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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BRIAN F on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:38 PM
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!
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If that is what you saw during the huns game, then you have answered your question on why Ange is manager and you are not.
!!BADA BING!! on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:34 PM
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.
•••••••
If we look tired in February after having had a winter break, then its because Ange runs all of the players into the ground, every game, look at the amount of hamstring issues, surely with all of the experience that Ange has he’d know how to make the ball do the work??
SAINT STIVS on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:41 PM
•••••••
Ange is Celtic manager because the relegated Eddie Howe said no, after 100 wasted days.
The continued defence of Taylor is King Kanute like…he has the odd good game where he doesn’t mess up, but he’s demonstrably not up to the challenge and is the worst player of the current starting 11
Last nights defending attempts were cringeworthy.
You are only as good as your worse man,
Nothing against the lad, he’s just nowhere near good enough.
STPATRICKSBHOY on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:16 PM
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
We need more athletes in the team, no doubt about it, por cierto
ERNIE LYNCH on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:17 PM
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.”
Yes, the amount of analysis now taken at games should highlight this as a massive deficiency, por cierto.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Regarding the huns and set pieces, a couple of years ago I heard Gary Mcalisster mention that they put great emphasis on them, as they reckoned that a lot of big games were decided on a set piece. Conversely, we don’t have the personnel to take advantage of the number of crosses we get. I’m not saying flood the team with giants but ability in the air is required. I actually thought we were the better team for a decent amount of the game. Disappointed but not downhearted.
ERNIE LYNCH on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:17 PM
————-
Man U have a big team, and players that can put in a cross and yet they haven’t scored in 114 corners and their last corner goal was an own goal 😁
Doesn’t help with your query but thought I’d throw it out there
A spot on Summary
The three in midfield aren’t athletic enough to play together against opposition like that. They were too quick and too easily able to break our press, which means midfielders chasing back. The solution in Ange’s system clearly isn’t a sitting defensive midfielder, it’s someone who is able to get back and not get caught up the park like all three of our mids were for their third goal.
But development of this group has been pretty spectacular in such a short space of time and it was never going to be linear. We will have learned more from that game than beating any of our domestic opposition, and it didn’t come at the expense of three valuable points in the league.
If the players thought they’d cracked it after the last derby last night would have put them straight
THE_HUDDLE on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:50 PM
ERNIE LYNCH on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:17 PM
“Man U have a big team, and players that can put in a cross and yet they haven’t scored in 114 corners and their last corner goal was an own goal 😁
Doesn’t help with your query but thought I’d throw it out there”
That’s football in a nutshell right there :))
Yeti @ 12.24
Have to disagree regarding us and the CL — it is a lagging indicator.
You sound like a 1940 cheese eating surrender monkey with that viewpoint.
All it proves is that you had a Top 4 finish in one of the big leagues last season — it does not indicate that you are playing well this season.
Consequently you can get some dross in the CL but no matter too many on here will tug their forelock and suggest that is not for the likes of us.
So far this season we have played 2 CL elect teams — no idea how they will perform next season / too many variables but they are heading to next season’s CL — and played well against them with some good football from talented players.
The results were hard to take but we showed willing and gave a good account of ourselves.
I can accept a 4-0 defeat at home to a CL level side if the man of the match was their GK and they had a 66% conversion rate for their chances with a couple of worldies.
Consequently the CL is where we need to be — no excuses.
If the Board can’t deliver that then maybe change is needed.
We do have the resources to give a good account of ourselves if we play to our potential rather than take the — flat track — bully’s way out of hiding in our shell and running away from the challenge as we did too often last night.
The money in the Big 5 leagues should be treated as a challenge and not an excuse.
We need to grow up and plan our response rather than run about claiming the sky is falling.
If we cannot aspire to CL football what is our level now?
Relegation fodder in the EPL — scared of CP and Norwich?
Lucky to be mid table in Serie A — fighting it out with Spezia / Venezia?
Slogging it out with the wannabees in La Liga — Elche and Getafe?
In the last 10 years a CL winning amount of talent has been on our books — the challenge is finding more and keeping it longer.
That way a CL reputation will come.
Not scuttling away to play at Bronski pot hunting with the TFOD2.1.
NOTTHEBUS on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:44 PM
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Greg Taylor with Killie was the best left back in SPFL, because then Killie manager, Steve Clarke, parked a midfield bus in front of the entire defence, a strategy that took Killie to 3rd in SPFL table.
Now Steve Clarke has left Killie, so has his parked midfield bus, and Killie have been relegated.
If there’s no parked midfield bus in front of, Greg Taylor, at Celtic, then GT will be exposed with the oceans of space in front of him, and GT will look like a failure.
Straightforward & hard-hitting assessment from Paul…and a few others. There is nothing I need add to it/them.
