An away game after a European away game is statistically the most likely time for a team to drop points, so I doubt Brendan Rodgers will tinker with his lineup too much at Ross County on Sunday. As well as three points there may be valuable information up for grabs again for Celtic.
Watch how County shut down space and try to frustrate Celtic. They will not pretend they are Brazil 1970; attacks by the home side will be infrequent and will never resemble the Light Brigade. There will be timewasting, play will be interrupted with fouls when a County player stops in his tracks in front of a running Celtic player.
No one in world football knows these tactics better than Celtic fans. We get to watch them pretty much every week. Even the elites do it. Borussia Dortmund qualified for the Champions League final after a win over PSG achieved with 30% possession and only 20% of the game’s attempts at goal.
If every day is a school day, let’s leave Dingwall on Sunday wiser and with three points.
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TEXASTIM @ 1:57 PM,
Yes, good advice…
Great times – youngsters at that age just want to take on The world though, it’s so good to see their ambition, yet incremental is the way to go.
Bought my eldest that book a while back, he would just take out of it what he felt appropriate.
On the Celtic business model, Scottish football has meant that its been a roller coaster – this UCL new format hopefully will have less of a geography anchor and as long as we can inch ahead, we should be in great shape.
The FSR – Rulings like the one below, means the landscape is changing and hopefully we’ll be in a position to take full advantage.
“EU top court says Fifa player transfer rules breach law .
Reuters – The transfer rules of world soccer’s governing body Fifa go against European Union laws, the EU’s top court said in a ruling on a high-profile case linked to former France player Lassana Diarra on Friday, citing the bloc’s free movement principles.
“The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club,” said the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Fifa’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) say a player who terminates a contract before its term “without just cause” is liable to pay compensation to the club, and where the player joins a new club they will be joint and severally liable for payment of compensation”
Hail Hail
It would appear Paul is now so confident about our domestic form that he’d rather remonstrate over Tuesday than properly focus on Dingwall – maybe ask Neil Lennon how dangerous not being prepared for a trip to the highlands can be…
Anyway, 3 points and into the international break.
And Maeda ,who sold 2 goals on Tuesday was outstanding….
Kwap log ins
Paul67 et al
Interesting ruling made earlier today by the European Court of Justice (EU)
in the case brought by Lassana DIARRA versus FIFA re transfer of players issue of ITCs etc*
*International Transfer Certicate.
Have only read the headlines not the ruling but it appears that FIFA rules in part breach competition rules etc and the ECJ have found in the players favour on some counts at least.
Too early to say whether we are talking of a new Bosman….
An Dun
Or Martin O’Neill in the Scottish Cup against Inverness up in the Ol’ Heilan
If the team had been set up to defend in depth on Tuesday, then not only would tactic’s have had to be changed dramatically from anything that we had used before, but also presumably personnel would have needed to be to be ‘shuffled’ around.
We would then have had a new line-up playing a new and untried system for the first time this season. Bear in mind we’d just won our first CL match resoundingly against Slovan, of whom it was said would be no pushovers having negotiated four ties to qualify, and our start to the season had been flawless with fulsome praise still ringing in our ears after a devastating display in Perth as the squad boarded the flight to Germany.
I cannot imagine any manager making such sweeping changes in the two days he had to prepare for the Dortmund game. If Brendan had done what many, with the benefit of hindsight, are now suggesting and we had lost say 3-0, or 4-1, there would an outcry in the MSM and social media dwarfing anything that has surfaced since Tuesday evening – “why the hell did he change a winning formula”
It would have been sheer lunacy to disrupt the team and no one, but no one, would have understood, or, forgiven. We were beaten by a better team with more quality who play at a higher level week in and week out, and who can consider itself unlucky not to be European Champions. We were uncharacteristically inept and error-strewn. It was a bad night pure and simple – sh** happens! HH
Listening to BR’s interview there.
I happen to agree with just about everything he said.
Re Europe : Judge us in January
HH. IBWT
Not quite getting the sense of outrage here?
Paul67, either …
through astute wordsmithery
or
by dint of the fact he is genuinely just making a wider, more general point about collective learnings
.. didn’t mention Brendan Rodgers by name except to speculate about the line up?
An opinion based on a statistical fact?
He’s a big enough boy to fight his own battles I suppose.
If our host disliked our manager so much .. he possibly would label him just ‘Rodgers’ and be done with it?
Something perhaps for the “F*** off Lawwell” and “Honest to God, Brennan” contingents to reflect upon?
“He’s a big enough boy to fight his own battles I suppose”
Applies equally to Brendan Brennan and Paul Rodgers
Paul has a credibility problem whether he realises it or not.
For weeks if not months he has steadfastly failed to even mention our manager yet alone praise him.
