Amid the enormous events of the season it is easy to overlook the remarkable transformation in Celtic from a team which was bumping along in third place in October. The 3-3 draw at Rugby Park, when Celtic recovered from a 3 goal deficit in the final 20 minutes to grab a point, is often referred to as a turning point but I don’t subscribe to this, Celtic drew 0-0 at home to Hibs two weeks later as the deficit from the top of the league headed towards 15 points, albeit with two games in hand.
It’s not often I’m told “get a grip of yourself” but that’s exactly what was said when I suggested to our chief executive that if we lost the next game away to Motherwell we were in danger of finishing third.
He then went on to quote me the points gained/lost ratio Neil Lennon enjoyed between becoming Celtic caretaker manager until his team lost at home to St Johnstone in August – a remarkably successful period. He knew the same ratio between that St Johnstone game and the 0-0 against Hibs, which he said was a problem that would be fixed. For good measure adding that we would beat Rangers on 28 December and go on to win the league.
Refreshing, though it was, to hear such utter conviction in The Plan, I wasn’t convinced. Rangers were on a roll and we just couldn’t put a series of wins together. The change came against Rennes on 3 November. Celtic came from behind to win the game 3-1, playing a tactically different game than we had all season.
Since then Neil Lennon has bravely changed tactics with more regularity than any Celtic manager I have known, even during games we have often seen three different strategies deployed. Not all have worked but he has shown a willingness to take chances and has learned plenty about his squad in doing so.
This willingness to take chances and to learn has delivered the league title.
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RANGERS boss Ally McCoist last night gave his seal of approval to US tycoon Bill Miller after an hour-long chat with the American businessman over his plans if he wins control of the club.
McCoist said: “I had a conference call with Bill for the best part of an hour and it was very encouraging. I got the feeling he wants what’s best for the club and that’s the most important thing.
++++++++++++++++++++
lol
Is this stated as a ‘Conference Call’ to sweeten the bears, and make it sound a more important call than it actually was?
A one-to-one call, and it’s spouted in the media as a Conference Call?
#disillusionedbears
Celtic is Scottish football,
Scottish football is Celtic.
Everything else is misdirection.
cv
Their generosity knows no bounds. They can pay for the Cairn Glass for Weir now.
Rangers media
On March 15th, RangersMedia obtained signed shirt with the intention to raffle off and donate all proceedings to the Rangers Fans’ Fighting Fund.
Tickets were priced at £5 or three for £10, with donations made through the RangersMedia paypal account.
A whopping £595 was raised before the deadline on March 30th and the draw was made by CanadaReady, from Canada.
The winner was a user in our forum – The Bears’ Den – K Petrie, who is now the proud owner of the signed shirt.
A big thankyou to all who donated and this now takes RangersMedia’s donations to the RFFF, just short of £2500 so far!
If I were BT or their telephone provider I would be concerned as to who will pay the call charge.
Ally on a ‘conference call’…………..
talkin’ business an’ finance an tactics and players an aw sorts..
Aye!
Been awhile..but just want to congratulate Neil and the players on the Championship…was a great to see it won in style..and the support as always at Rugby Park were immense..
Just looking at the last few posts regarding some of the players..am in total agreement with Stephbhoys assesment of the players that we need to move on..if we get these guys moved on then we could hopefully 3 or 4 quality players in the door to kick on a bit..
Kevinlasvegas..as for Kelvin Wilson I was on his back on here from day one..dont think hes good enough..very one footed,gets himself in to dreadful tangles as a result of it and relies on his pace to get himself out it..not the dominating centre half that we would like..wouldnt be surprised if hes goes back south in the summer as well.
Do not k.ow how much the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund have raised?
Perhaps it could be used to pay Manchester City the 378k they owe them.
The only centre that caused Billy McNeill any hassle
in the air was the Ayr Utd centre forward Alec Dixie Ingram….
I remember it took us 3 games against them at Hampden in the semi-final of some cup….
