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.
[calameo code=000390171586f6fbaa2ba lang=en page=122 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
1,665 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- ...
- 44
- »
kitalba
10:44 on
27 August, 2014
Kit
We`re never going to agree on this.
It won`t be the first time and probably won`t be the last.
Let`s cut to the chase.
My opinion is that Ronny Deila screwed up in the games against Legia.
Both home and away.
Coaches and players win games,but the buck always stops with the coach.It just does.
Glazer didn`t resign.Moyes did.
Amazingly,that`s not the attitude amongst some Celtic supporters.
Why are we different from the norm.?
Team fails to achieve.Coach resigns or gets his jotters.
What other clubs blame their Boards?
And scream for their removal?
Can you name one?
What`s the difference between Celtic and other football teams?
Our supporters and their political preferences.
That`s my opinion.
For what it`s worth.
JFH
Peter Lawwell is one of the main reasons, i would imagine the vast majority of the support dont trust him one bit. Every season we rebuild so that particular theory is blown, as its compounded by our new strategy of loan signings. We hear that there is the possibility of 2 signings before the end of the window, this will be matched with others on the way out, sadly not those we would like to get rid of, of which there are many.
Les Misérables Hector’s oozing ibrox carbuncle
He did it with his previous team? What makes you think he is a dud? He was there for 8 years and built a competitive team that got to Europe, Celtic maybe a bigger club than his previous team, but its hardly David and Goliath. Is the SPl better than the Norwegian league?
Are all the Ronny haters experts on Football Manager winning trebles and the Champions league season in and out.
timbhoy2
10:48 on
27 August, 2014
Whats happend to the 2 new signings ,have they been signed ?
There’s an article on news now which casts doubt on the destination of the Serbian striker.
Might be nonsense of course.
Ronny’s stats so far in competitive matches:::: Played 9 Won 4 Lost 4 Drawn 1. I think you would agree, not good reading. Infact taking in the consequences of last nights lose , a total nightmare. I sat and watched last night and really wished I was somewhere else. If I had stayed at home and watched it on the TV, I could have switched it off, poured myself a Jamesons and smoked a fag. I could not fathom his team selection, his tactics ect. We looked like a team of strangers, that had just got together and did not have a clue what to do.I am not one to start shouting for him to be sacked (not at the moment anyway) but christ almighty I fear we have the making off a BTM situation on the horizon. I also have to say after that last night I am starting to have my doubts whether my money has been well spent on my SB. I am beginning to go along the line of thought that we are being conned by PL, DD and the rest of the money men at Celtic Park. A really pissed off Tim Jim
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
10:43 on 27 August, 2014
_____________________
Political preferences from someone who disny or
ever has voted?
My Thatcherite comment is a reference to the journey
Celtic’s directors have taken the club on, starting from
Fergus who, betrayed the trust of the Celtic support when he renaged on his agreement to, sell his shareholding back to the fans for less than he bought them – didny happen.
McCann’s tenure took the club away from the poor fholk of society and, became his shady pal DD’s toy.
Thatcher was tyrant and a bully who led with an iron-rod – just like McCann did. imho
Hopefully that will content you?
If it disny – chap sumdy elses door…
I like Ronny Deila and I like the way he talks about the game and the way he wants it played.
I also have had doubts and expressed them, from day one, about the ability of Celtic players to live up to his ideals of playing the game.
I have seen Kenny Sheils and John Hughes try similar ploys with even less talented groups of players and, whilst they have been pleasing on the eye, they have not resulted in long-term, consistent successful results for their teams and they have ended up sacked.
I admired Red Bull Salzburg’s play under Roger Schmidt, where a talented front three of Soriano, Kampl and Alan were able to carry a limited group of players to trounce an Ajax team that we had struggled against. However, despite this approach and good early form, they ran out of steam against Basle at the last 16 stage of the Europa, hardly an outstanding achievement.
Lots of coaches have looked at the styles adapted by Arsenal under Wenger and Barcelona under Guardiola, and said that is the holy grail, that is how I want my team to play. It is a laudable aim.
