Last night’s win didn’t look on the cards until the opening goal; Astra were passing the ball better and creating as many chances as Celtic. It looked like the game we expected – without Commons or Guidetti. However, we find ourselves top of the group with 7 points from 9 at the halfway point, having recorded a draw away to top seed Salzburg.
There’s still a lot of work to do, a win away at Astra next time out in no way guarantees qualification, but we stand an excellent chance of progressing and a decent chance of topping the group.
Having thumped Ross County at the weekend there was a notion we’d turned a corner, which fed some of the frustration last night, despite the result. What we saw was very poor passing from a disjointed team. Players were receiving the ball in too little space, where options were already closed. This impacted the effectiveness on Callum McGregor and Mikael Lustig in particular, but it seemed when every Celtic player looked up there wasn’t a good pass on.
This is all a consequence of change. We look disjointed because we are disjointed. We’re disjointed because we’re rebuilding.
The relevant questions are:
Do we need to rebuild?
Are we making progress?
Yes, we need to rebuild. The squad, tactics, training and other processes are all going through change. For so long we watched Celtic squads remain constant and grow old (under Martin O’Neill), or out tactics become rigid (under Martin and Gordon Strachan), to the point that we were crying out for some experimentation.
The above is seldom disputed but the question of progress is more important. Right now Celtic need results. They need to survive in the Europa League long enough to test and improve their passing, movement, instincts and, where necessary, squad.
Last night’s win wasn’t pretty but it was vitally important. The next challenge for this team is also important; we need to go to Romania and put on the kind of performance we did in Salzburg. If we can do that, we’ll have earned a platform to build on.
Caesar & the Assassin, the accounts of Billy McNeill and Davie Hay as Celtic managers, is available below.
Billy and Davie will both sign the early orders we get to them, more here.
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sipsini
I am a First Bus guy anyway
They call me the breeze, I keep blowing down the road….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0WUfUUQT28
Cmon guys…you all like laughing at the HUN….so cmon….what would you do if it was Us…
Lets hear it..
Dundalk FC @DundalkFC 1m1 minute ago
A helter skelter second half since the goal with Dundalk and Cork both pressing for a goal.
BGX,
Pay the face-painter.:-)
HH
Thunder Road
I bumped into wgs in Alicante airport last week.
I said ‘well done on the result in Poland last night Gordon’.
He said ‘cheers mate’, shook my hand and rushed away.
So that was a quick two words.
Smaller than I thought by the way.
5’4″?
Taranis
There was some collection of musical genius in the TWs. All of them.
Greenpinta…agreed…then what?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfZvXj2psw
Downbound train da boss
Sipsini
Acgr iz an ugly wee bazturt ( smeeegul type lol teeheee..)
btw 2’cnd in the ugly stKes tae ,HT .
btw )
“jeez i thoght blinker was pants”
what a fukiplaywr btw:)))
…… & see that wee Brian grrrrr…. lol h ey puys them away aee eez
fk the fukthelotaeyeez. om
sorry guys
meltit seeya sometime soon
diznaetakemuch
cfc
xxxx
sorry stepen “n ” fra
30 years ago. Wow.
you didn’t wake up this morning cos you didn’t go to bed,
you were watching the whites of your eyes turn red…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nonGWDxcJNA
Johann Lamont to stand down as Scottish Labour leader
How on earth does any media organisation employ the dementedly biased moron that is Derek Johnstone?
I`ve just subjected myself to his Evening Times column. Its all Dave this (Dave King) and Mike that (Mike Ashley).
On first name terms with all parts of the Spiv Spectrum by the sounds of it.
This quote gives a flavour of how Johnstone`s feeble mind works:- “Mike now has to come up with the money to see Rangers through.”
Reminscent of Princess Leia in the Star Wars films. “Help me Obi Wan, you`re our only hope.”
Derek Johnstone may well be the most mentally deficient hun on this planet. An incredible achievement given the stiff competition.
bgx
Most managers get it in the neck a lot quicker than they get credit!
Its one of those things…..play well and that is what is expected…..play bad and someone gets the blame.
Im not saying the buck does not stop with him though eh?
It is his job to get the players playing better than that.
The team selection was probably what a lot of us expected so the performance was not down to drastic changes.
I don’t know if he is lacking in man management and building the players up so they walk onto the park feeling ten feet tall and better than Messi!
Even if he is not good at that aspect of management, i don’t think it is unreasonable to expect your players to be able to pass the ball to each other.
Ultimately…..he better get them doin it!
BGX,
Do what we did a la “Celts for change”
HH.
BGX
21:11 on 24 October, 2014
Cmon guys…you all like laughing at the HUN….so cmon….what would you do if it was Us…
Lets hear it..