Paddy
googybhoy ♥ Celtic and Integrity,
They raised “a whopping £595” in just 15 days!
Now assume that all the tickets were bought at £5 to give a maximum estimate of the number of buyers. That comes to 119 buyers, or 8 per day.
Great to see how they are flocking to their club in it’s hour of need …
How come I cannae C&P???????
Paddy T
Stephbhoy
Good assessment – I can’t disagree.
If McCourt left for the likes of Hibs – I’d hate to face him but still think he’s had his chance.
The team found a swagger on Saturday, never saw it before this season,
it was like the penny had dropped and they realised they were so much better than the rest.
They played with an inner confidence which i have not seen since martin o’neils teams.
hope they go on now a build on that in the final 5 games and on into Europe.
Hh
Mike
These are the players i think will be leaving us in the summerJuarez, rassmuson. murphy. mc court ,loovens .k wilson..hooper. ,m wilson,cervi blacman. and john clarke the kit man will retire.
Easter? This is like Christmas, although lasting a lot longer. What a perfect day Saturday was! Hail hail
Gordon_J
Noticed also that there were only 40,000+ at the BigotDome on Saturday. Not only do they not do ‘walking away’, they’re now stopping ‘walking toward’ Ipox
dessybhoy,
The D&P report shows that the huns currently owe BT £1,292.13.
Hope Bill Miller didn’t reverse the charges.
IMO Big Kelvin needs a wee bit more time to settle. Give the big guy a chance.
Timbhoy2 …………. John “The Brush” Clark without the ‘E
.
Emusairphan..
It is Not Christmas .. It is Eggmass..
Didn’t you Ken Kyle Klubfoot is Giving up Microwaves for Lent..
LENT.. The Huns Middle Name.. Aka borrowed..
Summa
Gordon_J
It’ll be all those long distance calls from Ally to Walter on his hols, asking to run him through the dignity stance one more time.
“Both hands on centre of jacket and look into middle distance. OK. Got it. Thanks, gaffer. Sorry to bother you again.”
one of the reasons we improved so markedly this season wasn’t due to Sammi getting better, rather more players got closer to his standard and allowed him to play at his level.Sammi’s level became the team level…
Retaining Sammi is the key to future team growth.
.
Bhoys..
What was the Full title of the Beggars and theives Quote..
I need it
ASAP
THANKS.. Summa
Gordon J
I wonder how Ian Livingstone feels about them owing BT £1200? That will be less BT bonus, on the plus side, he will be on for bigger bonus from us no doubt!
Gordon J
the huns have only two home games left
both of which are meaningless
apart from ST holders …will any others go ?
if not how will they generate any income ?
will they be able to pay April`s wages ?
assume a CVA is being seriously considered …how will that allow for operating costs to be paid before the season starts ..particularly given the ticketus anomoly
they could always rely on the sale of scarves /raffling tops etc …might pay for half a weeks wages for Mcgregor
Paul 67
Speaking to someone last night said Celtic are putting a lot of pressure on the gang of ten. Threating not to sign the sky deal if they don’t change there stance. Not there fans driving all over the country at stupid times to suit tv companys. You heard anything.
Alot of people quite rightly getting praise since saturday.
The GB must be included in that, Parkhead has an atmosphere again and its thanks to them. Roll on the champions league
Thanks to Neil Francis Lennon and all the bhoys for Saturday. In fact for the whole season. was not in Ayrshire but Kerrydale Suite was a very close second. Great party, great atmosphere, great Guinness, great rolls n sausage great family to be a part of, great singing and dancing after the game. The Celtic family is an exceptional family of which I am so proud to be a part of.
Throat still raw from a weekend of singing.
Woke up this morning and felt that we are all blessed to be Tims.
Bhoy67 it was great to meet you on Saturday, hope to catch up for a beer before end of season.
Hail Hail the Celts are here.
