I don’t know anything about Stefan Johansen, who is one of several central midfield players Celtic are tracking, but I’m pleased we’re scouting for this area. There’s no question we are missing a penalty box predator but you could make a case that the sense of calm and control exerted by Victor Wanyama in the middle of the park is a more telling absence.
Nir Biton has all the potential to get there eventually but it’s going to take him time. He reminds me of Ki, who a couple of seasons ago was fifth choice central mid for Celtic, behind Brown, Wanyama, Ledley and Kayal. This season I’ve watched him collect and distribute, close space and bring shape to a struggling Sunderland team.
I’ve also watched a bit of Barry Robson since his return to Aberdeen. Despite his advancing years he remains one of the most intelligent footballers in the game. His arrival in the Celtic midfield six years ago changed Celtic into a winning team. You don’t need Pele for this role, just a tactically aware athlete.
How many accountants does it take to tell you that losing circa £1m per month is not a good idea? Lots, apparently.
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Just a we shouldn’t write off a player after a couple of games neither should we be promoting young bhoys to the first team after just one game – not taking anything away from tonight’s performance
It’s an ‘Overcoming a 10 man defence’ coach we need.
Danny obviously earning his dosh as a fullback coach when you look at Mikel, Adam, Izzy and Darnel
Good evening CQN
Well done the young Celts a great performance
From our all our Bhoys
Keep the Faith
Hail Hail
justshatered
19:59 on 12 January, 2014
Eh…..did you see his pen? Bottle aplenty. Did you see his goal against Trab? Touch and power. He can certainly do a job for us. Am amazed at your take on him, given that he has hardly been given a chance so far. If he keeps that up, he will do fine IMO.
setting free the bears supports Res. 12 & Oscar Knox
I think we can both agree that Hartson, Sutton, and Larrson were better than average players.
When you are starting with average players then you need to put in more work and even then you are not guaranteed complete success.
Jock Stein, again I think we can both agree, was a master tactician and master motivator. Most clubs don’t get one of these traits in a manager never mind both during their existence. Like Shankly he took players and did not ask them to do anything that they couldn’t. He molded a team of talented individuals and gave them the confidence, through man management, to express themselves to the eternal joy of us all. That however was almost fifty years ago. How many managers in Britain since then have displayed these qualities?
Very few in fact I would probably say Shankly, Paisley, and Ferguson and then I’m struggling to think of any more. With the exception of Shankly and Ferguson in both their early years they were not buying ‘projects’.
It is only my opinion of course.
SFTB
The evidence is that our forwards are dreadful …half a dozen goals in three months ..
Any coaching they are currently receiving isn’t working ..
Maybe they are beyond coaching in which case the situation is more serious than I thought
I know nothing of the other sports you list so can’t comment ….there is a world of difference between being a defender and a forward ….none of our staff were forwards …is it coincidence that it is this one area we are lacking …
Balde will be a big player in europe for us
I think hes exactly wat we need to hold the ball up in away ties and let others move up to support somethin we badly lacked this year
SFTB – for me, you used to be the barometer for common sense on here. I don’t know whether it’s due to your battles with Kojo and TSD, but you’ve become a parody of your former self. Maybe you should get over yourself?
If you didn’t agree with the assertion that a forward coach is a good idea, then I have no issues with you putting forward your reasons against it.
Why bother with a goalkeeping coach, did they have one of them in Jock’s time?
T4
Gene’s a Bhoy’s name
Agreed. Every time a youth player gets a game it should be on merit otherwise you risk peeing off the first teamer you dropped to accommodate him.
However, the unbeaten run is highly unlikely to last because we can lose to anybody on an off day. Once this run is over, and it is a focus for all the players, not a fetish of the manager, then we might see more wiggle room to “rest” some first teamers for their own good.
The trick will be to keep the Scottish Cup squad ticking over because our fans are not in a mood to forgive slip ups there. Too much variation in the league squad and you raise the likelihood of a SC defeat.
I might be willing to see that as a price worth paying. You might too, but I really doubt that many Celtic fans would agree.
