Paradox for Celtic as Lazio and Rennes both sit third domestically

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Lazio won their ninth successive Serie A game at the weekend, a club record.  Currently, the second longest winning streak in the league is two games.  They are third in the table, three points off top.  They have not dropped a point since before their first game against Celtic in October, and in that time they beat Juventus in the league and Supercoppa Italiana.

Apart from the two defeats to Celtic, the only other game they have failed to win in this sequence was the Europa dead rubber in Rennes.

Not that Rennes are a pushover.  They have not dropped a point in five Ligue 1 games since their loss at Celtic Park in November, a run that puts them in third place.  By contrast, Moussa Dembele’s Lyon, who are twelfth in Ligue 1, qualified for the Champions League knockout stage.

Were it not for one horrible performance we would be glowing at the halfway point of the season.  We won a remarkable Europa League group, picked up our customary League Cup and sailed through the league campaign until a December, when a few narrow wins were a portent to a painful defeat.  This does not make achieving the improvement that is required easier.  Paradoxically, revisions need to take place on the side that won their Europa group to ensure we improve in the SPFL.

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318 Comments

  1. glendalystonsils on

    So , Celtic players are banned for offences while Sevco players face no action for more serious ones?

     

    What are we going to do about SFA injustice , I wonder?

     

     

    I could see nothing deliberate or malicious in Christie’s hand brushing Morelas’ goolies unlike the 3 premeditated assaults on Celtic players in the ‘John Beaton , toast of the Crown bar’ game.

  2. GLENDALYSTONSILS on 6TH JANUARY 2020 6:01 PM

     

    So , Celtic players are banned for offences while Sevco players face no action for more serious ones?

     

     

    ——————

     

     

    More serious offences, or indeed the same offence (with intent) by Morelos which went unpunished.

  3. glendalystonsils on

    david17

     

     

    I think Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond are planning to demonstrate outside SFA HQ in ‘Father Ted’ style with placards saying ‘Careful now’ and ‘down with this type of thing’.

  4. 2-game ban for Christie yet the thug who plays for them has not even been cited. SFA corrupt to the core, hang your head in shame, cheating bar-stewards!

  5. David17………..if as you say Lazio’s manager Inzaghi could’nt give a feic about the Europa why did he play his strongest team against Celtic in Rome including Immobile the top striker in Italy. he was not slow to make excuses post match about refereeing decisions and saves by Fraser Forster which denied him of a result.

  6. fourstonecoppi on

    G-D on 6TH JANUARY 2020 6:08 PM

     

    2-game ban for Christie yet the thug who plays for them has not even been cited. SFA corrupt to the core, hang your head in shame, cheating bar-stewards!

     

     

    hang your head in shame celtic board

  7. The sfa have just given the Celtic board an open goal to aim at .If they have baws is another matter.

  8. glendalystonsils on

    The SFA are not even trying to hide their anti- Celtic and pro-Rangers* bias now. This has gone too far and become too blatant . We need to take them on over this.

  9. The hands can’t hit

     

     

    There are many many not FTSE companies who turnover far lower than Celtic yet their CEO take significantly higher salary and success related bonus packages home.

     

     

    I am not saying it is right or wrong but clearly the major investors who backed the last 2 funding bail outs (those which covered the excesses of Macdonald’s CEO tenure and then the MON era). The funding of these allowed the club to continue to compete legitimately at a time when others risked all with a less prudent strategy which in turn led to the desired outcome.

     

     

    Peter Lawwell had to deliver a sustainable strategy and plan which has delivered 12 league wins out of 16 despite the unlevel playing field of the first 8 seasons.

     

     

    I think those who did bail the club out might look at a ratio of trophy wins and off field successes as decent return but unfinished business as their cash has hardly delivered a decent or worthwhile yield yet.

  10. David 17

     

     

    Peter Lawell will phone the SFA, get an explanation and that will be sufficient.

     

     

    I mean seriously, how he got away with that still baffles me.

     

    What could the SFA have possibly said that would satisfy. Morelos was a thug that day and deserved minimum 3 red cards.

     

    For the CEO to think well im satisfied that’s the end of it, what about the hundreds of thousands of Celtic fans, did you not consider they would like an explanation too?

     

     

    Just another thing that stinks because their was no suitable explanation, Lawell was cowardly and arrogant, supporters had a right to know. John Beaton was corrupt and Ryan Christie now has a ban for less than Morelos, offences. You reap what you sew.

  11. You certainly do reap what you sew, and we have been asking for this from the minute we accepted the same club narrative & Shat ourselves over resolution 12. I understand we are a business & a football team however as a fan I have no interest in balance sheets & a great interest in team sheets. Wake up PL FFS!

