Surprised? Well, yes. This was a no-contest early-on in Maribor last week. Even though Celtic didn’t come home with the win, the chances, balance of possession and play, were well in their favour. A defeat last night was never out of the question, but it was the nature of the defeat that was most concerning. We were second best in defence, midfield and attack.
Pre-match, Ronny told us he expected Maribor to sit in and counter-attack. They didn’t, forcing Celtic into disarray. We were fortunate to go in level at halftime; I was screaming out for a tactical change from 20 minutes in.
Kris Commons proved his value. From the moment he arrived, we had an out-ball for the first time in the night, but it was not enough.
Celtic tried to qualify for the Champions League without a target man, or a striker able to play the kind of football Ronny Deila requires to play his kind of football. Stokes, Griffiths, Pukki and Balde are not an appropriate Champions League strike force, by some distance.
We have plenty of midfielders who are happy to pass and run but no one with the composure to hold the ball. Brown, Forrest and Tonev were all missing, but none will occupy the holding roles given to Kayal and Mulgrew last night. Or to Wanyama two years ago.
The defensive collapse since last season is unfathomable. Virgil van Dijk was clearly a class above, whether in defence or attack, and Mikal Lustig was also assured – it is perhaps no coincidence that we lost the goal moments after he was replaced, but Efe Ambrose and Emilio Izaguirre have returned from the World Cup in alarmingly poor form.
This is where we are. We knew this at the end of last season, perhaps Neil Lennon did too. Ronny Deila has a significant rebuilding job on his hands.
Will we make a significant moves forward this week? This season? The Europa League isn’t the cash-cow of the premier tournament, and it carries none of the glamour, but it is a competition we need to be ready for. Perhaps more importantly, qualification planning for next season’s Champions League starts now.
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NeilMcCallum
Pal. You are the Only guy ,oan Here.. That Has Shown a Wisp of Common Sense.
Ah salute ye..
Howevahhhhhhhh..
Don’t pit Awe the Blame oan The Manager.
The Guys who let us Doon, so badly.. agin the Foe ,Last Night.
Were a ready Made Team .. which, HE IN HERITED.. ( Don’ Furgeet.. He wiz Stuck wi These Guys.. No His Doing.)
They Let him n Us Doon..
When He has Replaced Them.. N.. If He disnae IMPROVE the Team, in Daeing So..
then.. n ONLY then
Wull Ah Come Doon Hard oan Him
Ronny, must be given the chance tae
Make his OWN Buying Mistakes..
NO.. NEIL’S, fur Ronny is Blameless,in That respect..
Yes, Neil. He wiz responsible fur Buying n Collecting
This team of .. Misfits..
Oh ,yes Neil . wiz..
Don’t Argue..
Kojo
Still,Laughin
What about Celtic’s contractual agreement with Big Bobo.Bobo wanted to stay on,on the terms of his contract, cetrains at Parkhead wanted him off the wage bill. He stood his ground and Celtic suits then embarrassed the club and our ethos.
For the sake of a few dollars more.
Puke.
Bearing in mind that we will be competing in the Europa League until early December will it be acceptable,as it was to some, to rest players against Dundee this Sunday and come away with the same scoreline as suffered against ICT
Seems Neil Warnock has got the Palace job.
Again.
He’ll be raging when he finds out his old house is now worth three times what he sold it for.
neilmccallumlennon
12:03 on 27 August, 2014
For Celtic to improve on a consistent basis in the current financial climate, needs the whole of Scottish football/youth/culture to improve. We need a core of players who,want to play for the club, are good enough to do so, without seeing us as a Champions League team that will maybe offer a shop window to play in England. Going from season to season looking at who will come in two weeks before we play champions league qualifiers is ludicrous. We need stability, we need to breed our own players.
Celtic Football Club @celticfc 13s
Celtic have been drawn against @JamTarts in the #ScottishLeagueCup (NM)
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
13:04 on 27 August, 2014
Seems Neil Warnock has got the Palace job.
Again.
He’ll be raging when he finds out his old house is now worth three times what he sold it for.
———————————————
And we think we’ve got problems, huh?
Celtic v Hearts
league cup
LB
Two years ago we beat Barcelona. We sold Wanyama, Hooper and Forster. Three big game players.
Two years before that we were in the CL wilderness.
Two years from now will we be better or worse than today? Only if we find some big game players. And ditch the dross.
Absolutely NOTHING happened last night to cause the mass nervous breakdown that we have been witnessing since the final whistle blew.
We were a club in flux & going into a transition period, with a new & inexperienced man at the helm.
We lost a game that we could easily have won.
That was always likely to happen.
We are in exactly the same situation now as we were yesterday, except that we have been spared the embarrassment that a group stage of the CL would have visited on us.
A wee run in the EUFA Cup could see us looking to the future from an entirely different perspective.
We are still the Scottish Champions.
We are still CELTIC.
I am still immensely proud of EVERYTHING our great club has given us.
