I never really understood what was so special about Roy Keane as a player until he came to Celtic, where he opened my eyes for 11 games (his first two performances, against Clyde and Kilmarnock, were awful).
He’s right up there in terms of great footballers I’ve seen play for Celtic, but he’s difficult to feel affection for. Today’s comments are a case in point:
“When [Celtic] qualified [for the Champions League]the celebrations were way over the top.
“I thought they’d won the competition. People were hugging each other, the manager, the coaches, the players.”
And the fans, Roy, Celtic fans were celebrating every bit as much as anyone you watched on television. No one thought we’d won the competition, but we are all aware of the transformational impact group qualification has on our football club. That’s worth celebrating. Fans all did, even if some former players found it difficult.
Brendan Rodgers qualified for the group stage with what was largely the same squad which disintegrated in Europe last season. He became the first Celtic manager to reach this level in his first season.
This challenge, coming a few weeks into your time as manager, is viewed as hugely difficult objective by the club. New managers seldom takeover successful gigs, with an upward trajectory and a list of targets ready to sign up.
The significant achievement in Europe this season, which has largely gone below the radar, is beating last season’s Champions League group stage participants, Astana, 2-1 at Celtic Park, with 11 starters who were all at the club before Brendan took over (one Rodgers signing started the away leg).
By any measure, Astana should have considered their chances that night and concluded, “We were better than them last season, and they’ve not added a player to the team”. (Two of Brendan’s signing came on as second half subs).
Going into this season we turned-over around 10% of what one of Roy’s other former clubs, or Barcelona received. If we had around £450m extra to spend, every season, there would be less celebration at reaching the group stage, as it would no longer be transformational. Maybe we’d be like football fans in Manchester, and only fill half our stadium against a Bundesliga team.
Or maybe we’ve not lost the joy in supporting our team. Neither have the manager, coaches and players.
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I expect a minimum of £20 million to be spent on players over the next 2 windows.
At least one solid defensive midfielder, one more striker, a play maker and Iniesta on a free.
Anything less is a kick in ti Ticticles from the PLC.
MWD
Celtic
Ajax
Feynoord
Red Star Belgrade
Steaua Bucharest
Benfica
All former winners. Will never win it again because of the system and the money involved.
Partizan Belgrade
Panathinaikos
Club Brugge
Malmo FF
All previous finalists.
Will never be anywhere near the final because of the system and money involved.
It’s not just about Celtic.
I love Barca, but its a bit much that we keep getting drawn against them.
We got the hardest draw as usual, surely we are due a break sometime.
Its soul destroying to watch.
But….football at that level is ruthless.
We adapt or get tanked….simple as that.
HH
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 1:08 PM
Dexter 12:38
Not exactly a great example.Atletico are a multi million pound team,who have competed in the last couple of CL finals.Barca took 8 off Valencia last year.6 off Roma.On any given day,when it clicks,they can slaughter any team.They gubbed Madrid by 4 as well.Paul put up some of their thrashings from last season.If you want to go out and kick them off the park,especially in Europe you will be playing with 9 men.Madrid have tried it.How many Real players have been sent off trying these tactics.In my opinion,they are unstoppable against lesser teams,99% of the time.Last year they took 5 off Arsenal.
Roy Keane’s a Corkman. He’s a crabbit bas****.
As we’re my ancestors, so I’m told.
I’m also a crabbit bas****. So I’m told. ;-)
Kel fae cowden
Pathetic. Cut out the disgusting language.
Danny Bhoy – If you are starting to think that Iniesta is better than Xavi, you must have been smoking the Shrooms fae the Hills.
FFS you young guys need to realise that the Maestro was the ALL Round Midfielder. Sliding tackles, perfectly Timed tackles Always, Didier Agathe was Majestical in Tackling…He just wisnae Paul…
“Roy Keane’s a Corkman”
Barney,
He certainly acts like one, man. ;)
HH
PS, not all Corkmen are Crabbit.
Not Keane’s biggest fan but I took from his rant that he was hurting, not that he was deriding the club.
Maybe a bit of a lack of perspective or understanding of our situation in comparison to EPL clubs but I think his over-riding point was that we need to heighten our ambitions from top down and I don’t think we can argue with that.
No we can’t go out and spend trying to win against Barcelona, but we can go out and spend (or develop) with the aim being to be able to attempt to compete or at the very least not be embarrassed. Whether it’s the board’s lack of motivation/investment, the players being too startstruck to perform or the manager setting us up for a failure, we need to look inward and accept that what happened on Tuesday is not acceptable for Celtic. I’m not saying we should be able to compete away from home against Barca, but keep it down to 3 or 4 at least!
