Newco won 3-0, hit the woodwork twice, had an incredible 24 shots on goal and 9 on target. Their stand-in goalkeeper’s only job of the day was the parry a shot from Reo Hatate that was hit into the ground.
Before we get into what went wrong, let’s put some boundaries on it. Cameron Carter-Vickers was outstanding. Kasper Schmeichel was faultless throughout. None of the forwards contributed anything to the game against a defence who scarcely knew each other, but Celtic so seldom got the ball into advanced areas, we need to conclude the substantive issue lies elsewhere.
Just as in the League Cup Final, and in the Champions League against Brugge and Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic were allowed plenty of the ball. In the 12 games since beating Leipzig, we have had at least 60% possession, which is both remarkable and informative, considering the battering we took yesterday.
We have been figured out. Allow Celtic possession in their own half, man-mark in the middle of the park and press when they approach halfway. Get the ball forward early and if Carter-Vickers cannot shut you down, you are in with a chance.
Brugge, Zagreb, Newco (twice), Dundee United clearly understood this. The 0-2 win at Kilmarnock and the 3-0 over Hibs were bizarre results against weaker teams who played the same tactics as Newco. Comfortable home wins over Ross County, Motherwell and St Johnstone flattered Celtic. The wins over Hearts (1-4) and Aberdeen (0-1) I’ll leave open to interpretation.
Newco’s first goal yesterday came from the same source as their second at Hampden (intercepting a Liam Scales pass). Their second yesterday and third at Hampden came from corners – the only two goals Newco have scored from corners in over 200 attempts. Their third goal yesterday was a copy of their opener at Hampden – anticipate a pass, break quickly and score with the second ball. They can successfully replicate plays against us.
It is all about the system.
Man-for-man, yesterday’s full strength Celtic are significantly stronger than Newco’s makeshift lineup. The system is making good players look bad. Watch great teams. 99% of what they do looks easy, because it is easy. It is easy because their system ensures that players in possession have a low risk/reward ratio when choosing a pass. We have substantial evidence that Celtic players’ risk/reward ratio is high. In possession, teammates offer few safe options.
This has two consequences:
1. We face a high volume of dangerous turnovers against better teams.
2. We find it difficult to progress the ball to the front line against almost everyone.
“Individual errors”, “lack of composure”, “poor passing” can happen in any game. When these things are persistent, as they now are at Celtic, and does not reflect players recent ability, the issue is systemic. “It is all about the system.”
On Tuesday I wrote that Brendan is a “master tactician” as he got the job done on tight occasions last year. His system has been exposed repeatedly over the last two months and needs urgent revision. Best of luck to those who want to have a chat to him about it.
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At least we put up a fight.
No, wait…….
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM @ 11:42 AM,
Thanks…
Well, it’s not where I want to be – in fact I used to post more on SC than I did here and I rarely post there now.
One reason is the point you made.
I do not want to sound like a broken record, that’s for sure.
I’d love to have a real debate about the team, coaches, managers etc etc, and there was a great debate on here before Christmas about that very thing.
We were abject yesterday and we should not allow the coaches and manager pass marks on that display – yet that was definitely down to the players, to a man they can do better.
Folk with agenda are going to blame the manager though…
Good New Year To You And Yours!!
Hail Hail
It’s impossible to mount any defence for what we seen yesterday, Brendan and the players can take their medicine.
To suggest a systemic crisis at this point goes beyond panty wetting.
I remember Paul67 and the ‘Nagging Doubts’
By the way, no Celtic manager should be getting spoke to about his tactics – who at Celtic would be qualified or experienced enough to even start this conversation with BR ?
If we’ve had managers in the past that have changed tactics having been spoken to, I’m glad they’re gone.
P67
“Kasper Schmeichel was faultless throughout. ”
One of our “top 2” performers on the day, yes, but faultless? Not one player was faultless throughout. I thought he could have done better for their first and he mis-hit a couple of simple passes, as did most of the team at some point – some were punished for their errors, others got lucky.