If that was Dundee United playing today, the blog would be screaming for Lenny to splash a couple of million and sign Henderson. Surely he must get a few games in the SPFL now. Not intending to make fun of the good Tim jude, but only on CQN could an after match analysis be interrupted by a blogger informing us that his daughters dog had died. Quite genuinely Jude, I was sorry to hear that, I’m a big doggie man myself.
sftb
If we can’t give our young players a chance when we are running away with the league -more important for me is not an unbeaten run but the unearthing of young diamond. Winning the cup however is a must.
Sherlock time. Laters.
T4
PFAyr
“….none of our staff were forwards …is it coincidence that it is this one area we are lacking …”
Yes it is.
I gave the evidence there is for teams coached by former strikers; guys who knew how to find the net. There is another example I could have given with Super Sally down at Ibrox. There has to be a better reason than “This isn’t working” for proposing a specific alternative approach. There also has to be some merit behind the alternative approach. Otherwise we’d be just as reasonable recommending voodoo dolls.
justshatered
If every team that did not have a “genius coach” (and you omitted Clough BTW) needed a forward coach to rectify their lack of experience there, then the idea of compartmentalised coaches would have taken hold in football just as it did with Rugby, cricket and American Football but it is a rare concept in fluid team sports like football, basketball and handball. There is a reason why this is so.
TTTT
I did put forward my reasons and evidence. I am still waiting for yours.
Goalkeeping coaches are obviously a good idea as the position is clearly a different one from all other outfield positions as you are allowed to use your hands. Goalkeepers always had different coaching and were not always fully involved with all of the football drills that took place because there would be little gained from that. It is good that coaching knowledge has evolved in that area that needed it.
I ask again where is the evidence that a specialist position of forward coaching is being used to good effect and that other clubs agree it is a good idea?
And I do so without any comment on your personal or posting characteristics.
players earn their place in the team no matter if we buy them or they come in through the academy.
ledley and Sammy are off = no more game time
stokes poor form = drop, same goes for all players
When’s the first ‘Why didn’t Lennon have them practiciing penalties?’ post coming from the greeters?
Well done the Hoops.
Lionsroar67 thanks for posting the Independent link.
Any problem England has with Masonic police will be 4 times worse here, and it will be sectarian as we’ll.
sixtaeseven – Gardez la Foi, DAM 5 !
20:24 on
Good shout, some were comparing him to Keane but I wasn’t so sure. Your anology with Davie Hay fits much better mate.
stephbhoy
All valid points but the manager will still get the alternative criticism:
Why are you playing Balde and not Atajic?
Why Biton and not Henderson?
Why Fraser and not O’Connell?
And that will move on to
Why Atajic and not Calvin Miller/ Denny Johnstone?
Why Henderson and not McGregor/Herron?
Why O’Connell and not Findlay?
Only 11 can play. A lot of people’s favourites will miss out.
There’s a 19 yr old lad on loan from Juventus to Sassuolo, named Berardi, who has just lashed in his fourth goal of the game v AC Milan. There are 40 minutes still to play.4-2.
TJ
Why didn’t Lennon have them practicing penalties? :-)
SFTB
You ignore the evidence in favour of your coincidence theory if it pleases you
Empirically our forwards are failing …if it’s not for the want of effective coaching … Then we must have signed a whole pack of duffers
I could enter a protracted argument with you …cannae be bothered
glendalystonsils 20:07 on 12 January, 2014
“Why would a St. Mirren supporter working for an impartial broadcasting institution feel the need to lie about the goings on in the third tier of Scottish football? >)”
As yer actual Toya Wilcox* once said: “It’s a mystewee.”
*Other pop stars are available … Sally Carr for example.
the bookworm……childish in the extreme……….. beat me to it by seconds :-)
the bookworm
20:57 on
12 January, 2014
Why didn’t Lennon have them practicing penalties? :-)
cause he thought we would win in 90 mins :-))
if we win every game 5 – 0 until the end of the season we would all be delighted. if we don’t manage that but do get a core group of say 4 academy player playing or being able to step up when needed for first team duties what will be most valuable to us as we move forward?
I would personally like to see celtic promoting at least two academy player into the first team every season, with transfer money only being used to bring in quality players and the best prospects possible.
