I’m not going to say I saw this coming, I didn’t see defeat, but when I wrote a couple of days ago that you and I have seen a lot more games like Celtic’s away to Lincoln Red Imps than Brendan Rodgers, and about European football in July, I knew this one was never going to play out in a triumphant manner.
On the first day he was appointed I asked one of you to compile Brendan an Efe highlights video – I assume we were all busy. God love Efe, he’s a fine man by all accounts, but he’s three years into a slump which is not going to end at Celtic. Brendan must now be aware. It’s no longer Efe’s fault if he costs us again.
I also made the point previewing this game that we can’t expect a squad comprising only one addition to last season’s group to perform remarkably different in qualification than a year ago. In this sense, Celtic performed as expected, this one had all the hallmarks of our recent Icelandic ventures.
The manager may not be embarrassed at the result (I suspect he might sound different privately) but many supporters are. Gibraltar has a population similar to Bellshill, but without the football heritage and support mechanism. Would defeat to Bellshill Athletic be embarrassing? You bet. Yesterday’s result was too.
We are woefully slow in build-up and have only one player in the squad who can create the 7 or 8 chances per game needed to get a result, and he’s 33 next month and currently injured.
We remain strong favourites to qualify for the next round but there is an enormous amount of work to be done in the next month. This is not a Champions League squad.
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When was the last Celtic game that was a must win game did you, at the end of the match say “that was a great TEAM performance”?
I’m guessing that BR gave some of the squad a chance to impress him in a game that could be corrected in the home leg if the result went pear shaped. He would have seen how poor many of our squad are and must now know the scale of the task facing him. We should, should have enough to win at home, but it will be tighter than some are predicting and Brendan is unlikely to be able to change much should we progress. Not enough time now.
Lincoln Red Imps FFS.
You could put together a collection of CQN posters that would give those guys a decent game.
Get the finger out, Celtic. Jesus wept.
The record’s stuck- cord’s stuck -cord’s stuck -cord’s stuck -cord’s stuck………………………………………………….
The blog’s broke- log’s broke- log’s broke- log’s broke- log’s broke.
I blame TGM…
CQN legends XI go full on at Lennoxtown for return leg vs the Imps
And Efe, of course (and peter lawwell)…and maybe even ronny deila…
TURKEYBHOY@8:07
I certainly do not “hope we get beat” – I will be there,doing what I always do – supporting Celtic in any way I can.
However that does not make me blinkered when it comes to our shortcomings.
I have next to no faith in the current squad – it is a ‘cobbled together’ bunch of mismatched individuals.
Janko, Biton, GMS, Ambrose, Cifti, Christie and Boyata, will never be regular first-team picks – Scott Brown and Commons have lost their mojos and it appears that Johansen, Forrest and Mulgrew are all looking for a way out.
I would be quite happy to see the back of all twelve of them, if we can sign three experienced players – a solid centre-back, a quality midfielder and a productive left winger.
I call things as I see them – I don’t look to curry favour or gang-up with pals and back-slappers to bolster my views.
Some really nasty comments on CQN last night. Macjay and I are diametrically opposites when it comes to politics and we seldom agree on non-football matters, but to label him a fascist is just plain daft and extremely childish.
Mats –
That same team hammered Motherwell – far superior to Lincoln Red Imps – by 7-0 at Celtic Park in the final game of last season without Griffiths and with 7 different goalscorers.
On an excellent playing surface next Wednesday, Celtic will hammer the men from Gibraltar and I am in no doubt about that whatsoever.
Sorry if mentioned already, but too many comments to read them all. I wonder if BR knew he didn’t want some of the players who played, but played them to get them ‘in the shop window’, perhaps thinking or being told, that he needs to sell players on, to bring more players in. And these players know they are not wanted, and so did not perform. At least thats what I hope is some of the reason behind it…..