Now he’s suddenly remembered who the manager is…
An honest broker, is one that can praise and criticise when valid.
In choosing only to criticise but take a vow of silence when things go well, P67 can’t really be taken too seriously. He’s a credibility problem. In my view anyway.
If we were a real club then BR would have been sacked after many too many of his CL disasters 8 years ago and then Tuesday in Dortmund might not have happened. If BR has any savvy about himself then he’ll get out of Celtic before he gets found out in next seasons CL qualifiers. Paul 67 is merely pointing out uncomfortable truths which many happy clappers will simply never address unless its NL who lets them down by trying to be Brazil 1970 in CL qualifiers vs Ferencvaros.
Burnley78 on 4th October 2024 1:08 pm
So folk really think the manager set us up well to get any kind of result on Tuesday ?
———-
Well I sure as hell don’t think he set us out to get ripped a new and decidedly wide one on purpose.
Mibby – as he observed – it was a combo of our players not being able to run the new systems, thems getting the rub of every green whenever we made a mistake.
True too, he may have learned we’re some way off competing in the way he wants too.
So I firmly believe he did what he thought would serve everyone’s best interests; and yes, it didn’t work out as anyone – inc he – planned.
Brendan Rodgers, of whom I am an admirer, got it terribly wrong on Tuesday night. As he did in his last period with us. Ange, whom I also admire, got it wrong in Europe.
You simply cannot afford to commit players to a high press when playing against Europes top clubs. The results do not lie, it is what it is.
The definition of madness is repeating something over and over but expecting a different result.
We have to train the midfield to play 80% of a game between our goal and the half way line. Both fullbacks can never cross the half way line at the same time. 5 midfieders and one front runner, who never comes back over the halfway line, except to defend corners.
Beating world class teams away is not the goal. Grabbing a draw or avoiding humiliation is the real world.
I believe we may well qualify or get to the playoffs, our strategy may well get us points against the lesser clubs, but there is no earthly reason to play a style like we did on Tuesday against tier one clubs.
All that said, had we curtailed Adeyemi, we would have been looking at a different game.
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 4th October 2024 2:57 pm
“He’s a big enough boy to fight his own battles I suppose”
Applies equally to Brendan Brennan and Paul Rodgers
______
All right now?
MadraRua- excellent post
Darwin on 4th October 2024 2:43 pm
Also an excellent post/
Maybe he should put his feet in the wishing well.
My brother Jake came up with that one.
if we were to play a different style in europe against top teams, would that mean we would need different players in the squad to do that or could our current squad accommodate that?
also, we are trying to be a good champions league team when im not convinced we have shown that we are even a good europa league side so are we expecting too big strides?
I’ve just read the lead article.
I think there may be words and whole paragraphs missing from the leader I’ve received on my laptop.
if anyone thinks this is a crushing denunciation of Brendan Rodgers as a Aman or a manager, then they are seeing words that are not written on my computer.
All that can be clearly taken from the words at the head of this article are:-
1) Ross County will provide a different challenge to that provided by Dortmund.
2) But- even so- we would be foolish to demand or expect too many changes to our team personnel in providing for these different levels of challenge.
3) An SPFL away fixture after a European away tie is more challenging than at other times.
Any other interpreted or inferred views attributed to the article are your own responsibility.
Honestly, in good company with Celtic fans in Montreal I heard more trenchant criticism of Celtic players and the manager than I can discern safely in this article. I also have read more trenchant criticism of both on every Celtic website I read.
And many of the people telling Paul67 to stop doing this are or were guilty of the self same habit in regarding to attitudes taken and words written about previous Celtic managers- Gordon Strachan, Ronny Deila and Neil Lennon, in particular. It is ok to criticise the manager if you can make a case for his faults but….. be prepared to evidence what you are arguing and be prepared to deal with counter evidence and counter views. It’s a blog, after all.
My view is – I believe what the players told us- Brendan wanted a more compact defensive shape but the players failed to deliver it. That doesn’t mean, I absolve Brendan of all responsibility for the defeat. He, like Ange, wants the players to be braver on the ball and not just “get rid” when threatened by an opponent. The result of that was that Daizen took a ball back into trouble in the Dortmund match and found deadly trouble. Even the most patient youth coach would have suffered angst in watching a player do that. Brendan would too and Daizen will know he offed up royally but he was not alone.
Only Scales and Schmeichel were near acceptable on Tuesday- everyone else could have done better and I suspect, that includes Brendan. He is a very good manager but he is not above criticism.
If we want to play a more defensive style of play in Europe then we absolutely should not be choosing managers like Ange or Brendan. We should be picking managers like Gordon Strachan, Davie Moyes or Steve Bruce who built teams on defence and used 2 defensive midfielders to screen them. But, when we had a manager like them, we hated him and got rid of him after one failed league campaign and a transfer window that we blamed for that sole league defeat.
