2014 saw Celtic win their third consecutive league title, but we didn’t reach either cup final. A period of significant change got underway during the summer when we said farewell to Neil Lennon.
Neil took over from Tony Mowbray, his first managerial appointment after working with the Youths at Lennoxtown. His first season was the one that got away. Defeat at Inverness with the title within their grasp, Walter Smith’s Rangers took their third successive title against the third difference Celtic manager.
Three months into the next season, Celtic were 10 points behind a Whyte-McCoist inspired Rangers, but that was overcome, with interest, by Christmas. Celtic went on to win the league by 20 points, although 10 of them were as a penalty for Rangers incurring an insolvency event.
Thereafter it was plan sailing for Neil. He never looked back in the league and reached the Champions League group stage twice, progressing to the knock-out stage on the first occasion. He learned the managerial ropes at Celtic and did enough in his four years here to establish himself as a European-class manager. He was our third unqualified success in four appointments.
By this summer it was evidence to all, including Neil, that significant rebuilding was needed. The job was handed to Ronny Deila.
Ronny’s first challenge came in the Champions League qualifiers in the form of Legia Warsaw. Despite the record books showing Celtic progressed after a 3-0 default home win, Legia wiped the floor with Celtic home and away. Celtic looked like a team of strangers, unfamiliar with the system they were asked to play.
That was, of course, true, the system was unfamiliar, but it’s execution was miscalculated, the on-field results were deserved. The Champions League playoff round against Maribor was unusual inasmuch as Celtic dominated the away first leg and deserved more than the 1-1 draw, but the Slovenians arrived in Glasgow with their game face on. Celtic were outplayed and out of the Champions League.
Things slowly got better, although home performances against Motherwell (by my measure the worst) and Hamilton Accies (who were impressive), and latterly Ross County indicated there is still a long way to go.
Ronny’s Celtic found their feet in the Europa League, where they finished second behind a very accomplished Salzburg. The away performances against Salzburg and Astra gave an insight into how things could be for this Celtic team.
It was, to say the least, disappointing not to qualify for the Champions League. It denied the club millions of pounds and shaded our trump card in to be used in attracting players, but in reality we’re not a Champions League team this season. The Europa’ gave us an opportunity to play European football on our level, pick up coefficient points and extended interest after Christmas (if you’re young this won’t mean much, if you’re my age, you’ll recall this being our Holy Grail).
Inter Milan await in the next round. They are also going through a rebuilding exercise and are as vulnerable to lesser-resourced teams as Celtic – so unlike Juventus two years ago – we have a sporting chance.
The tactical direction of the club is visibly distinct from what went before Ronny. Is this a good thing? Probably. Neil Lennon and his players over-achieved in their first Champions League season on a scale it’s difficult to measure. That squad had no right to reach the levels they did; theirs was a herculean effort. Play Matthews at left back, alongside a central pair of Wilson and Ambrose. Put Miku up front, with Mulgrew and Ledley in the middle – then go beat Barcelona. It was beyond impossible.
Barca, Ajax and Milan were prepared for Celtic last season; we finished bottom, out of ideas and direction on that stage. We needed to change, same again wasn’t going to wash.
Ronny’s played a high-pressing game, mostly with players who are unaccustomed to the demands of this game-plan. This has been a mistake on several occasions, most notably against Legia and Maribor. He’s working on player fitness, but in all likelihood it will take the next two transfer windows before he can craft the squad into the shape he wants it to be.
We’re halfway through the season and, with Aberdeen playing before us tomorrow, there’s a chance they could go top of the table, for a couple of hours, anyway. That’s not good enough, by any measure. Notwithstanding the revamp, we should have done better in the Champions League qualifiers and we should be further ahead in the league, but the fundamentals remain intact:
We needed to start post-Neil Lennon with a new tactical strategy.
Trying hard not to be disrespectful to Aberdeen, but we’re going to win the league.
We’re in both cup competitions.
We remain in the Europa League.
I was happy with the direction we took in appointing Ronny Deila and remain so. The problems of the last six months could be classified as First World Problems. We’ll get over them, while others watch on from the Other Worlds.
Have a Happy Celtic New Year, strap in and enjoy the ride, I promise it’ll be a great one.
Sale on at CQNBookstore, fill your stockings.
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blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
There was a surplus of around £165 which is going into the Malawi pot for Mary Meals. We closed the ticket sales as we wanted to draw the raffle – this was done by Celticrollercoaster who also audited the transactions with Celtfish. All prizes have been sent out. Anyone wishing to support Mary’s Meals at the moment via CQN can purchase a beanie hat from http://www.cqnbookstore.com and all the funds from this goes to Mary’s Meals with CQN paying the postage.
FourGreenFields
15:30 on
1 January, 2015
If it was the company that went into administration and then into liquidation WHY was the club penalised with a points deduction ?