I would think that a big atmosphere at Celtic Park will have the other team fall apart, and they should be very easy to have a go at, in the first 20 minutes, as it should take them a long time to adjust and settle. The thing that has me worried, is not having the away goal. It could be a very nervous last 10 minutes if we are only winning 2-0……
I think scoring a lot of goals, will make a lot of people forget the away leg result. The tie is far from over, unfortunately, as we should have won by at least a small margin in the first leg, but instead of not winning, we don’t have the away goal, so now it really does have to be at least a 3-0 win. Can’t say I am not a little nervous. They should do it, but then there are so many things in life that should or should not happen……
Team v Well
Note no brown or Bitton
1Gordon
63TierneySubstituted forIzaguirreat 56’minutes
28Sviatchenko
4Ambrose
23Lustig
42McGregor
25Johansen
27Roberts
18RogicSubstituted forAitchisonat 75’minutes
14ArmstrongSubstituted forJankoat 84’minutes
17Christie
Substitutes
3Izaguirre
6Bitton
19Allan
22Janko
26Bailly
49Forrest
99Aitchison
If the last couple of days were the first couple of days of Paul`s brainchild, I would imagine he would have decided it wasn`t such a great idea after all 0:-).
Le Tour, even on a truncated Mont Ventoux stage, is interesting so cheerio for now,
JJ
Maradominic –
I didn’t mean it was the exact same team v Motherwell. I meant they were the same players, from the same squad that Mats was writing off.
Not sure about so many of the squad being written off quite so soon.
The guys injured GMS,Simo.Boyata and Commons have a chance to prove to Brendan once fit that they can be successful.
Janko is a strange one but surely it’s to early to judge a young guy with few games under his belt?
The goodbyes should be reserved for players refusing to extend contracts like SJ and Rogic.
Mulgrew is not what we need either, All three should be dumped immediately as we need guys who have commitment to the cause.
The serial failure’s like Efe and Bitton should also go immediately.
Give the youngsters a chance and let them play with something to prove.
Better than the indifferent mob wearing the jerseys now.
Good point sneddoni, now I’m nervous too!
Yip but Brown and Bitton kill games especially against ‘lesser’ opposition.
Forrest should also go immediately.
AULD TAM on 14TH JULY 2016 1:36 PM
Mats –
That same team hammered Motherwell – far superior to Lincoln Red Imps – by 7-0 at Celtic Park in the final game of last season without Griffiths and with 7 different goalscorers.
On an excellent playing surface next Wednesday, Celtic will hammer the men from Gibraltar and I am in no doubt about that whatsoever.
————————————————-
I hate to remind you, but you predicted we would” Molocate ” them a couple of days ago.
HH.
To be fair I think most of us thought we would molocate them! I did.
I think Biton gets singled out a bit too much. He’s a deep lying midfielder who helps us maintain possession and keeps the ball moving. I think he’s pretty effective at that. He certainly needs to toughen up a bit though…
If we expect him to pick out passes like he’s Lubo Moravcik or dominate a midfield like Roy Keane, we’re obviously failing in other areas of the field. We need to play better collectively without the ball and that means hours on the training field.
Still need to punt 10 other players before we punt Biton
Need to punt: Johansen, Rogic, Ambrose, GMS, James Forrest, Darnell Fisher, Ciftci, Armstrong, Allen, O’Connell
Loan out: Nesbitt, Aitchison
Brennie should start next game with
Gordon, Janko, Lustig, Sviatchenko, Tierney, Biton, Johansen, Roberts, Christie, Rogic, Griffiths
Some people are now trying to revise history and add saying Ambrose should not be blamed as the ball to a wicked bounce. Well any defender with an ounce of sense would not have allowed the ball to bounce on that surface.
He s done it before and he’ll do it again, and I am shocked BR included him in the squad at all, and that, for me,is very worrying.
from hat I saw Brown & Bton were the cause of most of our problems on Tuesday night they played walking football. A big problem is we cannot get rid of any players as no one wants them. Really need a leader on the park.
When we saw the team sheet before the Motherwell 7-0 game, I bet my pal we’d win by a barrowload. I like Bitton, on occasion, but we play with a certain freedom when he and Brown are absent.. As for Brown, I feel his time is past and Brendan has made himself a hostage to fortune by making him captain.
Caberfeigh, I noticed a lot of that walking football during the Euro’s, England players were particularly guilty of it. Wonder if it’s one of these modern coaching tactics?
Tim29- Bitton was an attacking MF at his previous club seemingly?
TIMALOY29
You must be watching a different Bitton.
The one i watch usually picks up the ball facing his own goal and immediately returns it to passer or hits it sideways to fullback,
As a defensive mid he is generally wrong side of opponent so either gives him a free run or fouls him in a dangerous area.
