Last night’s result was both disappointing and embarrassing. Considering that Bodo/Glimt were preseason and scored their third long after the affects of cramp and exhaustion took hold, it was even humiliating. Only a remarkable turnaround will see Celtic remain in the Uefa Conference League, an outcome that would be very harsh on the comparatively underpaid and over-performing Norwegians.
When I looked at the teams left in the competition earlier this week, only Leicester and Marseille seemed out of reach. This was a chance, I thought, to go deep into a European competition – perhaps our last and easiest chance for some time, as we hoped to compete on higher ground in the years to come.
We have both seen enough of Celtic in Europe, though, to hedge our bets. On Wednesday, I wrote, “You and I are also full of confidence right now. What we are missing is a test against non-Scottish opposition. Drubbing a limp Newco gave us hope that we are watching something special. Tomorrow night will give an indication as to whether that hope is valid.” We have our answer.
Welcome the truth instead of living deluded. It should fortify us for the challenges ahead, better to know, than to rock up at Easter Road next week with an unbalanced and porous midfield. Or to think that the world has been put to right during two transfer windows.
Cameron Carter-Vickers was head and shoulders above everyone on the field. He operated at a level Bodo/Glimt were unable to reach. Similarly, Carl Starfelt and Joe Hart did not put a foot wrong. Our full backs and wingers on both sides were bossed out of the contest.
Callum McGregor has seen this movie before and covered every inch of the park in a vain attempt to prevent a sequel. Did anyone think Tom Rogic and Matt O’Riley would be an effective midfield pairing? Apart from Ange, of course. Daizen Maeda scored with a peach of a header but spent much of the game isolated. I hope Reo Hatate was carrying an impediment that made his exclusion from the starting line-up necessary. Any other reason would be inexplicable.
And for the record, Ange, no, we did not control the game. That ability lay with the men in yellow, who played exactly how they wanted.
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Does anyone know if there are there comparative stats available for the rate of goals resulting from corners?
Are some teams significantly better at corners than others and if so is that as a result of coaching, tactics, standard of player, purposeful practice, discipline or is it all just random chance?
Matthew 20:16
Dot Cotton CSC
Well
SAINT STIVS on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:03 PM
TIMBHOY163 on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 11:23 AM
did you go to the Celtic match last night ?
do you go to celtic away matches ?
do you watch celtic b team matches anywhere ?
do you go support the ladies team at any games away from Pennycars ?
Park the bus and hit on the break like MON, or get handed your ass.
If St Mirren, Livi, DundeeUtd, and most of our Europa league opponents can suss out and nullify AngeBall, then it was likely that Bodo watched these games in Spain, and planned accordingly.
Although, Bodo didn’t park the bus, they were more like, Aberdeen and, Raith Rovers, in Celtic’s face approach and AngeBall didn’t look too clever.
AngeBall has got Celtic into 3rd division European football, and Celtic season ticket holders are raving about AngeBall??
Bodo didn’t park the bus, they merely demonstrated that there is more than one way to rip AngeBall apart, as Aberdeen threatened to do last week, and Raith Rovers made AngeBall look glaikit and entitled last Saturday.
The huns are a different team with Morelos in it, there I said it.
What if McGhee parks the Dundee bus on Sunday, like St Mirren, Livi, DundeeUtd etc? The blonde headed pacey DundeeUtd winger, Finland player, can’t remember his name, I think he would be better for us than Jota, who is now reduced to the McGeady syndrome, when ball went near Aiden, the 2 nearest opposition players would double up on him, nullifying him, and neutralizing 70% of Celtic’s threat, this is now happening to, Jota.
Our two strikers are in the wrong movie, G-Mac and Maeda, despite his goal last night, and what does it say about Celtic supporters who will happily fly the flag of, Kyogo, Hatate, Maeda, Guchi, but not fly the flag of, Abada, Bitton??
2 faced??
Get real, park the bus, and hit on the break like MON, or suck up PLC puppet managers.
“We controlled the game.” Ange said this last night.??
Bullsh*thing the fans, like Strachan, Lennon, and all executive members.
There’ll be no change.
Celtic Trust, Green Brigade, CSA, all of them suck, and are toothless, paper tigers.
A run of brutal hun trophy success induced apathy is the only threat to the Celtic executive and their cuddly toy, puppet, bullsh*thing managers.
