I’ve never treated the Ballon d’Or seriously, but would you be alarmed if your manager overlooked two of the most outstanding footballers of all time, to vote for one of the poor relations in an outstanding, if waning, Barcelona team.
England manager, Roy Hodgson, is entitled to his opinion but in nominating Javier Mascherano, he’s started a debate which will not reflect kindly on him.
I remember when Martin O’Neill was in charge of Celtic, he could do or say anything and no matter how incongruous it seemed, we all looked for hidden wisdom. Martin knew much more about the game than all of us but this authority was uniquely evident. I don’t remember any other Celtic manager being regarded with such awe, and I go back to the latter Stein days.
Whether Mascherano is fit to pass the ball to Leonel Messi is beside the point, Roy’s opinion is a prisoner of fortune. He’s dead meat to his critics.
For all of Martin’s brilliance he wasn’t one for cutting edge tactics. He knew what worked for him and stuck to it. So when Gordon Strachan came along with some new, ‘ideas’, the reaction was not appreciative.
Gordon’s early days (years) were remarkably hostile but it’s what I’ve regarded as The Ross Wallace Deployment which remains in the mind as an unfinished debate.
Ross was a left winger. But, five goals down after a first leg capitulation in Bratislava, Gordon deployed him on the right. The outcry was palpable. We’d never heard of playing a left footed player ‘out of position’ like this. What is now commonplace – to mix a left and fight footed full back and winger on the same side – was both new and proof positive that Gordon Strachan was a deluded simpleton.
There’s value in the opinions of the outliers, so my vote for the Ballon d’Or would have gone to Efe Ambrose. Gordon Strachan was a better manager than any of us knew at the time.
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1 minute to go
lennons passion
I read it as The Googly Eyed Fenian- I could well be wrong though.
Lennon’s passion
I took it to be The Googley Eyed Fella.
Good luck with the treatment Frantic 07
3 minutes added
…. Never thought of the Fenian bit…..
setting free the bears for res. 12 & oscar knox
17:49 on 13 January, 2015
:-))
Mon the tic!
Give us a pointless equaliser!
Jeromek67-seems they would settle for around 200k…..
Saltires en Seville
Have been thinking of dumping Sky Sports and switching to Virgin with BT Sports. My surname is begins with D. 2nd February I will switch now. :)
Lennon passion
The great Elvis Fresley
Bada-probably will just wait till the summer to get him-hope we get Armstrong too -I like Henderson also and dont see why we couldnt have both-throw in McGinn of St Mirren and that would be a very good midfield squad to assist with injuries/suspensions that we pick up -especially Broonie HH
FT 2-3
3-2 ft.
Full time. 3-2
Fairly boring second half- we tightened up a bit at the back.
Lost 3:2. I thought the penalty was a bit dubious. Some of the young boys tried hard and Joe Thompson scored a good goal.
Means not much in the long run
Bada-from what I have seen would rather have GMS than Tonev or Wakaso.
Noting some of the tactical isues being discussed, while listening to Chas on Celtic TV, talking about the change from the Lenny ethos to the RD ethos.
My take would be that Lenny’s approach to the game was more cautious, where ball retention was king; therefore players played pragmatic, professional, percentage ball football. Creativity was never to the fore, plus we did play against two deep lying banks of four, on most occasions. We tended to play across and back, keeping possession but not necessarily creating much.
Our current manager wants a more dynamic style of approach. Given that his squad is predisposed, ( from the previous regime), to safety first possession, it is understandable that those players will find in difficult to free themselves to make the type of runs required to play to Ronny’s vision.
IMO our players are used to offering themselves in safe positions rather than moving into spaces behind the opposition, i.e. In our triangular play, the third man run should be into space, when the second man receives the ball he should look to play into that space. Our players don’t make that run often enough, ae ither too timid to attempt that pass, or do not have the vision and skill to to make the creative move rather than the safety first move. We did against Dundee United, well.
We require a bit more real confidence in ourselves and our team mates.
Maybe our guys are not too sure about Ronny’s deal?
EC67
AyeahhuvplayedfitbabeforeCSC
Celtic edged out in five goal thriller?
GMS?
Not really a marquee signing is he?
However, if DU and the Dandies are our closest rivals for the league, does it not make sense to take a leaf out of Fergie’s Bumper Book of Managerial Dirty Tricks and buy their best players to
(1) damage the opposition’s prospects and
(2) let ’em know who’s boss in the dough stakes.
Flaunt it , baby, flaunt it, as Max Bialystock might say ( and no, for younger readers, he’s not on the bench for Sparta ).
!!Bada Bing!!
17:39 on
13 January, 2015
DU wanting 450k for GMS now,they are having a laugh…….
=============================================
Obviously thats driven by our track record of financial abandonment,I give you,
Pukki,Balde,Derk,Scepovic,Bangoura,need I go on plus wages for Tonev,Wakuso,Berget,
there are more but its too painful…………
D.Utd say lets have some of this.
Much better second half. Ambrose and Bitton made a big difference. A few of the youngsters probably won’t make it, unfortunately.
Cracked crest time?
Ach well, I suppose finishing third in such a prestigious European tournament isnae too bad.
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox
17:53 on
13 January, 2015
Fairly boring second half- we tightened up a bit at the back.
Lost 3:2. I thought the penalty was a bit dubious. Some of the young boys tried hard and Joe Thompson scored a good goal.
Means not much in the long run
———————————————————————————————————————
Valuable experience against crack European side second elevens. Inter will be cacking themselves.
JM-Aye,would give us a bit more pace in MF.Wakaso looks like a left midfielder,rather than a winger to me,he wanders inside a lot.GMS has never played well against us,not sure about him TBH HH
bournesouprecipe
17:54 on
13 January, 2015
Celtic edged out in five goal thriller?
======================================
First positive thing I’ve seen since game started.
Mass Hypnosis CSC
Eurochamps67
Excellent post.
The ole Ross County zero, zero saw Ronny’s bhoys high tempoing against two banks of five.
Celtic approach Dundee United over Gary Mackay Stevens
Frantic07
A wee prayer said for your continued recovery.
Poor Zbyszek
He cannot cancel his sky sports subscription until December 2016 :-).
HH
CRC
I may end up with a spare for Hamilton away on Saturday is anyone interested if I do?
eurochamps
100% agree with your take on things.
And I believe that the ‘RD way’ (pass and move football) is the only way forward if Celtic are to be anything other than the occasional makeweight in Europe in the future. But, as you say, the players dont seem to be getting it. Is it just time (to unlearn the old way)? Or is someone else (other than RD) going to be necessary if we are to go that next step? We are now into the second half of the season, and if there isn’t appreciable improvement by the end of the season, I would be looking for a new coach for next season.
http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/dundee-united/306438-celtic-approach-dundee-utd-over-pre-contract-for-gary-mackay-steven/
excath
Tried to get in first ;-) nearly had a canary when we scored in the first minute.
Tonev doesnt do it for me Wackaso I havent seen enough of Kayal should be moved on the jury is still out on Scepovic.However,we need a play maker badly we have made a move for GMS but hes not a play maker. H.H.
STV News intro reported that Celtic have made their move for Dundee United’s GMS.
CRC
Is his name Zbyszek Zbyszek?? ;)))