Whilst not BRs biggest fan as a man or manager, not sure I can agree its entirely a systematic problem. We played the same system in the LC final and we had spells where we looked awful (first half) and other spells where we looked like we could score at any time.
QB
I’m sure Brendan will find some system solace in his 2 defeats in 21 👍
Kasper should have thrown his bunnet on Hagi’s shot
Threesie ?
Aff oot
We are in play matches and recover mode for the last 6 weeks and this month
There is little or no time available for coaching and resetting the bugs in the system
I suspect we will see more of the same until the playing schedule lightens
Luckily we have given ourselves a good buffer in the league and should still be good enough to beat Young Boys (I hope)
It may only b our first defeat in the league, but, being honest, some recent games had already shown some alarming deficiencies in the way we are set up, or, is it we still don’t have the quality of player yet to play this way? Either way, we definitely have been found out, so we do need a rethink on how we play through the opposing system most teams are now using v us. Por cierto.
Decent article for me – well, until the last sentence.
Time for evolution, not revolution.
Hopefully, the blog bully name callers don’t come for Paul.
Start worrying when Clement figures out his masterclass, in how to beat Aberdeen St Mirren Motherwell Kilmarnock and Hearts 👍
As someone once said, it’s a simple game. Players need to be prepared to move into positions that make themselves available to receive a pass; others need to be ready to react to that movement. How many times did a pass go to a space where someone was ‘meant’ to be? Too prescriptive. Great when it works. Disastrous when it fails.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE @ 12:16 PM,
Didn’t “we” have nagging doubts about the foolishness of changing a wining formula;)
There is nothing systemically wrong with Celtic now our recruitment strategy and the goose that consistently laid golden eggs has moved on…
In the summer of 2023 we needed to improve our defence – we brought in two centre halves that were not fit for purpose, we had to rely on Liam Scales, already in the building who rose to the challenge like a legend.
Found wanting yesterday, yet everytime he has been in that position, we have seen the lhad improve.
This bed~wetting after one defeat is rather unbecoming dontcha’ think!?
Hail Hail
FIELDOFDRAMS on 3RD JANUARY 2025 12:27 PM
As someone once said, it’s a simple game. Players need to be prepared to move into positions that make themselves available to receive a pass; others need to be ready to react to that movement. How many times did a pass go to a space where someone was ‘meant’ to be? Too prescriptive. Great when it works. Disastrous when it fails.
———-
Exactly this, when we were trying to play out from the back our midfielders and wingers were far too static
Not enough movement
No one running into space and dragfing 2 players with him and creating space in behind for another player to receive the ball
calmac was great at this but seems to have stopped over the last few months
The worry is that we didn’t really play any worse than we did at the League Cup final, we just got what our play deserved this time.
That’s three times in four matches since April that we’ve conceded 3 goals to that mob. We’re back at that awkward question: Is it the system that’s failing, or is it that the players aren’t good enough to play it?
I’d like to know, of their 24 attempts, how many were a direct consequence of us giving the ball away?
From behind my sofa and factoring for expletives deployed, it felt like every damned one of them.
I saw the ‘Nagging Doubts’ in the ol’ Burns Howff . They were completely out of tune .
Re Kaspar , I’m not sure he couldn’t have done better at Hagi’s trundler . Re the system , a lot of the turnovers came from our players being robbed of the ball too easily under pressure . Simply because the Pressing Sevco players were invariably quicker, stronger and more agressive . Brendan was spot on in that regard .
Some scary revisionist stuff on here,throwing the baby out with the bath water, I was obviously at a different game when we flattered St Johnstone
On the plane back to Texas with the crew, after an exhausting break in Scotland/England.
My seat is dry but there has to be a change in the way we play or Young Boys will be a very difficult game, I fear.
Our midfield is woeful at ball retention often kicked anywhere in the case of hatate, we are a small technical team who can be bullied,do u think we miss brown and oriley there’s the evidence mcgregor is a 10 nothing else who slows our game down constantly, Schmeichel was woeful at the first goal but look at the effort from hatate to get goal side it was disgraceful.