=======================
And if yer auntie hud baws…
And if a comet strikes the earth…
And IT’S NOT Us. It’s the historically scurrilous, white-supremast, imperial-stormtrooping, jackbooting, hatemongering, cheating, tax-dodging, ludge-luving, pinkie-pulling, knuckle-frigging, windae-licking, Maccy-Ds-super-sizing, grunting, munter-humping, mordor-rampaging, manchester-wrecking, zenophobic, worthless, compasionless, loveless, hopeless, soulless, heartless, bitter HUN bigots. So Carry On Laughing.
What is the stars
Can you share a time when celtic ever made you happy ?
History dictates we wouldn’t stand by with our thumb up our arse like zombies now and the huns before them.
Delaneys Dunky
Absolutely. Love the spare rocking chair with the guitar in the video for Roy. Nice touch.
Talking about rockin’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGTzMvXTUiY
bgx
21:11 on 24 October, 2014
Cmon guys…you all like laughing at the HUN….so cmon….what would you do if it was Us…
——————
“what WOULD you do”
Er. Remove the board and replace it with people with Celtic as their priority, running a sustainable business underwritten by the supporters and with a clear business plan to ensure a robust viable future.
There is no need to be hypothetical about it. It happened to Celtic in the 1990’s. Celtic men stepped up to the plate avoiding administration, avoiding liquidation and ensuring the same club continued.
BGX,
Sandman is correct, although he was a bit short on the descriptions.
HH.
Yes
2 nil Dundalk
Greenpinta
I think that we agree on most points
The point I was trying to make was that the board have shown by their last two appointments that they do not want to employ the real deal as a manager
Now whether that’s down to not wanting to pay the going rate or down to PL being de facto Director of Football – I don’t know. Either way we are suffering on the park
We have a squad that has much better players than anyone in Scotland but are struggling
We look very much like the CFC teams of Burns and Brady that could play nice football if they got an early goal or two but who would struggle if that early surge came up blank!
I’m not against loans per se either and agree with you that we could pick up one to two fringe EPL players at the end of August but they should be the icing on the cake rather than the main ingredients like a CB that seems undropable!
I’m all for getting young Scots in to our team – guys like Russell and May would have done me fine and we would have hardly have been paying them fortunes!
RD came with the promise of bringing through our young players – yet Henderson who was very promising last year and seemed to fit the bill in the pressing system hasn’t had a look in!
To me there are just far too many unanswered questions around RD
Nice guy perhaps but not the hard edged manager we need IMHO
HH
Taranis
The TWs united every member of my family in musical appreciation. I always thought Jeff Lynne was an underated genius. Song writer and producer par exellence.
Friday is music night, here is my starter for 10 :-)
Die Antwoord
Hail Hail.
What a relief,
I feel like a soldier,
Look like a thief……….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShCSuFSauzU
croppybhoy,
Good points. I was reading today on here that we are going to invest more into Lennoxtown. What do you make of that ?
Have we had sufficient return for our investment since 2007, I don’t think so.
Is this part of RD;s remit and the board are giving him the tools he says he needs. If that is the case it would suggest the RD is here for the long haul.
HH.
Mullet’s Mothers beaten again.
Python Lee Jackson..with a little help from oor Rod.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B9ht-_MBvM
Dundalk Champions
To the Connor family enjoy your night
Love
Delaneys Dunky,
As an ex-Bankie (in that I dont live there anymore rather than not being a Bankie), I thought you might like this description of the Maltings in PienBovril footy website :
The Maltings in Duntocher, which used to keep serving after everywhere else in town had shut by having a “disco”, which was a darkened function room that you moved into after their main bar’s closing licence time and they played Irish rebel songs and sold shots til the early hours. During the week.
Hahaha, happy days – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsE9mgIlz3c
bgx
21:11 on 24 October, 2014
Cmon guys…you all like laughing at the HUN….so cmon….what would you do if it was Us…
Lets hear it..
________
That’s a hard one not being deid, guess I would stay in the box I was put in.
SOAL
Saw you up toon at start of week. you were heading towards the Waterloo bar…
didn’y want toot the horn an embarrass ye :O)
Hamiltontim
I have tried to catch under the phone 40 minutes back.
My choice for Friday night music
http://youtu.be/13MQFCfCYdQ
voguepunter
That is my local they still ask for you mind
get your arse back in
My office is in the Baltic Chambers
Bada Bing
I read your three questions. I think I have good view on two clubs, Legia and Celtic and see that the difference where each is going now is big.
ha ha
drink numbs the pain
what iz the stars
Ronny is so arrogant !!!!!
where is our technical ability ,
to control and pass fo our players,
,jeez i though was blinker was pants and HT would improve our team.
……………. seriously,
guys maybe i should go to to the games half/cut …..
only kiddin :)))))))))