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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BR would have asked John Kennedy for a dossier on every player,I would love to see what he put down for Ambrose,Forrest ? He is damaged goods and should have been away with the last regime IMO
5-0 v Artmedia…we got over it…life went on. 1-0 v Red Imps…we’ll survive…life goes on…
Talk about the players being mentally weak…wouldn’t like to share a trench with some of the posters on here since last night…
The Green Man.
Good players who can play on any surface come at a premium. That is why they command high wages.
All players like a good surface but if you are not in the top bracket and are playing against top bracket you would prefer the surface to be poor.
What matters is the time it takes to take a pass and move forward with the ball under control. The quicker a player “owns” the ball the better. First touch buys good players time. Time to decide what to do next. If you are having to take two or three touches on a night then chances are keeping the ball is the priority rather than thinking what to do with it next.
Good players have a good first touch, great players have a great first touch. How many do we have if whom we can say that they have either a good first touch or a great first touch?
Does anyone think BR was sending a message last night? I e get me some players or I’ll continue to pick these you have left me with?
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS
You would get more fight out of posters on CQN…..than the current team show.
You could have randomly chosen 11 CQN posters…..they would have shown more heart and guts, no question.
Im digging out my boots:)
Get me in the team:)
HH
Look .
It’s all the fault of the negative posters on here.
If they all posted positive things ,then Celtic would win every match.
TT
Auldheid
Played football for years…..I could play on any surface, and so could any of the boys i played with.
Thats fundamental.
If you cannot do that….how can you be a pro?
Its basic stuff….very basic.
If you dont show heart and blame the pitch…..thats weak.
Excuses by grown men who get paid fortunes…..Nah…..not for me.
Fight for the jersey….or go.
Anyway….HH
Barney67
No.
TT
The Green man.
” How can you be a pro?”
We were beaten by semi-pro’s.
Jesus wept.
TT
TT prob right. I’m clutching at straws here!
The Green Man @ 11:21
Can’t disagree with that assessment.
TINY TIM
My point…..How can you be a pro, if you cant do the basics?
Whats your problem
Jock Stein used to leave out Jinky when the ground was ice-hard or frosty.
weebobbycollins
I would prefer sharing a trench with some unhappy posters from here, before some of the highly paid imposters that have embarrassed our club yet again.
Someone texted me last night and said the unthinkable has happened.
My response was, “No it hasn’t. The unthinkable is Lincoln Red Imps in the 3rd qualifying round.”
I stand by that.
Green Man
I played on any surface but I was worse on a poor one than a good one.
Then again I was an amateur and can only speak from that perspective. If you played professional and the surface had no impact on the game then that is why you were professional and I was an amateur (with a good first touch when at my best)
It would be good to hear the views of other professionals on the impact of the surface on their performance.
I think it’s a subject they might avoid as it sounds like an excuse even though it is a factor that affects them.
As i just read somewhere else
“BR should remember it was the players (dummies) that got the last manager the sack”
think its a Brian Clough quote.
I have been following Celtic for 56 seasons. In recent years when I hear people say “this is worst ever Celtic team” I think back pre-Stein to players like Hugh Maxwell and Paddy Turner and regular gubbings from Rangers and think the present fans do not know how lucky they are. However last night was the most embarrassing humiliation i have witnessed. When the Huns trounced in the SCF replay in 1963 at least they had quality players. Even if we do end up getting through to next round on aggregate that performance and result will never be forgotten. And how confident can we be about winning on aggregate. A goal from Lincoln at any time in the game next week will cause much anxiety about our ability to score 3. In these types of encounters the usual adage is that the “wee team” has to play out of their skins while the “big team” all have to have an off day for the underdogs to win. Well Lincoln certainly did their bit but did Celtic really have an off day? We have seen that type of performance before – think East Kilbride for example. Once again lack of foresight costing us dear. It must have been obvious even before the SCSF loss that a manager change was coming. Surely we should have been getting someone in then so they could be ready for what are arguably our most important games. Instead as we have seen in previous seasons a new manager has to use CL qualifiers to experiment with his players. A couple of other things really upset me about this result too. We desperately need Celtic, and the other Scottish teams, to get wins in Europe to help boost the plummeting co-efficient. This was a great chance to help in that regard. A win over Lincoln being as good as a win against anybody. Instead one game in and our co-efficient going backwards. Also after that result, along with Aberdeen’s loss in Luxembourg, means that it will be even harder to attract a half decent player to Scotland no matter we try to pay them. Finally a couple of predictions- first is based on facts and evidence and will not be a surprise- Celtic will not be playing in CL group stages. Second is based on omens and gut feeling- We will get a penalty in the game next Wednesday. No need to predict the outcome of the kick – I am sure you all can guess.