Yet to do so, you have to possess players who can run all day and do the pressing needed to win possession of the ball, AND you need the players who are comfortable, once possession has been won, in resisting opponents who are trying to press you in a likewise manner. You need high energy, high intensity players like Scott Brown and Stefan Johansen to meet the first aim and players like Kris Commons (on top form) and Neil Lennon to meet the second aim. When you are Barcelona or Arsenal, you have players like Xavi/Iniesta or Wilshire/Viera who can do both of these tasks. But for Celtic, when Brown or Johansen win possession, they cannot be relied upon to retain that possession through accurate short passing when being pressed and harassed. Others who can play passes, like Mulgrew, cannot cope with the harassment and lack of time he needs to pick them. Others, who are confident in facing that challenge, like Ambrose and Izzaguire, turn out to be over confident and lose possession in dangerous areas, unless their instincts are curbed, the very thing the manager does not want to do.
Celtic fans got Neil Lennon as a manager because we pretty much needed and wanted a unifying manager when we were a pretty disunited bunch, still coming to terms with the old Rangers’ depth of cheating and the enormity of the cover-up we were seeing.
We also now got Ronny Deila, ahead of schedule, because we were getting fed up with the pragmatic football of WGS and NFL. While Neil had relaxed the strictures on entertainment value, more than Gordon had, it was still not, apparently, good enough to be called the Celtic Way. So we looked for someone to be our Prettifier of Football. The signs are good that this can be achieved fairly painlessly within the impoverished context of Scottish Domestic football. The evidence from Europe is that even moderate teams like Legia and Maribor, are quite comfortable with the technical challenges of playing against this style and are also fit enough to cope with it. Maribor were only discomforted by our aerial ability, which was not a tactic emphasised by Ronny Deila. Legia were not discomforted by any of it.
So, do we persevere through this pain and hope we can develop players who are comfortable enough to cope with the style being asked of them? Or do we become more pragmatic and recognise that we have to work with the level of player ability we have?
I have always felt that we need the pragmatic style because any players that are good enough will get hoovered up by other clubs before they can drag their team mates along with them.
However, I do admire the guts and vision of Ronny Deila and, if he can improve the style without harming the achievements, then he will have done something worthwhile that I judged to be a very demanding, if not impossible task.
What do others think?
Or are we still going to focus on Board matters as if they will make any miraculous difference to our lot on the playing field?
Malorbhoy
10:54 on 27 August, 2014
We as supporters, support Celtic, when are our custodians going to do the same
_________________________________________________________________
Define – Celtic.
My guess – your being duped by mythology.
As I say, only a guess.
HH
Go tell the Spartim. If P.L. was to leave just who do you have in mind to replace him ? remember the new CEO would still need to deal with D.D.It in my opinion takes more than a season to build a good side and we would still be playing our football in the SPL. H.H.
Why last night got me so bad was not that we were poor but after getting the away tie right (though we’ve paid for not scoring when we should have) my expectations of RD were high and he didn’t understand what a CL night at CP is. He didn’t know or ignored the fact that we can dominate teams at home and can over achieve at times against quality teams so we should have prioritised attack last night. He’s go time to learn now ‘cos he’s got the europa league.
Any truth in the rumour that Kris Commins is off to Norwich?
Homeward bound.
Therapy needed. Smokey Robinson. Lashings of Smokey should help.
Our strategy remains utterly baffling. It is not unreasonable to suggest that high heidyins give us their vision.
Refuseniks require fresh blood urgently.
ernie lynch
11:08 on 27 August, 2014
Any truth in the rumour that Kris Commins is off to Norwich?
_________________________________________________
Hope so!
Only saying.
KC – brilliant v’s SPFL dross – piss poor in europe. imho
SFTB. Unfortunately it’s peter Lawwell that decides all matters football. So we can have great ideas but it’s all about projects and sell on value for any players , not what is happening on the park
Until that changes then nothing will change
the glorious balance sheet
08:36 on 27 August, 2014
Don’t forget about the really GOOD results also ……. Balanced argument, old chap :)
martim1980 at 10:24
A considered post such as yours could attract the fury of the knee-jerk reaction brigade.
All Celtic fans are disappointed with last night, but this is a time for cool reflection followed by remedial action.
Big questions need to be addressed starting with an inquiry into why the Youth set-up, designed to provide Champions League players, has not done so.
the green man
08:32 on 27 August, 2014
….. And don’t forget to open the door before you go through it
Apart from VVD,I would think that the rest of the Maribor team were better than Celtics last night.Better technically,fitter,more comfortable with the ball,as were Legias.I would think both teams to be on around£5,000 a week.
Kinda shoots down the “How can we afford better playersand they wont come to Scotland”rubbish that the happy clappers keep regurgitating.