Suffice to say that anyone who comes on here and ever posts a note of caution with regard to our current position and/or our capabilities, is usually shouted down as a “hun”, or, such like….most, not all, are notable by their absence today.
Issue,evidence, context & perspective should be the watchwords when offering an opinion & posting on any matter – blind faith & ‘hatred’ of a particular person because they fall outside of your personal agenda, should not.
We can learn hard lessons from last night – the first is that we have a long way to go to be good enough to compete in UEFA’s third-tier – the second is that the manager is not a ‘miracle-worker’, and the third is that domestically the rest of the season will be a slog – doesn’t mean we can’t win the title, but should focus minds
MADMITCH on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:54 PM
A cracking post, por cierto
NOTTHEBUS on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 12:44 PM
There are quite a few King Knuts appearing regularly on here with their wild and wacky contributions.
Suspect some of them are King ‘Billy’ knuts looking to feel better about themselves by poking fun at our sporadic Euro vulnerabilities.
I’ll take the op to remind them our last joust was 3-0. And we skooshed them to now sit clear at the summit.
Tick-tock Teddies ;)
I think shock is a terrible thing and most of us are a bit in that state .
Last night if you had been told the spl teams scores 4-2 / 3-1 one win and one loss you would have been thinking offt that mob are getting pumped.
We seem a wee bit lacking in energy dare I say and our better play seems in patches rather than blocks .
However being naturally optimistic I thought I agreed with Paul yesterday but it’s not to be a bit disappointing .
This being said the title is our grail nothing else much matters to me .
As far As I remember we are top of the table and peerless in Scotland thats good enough .
Forget distractions and keep our faith
Let the msm have their gloat we keep our eyes on the prize and front facing
Koala bears are not bears any more…
wombatnewscsc
How much would Dortmund have taken off of Celtic if faced with AngeBall??
ERNIE LYNCH @ 12:03
Mathew 20:16
——
…or as a primary school teacher used to say us when we moaned as we were taught in wooden buildings and the heating broke down in winter:
“Many are cauld, but few are frozen”
PARK THE BUS ALA MON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:04 PM
How much would Dortmund have taken off of Celtic if faced with AngeBall??
Aye your team did well against them last night……
https://celtsarehere.com/how-bodo-glimt-stunned-celtic-counteracting-threats/
On controlling the game, I’m minded of England v Iceland in Euro 2016, after enjoying 70% of possession England came away with a 2-1 defeat. All the EPL pundits in the studio were scratching their heads, unable to understand how England could have lost while controlling the game so thoroughly. It took Slaven Bilic to give them a footballing lesson and point out Iceland didn’t want possession, they returned the ball each time encouraging England forward so they could exploit their hubris.
There are many ways to “control” a game, it’s not always possession and chances. However I believe Ange is too cute to really believe we controlled last night, he was saying what he had to say.
Agree with pretty much all that, P67.
I will admit to being apprehensive about Easter Road and it’s telling that you’re bringing it up. It’s one of five remaining away fixtures. Away games that will go some way to deciding this league title.
Come Monday, Ange should sit down and list his strongest side for Easter Road.
He should then make sure that the starting eleven for Easter Road is both fresh and injury free as far as he can. Our most important game next week is in Edinburgh. By a distance.
We need to be street smart now.
Someone made a good point about the signing of McCarthy on a four-year deal. A monumental mistake. We need a good defensive midfielder in European games. Is Ange aware of this now or will he be like BR, playing the same way in Europe as in the SPL?
Man Utd.
114 corners
1 own goal
Newcastle utd apparently went 386 corners across 102 competitive matches without scoring once
Goodwin given permission to speak to Aberdeen
ONENIGHTINLISBON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:06 PM
PARK THE BUS ALA MON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:04 PM
How much would Dortmund have taken off of Celtic if faced with AngeBall??
Aye your team did well against them last night……
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You’ve lost me, what??
Are you saying that those who don’t happy clap must support another team??
Really??
Kults are poisonous.
Kults are anti-Celtic. Just look at ScotGov, Celtic haters 100% and most Celtic supporters vote for them??
That’s why Celtic are easily handed their ass.
No meritocracy, just kultism.
Only a period of pain will lead to apathy draining the Celtic swamp / kult because Celtic fans don’t embrace and deploy meritocracy because you need balls and a straight spine to be meritorious.
Watching Celtic over the past few months I’ve increasingly felt we’re becoming a first half team. With this in mind I took a look at goals scored and conceded in the first and second halves of games over this season, and across the various competitions. This is against the context of the general stat in football that 44% of goals are scored in the first half, and 56% in the second.
Over the season in all competitions we’ve scored 99 goals, 54 of which came in the first half and 45 in the second (55% first, 45% second), that’s a couple of stats that pretty much turns the norm on its head. This is further compounded when you look at goals conceded, where we have 16 in the first half against 28 in the second. Again this represents a split of 36% first half and 64% second which is significantly skewed from the norm. We’re scoring less and conceding more in the second half.
