two issues.
1) The further away they operate from the actual football “department” the more able they appear to be.
2) Notwithstanding clinical professionalism at board level, they could do us all a favour by (once in a blue moon) coming out noisily, defiantly and even emotionally.
It’s not posturing or pandering to the crowd.
It’s about showing they are not detached and DO care.
Hail hail
Keep The Faith
HH Celtic Bhoys $ Ghirls
took a few days off to smell the Rosies.
noticed that the sky isnt actually falling.
wasnt going to read the” Last Post”s on the last post but I’m glad I did.
HH to the Kevin Oh Dear family, nice read. post more please, and blessing to your Celtic_Family.
Im not optimistic or pessimistic by nature, the middle way
but am happy to be derided as a “happy clappy” ( a pox on me? lol ) dosnt faze me , I dont really mind.
BUT
one thing that has been proven again and again in this most wonderful Decade of Dominance..
The ” they will get better and win all their matches and we will get worse..this time” -‘ brigade’!! Well it just hasnt happened, yet. It might but not yet.
,unbillable pressure. This whole season will be turned into an ‘oldfirm’ game. Every .bloody. game, every game for us, every game for them. Who can huddle the pressure, takes the prize. I havnt lost faith in the good guys. Nothing will stop me believing this until I see it. An indefensible loss on so many levels,yes but is that the best the zombies can do? the Celtic performance was scary, but them scary. nope not even close.
(8 wins in a row, scrappy 1 goal victories is disastrous – 3 points and a 2 goal victory = worldbeaters? /headscratching.) dont think so.
The past is gone, the future is a fantasy. the next game, one game at a time. see what happens.
HH peace
( ive never said ANYTHING on this blog that I wouldnt say to any Celtic employee face to face.)
DBHOY on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 1:15 PM
I think that’s covered by option 1.
DBhoy
I think you highlight the main discussion point here. You have added a 4th point.
Many will read that as a sympathetically worded option 1.
Good debate
Paul was so sure that we would beat Sevco on Saturday.
He’s got a few other big games wrong before.
For his sake, I hope he’s not so dogmatic in his business life.
On football, it’s getting hard to take him seriously, now, unfortunately.
BTW – credit where credits due; not sure if it was applauded among our communal weekend wake, but Ajers pen box tackle to nip ball away from a certain goal on Sat was masterful.
Also, only player in team who drives fwd in direction of opponents goal; you’d almost think he could play mids… hh
Some of the greatest fans in the world…….are spoiled brats.
DBHOY on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 1:15 PM
How much of Neil Lennon’s track record as a manager was achieved when he was working with his own choice of staff?
ROLLING_STONE
Your allowed your own opinion, not your own facts.
80% win rate is probably as good as it gets. Dress it up anyway you want but that’s our current managers track record to date,
BADGERHC
From pre glasgow derby blog. Cheers for the nod regards the tunes, a lot of good Aussie music around. Never been to pinjarra but might stop in for a look on the way to bunker bay on the weekend, would like to see the tree up close that John jumped off in one of his videos.
Not as concerned as some regards Saturday’s game, as disappointing as it was. A lot of work to do but I’m confident we have the players and manager to do it.
Good post BTW.
HH
I have no idea if Sevco are any good, however they didnt need to be to horse us on Saturday, they have went to Holland and scored 4 and put a Turkisk team out, how would they have done against Ferencvaros this and Cluj last year, I think the fact they have a method seem to know how to manage a game would mean they had a good chance of progressing, tell that to your pal Mr 67 as the penny isnt dropping clearly.
I want to see Broony swaggering about again like a few years ago at Pittodrie after 2 heavy challenges.
I want to see Rogic’s smile like when he scored the SC winner in our Invincible season, Ryan smiling and cheering like an excited wee Bhoy when he scored the winner at Hampden.
I want to see the team smiling and coming together again as one. Looking like they want to wear the Celtic jersey, looking like they want to win, win well and stamp their authority on the game.
Ernie, Uncle Jimmy…
4. Was option 1. with a bit more nuance I thought was missing.
BTW I’m as disappointed as anyone regarding Saturday’s performance but I’m of the opinion there were a lot of mitigating factors that contributed to the performance.
HH
Jimbob71
Rogic is in the huff, and Ryan is playing for himself.
Smiles aren’t likely.
Neil Lennon wanted to bring in Tommy Johnson, John Kennedy wanted to bring in Gavin Strachan. If Lenny, sorry when Lenny goes, whenever that is, Kennedy will be manager.
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 1:23 PM
‘Some of the greatest fans in the world…….are spoiled brats.’
I find it funny that posters will extol how well run a club we are with regularity, but criticise or question football performance or the business and you are a spoiled brat.
FeedtheBear,
The fact that our roller deck of coaching (and staffing) options appears to be based on a network reach of ‘your mate or his da’ speaks volumes for the way we do business.
HH
Paul
With the greatest respect I fear that you are wrong for a second time. What you say is true about our missing players is true. They will return and those who need to gain fitness will do so.
However, the problem remains: What will the manager then do with them?
Will he continue to change team lineups from game to game as he has done since the beginning of the season? Will he decide on a playing system that is identifiable and can be used to counteract the system that Rangers have been using to such good effect against us? Will he demonstrate that he has learned from some of the disastrous defeats from the last two seasons? Will he spend some time on the training pitch with his coaches organising the defence and midfield so that they know what to do when playing 3 at the back or 4 at the back.
My fear is that we’ll all be having the discussion that we’ve been having on here since Saturday before too long. We have played 10 League games. Change manager now and we have time to sort out the mess and win with some degree of comfort. If we wait until after 2 January with 18 games left then I fear we will be too late.
It’s amazing how few Celtic fans have the stomach for the fight.
We’ve had a setback. But we are very much in this title race.
25 points out of 10 games is hardly a historically bad start. It’s not our best but it’s far from our worst
NOTTHEBUS on 20TH OCTOBER 2020 1:25 PM
Sure, but context matters. And i provided some.
Also, 2 CL qualifications out of 6 is another stat.
I would rather have BR’s 2 out of 3 qualifications, with a slightly lower win rate in the league, than Neil’s sine wave European form.
We’ve been out played in 4 of the last 5 games against Sevco.
Would like to hear why posters think this form will change.