Yes, it was great reaching CL last 16 under both WGS & NFL- in my opinion- it was a higher achievement than being a losing UEFA finalist but………….
It has been much more entertaining to regularly watch the Celtic fare provided by Ange & Brendan than it was to watch the WGS era team.
Maybe we’ll find a better manager capable of squaring that circle but will he come to us and, more importantly stay with us. Brendan has said he will see out his contract- I hope and trust that he does. I also hope, with full respect to his greater expertise in these matters- that he will do his part to make us harder to score against than we currently are.
MADRARUA on 4TH OCTOBER 2024 3:24 PM
….
I believe the standard of the to 8 or so top Euro teams had increased dramatically over the last 20 years , the fitness and skills levels are off the charts.
All out defence will in my opinion result in the same battering.
Our back 4 is weaker than most comparable teams , particularly we are slow, that is the fundamental problem , sort that problem with some tweaks is the way forward.
HH
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on 4th October 2024 4:02 pm
Welcome back and a fine post. I felt the same as you after reading some of the comments regarding Paul`s article but thought it futile to respond to those posters. I`m glad you felt it worthwhile.
Not surprised, but not what I wanted to hear
https://youtu.be/kvN-qhY–gk?si=B9mxU7b0gVE7zeHs
“Judge us in January”
I have been saying that since Wednesday.
CCV and Taylor might be fit after international break
Some excellent posts on this article.
Our tried and tested players demonstrate the basics week in and week out.
On Tuesday collectively we did not perform the basics. No system will work if the basics desert the players.
HH.
EKbhoy,Benfica humped Atletico 4-0.Now good footballers as they are,Benfica not classed a a European giant,presentlyNot really known for high scoring,most of the time.
On the other hand,Atletico,masters of defence and the dark arts,with one of the shrewdest managers around get pumped.
Bad night for one,Benfica excellent.
You see where I am going with this.?
Shocked to the core that Aipple didn’t make the podium this morning.
Listened to Brendan’s interview and he’s not going to change his approach. He makes a fair point that the team need to keep playing the way they know best and just need to get better at it against the big teams. I thought we would give BD a run for their money based on our domestic performances but we’re just way off their level. Still think that we can get out of the league and into the knock-outs.
We move on and now focus on Ross County on Sunday. Would be great to see the Bhoys keep another clean sheet and come home with the 3 points. Trusty and Valle are going to get a few games now to show what they have, so it will be good to see what they make of it. Also think big Idah will start up there as his strength will be needed against the highlanders.
I just love the International breaks.Ah lap them up so ah dae.Said some eejit once.
😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥
I really hope you are all able to open this
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Sau1xNhhprrhEHkV/
MadraRua on 4th October 2024 3:24 pm
1.Brendan Rodgers, of whom I am an admirer, got it terribly wrong on Tuesday night. As he did in his last period with us. Ange, whom I also admire, got it wrong in Europe.
2.You simply cannot afford to commit players to a high press when playing against Europes top clubs. The results do not lie, it is what it is.
3.The definition of madness is repeating something over and over but expecting a different result.
4.We have to train the midfield to play 80% of a game between our goal and the half way line. Both fullbacks can never cross the half way line at the same time. 5 midfieders and one front runner, who never comes back over the halfway line, except to defend corners.
5.Beating world class teams away is not the goal. Grabbing a draw or avoiding humiliation is the real world.
I believe we may well qualify or get to the playoffs, our strategy may well get us points against the lesser clubs, but there is no earthly reason to play a style like we did on Tuesday against tier one clubs.
All that said, had we curtailed Adeyemi, we would have been looking at a different game.
==============================
Madrarua
Sound post my friend,and if I may have the front to suggest a few whys :-))
1.BR did get it terribly wrong on Tuesday,I am with you when we are forwarding the same football that tactically carries well In Scotland but not in Europe.
Why? In Scotland the are few,if any games in which we need to retreat/defend/fallback while maintaining our press,this difficulty was exposed terribly on Tues
I Spfl if we loose possession we will press a d retrieve the ball back into our possession,this arrogance/confidence does not carry into Europe.
The opposition are sharper,fitter and more tactically aware than us,this results in us getting beat by teams who on paper in the past we should have beaten,beaten if we had learned to defend as sharply as we attack,maybe domestically we done get tested but it shouldn’t alter us perfecting a tactical more defensive change abroad.
2.Yup the results do not lie,we are now akin taking over Scotlands gubbins that The dead club took of Ajax,Juventus et al during the cheating years domestically.We must learn to tactically change in Europe otherwise our results will deteriorate.
