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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Also as it keeps coming into my head – RD been in charge of 8 serious games he has never played the same team twice !!!
Saint stivs
Wire in ….it’s true ..but,.you know that
TGBS
Aye it’s sad. The two auld yins have followed us for 70 years. They said that was a performance with no heart. I will not repeat their views on oor captain last night.
67 european cup winners
23:53 on 27 August, 2014
“No knee jerk reaction from me RD has till ………………November ”
No Knee jerk there then! Jeez
through all of this , simple question.
would Samaras have improved the results in any of those european ties ?
was samaras a £5m assett allowed to depart.
assett management my arse.
sammi would have scored or defended in all those ties.
sharp suited man is an imposter.
Ekbhoy
Not if we buy and retain decent players
Should the current malaise continue two years is a very optimistic forecast
S S
I never said ballistic. But I will now. He went ballistic!!! The rest of ur blog was sh*t btw!!
PF Ayr …go on admit you have not written to PL have, you are scared he will concur (agree).
sipsini
Had a great day with yer man,.
Never seen him on a pool table mind you>}
Nay cheatin at the golf, only cheatin yersel.
We are good thanks, the young fella is here for a few weeks, and they are struggling wiht the heat, well over 40 in the day, still in the 30s as I type, fans are blowing hot air ffs.
HH
Auld Bertie
That would achieve what exactly ?
Delaneys
CM was poor but he’s not and never had been a central midfielder. Play a lad in a position he’s not suited to and he’s bound to look bad. Lustig up front, commons right back, dirk…ehm
Next season the 2009/10 co-efficient points will fall off our European ranking.
In 09/10 we qualified for the Europa League group stage and won 1 game, drawing 2, losing 3. We got additional co-efficient points for beating Dinamo Moscow in the CL qualifier.
This year we will get no co-efficient points for the Legia Warsaw game as forfeit matches do not count towards the co-efficient.
Therefore we need to get 8 points in the EL this season just to maintain our current co-efficient ranking. If the co-efficient starts to slip we run the risk of losing our seeded status in future CL qualifiers.
maestro
23:41 on 27 August, 2014
http://maleysbhoys.com/2014/08/27/the-end-of-the-line/
Ta, well written article
Robert88
Pal.. Ah am takin doon yer name..
in Ma Wee Green Book!
So far Ah hiv Gey few Names…in Ma Wee GREEN Book.
thurs..
Yours.. Captain Beefheart.. Macjay.. n.. well.. Kojo
No Miny..
But.. Whit kin Ah say..??
A loata Folk oan here..
Jist Think In a Very Different way.. than we. obviously, dae
That’s Life..
Nice Chatting,pal
N..
Did Ah tell ye that
Ah think ye ur Swell?
Well.. Ah Jist did.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
macjay1
Ill raise you 16mins from the end??
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
23:58 on
27 August, 2014
S S
I never said ballistic. But I will now. He went ballistic!!! The rest of ur blog was sh*t btw!!
—————
scary ronni,
noggin the nog with his norse saga answers.
if i was in the squad i would say aye ok, see ya.
WC.
Don’t move SPLgames (which follow the EL) to Sundays.
Charge minimum amount possible for EL games.
Sort out the crap catering. Too late?
Integrate another young player, Henderson perhaps, in the side.
Consider scrapping future tv deals. They are crap and affect the travelling support badly.
Invest, invest and invest.
Delaneys
For me if Mulgrew plays it has to be at centre half. He is slow of movement and slow in deciding what to do with the ball. He doesn`t deal well with being pressed. Plays best in my view at CH where he can see the game coming at him. Had he been at CH then Lustig could have slotted in at right back and Ambrose could have had a nice seat in the stand.
When you look at the dross we’ve bought and the nobodies were chasing – and then you think about Johnny Russell…
GB?
Unless they cut out the political crap, there ain’t much Celtic can do.
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
23:46 on
27 August, 2014
Word has it that R D went completely mental at H/T. At full time you cld hear laces
Hope he had a word with himself.
Estadio Nacional
23:13 on
27 August, 2014
People on here who support and stick up for a Peter Lawwell add to the problem.
Peter Lawwell is our generations david murray,
============
that was very good and well put, ta. good piece
Jude
Phlegmatic Scandinavian.Laidback J.C.
Passionate Celts.( with a K)
A match made………
You just have to wonder.
RD is just a puppet withe the board pulling the strings. We paid 6m for John hartson 4m for scot brown from hibbs. Can u imagine celtic spending 4m on a player now. What has happend to our club.
winning captains,
I’m unsure if we play on a Thursday night, is it compulsory to play on a Sunday.
As you say, our far travelled support from Ireland, England and elsewhere probably can’t
make the game due to commitments.
I don’t see a problem with us playing on the Saturday as usual.
At least it would make the league more interesting.
the glorious balance sheet
00:01 on 28 August, 2014
That is a major worry re coefficient
4-5-1 was a dreadful formation.
However Ronny has been left with garbage.
The unprofessional Stokes and Griffiths.
And Pukki and Balde.
Not his fault.
Goodnight everybody.
KDC
I was furious wi SJ who gave the ball (passed the buck) to Charlie on 3 or 4 ocassions last night when CM was under pressure.
winning captains:
Every single point, right on the money.
Could not agree with a single word more.
Even you, fella, are banging your head against a wall with that list though.
I strongly suspect instead of the Big Listening Ear we’ll get the Big F**k You Finger.
kdc
If You Don’t Know,Pal.. why ye ur in Kojo’s Wee Black Book..
Then
Ah wullnae Tell Ya!
Wait until Ronny.. Gets his Rebuilding of the Team.. Finished..
And Celtic,ur wance Again . .Rollin’…like a ..well…
Rolls!
Then.. Ye wull Find Oot… whit being in Kojo’s wee Black Book , Wull mean tae ye.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Saint Stivs
And gidd nicht to u2!!
H H
the glorious balance sheet
Last night Mulgrew was trying to move the ball, the lack of movement didn’t help him at all.
Contrast the passion , reaction speed and desire of McGregor to most of the others. Thta is glaring.
winning captains
23:54 on
27 August, 2014
We need to re-group. The club can start by doing some things for us.
Sort out the Green Brigade issue now and get them back into the ground.
———————————————————————————————————————-
We lost on the field.
G.B. boycotted the game.
Not often I`m lost for words.
The spl, or the spfl gets what, 2.5 mill a season for the TV deal, that must be one of the biggest rip off’s in history.
Tell sky to eff off, better without a few measly quid than be beholding to them.
many have given their reasons on how to maximise our own deals, we haven’t even looked at this, and this with coms execs on the board, what the eff is going down here, patsys or what.
If other clubs can’t compete and go under, fine, a quicker exit for us, get real Celtic, feck them, cos given the chance, they would feck us right off.
HH
Gotta go..joe
seeya.
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
B B
My very thots too!!! The fear in his eyes canny do the players much good imo!!!
if we did qualify we would have probably drew barcelona again.still say some of the football played against duundee united is some of the best football we have played in a long time.lennys teams were one pass forward and pass back to the goalkeeper.gordons teams were designed not to lose games.
glyceral levels low
off to bed.
sack the board
celts4change2
keep it lit.