This gives the blog owner the opportunity to roast Rodgers he hasn’t missed, in a recent interview I heard him say he leaves coaching to the coaches so this is on Kennedy Strachan etc.
Celtic yesterday shit it and not for the first time ,coins hitting staff and players yet nothing about banning them permanently, not just the team that’s shitting it.
Still we are 11 points clear
LC in the bag
Nearing the next stage of champions league
having had one of the best years on record (2024)
All with a ‘broken’ system
Imagine how good we will be when we get it fixed
also despite 50 odd thousand huns in ibrox, BRRB is right
A handsome hun nowhere to be found
I expect celtic to have video evidence of all the bottles and missiles that we have to endure at ibrox
I hope they release it publicly, and quickly
Overthinking Paul
Only as good as your weakest link. 33% of the starting line up nowhere near good enough, everyone knows that.
Good afternoon all from a 24 degree Playa de las Americas, Tenerife.
Well that yesterday was a pish poor performance against a team of Chaos ball players, embarrassing actually but that’s why you win so many games and be consisten throughout a full season not just up to January 2.
So we move on.
Learn from what we done wrong.
Still the only team that can win a treble.
HH
D. :)
Can’t say I ever get too excited about single results (good or bad) in the context of a 38 game league season.
So our achievable points has dropped, but still on for a very healthy total. No reason we can’t go and win our next six or seven games and get back on track and (hopefully!) progress in the Champions League.
A further excerpt from a later post on ‘X’ by Graham Speirs………….
“I can’t be so charitable, I’m afraid, about the thousands upon thousands of Rangers fans chanting their bigoted anthems from the stands. Oh, I get it now…total Scottish media silence on the issue. I’ve lived with this for 25 years: Ssshhh, don’t mention it. The vast stands of the Ibrox support sang about Fenians, the Pope, and God knows what else from our Medieval Age”. Well said.
Any such nonsense in most modern societies would be eliminated straight away but for some reason in ‘progressive Scozia’ the Ibrox hordes get a free pass. Their banner “You’ll know us by our noise”, seemingly facilitated by the club, pretty much says it all. Our limelight-loving politicians should all be provided with hearing aids or ear wax remover.
It’s hard to argue with Paul’s deduction that there’s a fly or two in the ole performance ointment.
We see it in some torpid ties we’ve toiled in lately.
But it’s a system that saw us pump Leipzig yet – according to P67 – doesn’t work against teams who’ve sussed us out. Paul really translates how his board pal feels Brendan is aff the leash and that’s a bad thing.
One thing that’s less mentioned is the ability to sustain our intensity or pivot to a more aggressive stance. Unfashionable, I guess, to talk about the ole ‘get in their face’ modality innit.
As Dessy said ‘We are a small technical team who can be bullied…’
Lots of nice young lads and respectful imports.
Mibby time for some new quotient to ‘rummel ’em up a bit…’
The transfer window will tell.
I thought Sevco pressed us much further up the pitch and have done same in last few matches. Our problem was not in dealing with that tactic, it was stray passes out of that press that gave the ball away far too easily and left a big hole between defence and midfield. A team that has lost the few matches that we have in no way points to some sort of systemic failure but a defeat should always be critically analysed and any issues sorted. Am confident Brendan and the team will do that.
Chairbhoy
Should be made to tell us all, how they’d have changed it to prevent the bad, to worse that unfolded. Why is Guardiola not blamed for systemic failure?
Our system scored six in two games before, with the same players who win games and Cups, and went 14 points clear Deila, Lennon, Ange, Rodgers, had ‘collective failures’ Brendan far fewer, they come within the law of averages.
We’ll win the league comfortably with Rodgers system not with supporters comments of a football forum, whether they’re bedwetters or other labels.
HH
Dear me. A revisionist version of an outstanding season and a hatchet job on Brendan. Pathetic.
See you in May.
Does Paul speak for himself or his pal.Just asking for a friend HH
fanadpatriot on 3rd January 2025 1:15 pm
Does Paul speak for himself or his pal.Just asking for a friend HH Forked tongue .When BR goes there will be much rejoicing and praise of PETE THE LIAR .Then we will get another YES MAN or even worse KENNEDY.