Just another Tim. Now I agree with you we have to many players earning good money but will never be first team regulars and they are draining the club of money that could be better used. The only way as you say to clear them out is to bite the bullet and take the hit and free them which would probably cost us millions but so will keeping them. H.H.
weeminger
12:57 on
27 August, 2014
It all depends on the agreement made when a player signs on.
I`ll bet Craig Gordon`s agent wasn`t insisting on subsidiary clauses and future sell-on agreements.
The point is,if Celtic have agreed to a release clause when a player signs on,then they cannot be condemned for adhering to their part of the contract.
It`s contract law.
I would imagine.
League Cup draw
Dundee Utd v Dundee
Falkirk v Inverness CT/Rangers
Ross County v Hibernian
Kilmarnock v St Johnstone
Aberdeen v Livingston
Partick Thistle v St Mirren
Celtic v Hearts
Hamilton v Motherwell
LB
Two years from now how many are going to be left to care?
We should run a charity (s)weepstake.
The morning after the night before. Can’t bring myself to read back the comments from last night. No doubt there will been a lot of emotion flying about, still is this morning. I just want to say my piece then hang back out of the debate.
For those wanting the manager out, who would you bring in and how many games will you give him? Lennon was a width of a crossbar from going out against Karagandy last season, would there have been as many people shouting for NL to get sacked?
I’m rooting for RD, if only because I think the only way to improve attendances is to play attractive attacking football, pure, beautiful, inventive football should be the ethos of the club, and that demand should be on every manager that walks through the doors. A mate asked me last night if I’d rather have Mourinho or Wenger, I take Wenger every time. I see the comparisons with Mowbray gaining momentum, as they have ever since RD took over. My fear is if RD is sacked, with the blessings of the support we will abandon an entertaining philosophy, and be left with a pragmatic manager that puts an extremely dull team out on the park. The manager should be allowed the season to show signs of progress.
That being said, some of the criticisms are entirely justified, and do cast doubt on his long term future. Many people have been calling for Ambrose to play right back, well last night showed he offers nothing going forward apart from the odd decoy run. I’ve got a lot of time for defenders that try to play football, much rather that than a McManus type playing long balls out the back. However if you don’t trust Ambrose to play centre half, then don’t play him at all. The sight of him at right back and our best right back at centre half was baffling to watch. As for the 4-3-3, first I would have Biton instead of Mulgrew but that is the by. The 4 in defence and the 3 in midfield I agree with, that should remain constant to from a coherent defensive unit. But the 3 ahead should be more flexible to suit the players we have. Berget has shown nothing to earn his place in the team. Every fan knows Stokes cannot play the lone striker role. Every fan knows that Commons, while not without fault, is the most dangerous player we have. We have a habit in this country of putting any player that shows a bit of skill out on the wings. Whilst McGregor has played there with aplomb, he could be equally as effective in the number 10 position, behind Commons and either Stokes or Griffiths. 4-3-1-2 suits the players we had available. Finally on the manager, the decision to weaken the midfield by taking off Kayal instead of Berget raises further questions about his capabilities.
As for PL, I’m not one of the Lawwell GTF brigade, I think he has done a pretty good job over the years, but I spoke to someone I trust on the way to match, who has had several business dealings with him, and he had a very low opinion of PL. I’ll wait till I see the accounts before passing judgement on him, but there is no doubt we have been crying out for a striker since Hooper left and one should have been brought in before Warsaw. I think RD’s future may hinge on the signing of Scepovic, in the same way Mowbrays was destined to fail with the £4m signing of Fortune. Expensive strikers that don’t score goals are a big problem. Scepovic is unproven, and therefore a gamble, so the scouting dept to John Collins to RD to PL better be damn sure he is the required quality to ignite this toothless attack.
Lawwell’s role in this definitely needs to be under scrutiny.
Kilbowie Kelt will vote YES
13:08 on 27 August, 2014
Absolutely NOTHING happened last night to cause the mass nervous breakdown that we have been witnessing since the final whistle blew.
We were a club in flux & going into a transition period, with a new & inexperienced man at the helm.
We lost a game that we could easily have won.
That was always likely to happen.
We are in exactly the same situation now as we were yesterday, except that we have been spared the embarrassment that a group stage of the CL would have visited on us.
A wee run in the EUFA Cup could see us looking to the future from an entirely different perspective.
We are still the Scottish Champions.
We are still CELTIC.
I am still immensely proud of EVERYTHING our great club has given us.
——————————————-
If I had a pound for every time someone misspelled UEFA on CQN, I’d be a man who had collected a few pounds from people who has misspelled UEFA.
Irregardless! Very good post mate, very good, well balanced, sense-filled, spelling mistake containing post.
Kilbowie Kelt …………………You lunchtime drinking?
Joe Filippis Haircut
13:09 on
27 August, 2014
I would rather pay the millions to get rid of them than keep them, what is the point of keeping them?
HH
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
10:30 on 27 August, 2014
_____________________
If, as you say – Celtic are all inclusive?