Has yet to discover the simple pass and move technique.
Shows poor positional play and zero game sense.
There is a reason our engine is stalled.
Oh 2 teams that didn’t seem to do the walking football were Wales and Iceland. Tells you something I think.
!!Bada Bing!! on 14th July 2016 2:14 pm
Tim29- Bitton was an attacking MF at his previous club seemingly?
==================
Ironically, so was Brown. Lesson to be learnt somewhere…
HH
Greenpinata –
Yes I did. Absolute madness isn’t it? A Celtic supporter on a Celtic forum predicting that a Celtic team would beat a bunch of semi-professionals and part-timers.
What’s even more insane is other Celtic supporters throwing that prediction back in his face after the event.
Barney67
Defenders are told to stay on feet and remain goalside.
Efe failed completely at the most basic level.
He chased the man and took himself wrongside.
Ridiculous mistake for a n experienced defender.
Greenpinata –
Just to be clear, my second paragraph above was in no way aimed at you. I was referring to a couple of comments immediately after the game.
Fan a tic, that’s why I don’t think he’s a defender, or even a footballer.
Ridiculous mistake for an experienced defender.
===============
fan-a-tic on 14th July 2016 2:19 pm
All pause for breath as everyone imagines an inexperienced Efe lining up at centre-half…
HH
AULD TAM on 14TH JULY 2016 2:19 PM
I also thought that we would ” molocate” them.
I also think that we will go through. The thrust of reminding you of your prediction was to emphasis how unpredictable our team are at the moment.
Hopefully and I trust that BR will make our predictions more accurate going forward.
HH to you.
!!BADA BING!! on 14TH JULY 2016 2:14 PM
Tim29- Bitton was an attacking MF at his previous club seemingly?
___
Surprised to hear that. He doesn’t seem to have the mobility of somebody like Christie. He can score from outside the box though.
___TRADITIONALIST88 on 14TH JULY 2016 2:18 PM
!!Bada Bing!! on 14th July 2016 2:14 pm
Tim29- Bitton was an attacking MF at his previous club seemingly?
==================
Ironically, so was Brown. Lesson to be learnt somewhere…
___________
Broony used to run about like a madman behind the striker but he wasn’t ever the playmaker. He used to press the opposition defence and make runs. He actually was effective playing on the right wing for both Celtic and Hibs.
He seems to have lost that energy since returning from injury.
_________
FAN-A-TIC on 14TH JULY 2016 2:16 PM
TIMALOY29
You must be watching a different Bitton.
The one i watch usually picks up the ball facing his own goal and immediately returns it to passer or hits it sideways to fullback,
As a defensive mid he is generally wrong side of opponent so either gives him a free run or fouls him in a dangerous area.
Has yet to discover the simple pass and move technique.
Shows poor positional play and zero game sense.
There is a reason our engine is stalled.
______
Have to disagree with you there.
Passing the ball sideways or back to a defender isn’t necessarily a failure. Neil Lennon did it effectively for Celtic for years. There isn’t anything wrong with making simple passes to maintain possession.
Fact is, we have a glut of attacking midfielders in the club to create things. The pressure isn’t on Biton for that. You could fit Christie, Rogic, Roberts and McGregor all in the team with Biton.
Defensive positioning has been poor for the whole team. Brendan needs to focus on what the team does without the ball. The defense cannot defend a simple ball over the top right now.
The engine room has struggled since Ronny rushed both Biton and Brown back from injury. Brown has been particularly poor. They don’t have the balance in there.
I suggest playing Rogic alongside Biton.
Why were we playing 2 holding midfielders in the first place on Tuesday ? Playing Griffiths on the right before Paddy Roberts was madness to me . The players deserve criticism but so does the manager some poor selections were made.
Head above the parapet here but I think bitton is the common link in most poor performances of others in our midfield.
I remember using the line ‘if Bitton’ is the answer then you are asking the wrong question’ and the next few months he played very well, making a fool of me! But he’s long since returned to his ponderous ways.
Pass and move only works if the passing is relaively crisp and quick. Nir doesn’t do that. Nor is he great defensive cover and he is too often caught in possession.
Along with efe he shouldn’t play again imo. But I suspect he will get the nod.
Here’s the tin hat bit – brown will prove his worth playing alongside mcgregor and rogic.