I suppose it is inevitable, this far into a period of domination, that draws and defeats attract disproportionate criticism. We are not used to defeats, recently we have not even been used to a season without a treble, so reactions to dropping five points in a week have few reference points.
In the social media era, players are not immune to what is being said about them, some of them no doubt reflecting on years of successful service behind them, who perhaps feel deserted when the call was made.
I know what you’re thinking, this is classic paradoxical intent. We react to that which makes us anxious in a way that can only increase our anxiety.
Neil Lennon is dealing with the absence of Forrest, Edouard, Johnston, Jullien, Bitton, Elhamed and Barkas, and easing the return to fitness of Ajeti, Christie and Griffiths, while hurting at some painful results.
We travel to France tomorrow then back in the early hours of Friday before it all goes on the line, again, at Hampden on Sunday. All while Aberdeen rest and prepare. In these circumstances, this is a tough ask. Tougher still without support, and I don’t mean supporters, I mean actual support. This is a no-brainer time, circle the wagons and get back to doing what we always do.
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!!BADA BING!!
Very good!
I’m in!
C’MON THE CELTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear God shut the schools and keep the pubs open.Another gem from the pages of CQN.What next,shut the Hospitals,and keep the Bookies open?
—-
TurkeyBhoy
please read and understand the point properly before replying. it is actually quite simple but give me a shout if you are having trouble with it
it doesnt advocate any of that, it is having a go at the political agenda at play rather than saying any individual restriction or lack of is right or wrong
do try keep up
Ernie
same reply to you…
Won’t happen,but tonight I would like to see Soro,partnering Broony in front of a back 4.Christie,Turnbull,Calmac in the middle,Griff up front for an hour.
Hopefully a back 4 of,Biton,Duffy,Ajer,Laxsalt.Again hopefully,30 minutes for Eddy.
I really have no interest in this competition.We got dealt a duff hand once again with the group,and no great financial rewards on offer.The 10 much more important.Try and makes us a bit more solid,and give some players game time should be the plan.
BAda
Thanks. Totally agree with the article. I would never give these scumbags any air .
We all recognise that the team could be better and I am willing to be patient for a good while yet to see that turn around. Most other teams have still to have their bad days. Lets see how they cope.
HH
That Huddleboard item, should be posted on the start of every page of CQN, por cietro.
Greenpinata
“What is more poignant is that most on here and probably Celtic fans in general think we are going into another game with the expectation to get beaten.
Damage limitation some have suggested.
Now tell me we have not regressed. ”
I am not going to tell you that we have not regresses. Form goes up and down so there will have been regressions, improvements and stalemates in any period of our history we examine.
In 1966, on the way to Lisbon, when we won in France, i don’t think we had a scooby about where we stood in relation to French football and had the confidence of ignorance. The old rangers had lost a couple of Euro ties in France in the mid 50s but had beaten Monaco in France in 1961. I can’t remember other Scottish clubs playing in France in that era.
However, even the Lions era team lost in France in late 1968 but were able to overcome that 2:0 defeat in a tremendous home tie win later. I cannot recall our expectations when PSG beat us 1:0 in France in the First leg in 1995 but we were very sure of our inferiority when they beat us 3:0 at home in the 2nd leg.
A team with Mcnamara, Burley, Mjallby, Moravcik and Viduka (with Petrov on the bench) lost to Lyon in 1999 though that might have been helped if Larsson had not suffered a broken leg after 19 minutes. In 2001 a strengthened MON era Celtic got a 1:1 draw against Bordeaux but it took extra time at home for us to overcome them.
In the campaign following our Seville final, we lost narrowly 3:2 to Lyon, thanks to a late Lyon penalty when we had twice foight back.
In fact, in our so-called” downsizing period, the French results have improved a little. We got a 1:1 draw with Rennes after Joe Ledley had rescued an own goal from the constantly smiling hapless Cha Du Ri. That draw was masterminded by the dinosaur Neil Lennon.
Under the non-dinosaur, Brendan Rodgers, we lost 7:1 to PSG in 2017. Brendan did manage to emulate Neil’s feat in getting a 1:1 draw with Rennes in 2019.
So, my main point is that expecting to lose, in France, to a French team that qualified for European competition is no indication of our diminisjing stature.
It is a result that is to be expected as standard throughout our history. We have not won there since 1967, I think.
H7DDLE,
Oops,sorry,I must have misread you advocating the pubs to be open,and putting forward a proposal to close the schools.Silly me.Must do better.I did not realise you were such an expert on “Political agendas”.I thought your forte was coming on the blog every day to complain about everything Celtic.There you go.You live and learn.
TURKEYBHOY on 29TH OCTOBER 2020 11:35 AM
Do you think “The Griiff” can do an hour upfront on his own when he has very little game time under his belt. Don’t get me wrong, I know he can play that only striker position, just think he needs to be a lot fitter than he is to do that at the moment.
Adi- we need to stick together right now, support the team and the manager, any change now could be fatal, Neil knows results and performances need to improve, we are getting a few guys back now, Sevco will have injuries and struggle, but very strangely no Covid cases, and zero suspensions
James Forrest
Keep on blogging as you see fit it’s a blog and club
open to one and all .