Glasgowbhoy and Glasgowghirl welcome to this special family CQN
HH
Need help from phone techies
My daughter has a blackberry curve, it is stuck on ‘alt’, she has all her daughters info in the memo pad(1st tooth dates etc) & she wants to back it up. Can anyone help a caring grandfather?
new article posted.
midfield maestro,
I’m sure Mr Livingstone is enjoying the irony.
PFayr,
I’m told that the technical finance term is Fecked. There is a fair chance that they won’t make it to the end of the season without someone putting some cash in.
k. wilson ~ is not on my list for one reason and that is he has had one season disrupted by injury. i think any player that comes in should be given 2 full season, akin to the manager.
mccourt is a class football players, technically gifted and on his day would give the best a run for their money, but he can be awful and he can be both in the same game.
its easy for us sitting here with a list of players to let go/ sell etc… but its harder when you have sat with those same players, know them well, have built up relationships with them.
what NL needs to remember when he is letting these players go is that they would be off in a heartbeat if they had a better offer elsewhere.
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon on 9 April, 2012 at 12:59 said:
googybhoy ♥ Celtic and Integrity,
They raised “a whopping £595″ in just 15 days!
__________
At 3 for a tenner it could be 59 buyers a 1 with a giver ticket. Only 60.
stephbhoy on 9 April, 2012 at 12:27 said:
Of those on the list the only one I would not mind being retained is Paddy McCourt but I love tanner ba’ players.
However what critics of the Board seem to forget is that when a signing that does not become a first team regular is signed it is not a matter of snapping your fingers and they are gone. They have contracts and are in charge of when and where they go.
Some players are identified as worth keeping to bolster the squad but as the talent in the squad rises more players enter the let them go category.
Some we have loaned out to take them off the wage bill, others like Loovens we have not because were it not for his fragility he would be a regular bt he is god cover when fit. So the guys on your list who are out of contract will not be offered new ones and that will free money to help us hold on to the guys of higher quality that have risen to the top.
It is the curse of multiple year contracts and we have to live with it. The key to success is getting more signings right than wrong, managerial as well as playing, because mistakes are very costly whilst success gives a slower rate of return and in finanacial terms only does so if you can sell them. You can only sell what others want to buy and that is usually your best, not the average.
The realities of dealing with real live people with real live contracts in real life seems to have been lost on some people (not you btw).
I blame Championship Manager. :)
Regarding all the talk about who we keep, and who we let go, one of the important bases we need to ensure we cover is having decent squad cover.
Zaluska is a good example , we know exactly what he can and cannot do , and , that if our first choice keeper gets injured, he can come in , he knows his way around the SPL and will do a decent job. That sort of experience is very hard to get in squad players. We could bring in some guy from AN Other country who may be better than Zal , but , who needs 10 or 15 games to get up to speed. With a squad player covering an injury we don’t have that time.
That is why I would tend to keep guys like Mark Wilson , and probably Glen Loovens.
If they come in as squad players, then we know exactly what we are getting , as opposed to other guys like Lustig, Browak, and Bangura none of whom have had any impact – partly via circumstance ie injury and the form of others, but the reality is in the title run in I would trust Mark Wilson as 3rd choice cover at full back than Lustig or the wee Morrocan guy whose name I forget .
CultsBhoy loves being 1st on 9 April, 2012 at 13:13 said:
one of the reasons we improved so markedly this season wasn’t due to Sammi getting better, rather more players got closer to his standard and allowed him to play at his level.Sammi’s level became the team level…
Retaining Sammi is the key to future team growth.
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******
I’ve been trying to tell the blinkered aficionados of Sharkey’s the same thing for months!
Like me,you also know your fitba’.
Heading for Derry Airport now, as the post holiday decanting begins.
Will check in later to see how many players the CQN Selectors have got rid of.
Thom its Londonderry ya bliddy lefty activist rebel…… are you a GB’er :¬)
BRTH
done it…. was a bliddy nightmare ……. easier to just pay cash…..
please keep us informed ,,,,,,, my friend
V