Why then, are the Green Brigade ‘unofficially’
banned till all the referendum guff is over?
Ye canny see it?
Open yer eyes then!
______________________________________
Kev, the GB went in a huff cos they couldn’t get 111. They were not banned
At least Poor Tony Mowbray had to put up with the most scandalous refereeing decisions ever seen in the Scottish game….just to give ,an ultimately futile, lifeline to vermin who are now dead.
Peter Lawell and Dermot Desmond certainly didn’t want them dead, in my honest opinion…..so TM got no backing from his bosses at anytime in that wretched season.
Lenny stood up to them …..and they died eventually…..Thank you Neil.
Ronny doesn’t have the Masonic Cabal to compete with,unlike his predecessors.
No excuses really if it doesn’t work out for him as is looking very likely.
A decade ago, MON told us to get used to life in ‘the slow lane.’
We should now get used to life on ‘the hard shoulder.’
HH!!
Kilbowie Kelt
You da man!
mickbhoy1888. If we dont win at Dens on Sunday and it wont be easy this blog will go into melt down. H.H.
A first-team squad of 40 players. That’s where the money goes.
I was told before the game that a recently retired Club legend,called RD ‘a fantasist’, i can see why he thought that.
the green man
11:28 on 27 August, 2014
Win, lose or draw, I’m always happy, because I am a Celtic Supporter…..and eternally grateful I wasn’t born a bhun ……. again, we have an extra ‘barrier’ with the anti all things Celtic culture in this Country…… and please now end this debate with me……to call Celtic Board Members bhuns is beneath contempt, and to be expected from hunlurkers only…if you can’t cope with the ups and downs of football, fine…
Oh and by the way. For all that I love about them they really grind ma gears when it comes to throwin the toys oot the pram over every wee thing. I couldn’t get a seat next to my brother but did I boycot in protest? Naw
kilbowie kelt will vote yes
13:08 on 27 August, 2014
Well said. Agree with most of your comment.
Embdae name another team in Maribor’s league?
darwinsbeautifulidea
13:15 on 27 August, 2014
…are you a hurtin’, bitter, wee….
Now if only we’d got Louis van Gaal as manager, we’d have had instant success.
Kibowie .. Ole Pal
Good Fur You~
You told ’em..
Nice.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
I agree with Johann Murdoch about signing a few Scottish players. I’m not sure about Mackay-Stevens (though almost anyone would be better than Boerrigter), but Armstrong of Dundee Utd would offer more than a lot of our signings.
12:36
Ye don’t beat teams like Barca by accident
——————-
Was no accident when Bayern put 7 past them in QF ??
kilbowie kelt will vote yes
13:08 on 27 August, 2014
Absolutely NOTHING happened last night to cause the mass nervous breakdown that we have been witnessing since the final whistle blew.
We were a club in flux & going into a transition period, with a new & inexperienced man at the helm.
We lost a game that we could easily have won.
That was always likely to happen.
We are in exactly the same situation now as we were yesterday, except that we have been spared the embarrassment that a group stage of the CL would have visited on us.
A wee run in the EUFA Cup could see us looking to the future from an entirely different perspective.
We are still the Scottish Champions.
We are still CELTIC.
I am still immensely proud of EVERYTHING our great club has given us.
———————————————————————-
Now we’re talking
Ayrshire is Green and White
People listing a dozen or so players and saying they should all be punted or sold need to take a step back.
Apart from the fact tht it is not possible to sell 12 players at one go it’s also not the way to fix our problems.
Tactically Ronny got it badly wrong last night. That is worrying. But he needs to be given time and allowed to build a team.
How many folk were calling for Samaras never to wear a Celtic jersey again after the Ross County semi final?
Good managers will make a team better but that won’t happen overnight.
The Board MUST allow Deila to bring in a quality striker who can hold the ball up and score 20+ a season. That is likely to cost £3m+ and big wages. Fine. We need that player. It is not a luxury and we CAN afford it. In fact, we can’t afford not to sign that striker. How worried would we be facing a team in Europe whose sole striker was Anthony Stokes?
That’s what Ronny has at his disposal at the moment.
As for talk that no one will come to Scotland, nonsense. We offer Europa League football, big club exposure and can offer big wages. The likes of Scepovic is within our reach if we pay the money, even without CL football this year. Now is the time to bring him in, get him settled and scoring and ready for next year’s qualifiers.
If Ronny’s team don’t show signs of progress and we exit the domestic cups early I’ll find it hard to continue to back him but for now I feel he needs more time.
Kilbowie Kelt
Spot on.
HH
Just to add to a cluster—- of a season-Prepare yourselves for Sunday games
Motherwell (H) Sun 21/9
Hamilton (H) Sun 5/10
Kilmarnock (H) Sun 26/10
Aberdeen (A) Sun 9/11
St Mirren (H) Sun 14/12
A game on the 30th Nov but no league fixture showing that weekend.