3.Yup Madrarua we are Carstairs cuckoo,the big hoos-tastic,how dare we question the aspiration of repeating the football pinnacle our heroes reached In 1967,nearly 60 years ago,forgetting that at its core was playing ‘pure beautiful and inventive football’,many changes have taken place over the nigh on 60 years since Celtic won,we know how to play goin forward contra’d that we look nervous when teams,any team In Europe attacks or comes forward against us.not an iota of learning,from Bodo Glimt to Madrid now Dortmund we are parading our utter madness,that’s why we should change.
4.We need to learn and implement your suggestions here in Scotland,get used to them so the tactical change does not look like a shock or chaotic.
5.Exactly. We need to learn,the Celtic way is fast attacking football,it was ever thus,it was also in our halcyon days and my heroes out of that team were jinky-forward,Bobby-mid,Billy- defender and big Tam- defender,but on the whole it was how they foiled and supported each other.Thats what made them great and respected Europewide
That has gone as Tuesday proved we are there for taking if we don’t apply nous,knowhow and tactical change.
Thanks again for your post,we gave a chance to reset our future this season
Hail Hail
This fear of Atalanta has me quite bemused here as after we had our erse’s felt in the Nou Camp, only 8 years ago, we took on the mighty man city who were at the time on a 10 game winning run and rampaging though the coveted epl at parkheid and held them tae a 3-3 tie, ok they had 24 shots tae our 9 with 9 on target to our 3 plus a 62% possession against 38, but they, 3 times, had to come fae behind, and lets NOT forget we had earlier on lost, on the glorious 12th, tae Lincoln Red Imps 1-0.
So lets NOT forget who we were playing on Tuesday night, the runners up in last season’s big cup, a game that after I had watched and told Mrs. TT I wisnae going tae watch the euros as the game is rigged, ok Real were tremendous in the 2nd half but Dortmund had battered them senseless in the first and if my memory serves me well, had a credible goal chalked aff at the end, and as I said tae her if a German side can be cheated then the baws up on the slates.
Madrarua
Spot on post.
Bada Bing
Agree not what we wanted to hear.
We really should qualify this year with the new format. It is designed to suit such as us and we certainly spend to qualify for last 24 at least.
If BR does show a bit of humility (which I am not yet seeing) and a realistic approach then we will benefit from the new format and get through. If not then I fear we are going to look as stupid as our financially challenged city rivals. Not a good look either given our massive advantage over them.
Brendan doesn’t like to be held accountable for ‘his’ teams unacceptable performances against non one horse league teams. Brendan is the manager of a factory and his bosses give him very expensive machines to get the job done. I want the board removed decades ago. But in the Brendan vs board scenario the board always wins because BR won’t go off script and tell you that the board used him to get fans to buy Hun1 priced tickets to see Hun 2 and cover up the big lie and he was the decoy.
No, BR will not go down the “Comrades all” route like MON did when he told you that the board were going to shaft you with “The Slow Lane” after PL had arrived in the builing, or like when NL resigned after the board sold Wanyama and replaced him with Biton, was that for the reduction in quality of this player or the baggage that this replacement brought with him?
In the Celtic rich kids lodge how will we ever know?
A Celtic who’s key employee won’t or can’t speak in a straight line, that can’t accept any responsibility for his failures, is sending out “Who the fk are you to question me?” types of optics, is symptomatic of a Celtic that is just a big fat lie, full of liers everywhere you look.
Not good.
Burnley78
Brendan Rogers does show humility,he said we shall learn,let’s see what it looks like at the end of January.
Maybe we as fans(you and i) have got to show humility too in our expectation.Those expectations were set a long long time ago in Europe,we need patience,courage and hard work to get through qualifications.
Where you could be more humble is withdrawing from the addiction of ‘whit are the huns daen’ and even bringing that mess up front as a comparison.
Look to us only,what can we do to improve,better and excel at that will propel our club forward foe the next couple of decades.we have enough to be goin on with without kicking a dead cat.
HH
For those who are in favour of the cavalier BR approach and say we wouldn’t want to lose 3-0 and rather 1-7 playing our football then maybe consider a 3-0 defeat on Wednesday would have us on the edge of a seeded spot in last 16. 1 place from a home tie against An unseeded opponent for a last 16 place. A 1-7 loss sees us 5 places behind that.
Whatever our manager says goal difference does matter. It will have an impact. A similar show v Leipzig or Atalanta or Brugge and we start a point down in reality.
B78
From what I’ve read Brendan’s sticking to the format, so more of the same against higher quality sides, sadly.
Perhaps he thinks the players at hand are unable to adjust to a different tactics, who knows 🤔
An T
Fair point re hunic comparison. Absolutely agree. Also not forgotten I owe you an answer from your challenge a few weeks ago. I will get it out over the weekend. It’s been a busy few weeks.