Exactly right.Why was he not asked this?.If as he says is true,the Company went bust,not the team,why was anything done to the team at all.Not their fault.They should just have carried on as they were,with Chuckles new company running them.Why was the licence transferred?.If he sticks to this line then surely the huns,the club,can sue him?.Why not?
A great quote from him
“Some clubs are Public Limited Companies,some are PLCs”!!!!!!!???????
winning captains
Thanks.
If supporters were asked who you most like to meet
Neil Doncaster or the man who cleans the public toilets in Aberdeen
they would go for
wee Jock poopong McPlop
every time.
Blackadder goes forth.
It will be a cold day in hell before Celtic FC says anything that in any way questions old club/new club myth. Our opinions matter not a jot. Our half empty stadium will have removed any doubts in their minds that the Old Firm is a better alternative to no firm.
Never in our history have our club been gifted such a gilt-edged opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its support and tell the truth for the good of the game.
They bottled it.
Hard to accept but our anger falls on deaf ears.
Money trumps morals.
Hard to believe Neil Doncaster holds down any kind of a job…
As things currently stand and as the gloves are off…
A STATEMENT FROM CELTIC SUPPORTERS
On 1st November 2014 former Rangers vice chairman Donald Findlay in an interview in a Scottish newspaper stated that the post liquidation Rangers are a ‘new entity’ which must establish ‘its own history and tradition’.
Findlay stated: ‘It is a different club. They may play at Ibrox and they may play sometimes in royal blue jerseys. But you cannot pass on that which is undefinable. And that is spirit and tradition and all the rest of it.
‘To me this is a new Rangers which has to establish its own history and tradition. But it’s not the Rangers I know. To me, genuinely, it is a new entity.’
You can buy assets,’ he conceded, ‘but you can’t buy history. You can’t buy tradition. History and tradition are in the heart and in the mind. You can’t buy that.’
In June 2012 Charles Green bought the assets of Rangers Football Club Ltd after the creditors voted down the CVA proposed by the administrators Duff & Phelps. These administrators were selected by Craig Whyte and appointed by the Court of Session on 14th February 2012 as Rangers slipped into administration.
Since 2012 a narrative around these facts has emerged where the word liquidation is seldom used. Instead we hear that the club “emerged from administration” and was “demoted” to the bottom tier of Scottish football at the beginning of the 2012/13 season.
The role of the SFA in all of this merits a mention. Supporters of other clubs including Celtic point to Campbell Ogilvie, “the heavily compromised” President of the SFA remaining in post despite being associated with and a beneficiary of the tax schemes that contributed to the Rangers’ demise. These supporters believe that everything possible was done by the SFA to assist the new Rangers club. Indeed it took an online rebellion by season ticket holders of other Scottish clubs to prevent the SFA from parachuting the new Rangers club into the second rather than the fourth tier of Scottish football.
Before the League Cup semi-final takes place, many Celtic supporters wish, for the avoidance of doubt, to state that we totally agree with Donald Findlay, the ex- Rangers (1872) vice chairman when he describes Celtic’s semi-final opponents as a ‘new entity’ which must establish ‘its own history and tradition’.
As Celtic supporters we firmly believe that there is no track record between Celtic and our semi-final opponents. We regard the semi final as the first meeting between Celtic and the club that currently play at Ibrox, having been established in 2012.
Further we regard the term Old Firm, the joint descriptive term for Celtic and the liquidated club, as having died with Rangers upon their liquidation.
For the avoidance of doubt: As Celtic supporters we wish to re-state, ahead of the semi-final, the facts regarding the new Rangers club starting life in the fourth tier. Rangers (1872) was never demoted, they were liquidated. On liquidation their place in the SPL was taken by Dundee FC who moved up a division, not through sporting criteria but as a direct consequence of the space created by the liquidation of Rangers (1872).
As every other club finishing below Rangers (1872) in the league moved up one place to fill the gap caused by the liquidation of Rangers, the new club created by Charles Green was accepted into the fourth tier of Scottish football. So there was no demotion of Rangers. The old Rangers died and Charles Green’s new club, The Rangers, started life in the Scottish league system at the bottom – with no history and no tradition.
For the avoidance of doubt: Had transfer of SFA membership meant Rangers (1872) and The Rangers (2012) were the same club because they hold the same membership, then their membership of the national association would not have been interrupted. They would therefore be eligible to play in UEFA competition (subject to meeting other criteria and qualifying on sporting merit) rather than having to wait three years to accrue the necessary membership time as required by UEFA Article 12 before they will be considered as eligible by UEFA.
* This advertisement was placed by and paid for by Celtic supporters using crowd funding. The surplus funds collected have been donated to a nominated charity to help feed school children in Malawi.