Still,we will again be subjected to the same crap,never fear.
JFH
This is the same argument the the Tories use to explain the Bankers bonus, “these people will walk away”. There will be plenty of options for the job if and when he goes, its called recruiting, you scrutinise potential staff, interview them etc, you dont just pluck a name out of the sky as proof you dont have a counter argument.
Personally I would hire an accountancy firm with the only instruction to plough any profits we have into the playing side. In effect the only difference with the current scenario is they would be paid a flat fee, and not the exorbitent amount PL gets.
Whilst our view points differ on the above, I agree it takes more than a season to build a good side, but explain to me, why “maximising your assets” and loan signings are goint to help us build a side. If you can provide such an answer, then patent it first and though you may have good intentions, which i dont doubt for a second, some spiv will rip you off.
Setting the bears @ 11.01 said…”I also have had doubts and expressed them, from day one, about the ability of Celtic players to live up to his ideals of playing the game.”
Well as a good manager he should know the strengths and weaknesses of his team. If he is trying to play a game in a strategic vein that his players aren’t up too, then he is to blame, not the players. You get the best out of players by playing them to their potential, not by trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
Delia is a dud. His current form is mince. He needs to go before we end up losing the league, which can quite easily be lost if we continue to play like we are.
This team cantered the league last year. This Delia has got them playing like they don’t know each other. That is bad.
KevJungle – it’s time for “Save Our Celt’s 2″
11:00 on
27 August, 2014
Back to “It`s not about me”.
Well ,it was about you .
And your politics.
That`s O.K.,of course.
Nothing to be ashamed of.
:-)
macjay
You’re asking the wrong questions. In any event, my post to you didn’t mention Ronny Deila. It was an observation on trend.
There you go.
“Perhaps more importantly, qualification planning for next season’s Champions League starts now.”
Perhaps the most disappointing call to arms ever.
We say EVERY year that the planning for next season’s CL begins…
We NEVER plan far enough in advance…
We ALWAYS scramble embarrassingly for players as the window “slams” shut.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
11:14 on 27 August, 2014
_____________________
Take care – Hail Hail
the green man
08:52 on 27 August, 2014
This is one happy clapper who won’t welcome sevco back …. Thankfully, they’re for the knackers yard soon, like oldco ……. their shameful corruption has devastated Scottish Football
Ah, the losing the league brigade are back.
No chance.
My previous charity bet stands. Celtic will romp the league.
Cillian Sheridan has scored 3 goals in 4 CL qualifiers this season!!!!
Anthony Stokes hasn’t scored in 17 European games……that’s how bad Stokes is!!
Sorry if that is a little below the belt but really can’t understand all the support Stokes gets on here…..he’s the Celtic Kris Boyd
CQN has more ‘plants’ than the botanic gardens.
outta here….
Kevjungle
Define Celtic, the team l and all my family have supported all our lives, and would like our custodians to do the same, and by the way l am originally from Blantyre, with family still there, so don’t give me any of your snash ,
Hello Snake.
Will you attaind Bratislava’ match then?
the green man
09:23 on 27 August, 2014
Look at the accounts ….. and keep taking the pills…:)
SK-Bhoy
If we get Slovan I am going
Delia could easily be another Mogga.
KevJungle – it’s time for “Save Our Celt’s 2″
11:15 on
27 August, 2014
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
11:14 on 27 August, 2014
_____________________
Take care – Hail Hail
——————————————————————————————————————–
I will.
I welcome the to and fro.
It educates me.
Thank you.
20 minutes to go.
I know!! Let’s bring on Derk because…
Anyone..?
Go tell the Spartim. The policy of bringing in players on loan imo is a good one as it is a try before you buy situation and may stop us buying more duds.The one loan signing I feel is wrong is Deynier as we dont have an option to buy so we are keeping a Celtic player out of the team.The CEO in my view is much better than who we have had in the past ie Brown and Cassidy and if he leaves he would find a new position very quickly.We the support need a bit of patience some thing most football supporters are not good at.We need to give R.D.and JC time to re mould the team.H.H.
les misérables hector’s oozing ibrox carbuncle
11:22 on 27 August, 2014
….. and you could easily be another hun …. get thee gone to satan, to join the other zombies
Er, there was nobody else Kevin.
JF injured.
GS allowed to depart out the back door.
LG not trusted.