HH
Waiting on Lille for 260 notes ten fold. Just laid them, still much prefer the win though. 45 mins of pure Rioja;-)
More importantly (was out for family Sunday Lunch ), how were the young bhoys? anywhere I can see highlights? ,
PF Ayr
Though you may not want to protract, I will reply.
“You ignore the evidence in favour of your coincidence theory if it pleases you
Empirically our forwards are failing …if it’s not for the want of effective coaching … Then we must have signed a whole pack of duffers”
Nothing was ignored. Even if I accepted the questionable assumption that all our forwards (who have each been coached throughout their development years by coaches who were a mix of ex-defenders, ex-midfilders and ex-forwards before they got to Celtic first team) were duffers, I would still question why the proposed solution, a forwards coach, would work.
I have pointed out that teams coached by ex-forwards, even legends, do not perform better or score better than those coached by goalies, defenders or midfielders, so why not voodoo dolls?
Saying something is not working only provides evidence for a need to change. It does not provide any support for the specific change being suggested.
Glad we are smiling tonight.
Martim1980
celtic tv
H.H
SFTB
Need for change ….agreed
If not an additional coach ..then what ?
bognorbhoy – congratulations!
nineteensixtysevenCQNCSC
If you took a pool of our youngsters, Fisher, Fraser, O’Connell, Henderson, Atajic & Miller for example, played 2 of them and had 2 on the bench every game until the end of the season, what difference would that make to our final league position? Would it even make a huge difference to our final points total?
What it would do is give a group of youngsters valuable first team experience in competitive games, and give the management team to see if they have it within them to take the step up next season as first team squad players rather than development/under19/20 players.
Gauld, Armstrong, Soutar & Robertson at DU are rightly getting huge praise for their performances this season, our youngsters have been playing in teams that have been better than DU in the last 4-5 years so logic says they should be better.
A good performance from Lusasz in goal tonight again. Good to see him getting an opportunity to get a wee confidence booster.
Thinking about getting this done on both hands but in a slightly different colour scheme
Eddie Izzard Stylee
I only caught the second half of tonites game ( its night time in Saudi Arabia anyway) and it is performances such as tonites , last Thursday nites and the St Mirren game last sunday that remind us all of exactly why it feels special being part of Celtic F.c.
Some of the performances over Christmas were not easy on the eye but we still ground out the results. All of a sudden the team ‘step it up a level or two’, the young guys come in and show how good they are and what they can add to the team and now I don’t feel that bothered who or how many new players arrive over the transfer window. I would be delighted to see loads of these young celtic supporters getting their chance and nailing down a position in our starting eleven.
I also thought big Amido and Nir looked good over the two games.
Roll on the Hibees at the Weekend
Jobo Baldie ta
Wow didn’t notice but went for 1888 earlier and was
beaten by butsybhoy
bognorbhoy oscar in my thoughts/ support the dam –
I’m in Scotia are they free available for me on Celtic TV?
setting free the bears supports Res. 12 & Oscar Knox
I knew there was another one. How could I have forgotten Cloughie!
So that is us up to 4 in almost fifty years. Now if you say Ally MacLeod I’m off!!
That was not what I meant about coaching as in how to shoot or score. I meant about the tactics that our team play to. For example when Charlie Mulgrew gets the ball on the half way line and the opposition back four are sitting about 25 yards out a player should be coming in off the wing and then turning up the park at pace. Similar to the goal against Hearts when it was Stokes that set up Ledley.
I remember watching Man Utd in the mid nineties and the opposition had a corner. The keeper caught the ball and immediately there was a blur of movement. The forward on the half way line (remember when teams used to leave a player on the half way line) pulled to the far touchline dragging one defender with him while the other dropped back for cover. Giggs meanwhile was sprinting towards the other touchline and Beckham or Scholes was tearing straight up the middle. This caused utter confusion within the other team. That’s the type of coaching I’m talking about because I’ve no doubt that this was coached by the manager simply telling players where he wanted them to go on a given situation.
I may be being harsh on Balde but when you consider week in week out he will be playing against packed defences I just think his opportunities, like the goal he got against Partick where he ran on to the ball in front of him and he displayed his eye for goal, will be limited.