Maybe in the build up to, and aftermath of, Sundays game v Dundee, McGhee might “use” the media to chuck in a few truth grenades to waken up sleepy dim Tims??
ERNIE LYNCH
I think the type of player you have is also a massive contributory factor. We don’t have enough height or muscle to win air duels as yet. Mind you we don’t have much of those anywhere on the park, por cierto.
Nice podium Ernie. 👍
the_huddle
From previous thread
With you all the way. My first comment last night was 6 attacking players against decent teams in Europe?
Sorry, completely wrong formation. The problems being pinned on Taylor are the outcome not the problem.
You can’t leave your defence exposed every time you lose the ball in midfield. The goals were pretty similar and have a horrible echo of previous European failure. There is nothing wrong with playing a bit cagey in the first leg home or away. You cant win in the first leg but you can sure as hell lose it. It will be interesting to see how Ange approaches the second leg.
Don’t often disagree with our host but I didn’t feel embarrased last night. I think we set the team up exactly as they would have wanted. It was a mistake which hopefully won’t be repeated
An honest assessment.
Physically, we are to small and get out muscled.
Technically, we were shown last night, how to play from the back.
Our insistence on vonstantly playing square ball at the back and our back passing from midfield to central defence is a time wasting nonsense.
No other team in any league I have seen does it to the this extent.
The league is still our priority, but we must also build towards a consistency in Europe.
Over all we are heading in the right direction, but we were given a lesson in organised football last night.
18 years without a European knock out win post Christmas.
And we have sat back and accepted it.
That’s what the banners should have been about not some premature glorification of Ange.
POR CIERTO on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:06 PM
ERNIE LYNCH
I think the type of player you have is also a massive contributory factor. We don’t have enough height or muscle to win air duels as yet. Mind you we don’t have much of those anywhere on the park, por cierto.
•••••••••
A team in the image of the manager, cuddly toys.
Honest assessment. Good article
There’s been much chat around the players adapting to the Ange approach. I think it’s equally important for Ange to learn. To adapt to the environment in which he’s operating.
Height and strength can supplement a skillful team perfectly.
MARKIEBHOY on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:08 PM
the_huddle
You can’t leave your defence exposed every time you lose the ball in midfield. The goals were pretty similar and have a horrible echo of previous European failure. There is nothing wrong with playing a bit cagey in the first leg home or away. You cant win in the first leg but you can sure as hell lose it. It will be interesting to see how Ange approaches the second leg.
—————————
My guess is that Ange will change some of the starters but not the formation/tactics
You posted Paul, when I was typing 😡 on last blog
Question – has anyone ever seen us start with a midfield 3 all being left footed ?
I cannot recall having seen this before 🤔
Bodo- massive team, must have had 8 players ( then 3 of the subs) all at 6’4”, all physical and athletic.
Very well organised, coached and knew exactly what they were doing.
The amount of time they had a player drop into the space our midfield was leaving was frightening – look at their number 10 on both the first and 3rd goal.
They closed us down when needed and stood off again defending as a compact set up unit.
When we got close and in their faces, we often won the ball.
Not wanting to call out any specific player,
1 glaring deficiency I noticed, Joe Hart has the ball, looks left with Starfelt retreating towards the byline near the corner flag, their forward follows closing down the pass, strangely Greg Taylor also follows their forward, in behind him, leaving Hart with not option
Taylor should have stayed where he was in space to take the ball
(I also noticed Ange instructing Taylor to move the ball forward wide to Jota, instead he come inside across their forward and passes the ball back)
I stated last week, too often we move the ball backwards, retaining possession, instead of lifting our heads and seeing a forward move, with a player moving into space.
That I find hugely frustrating
Incidentally – accepting we all want to win the league and gain instant access to Champions league next season. In my view we are nowhere near this level (champions league) and think it would be a painful experience
por cierto.
I been saying this all season,nobody in the back four over 6ft two small full backs it doesn’t workl,last night’s midfield couldn’t complete physically.Ange needs the summer to fix the team physicality issue. Hail Hail.
stpatricksbhoy
POR CIERTO on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:06 PM
My impression is that Celtic are much worse at corners than most other teams, but am aware that this may just be confirmation bias on my part. That’s why I’d like to see some stats. If they contradict my impression, fair enough. But if they bear it out then there could be some benefit in analysing what makes some teams better at corners than others.