I’m at a loss to understand this, as energy levels and performances regularly drop off in the second half. We’ve been playing this style of football for 7 months now and we’re still looking to achieve a level of squad fitness which would permit a consistency of effort to the end of the game. It was even more striking last night, when a team in their pre-season looked at least as fit as us, or perhaps willing to expend more energy, in pursuit of a result.
There’s an increasing perception that if you can keep Celtic from scoring in the first half then you have more than half a chance. Conversely, if we can find that second half performance to match our first, what a team we’d have.
Speaking of BR. His time at Celtic illustrates where for most of us our priorities lie. Europe was forgotten in the midst of CL qualification and domestic trebles.
I’m not criticising us, I think it’s only natural to give priority to a completion we play most of our games in.
BR’s Celtic had an ability to put European failure behind them when they took to the pitch in Scotland. Hopes from our enemies that doings against PSG and Barca would harm us were quickly scuttled as we continued our relentless domestic form.
We need to get back to that now. Tam’s quip the other week about being top for a decade was priceless. I loved the audacity and honesty of that statement. We’ll need that fighting attitude in our remaining league games.
EspiritoDeCelt
Spot on with everything you said there
!!BADA BING!! on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:16 PM
Goodwin given permission to speak to Aberdeen
••••••••
Jim Goodwin makes the best of the tools available to him and he uses them wisely.
Jim Goodwin was the only football person to stand up for his supporters against the intrusive vacc passports for an illness with a 99.999997% recovery rate, whilst puppets like Ange fell into line with the ridiculous, overbearing, over the top, ScotGov pound shop dictators, like wee Elsie McSelfie.
Jim Goodwin will surprise a few.
I wish him well. 👍
AD @ 1.25
The issue we have is that we give too much credit to the gallus and the cocky rather than the effective.
You big up TR for his pithy response.
But nothing on his totally off his eggs / spineless performance last night.
That is our biggest downfall — cheeky but hopeless gets you far in modern Scotland.
See Not Jacinda in the politics field for confirmation.
Would the current Bodo team win the SPFL? They have the Norwegian league twice in their history, the last two years and finished 2nd in 2019 so clearly the top team their at the moment but a recent phenomenon. Rosenborg having dominated their league for previous 30 years or so.
Clearly there are a few good players there who are better than what we have and who would probably be happy to move to us even if it was for the usual reason of moving to EPL 2-3 seasons later.
Sure Ange and the scouts took note. 2-3 of these kind of lads would give us the physicality we lack.
Our squad – complete with 4 totes new signings, has also just played 9 games in 30 days.
Quite intense esp given the hi-energy plan the boss prescribes.
Bodo were, comparatively, fresh as daisies and perceptively well-schooled in how to play against us.
It nips – but we need to be a bit humble and realistic about where we were and where we’ve recovered to.
Keep the faith. Nite all.
SofE @ 1.22
Your game of two halves could be very close to the mark.
Most SPL teams have been very defensive against us for 60 minutes then they seem to give it a go / come out swinging — not sure who worked this out but it has led to a few erse clenching finishes to games.
We need to wise up and come out with a better second album response.
AN DÚN on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:25 PM
Speaking of BR. His time at Celtic illustrates where for most of us our priorities lie. Europe was forgotten in the midst of CL qualification and domestic trebles.
—————————-
At the weekend, there was a flurry of calls to TalkSport with the topic is Brendans time up at Leicester.
There was a lot of vitriol, and a lot of what i can only call really exaggerated expectations, many giving the FA Cup win as good but lucky, and since then been pish, particulalry that he doesnt take Europe serious enough.
Yesterday there was a reasonable interview with him, and he had a new found respect for the Conference competion and having not known about it earlier, it is now a must win ………. with the rational, because that gets you direct entry into the Europa Group next season.
I think he will walk for the next better job.
Funnily enough Dortmund are STILL around 12/1 or 14/1 to WIN the Europa League and the Huns are 33/1…Despite THEMs winning last night ?
Celtic are now Priced at 150/1 to win the Europa Conference….from 25/1 with Bet365.
I think that BODO GLIMST are about 14/1 or 16/1 to win Europa Conference. it was early this morning that i checked the latest Odds, and now I cant remember precisely ?
I accept the increase in Celtics Odds….but I do wonder about the Odds of The Huns and Dortmund ?
PARK THE BUS ALA MON on 18TH FEBRUARY 2022 1:19 PM
Kult? what are you talking about?
I was one of the biggest critics of Lennon and his cronies last season.
The progress we have made under Ange is outstanding from the shambles he was left with.
Results like this are hard to take but we are, as he himself has stated many times, far from the finished article.
Patience and allowing the manager to do his job will reap rewards.
Aye im part of the Celtic Kult and proud to be so…..