I’d not be averse to resting some of our big players for most of the game tonight. The 10 is a priority. That said, nothing is won in October, it’s a marathon and Sevco only do sprints.
HUDDLE,
I refer to your post at 10.28.,replying to Ernie,
“Schools have to stay open,why?”
You then go on to castigate the FM for closing pubs and restaurants,as it would be very hard to catch Covid in them.Political window dressing.
Please correct me if I am wrong.I am not.
All we are looking for tonight is a performance worthy of the players we have at our disposal. If we lose we lose, as long as we show heart and each player knows what he is supposed to be doing…..
LETS ALL DO THE HUDDLE on 29TH OCTOBER 2020 11:34 AM
‘Ernie
same reply to you…’
##
Why?
My point was entirely different.
And entirely valid.
POR CIERTO,
I was just advocating game time for Griff,he needs the minutes.Even a half.Rogic being rested ,so should be OK for Sunday.Eddy,who knows?,but if not,game time for Ajeti also.I think Griff is going to be vital to us going forward.I know other fans see these games as important,no problem,I don’t,not this season,and especially not at present with half our team out,or trying to get fit.We should use the chance.
I spotted this video on Reddit’s Celtic “page” – it’s a video on ways to beat teams who play the low block (11 men behind the ball).
Thought some on here may be interested…
https://youtu.be/0-yqkJjglLM
FASSREIFEN on 29TH OCTOBER 2020 11:51 AM
‘I’d not be averse to resting some of our big players for most of the game tonight. The 10 is a priority. That said, nothing is won in October,’
###
In a normal season, yes. But this season might end up being more of a middle distance race than a marathon. I’d want us to be top whenever the season ends.
new article posted.
Ernie, that’s my fear too: a season ended prematurely at the moment when – purely accidentally, of course! – the table is looking like the SPFL want.
Last!
Again!
I am interested as to how the view emerged that Neil Lennon does not rate tactics and is not interested in team shape. A kind of Chinese Whispers transaltion(s) process has occurred between what Neil actually said and what he is now reported as saying.
Back in September 2019 he was quoted as saying :-
““We work a lot, John Kennedy particularly, on the tactical side of things and the shape of the team,” said Lennon. “It’s a case of us just doing what we normally do, but I also want us to be a bit more pragmatic away from home at times. Instead of encouraging the opposition, we need to manage the game and we’ve been doing that very well.”
I have tried to locate the other actual quotes made by Neil on tactics and team shape which gave rise to this mis-translation but I haven’t found them yet so I will have to rely on my memory and risk being proven wrong here.
My recollection, which chimes with Hamilton Tims ‘s from the night shift, was that he said people over-rate the importance of tactics. N.B.- he did NOT say that tactics were unimportant or trivial or to be dispensed with.
I also recollect that he said he left the final work on team shape to John Kennedy and the other coaches on Friday. Again, he did not say that he thought team shape was unimportant or trivial. He did not say that he was personally uninterested in these matters.
Anyone reasonably well disposed towards the man might assume that he meant that he had done the collaborative work on tactics and team shape with the coaching team, had set the overall tone and strategy with the players earlier in the week and was leaving the final tedious practice drill to his coaching team.
All coaches need to avoid becoming “background noise” to the players by their constant presence and inevitable repetition. They strive to have an omnipresent air without being actually omnipresent. When they speak they want to be listened to, so they set the outline strategy. leave their coaching team to drill this, under their guidance, and intervene only when this is going wrong or if players or coaches are not doing as they ask. MON restricted his visits and let Chris Davies handle this aspect of coaching and lots of coaches do likewise. The top man wants to speak rarely so that his words are listened to carefully.
The distortion of Neil Lennons views, did not take place in the dreaded columns of the ReKKKord or the Herald or Scotsman. It has happened on CQN, Sentinel Celts, The Huddleboard, Kerydale Street, e-tims and the Celtic Star sites.
People have the full right to disagree with the choice of Lenny as manager, the form and results of his team and all else that they see going wrong at the club.
But I think it is fair to hang him only for what he said and not what we imagine he said.
Here’s what some managers have said about these issues:-
“Players lose you games. There’s so much crap talk about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes” Brian Clough
” Losers complain. Winners train” & ” You win by effort, by commitment, by ambition, by quality, by expressing yourself individually but in the team context” Jose Mourinho
“In footbal, the result is an imposter. You can do things really well but not win” Xavi
The game of football IS one of strategy and tactics” Woody Hayes ( Bit he played American Football)
Fritzsong ………..sorry for the late reply but glad you also picked up on the persistent fouling on Ajeti last Sunday.
On Pubs’ opening, the only way I can sit for an hour or so and chat with my family is to meet at a hospitality venue as not allowed in my or their homes and too Friggin’ cold to meet in the garden so maybe not a bad idea to allow us to meet in pubs as well, especially if the councils’ environmental health people are checking out and advising these venues on proper setup for distancing, cleaning and so on.