There’s enough people hanging around football clubs with tablets, video analysis software etc to suggest that such stats should be available somewhere.
Google tells me (other search engines are available) that the average height of males in Norway is 5′ 11″. Whereas, in Japan, its 5′ 7.2″
The truth is Greg Taylor shouldn’t even be on our bench.and he’s plodding away in our first team offering nothing.he can’t pass.cant go by a man can’t tackle.gets caught out nearly every game.what does ange see in this guy.i see nothing!!!!
PARK THE BUS ALA MON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:15 PM
‘A team in the image of the manager, cuddly toys.’
###
I suspect he’s more like a honey badger than a koala bear.
VALE BHOY on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:13 PM
18 years without a European knock out win post Christmas.
And we have sat back and accepted it.
That’s what the banners should have been about not some premature glorification of Ange.
••••••
Its 18 years of being managed by folk who aren’t street wise.
Bodo’s full backs looked great.
Easy to when the wingers don’t try to take them on.
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As long as Europe is an afterthought to the old firm results like that will keep happening.
Not completely out of the tie, but will take some effort to turn it round now.
Big changes needed re vision and ambition to be competitive at these levels (and hopefully higher ones!), but not holding my breath.
If we qualify for Champions League and gain the riches, everyone has to be realistic that we will get pumped.
Our days at that level are gone, no matter who we draw our who we have in our team,
record defeats home and away last times we were there, i dont know it is worth the humiliation.
Ips, I didnt feel humiliated last night, I did feel though seen this movie before, someone said “you seldom win the tie in the first leg”, and that is how i feel, we let ourselves down with selection, formation (at points) and what were they collectively doing at the 3rd goal ? Our own repeat of Malmo moments.
I want Ange to succeed, when it clicks it is great to watch, but even Jock went to Prague for the draw, and won other games with strong defensive performances first.
More pragmatism, but dont be suprised to lose the away match an all.
ERNIE LYNCH on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:20 PM
PARK THE BUS ALA MON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:15 PM
‘A team in the image of the manager, cuddly toys.’
###
I suspect he’s more like a honey badger than a koala bear.
•••••••••••
Nope! I disagree with you entirely!!
So there!!!
….nah, only kidding, your spot on. 👍 😶
“When I looked at the teams left in the competition earlier this week, only Leicester and Marseille seemed out of reach”
———-
Surely Leicester would be easy with that useless manager they have?
As noted above , we had no cover in central midfield, allied to Matt and Tom looking to be too wide and high … I wouldn’t go overboard about how good the Norwegians were , we played into their hands …
Anyway we were too open and against a competent Euro outfit our lack of game time together it was clear we weren’t as well drilled … that can be fixed over time .
2 other observations … CCV ok defensively but was very hesitant in shifting the ball wide quickly … ball knocking about his feet and the opposition given time to close down the angles
Their left back before he got knackered looked very impressive, worth a punt
BRIAN F on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:18 PM
The truth is Greg Taylor shouldn’t even be on our bench.and he’s plodding away in our first team offering nothing.he can’t pass.cant go by a man can’t tackle.gets caught out nearly every game.what does ange see in this guy.i see nothing!!!!
————
and yet he did all them things against THE RANGERS, did you not notice it at the game ?
Last night proved McCarthy is a huge waste of money, who else would have given him a 4 year contract ,given his sick record? Crying out for a defensive MF and he’s on the bench again, maybe Guchi could be the player for there…..
‘And for the record, Ange, no, we did not control the game. That ability lay with the men in yellow, who played exactly how they wanted.’
P67; dunno why everyone thinks in such binary or polar terms. There were spells in the game where Bodo did seem to have control – and they were lethal with it. And times when, to my eyes, we were bossing it (least in possession) – but failed to make that count on the scorecard. Quality service to Daizen was non-existent and he looked almost disinterested in a way Kyogo never has.
Mibby Ange was kinda right. And mibby he was just galvanising his team for subsequent games and a league run-in.
You almost sound as if you’re putting Ange on notice.
No-one else round here remember how far we’ve come from the end of the Lenny debacle?
And – sorry to be the one to say it – our result was mocked on a few Aussie TV stations. And THEMS victory was, rightly, bigged up.