  12. Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on

    If only there was something we could have done to expose the SFA corruption to the world and force change.

     

    Oh wait, we are exactly where the board want us, reclaiming our place in Scottish society back to being the whipping bhoys, great business strategy

  13. I wonder if we had skelped them on 29th there would be so much anger over the past week or so ?????

     

     

    HH

     

     

     

    Our day will come…again.

  14. SID on 6TH JANUARY 2020 6:13 PM

     

     

    The SFA have given Peter Lawwell an open goal by charging RC for the same offence the headcase walked free from exactly a year ago. What happens next ?

  15. Macjay, do you think Peter Lawell has a right to get an explanation from the SFA and keep it to himself when hundreds of thousands of fans who financially support the club would like to know.

     

     

    A yes or no will suffice.

  16. SFA ban Christie, Celtic fan reaction, blame the Celtic Board. FFS

     

     

    Christie was initially offered a 2 game ban Celtic said no they would fight it . It want to Trial & the SFA issued the ban. How on earth can anyone hang the blame for this one on Celtic .

     

     

    Re the decision what rankles me most was that the wee ugly one carried out a more deliberately blatant ball grab on Christie in a previous game & got away with it.

     

     

    In practical terms it won’t affect Christie a great deal as he was almost certain to miss the first 2 games anyway and it could well be a blessing in disguise as his form had dipped and he certainly looked as if he needed a bit of a break.

     

     

    However none of that excuses the SFA for blatant double standards.

  17. Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on

    Macjay..,

     

    Had the board supported Res12 the SFA would now be exposed as the corrupt cabal they are.

     

    Restructuring would have been the only solution and that was our opportunity to ensure a fairer set up. As it stands by their actions they have demonstrated their support for the SFA and it’s current strategy.

  18. David 17

     

     

    Lawell has missed more sitters against the ibrox clubs than Morelos has against Celtic.

  19. Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on

    Corky,

     

    I like your idea that only Christie needed reprimanding

  20. Not sure what the Board have to do with the Christie ban? The current Board have overseen arguably the best spell on and off the field in our long history, but let’s not let the facts get in the way when assessing their contribution.

     

     

    Ryan’s ban is harsh. These types of clashes happen all the time on the pitch – where do you draw the line? However, there’s no point in appealing as it won’t be overturned. The behavior of Morelos during the game is irrelevant to Ryan’s case – that needs to be dealt with separately and I hope the powers at the SFA have this on their radar.

  21. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    SID on 6TH JANUARY 2020 6:26 PM

     

     

    Ask me a question if you wish.

     

     

    But don`t tell me how to answer it .

  22. Canamalar, I haven’t a clue how you deduced an idea like that from my post.

     

     

    The topic under discussion was Christie’s ban and that is the issue I commented on.

     

     

    The fact that I didn’t mention Kent or Morelos doesn’t mean I think they don’t have a case to answer .

  23. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    An intentional grab at the goolies requires a closing of the fist.

     

    Or perhaps a punch.

     

     

     

    From what I saw , I very much doubt that Christie intended either .

  24. PeterLatchfordsBelly on

    So, Morelos gets a two game ban for a second red card in a fortnight. Christie gets a 3 game ban for an alleged assault.

     

     

    Morelos isn’t charged for inciting the crowd 2 weeks after being sent off for the same offence.

     

     

    Morelos escaped any charge for grabbing Christie by the haw maws in the corresponding fixture last season. This isn’t considered relevant in any media outlet that I’ve seen.

     

     

    Meanwhile Celtic issue weasel words, as per their usual MO.

     

     

    We are being attacked from all sides and we do nothing but issue weasel words.

     

     

    Nine in a row is on the line. Weasel words.

     

     

    Compare and contrast with Fergus’s response to the Cadete scandal.

     

     

    Anyone would begin to suspect our PLC were complicit in the corrupt charade that is Scottish football.

     

     

    I have no (weasel) words. Lawwell has already used them all up.

  25. The SFA fear the Huns because they will come out kicking and screaming if something goes against them, they actually come out kicking and screaming before they are actually charged.

     

     

    The SFA know Celtic will do nothing.

     

     

    We are being played. The narrative is now one of Celtic being shafted by the SFA. Just the way the PLC want it. Paul67 set the tone for this with yesterdays article. What chance have you got when we are being undermined from inside the walls of Celtic Park. The Huns will run away with the League and we will directed towards Hampden with our pitchforks.

  26. Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on

    Corky,

     

    That is source of people’s outrage, to miss that and focus only on the Christie ignoring IMO far more serious transgressions is what your post reads.

     

    The board are in the firing line because they had the opportunity with Res12 to obliterate the SFA and create a new governance model, their refusal to do that demonstrates they are happy with the status quo.