New Year … same old Doncaster bs.
Anything to stop the dafties from realising that their oh so dignified club was liquidated.
All of the Duff and Phelps administrator’s reports were very clear: the title spoke of “club and company” as one and the same thing.
Kojo,
am sure yur mammy loved & appreciated those bluebells ;-))
flowerpowerCSC
DeniaBhoy. Many Celtic fans stopped attending games when Celtic did not speak out about the corruption in Scottish Football.Why pay good money to follow your team in a corrupt game ? Other Celtic fans continue to turn up to support the team while the club sit on there hands.H.H.
WC-Was Ogilvie not ‘heavily conflicted’?
Sorry, but there’s an awful lot of work needed on that statement right from the opening sentence it loses credibility.
No matter how complicit the board are or have been there will be plenty of people wanting to keep them in place by filling their pockets
Winning ccaptains
Makes sense to me
But…..have they not suffered enough
turkeybhoy
Spot on,surely any team that has had a points deduction should sue
HH
winning captains
16:25 on 1 January, 2015
“Doncaster has now stated that Scottish football is operating beyond the law of the land. ”
The SPFL, SFA, UEFA and FIFA are private members clubs which don’t operate under the law of any land. Ask yourself why no country has taken action on the bribes given to FIFA delegates etc.
I do totally get where you are comming from but there is no way any club in the land will refute what Doncaster has said. How many unsold tickets do you think there will be for the LC semi?
Those that have issue with it’s a newco/oldco ask yourself why we constantly get updates on this site whenever they are playing?
How many of Paul67 leaders over the last 12 months have actually been about a team that plays ut of Govan?
The fact is, no matter how we try and hide it, most Celtic fans recognise the team that plays out of Govan as the same entity that was liquidated. Doesn’t make sense does it? But there you go some Celtic fans think they survived liquidation and by some I mean an awful lot of them.
anybody got a contact to Stephen fry? He’s good at dispelling myths on QI
Aberdeen 2 Saint Johnstone 0 so Dons go top. H.H.
2-0 Sheep,Shortbread orgasmic
Hello this is WEE BGFC. Is the Abredeen game finished?
Lions on Sky sports one right now.
15000 at Aberdeen game, good for them. I hope they and Utd challenge us all the way. It’s the only antidote to the poison that is infecting the game. The stronger they, Hearts and Hibs grow the better for us. Should ensure Sevco don’t sniff success for years to come.
Looks like burnley just snatched back 4 ton from my grips
Had dundee utd .. aberdeen..
Citeh and newcastle quad
BeadaBing. It is quite amazing that our game was the only game in the SPL that did not go ahead today. H.H.
Cheers wc
I know it really doesn’t matter at this stage of the season but it really galls me to see another team ahead of us in the league with half the season gone.
WC- Great work on the advert, i’m sure we could all add a wee bit ,but i would have highlighted their ex Chairman,Manager and Captain have said they are a new club,Findlay,Myth and Gough.HH
Great stuff on sky sports 1.
If Celtic do nothing I will never return toParkhead
BCW
Not get humped by any half decent team we play
Deila is a star gazing idealist
they are stating thjata football club cannot die? apart from Gretna, they have no liabilities?
Watching SS2…
Wonderful days …wonder what those bhoys would make of our current crop of huddies
So Doncaster says they are still the same club. Why anyone would expect him to say anything else surprises me. Imagine the furore if he said they are not. He will toe the line like everyone else with a corporate interest in getting them back into the top division. Whether folks like it or not, get over it.
The more our fans go on about it and obsess over it, we will be dragged down (further) both on and off the pitch.
Maradominic
Airdrie died ….they had to buy Clydebank
Maradominic. You will be joining many other Celtic supporters who have already stopped attending why pay money to watch a rigged game while the club you support sit on there hands. H.H.
Winning Captains,
the piece as stands shouldn’t be altered as such cause it’s irrefutable, but an insert disclaiming Dungcaters remarks, using the SFA’s own articles of membership, should suffice to publicly make him a cnut ;-))
H.H.
bournesouprecipe
16:44 on
1 January, 2015
Sorry, but there’s an awful lot of work needed on that statement right from the opening sentence it loses credibility.
No offence to WC but I agree.The bottom half is to the point,but personally,I would ignore the Finlay comments.
There seems to be a misconception that Sevco being acknowledged as a ‘new club’ will somehow affect their supporters’ attendance at future fixtures, and paying their money at the turnstiles .
‘Old’ or ‘New’ club, they will still be there, as will the songs, banners and other overt displays of their ‘loyal’ support.So the ‘marketing’ angle is a red herring, IMO.
What is at stake is the integrity of the ‘law of the land’ and the sporting credibility of Scottish Football.
Any club who acquiesce through their silence does so in the face of these two necessary pillars of our society.