Who in there right mind at Celticfc.net thought it would be appropriate to have a news story flogging the new away kit this morning?
Until we get shot of Brown & Biton in the middle of the park we will continue to have performances like last night. Treacle moves quicker than these two trying to start an attack. Surely BR has seen enough of this squad to determine who he wants to get rid of.
Ambrose has to go, immediately. Don’t give a flying eff if he is a nice guy or not, he should never be near our team again. Is he blackmailing Lawell or something, beggars belief why he continuously gets a game. Please someone, anyone, put us out of our misery and release him on a free transfer.
Apologies for the rant, like everyone else I’m just completely gobsmacked, embarrassed and gutted at such a pathetic performance from a team of players who earn multiple thousands of pounds every week. Daylight robbery, give us a team to be proud about you gutless gits.
I know im ancient, however.
In my day, you had to be a superb all round player to get a pro contract.
That obviously has changed.
I ask you…those who grew up watching Jinky and Bobby Lennox….what the feck do you make of James Forrest?
It pains me to see the total lack of quality.
Beaten by part-timers…..Really!
HH
The Green Man
I’m agreeing with you ya tumshie.
Our so called pro’s should be ashamed being beaten by semi -pro’s.
No need for a square go in the car park.
TT
Sickening result last night.
We can blame the pitch, blame the players, blame the CEO, blame the black kit, blame players (insert names), blame the lack of activity in the transfer market, blame their players were fit/our players weren’t fit.
I’m going to blame it on BR and his staff – he had time to watch videos/matches of our current squad, he had time to assess players fitness in friendlies; he had time to impose team formation/tactics; surely watching highlights of Imps previous qualifiers/matches would have pointed to weaknesses. I just saw the same old crap from last season’s European campaign – I hardly noticed any change in the three friendlies we played. It looked like a re-run of RD’s qualifiers. The Imps are just a team of part-timers FFS. This is their chance for glory. Every small team we play in these qualifiers and in Scotland is going to play like this. This match should have been the beginning of BR’s era. It should have sent out a signal to the fans and players, as well as how high he is supposedly rated (interviewed for the England job FFS????) and how he is going to work hard to increase his reputation.
We may well hammer them 10-0 next week; or scrape through 2-0; but the damage has been done. If we do not qualify from this match vs. the Imps then BR should go – there is no EL parachute to dream of with a good EL run. As well as damaging Celtic’s reputation, he will have also screwed up Celtic’s and Scotland’s coefficient and we will be worse off in the future.
Contrasting Brendan Rodger’s winning percentage at Liverpool to Roy Evans, Brendan
has a slightly lower win percentage.
Roy Evans, 226 games played, won 117. Win percentage of 51.77%.
Brendan Rodgers, 166 games played, won 85. Win percentage of 51.20%.
Brendan has managed four clubs,
Watford finished 13th, (Seen as an achievement, headhunted by Reading).
Reading, Left by mutual consent after six months.
Swansea, Gained promotion, through play-offs to EPL. Manager of the Month January 2012.
Liverpool, League Manager of the Year, 2013/14. Dismissed October 2015 after run of one win in nine.
Maybe we are all victims of the hype around the EPL as the Euros confirmed? The tactics last night were baffling but given Brendan’s record he should be able to improve things?
This squad are a real concern, even RD said they were ‘scared.’
A new coach should have been appointed after the SCSF at least.
I am still not convinced RD would have left had we beaten Sevco on penalties at Hampden.
With the death of Rangers, Celtic were put into ‘hibernation’. Last night was only the latest in a long line of ’embarrassing’ performances, imo.
Anyway, I’m off to bring a group of American tourists around some of the historic places in Louth, Meath and a bit of Armagh.
HH
Auldheid
When you did play….whatever level.
What would your manager have said to you if you performed like Celtic did last night?
Would it end in ‘Off’?
Its basic stuff.
No excuses….we should never be getting beat by the likes of the Imps.
Are we not Celtic?
HH
Im serious.
If that is the standard of the Celtic team.
We should all turn up at CP with our boots.
Im sure we could sort a better team….with loads more heart and guts.
Im better than Efe, James Forrest, Scott Brown.
And im not kidding.