BARNEY67 on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 1:22 PM
Roy Keane’s a Corkman. He’s a crabbit bas****.
As we’re my ancestors, so I’m told.
I’m also a crabbit bas****. So I’m told. ;-)
__________________________
A widnae call ye crabbit …………
FAC the Act
KTF
Turkeybhoy
I know they have far better players.
I didn’t expect to win the game.
I expected us to get the basics right and to give them a game. We didn’t.
5-1
What a day. :))
vfr800a8
I’ve mellowed with age, ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSC9cgvtkRs
Malone Bhoy
Good Post.
I took it that RK was criticising the PLC, and he was p off that Celtic get rag-dolled.
We do need to change our thinking.
HH
PeteC
Xavi is now passed it after he didn’t come last window.
MWD
It will be difficult to get 5 @ IBrokes.
Yes CELTIC
TGM – I never said he was beyond criticism, in fact I said mistakes have been made. However, I do think saying it’s PL’s fault for taking a bonus is ridiculous – and that was what I responded to. So, to recap, criticism of him taking what he is due, and inferring it has a significant effect on our ability to sign players doesn’t stack up. Criticism of his performance as CEO is fair enough, although I think a wider understanding of the process of signing players might be required. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is PL the top man at the club? No. Does he decide which players we sign? My understanding is that he works with the scouting team to identify players who they think could do a job & fall within our financial constraints. A list is then drawn up for the manager to choose from. I think you should consider this and ask why so many of RD’s signings failed and why (so far) all of BR’s (allowing for the new RB) are working. Now, if the lists presented to the manager are below standard in terms of ability then surely that’s a scouting issue, and yes PL has the power to replace the scouts – this would be my only real criticism of him. But the final decision falls to the manager, and PL can’t be blamed for this. If the manager continually chooses the wrong option and the team suffers as a consequence then fair enough, PL has to take responsibility and sack him, which he did with RD. I know you’re keen to blame him for as much as possible, but by ignoring the external conditions which have by far the greatest impact on the quality of players on the list, then I’m afraid you’re doing nothing more than howling at the moon. Stating that PL’s bonus has any significant effect on the list is frankly baffling to me.
HH
Where is the real glory in winning the CL now?It’s an auction.The teams in with a chance are acquired not built.
One of the rich elite wining the CL is like hiring a helicopter to drop you onto the summit of Everest then claiming you’ve conquered the mountain.It’s a money making racket dressed up as a football tournament.A sham.
Ooooh,Roy Keane said something not very complimentary about a football team/club/player/manager…between the over-reaction to that and the paralysis by analysis of Tuesday night i’m starting to lose the will to live.Keane’s comments and the fact Barca pumped us are not revelatory.
Also,on Tuesday night Brendan wasn’t a disgrace.Foodbanks in 2016 are a disgrace.Wantonly destroying toilets is a disgrace.He played a role in a football GAME.His decisions can be debated but whatever choices he made does in no way make him disgraceful.He might/mightn’t have made bad decisions during a sporting occasion but that’s all it was.
Karamoko Demebele,wow,wow,and wow again.What a talent.He’s the type of player I could watch just running round a park with a ball,no goals required.Him,a ball,and some space to let him strut his stuff.The control and awareness for such a young bhoy is incredible.Hope he carries it all the way through to the big bhoys.Good luck wee fhella.Whoever posted the link,thank you.
THE Copnstruction is in play.
STAY AWAY CELTIC – Reject
Even HamiltonTim- — Just say No.
Leave that End EMPTY…
Please.
Whatever happened to the old sweeper role? With the style and speed with which Barca play would someone occupying the traditional sweeper role have been worthwhile? Able to see all the movement in front of him, in theory anyway.
To be fair to Keano the reason he walked out of the WC is because he thought the Irish FA weren’t organised and acted like they were there just to make up the numbers.
Keanos a winner he wants to win every time. The idea of celebrating anything before you’ve won is abhorrent to him imho.
Its a bit like turning up to fight GGG, without a gum shield.
Or trying to win a marathon….by hopping instead of running.
You prepare properly….if you dont, the consequences will be rough.
HH
weeminger on 15th September 2016 12:21 pm
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 12:03 PM
From Previous:
You see the the beauty of a transparent company like Celtic PLC is that when you ask me waht PL’s total bonus has been for the last 10 years I can go and find out from the published accounts. To whit:
2006 – £67,528
2007 – £128,998
2008 – £257,950
2009 – £200,000
2010 – £152,288
2011 – £200,000
2012 – £399,000
2013 – £398,500
2014 – £400,500
2015 – £417,787
Total – £2,622,551
Now, I’m not going to argue the rights and wrongs of his remuneration package but I will say that I doubt that it made a huge impact on the quality of the squad.