POR CIERTO on 3RD JANUARY 2025 12:24 PM,
TBB @ 12:33 PM, et al…
Some very good points…
The reasons I’m not into the systemic stuff are several…
Mainly, when we had BR&Co Mk1 we consistently set up 4-2-3-1 with similar outcomes – if anything we are better under BR&Co Mk2
The next was from all of December we chopped and changed personel – how many starting elevens did we have?
Also our biggest criticism in that regard before yesterday was at Tannadice
We switched wingers, we tried Deadly Diazen on both wings… we went 4-2-4 and a number of tactical changes…
So as BSR @ 1:07 PM, states:-
…“Should be made to tell us all, how they’d have changed it to prevent the bad, to worse that unfolded. Why is Guardiola not blamed for systemic failure?”
Hail Hail
Can’t find much fault with this analysis.
Fortunately we have a significant margin for error. Even if we lose our two remaining league games with Sevco we would need lose 2 more league games than them between now and the end of the season to blow the league.
Not going to happen.
However, next season becomes a concern.
CalMac is a Celtic great and a phenomenal footballer, but he will be another year older and is finally showing some signs of decline. Our midfield isn’t functioning very well and we need to demonstrate an ability to flex our system against better teams to get the best out of our very talented roster of players.
you can tell by the hand up his arse….
the system may not be perfect, but yesterday it would appear that the players shat it, physically and mentally.
we’ve seen it time and time again in europe and now against a shower of. shyte like the hun.
all this stuff about them being the better team in the LC – my feckin 4rse. It was close but celtic were the only team who looked like winning / trying to win that day.
again, pathetic mistakes by the likes Scales & Taylor (did you see his 2 intercepted passes v Motherwell) in recent games undermine the system. If you’ve got possession of the ball and theres nothing on, get it into the channels/up the wing/back to the keeper – then ask where the movement is. Dont just put it where someone should be but clearly isnt going to be.
First domestic loss of the season – and after the New Year at that.
11 point lead.
24 hours ago, many of you were claiming that Brendan owned sevco and their manager.
Today, he’s been ‘found out’.
Entitlement isn’t far from the surface it seems.
Cheers,
Weeron.
New Year barely a few days old but yesterday’s calamitous defeat at Ayebrokes has given our (not so) gracious host the chance to put the boot in. No doubt worth the wait. Twas ever thus….
Two defeats in all of 2024, one referee assisted, suggest that the problems we face are far from systemic but rather episodic. I stated before the game that if we defend well we would win the game, but in real time we did not defend at all, or rather defended badly for ninety minutes plus, and in truth our defence was made up of only two players CCV who at least tried manfully to bring the ball forward and bring others into the game and Liam Scales who also consistently brought others into the game, sadly those others were wearing blue shirts.
If anything, and I am not alone in making this point, Brendan has got to realise that there are some teams, not many, that are capable of asking questions, of our midfield and of our back four, and that a 4-4-3 line-up might suit them more than us. Not all of the time…..but some of the time
I’m trying to remember whether we played any differently in September, we certainly had less possession – roughly the same as them – although an early goal often means the opposition will want more of the ball to score themselves.
But I do remember them coming very hard at us and us picking them off. The 5 minute highlights and the stats suggest we didn’t make a hat load of chances but the ones we made were excellent – we could have scored 5 or 6. We sat back and hit them quickly on the break after winning the ball back in our own half. I dont remember any of the dreaded sideways passing around the back that never goes anywhere. It wasnt possession football, we surprised them with our tactics and they had no answer for it.
What was particularly worrying was we started with a team that finished last season. The Summer window should have moved the team forward, 30m and it was all on the bench. At 1-0 the game was still there to be won, at the very least drawn, but the expensive subs did nothing to change the game, we maybe even got worse.
We need to think very hard about what we want from the next two windows. Continue with this system and try and sign better than what we’ve got in the first 11, which doesn’t seem to be working, or look to sign players who offer something different.