HH
Good health to Dena’s (sp) daughter and Happy Birthday to Old Tim. Might manage to get you a G and T in the BV some day. About game truly awful display and I exempt no one .Complete lack of any fighting spirit which falls me more than anything else. I will keep my opinion on BR till I have seen a couple of games ‘in the flesh’. falls shud be galls
Sack the Board
Sack the players
Sack the new manager
or
Keep the faith
7-0 at Celtic park for me…
I’m sorry, but what in the name of the wee man has the Celtic website advertising the away strip got to do with last night’s debacle, unless the claim is that we bombed because of the strip?
Bad enough getting beat by part timers but when our new manager then adds there no shame in getting beat by Gibraltar’s equivalent of Cumbernauld United, that worries me ..a lot.
Never ever ever ever ever should a team with Celtics resources be beaten by a team of the standard of the hillman imps in any form of the sport.
This is an utter disgrace.
The acceptance and excuses being made to sanitise this result make me despair.
Whilst the graph of our demise has had some up and down peaks.
There is no doubt we are on a very steep continual downward trend .
We are the laughing stock of Europe.
Unless someone at the club acknowledges this and takes positive action ,this humiliation will continue.
We need better players.
Scouting and management decisions have to improve.
The standard of player at the club is a disgrace.
TT
Pog etc. Read your post earlier. I was in Gutersloh from 61 to 64 civilian attached to RAF. Lived at 19 Drosselweg and partook at the Zum Lord then My wife worked in Bertelsmanns in the record then book department. BMCUWP would have been born in the krakenhaus there if the medics has not decided they could get Mrs CCB to BMH Munster Small world!!
Mmm, let me see now.
A wee part-time team show more guile, heart, and guts, than the mighty Celtic.
Think about that.
HH
COSYCORNERBHOY
Well,that’s me “dobbed” in as a hun,then.
Born in Germany under a Union Flag.
Last night is precisely why the Ronny rocket should have been Jettisoned last Christmas.
There is a strong correlation of new managers being thrown in at the deep end in July and coming up short. It is bad management from the top and is completely forseeable and avoidable.
May I also ask if the ‘Defensive Coach’ will be held accountable for his failure to tell Brendan “At no stage should you consider Efe Ambrose in a European match. He WILL cost you dearly”.
Some people get their money rather easily it seems.
As much as I am in the “it woz the pitch that dunnit guvenor” there are individuals in that team who shouldn’t be anywhere near a Celtic strip, black or otherwise. I do not include Efe in that because he always puts in the effort. Guys like Bitton, Forrest and quite a few others should be shown the door for lack of application and I’m sure that hasn’t been lost on Brendan. Efe also needs to go because he is now damaged goods and must almost certainly have the psychological burden of believing that he is going to feck-up at some point.
Some guys coming on here have already made up their mind that Brendan is a loser/bad appointment after one game but hey that’s fitba for you. If Big Jock, Cloughie, Matt Busby, etc had been around during the Internet days they would have been getting it in the neck as well.
Big Jock inherited a team of underachievers and after a few tweaks and additions of his choosing created a phenomenon that we all know and, mostly, loved. I’m not saying BR is Big Jock but I’ll leave it to a much later date before I make any decisions.
Hopefully Brendan has nullified PL’s power but for PL we could equally look at Sir Robert Kelly as being the interference that caused the problem. Big Jock was lucky he didn’t have to worry about his team’s European pedigree but he certainly created a major problem for all his successors. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m still pissed off about last night but I am convinced that on a conventional pitch that we will put 7 past them.
last night’s result can’t be considered the worst result in our history.
why?
because it didn’t put us out of a trophy or cost us any points in a league.
and regardless of what happens next wednesday, it still wont go down as the worst.
why?
because if we dont beat them by more than 1 goal at home on wednesday, then THAT will go down as the worst result in our history.
a major difference with the artmedia game is that getting beat 5-1 effectively put us out of the trophy because you cant expect to be clawing that back, but we will expect to overturn a 1-0 deficit next week, and it will be onwards to the next round
what suprises me is that people are suprised that many of the players arent good enough to be trying to get us to the group stages
i thought we all knew that anyway so didnt learn anything knew in that respect last night
Time for someone to come on with a calm down post.
You’re all panicking.
He’s only just in the job.
Etc ,etc,
This low has been a long time coming.
Knocking out Hillman imps won’t solve the malaise.
A better standard of player will.
TT
5-0 artmedia obviously