================
But we could have bought half of Scott Sinclair for that money. :)
BMCUWP
Thanks bud.
RK another west Brit
HH
AULDHEID on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 1:38 PM
Given that it was spread over 10 years, it’s only 1/20th each year until we have all of him. By which time he’d have retired ;)
MoonbeamsWD,
X Hernandes isnae ever pased it.
I’d have him paid mega Money just to PASS on what he knows.
There is Something Worth a MILLION-Billion $
I know I am dreaming.
Celtic didn’t exactly sell them selves to Xavi the Man losing by 7.
Some people like a challenge.
I’m Lazy, ma Bro will be doing te London marathon again.
pased it.
past it.
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 1:27 PM
Turkeybhoy
I know they have far better players.
I didn’t expect to win the game.
I expected us to get the basics right and to give them a game. We didn’t.
Sometimes you can give them a game,at least on the score,but its not just down to effort,or whatever else.The two games we played against them,in the season we won 2-1,in both games it was a CL record of Barca possession.
On another night without the good fortune we had,an big FF,it could easily have been the same score.
If their is a special way to play them and negate their genius,then most teams in the world have not found it.
That front 3s goals and assists from last season broke every record by a mile.
The Glorious Balance Sheet.
The UEFA money comes in three tranches: Oct: Dec: June.
So that £30m would have to have been borrowed with no guarantee it would have produced CL qualification over what at the end of the day are three cup ties, home and away on dodgy surfaces, with not fully match fit players, in hot climates where one goal lost at home can mean exit.
Just too big a punt to take, but I’m not a gambling man, especially with other people’s money.
Raberto67
PL’s bonus extravaganza, wasnt the man thrust of my point.
Im on about how we should be properly prepared, in terms of players.
We cannot compete for the superstars, but we can be spending more on better players.
If we want to be CL regulars….we cannot do it with a Ronny D team,…that much should be obvious by now.
Im saying that if the PLC dont want to invest in better players for the CL…..we are going to get mauled repeatedly….and i dont want to see that.
So the PLC need to change their thinking, so that we can compete….or its a total waste of time, and an embarrassment as well.
We shouldnt be cannon-fodder….to anybody.
HH
Roy Keane – great player, that’s it. Rubbish manager, no a very nice person I feel.
On the subject of money, what happened to the vidar Riseth money I wonder
KINGLuBO
Number
Yeh yeh Paul67,
Another blog about why we should be happy just to wear the green and white and play our part as a once great club.
John James has just nailed Celtics current business plan by comparing Celtics projected 16/17 turnover to Leicester’s pre 15/16.
JJ doesn’t extend beyond Leicster but I am sure there are countless other clubs who out perform Celtic who carry a turnover of circa 60 million to 120 million.
The shareholders have been presented with a big fat free cheque for the next 3 or 4 seasons regardless of Champions League reappearance. Rangers calamitous behaviour and their improved roll as the wrestling baddie make ticket and strip sales a given.
While we are locked in perma panto to provide shilling for the shareholder Europe rocks on with playing real football.
Barca have a great blend of history, a youth academy and a large stadium in a nice temperate place.
Get out of the hamster ball with our canibalistic inmate and we can move on. Its a great show for the public watching the weird freak show just now but surely society moves on and rubber dolls and flags become obsolete?
“Not Keane’s biggest fan but I took from his rant that he was hurting, not that he was deriding the club.”
Malonebhoy,
Possibly. But i don’t think he’s hurting in the slightest.
His comments aren’t lies but coming away with statements about beating the worst rangers team in years are simply used to offend.
HH
Auldheid wrote,
But we could have bought half of Scott Sinclair for that money. :)
I would rather they had bought his future”Other half”.They might still have got gubbed by Barca,but what fun in the showers after the game.
VFR800A8 on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2016 12:52 PM
NatKnow on 15th September 2016 12:38 pm
Couple of years back I got into a serious stand-up argument with a guys in the office where I worked. He had all sorts to say about the Green Brigade being terrorist sympathisers etc. I asked him where he got his info from. The Daily Record. Suggested he buy a proper newspaper. Personally I’m surprised at DH’s comments – perhaps I shouldn’t be though as we have plenty of ex-players who take cash from the MSM
___________________________________________________________________
I disagree with some of the stuff the GB do; but in the main, I do think they are a positive aspect of Celtic games.
The fact that the Palestinian appeal is now over £170K is also another positive factor.
FAC the Act
KTF
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Absolutely.