If we go through, it won’t be harsh on Bodo, it’ll be well done Celtic.
Nae difference between NFL, or Ange.
https://videocelts.com/2022/02/blogs/latest-news/the-haunting-stat-that-celtic-have-carried-on-from-last-
season/
Where’s the car park protests??
Or does that only happen when Rangers are away in front in the league??
Disagree with most of that Paul
Goals change games, gifting an early goal to a well organised team so early changes the script.
12 corners to nill, 66% possession, 12 shots, Visitors had 4 shots and scored with 3. One a wicked deflection
Both goals, calamitous defending. Carl Starfelt chasing the ball for the first left a grand canyon like hole for the attacker to exploit. The less said about the defending for the second, the better. Lets just say the incumbent defender should be benched / dropped with immediate effect
The defence at a higher level isn’t anywhere near good enough.
Some throwing the baby out with the bath water here,yes a poor performance, but i don’t think anyone on here would have predicted us being top of the league in middle of February, i thought we looked tired last night, if we exit Europe, then hopefully we can manage the run in better, plus looks like Sevco will have 2 extra games. This is very much a work in progress, with many new players, inc the 4 just in last month, maybe a wee bit of perspective required.
!!BADA BING!! on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:27 PM
Last night proved McCarthy is a huge waste of money, who else would have given him a 4 year contract ,given his sick record? Crying out for a defensive MF and he’s on the bench again, maybe Guchi could be the player for there….
••••••••••
If McCarthy was any good he wouldn’t be at Celtic, same applies to Ange. 👍
First of all Ange made the wrong call in midfield so I put the entire defeat on him. I absolve the players for that, but he has credit in the bank and he is not stubborn. My more broad conclusion from last nights games is that Celtic are in fact more suited to SPFL football games than theRangers because we have more flare players who can break deep blocking teams down and we have a real ’cause’ this year that we can see reflected in the squad that RIFC have yet to display. However, I do think that since Gerrard arrived theRangers are far better suited to European opponents than SPFL teams because of two factors 1.they are and remain the best team in world football at goals from Set-pieces and 2.Their rigid defensive structure and conter-attacking suits the requirements fo Europe. We on the other hand are one again too romantic in Europe and buy into this whole myth of attacking football at all costs. W beat Rangers a CP convincingly because we prevented then from getting any set-piecess in the first half. Their ability to score directly from set-pieces and second phase goals is their main weapon an the data on them backs this up for the last 3 years. They play constantly for free kicks and especially corners then then deploy powerful runners near post across the 6-yard box for flicks and direct headers , and also deploy a deep lying man from the centre and just outside the box to attack any ball arriving centrally. Dortmund clearly hadn’t bothered to learn this about Rangers since their first goal last night came from a good corner and a box loaded with Ranger payers causing carnage that resulted in a penalty and then their second goal was quite similar to the winning goal at Ibrox against us this season with that near pos run and flashing glancing header. Then at 2-0 up Dortmund chased the game and that is when Ryan Kent exploited the space on the counter. In short, Dortmund did not do their homework which is partly why Marco Rose is meeting the Dortmund hierarchy today. We beat theRangers because they didn’t see enough of the ball first half to create set-piece opportunities. Its basically that simple against Rangers. They are tactical parasites/vultures in terms of how they play the game which is why they also win so many games while not controlling the game for long periods. W have to keep that in mind for the Ibrox game in April. HH
I’ve said it a million times, but from the article below:
“No correlation exists between the average height of teams and results achieved. The gaps observed rather reflect different approaches to the game. While some coaches prefer tall players, other give priority to shorter ones.”
https://football-observatory.com/Does-height-matter-in-football-1917#:~:text=No%20correlation%20exists%20between%20the,to%20establish%20themselves%20as%20professionals.
Liverpool and Man City have 2 of the wee-est teams in the EPL and have been all-conquering in recent years.
Our problems are a mixture of poor player quality, selection mistakes, form and a lot of other stuff.
Our poor European record of many years and many managers sits with an obsessive addiction from many of our supporters and of course, our board, that only the league / Old Firm strategy really matters.
Reap what we sew.
HH
Enlighten what magic did Greg Taylor produce against sevco???.the guys no were near good enough.thats my opinion and the way I see it.so if you don’t like it you no what to do!