Celtic v theRangers - Saturday 17 October, kick-off 12.30pm, all comments here

TBF. We started the season against Hamilton, Killie, Reykjavik, Dundee utd , Ferencvaros and Mothwerwell 4-2-3-1 and splitting to a 4-3-3 during the games.
Against County - after signing Duffy - we went 3-4-1-2, then St Mirren and Livi 3-5-2.
Against Riga we played 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 in a hybrid, then back to 3-5-2 against Hibs and Sarajevo before going 3-4-1-2 aganst St Johnstone and back to a 3-5-2 today.
That's without splitting hairs as to when we played 3-5-1-1 which we did in practice on occasion, and I think was the original plan for today to strangle the midfield, except we lost some vital players. In fact i think the PSG friendly formation of 5-4-1 or (4-5-1)might have surfaced today ahead of some of our european games. I'd expect that against AC Milan based on what we practiced in France pre-season.
The worst jumping however has probably been the personnel.
TBF. We started the season against Hamilton, Killie, Reykjavik, Dundee utd , Ferencvaros and Mothwerwell 4-2-3-1 and splitting to a 4-3-3 during the games.
Against County - after signing Duffy - we went 3-4-1-2, then St Mirren and Livi 3-5-2.
Against Riga we played 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 in a hybrid, then back to 3-5-2 against Hibs and Sarajevo before going 3-4-1-2 aganst St Johnstone and back to a 3-5-2 today.
That's without splitting hairs as to when we played 3-5-1-1 which we did in practice on occasion, and I think was the original plan for today to strangle the midfield, except we lost some vital players. In fact i think the PSG friendly formation of 5-4-1 or (4-5-1)might have surfaced today ahead of some of our european games. I'd expect that against AC Milan based on what we practiced in France pre-season.
The worst jumping however has probably been the personnel.
To be honest Niall I did put all this tinkering around with formations and personnel down to making sure lenny had it right for today. I hold my hands up and say I was wrong.
At this stage of a season you should know how you want to play and so should the players you are sending out to do it.
This has been missing all season to date except on very rare occasions. It does not matter what formation you play, when you can't make simple passes to one another.
When you are lacking in confidence you will go missing, not wanting to make yourself available for a pass.
When players are lacking pride and passion shows a lack of team spirit and moral.
When players and supporters see team selections and substitutions that make no sense to anyone that will just drain the belief out of all involved.
We are still to see this team play with any form of direction.
Sorry to say all of these problems are made and caused by our manager and his very limited knowledge in how to get the best out of his team.
Can he turn it around?
I'm not so sure no more as if you can't get any sort of preformance against your biggest rivals, you have got major problems
 
Read that reply to verdict imatim but i dont fully get the point .The support has power yes. If we dont support then the club doesnt continue. So there is an element of blind faith. The reaction your talking about wont happen.
Look at the huns. They have been lied to and diluted share wise, shite tops, dodgy owners ...they cunts keep at it.
We keep at it as well. When it comes to us or them the only thing thats guaranteed is support.
They know we arent happy but they know we are mentally ill when it comes to our devotion to the club...tricky one
..........................

If I can try to explain where I’m coming from like this...

There’s a significant difference between our Support and the Hun Support, especially right now.

They will follow anyone that tells them what they want to hear. That won’t work with the Celtic Support. We are far too objective and aware in my view.

We have had to fight for anything we have. They reek of entitlement and an abhorrent sense of superiority. Mannerisms that are foreign and repugnant to most of us.

I make the above points as a way of explaining why I believe taking our Support for granted, by not properly addressing issues on and off the park that quite obviously need attention, will result in an extremely disgruntled and angry Support.

That will most definitely imo have an adverse affect on our Club in a variety of ways, which would include the emotional, the financial, and the commercial, et al.

I fear a perfect storm may be brewing.

Mistakes are being made across the board (no pun intended)

Our tactics and strategies on and off the park are wrong in important areas imo and need immediate attention.

We are now being consistently out thought and out played on the park by them. This cannot be allowed to continue and has to be addressed.

Our Board recently made a public statement at our AGM that it wasn’t in the best interests of the company to pursue Res 12. In spite of clear evidence to support that there has been corruption and fraud committed which has financially impacted and disadvantaged our Club to the tune of many millions of pounds. This is unconscionable.

It would appear the Club’s business plan is to be as risk averse as possible. This to ensure that regular dividends are paid to those who are in possession of preferential shares, and to ensure KPI’s are met, which in turn is obviously to the advantage of those who’s bonuses are dependent on said KPI’s being met.

There’s a conflict of interest at play between Peter Lawwell’s bonus system and how the football side is run. This has to be addressed and changed imo as it’s not working in the best interests of the team on the park, for obvious reasons.

This policy has to be re-evaluated and modified to include ways and means of addressing and fixing the obvious flaws in the current policy and seriously look at how our recruitment and forward strategic planning can be done much better than it currently is.

A long answer to what you were asking pal.

I’ve just highlighted where I was coming from and some of the reasons I think we are heading for stormy waters if we don’t change course and do it soon.

The Celtic Support are no mugs. Take them for granted and treat them with indifference or insignificance and they will react accordingly. Things need to change and be seen to have changed for the better sometime soon.

Failure of those concerned to react positively and soon, to the Support’s genuine concerns for the Club they love will see the bottom line take a dramatic hit. That I am convinced of....and that is where the real power ultimately lies.

I truly hope it doesn’t come to this...
 
The thing about this tale is, we believe M D really had drinks with the guy
..........................

If I can try to explain where I’m coming from like this...

There’s a significant difference between our Support and the Hun Support, especially right now.

They will follow anyone that tells them what they want to hear. That won’t work with the Celtic Support. We are far too objective and aware in my view.

We have had to fight for anything we have. They reek of entitlement and an abhorrent sense of superiority. Mannerisms that are foreign and repugnant to most of us.

I make the above points as a way of explaining why I believe taking our Support for granted, by not properly addressing issues on and off the park that quite obviously need attention, will result in an extremely disgruntled and angry Support.

That will most definitely imo have an adverse affect on our Club in a variety of ways, which would include the emotional, the financial, and the commercial, et al.

I fear a perfect storm may be brewing.

Mistakes are being made across the board (no pun intended)

Our tactics and strategies on and off the park are wrong in important areas imo and need immediate attention.

We are now being consistently out thought and out played on the park by them. This cannot be allowed to continue and has to be addressed.

Our Board recently made a public statement at our AGM that it wasn’t in the best interests of the company to pursue Res 12. In spite of clear evidence to support that there has been corruption and fraud committed which has financially impacted and disadvantaged our Club to the tune of many millions of pounds. This is unconscionable.

It would appear the Club’s business plan is to be as risk averse as possible. This to ensure that regular dividends are paid to those who are in possession of preferential shares, and to ensure KPI’s are met, which in turn is obviously to the advantage of those who’s bonuses are dependent on said KPI’s being met.

There’s a conflict of interest at play between Peter Lawwell’s bonus system and how the football side is run. This has to be addressed and changed imo as it’s not working in the best interests of the team on the park, for obvious reasons.

This policy has to be re-evaluated and modified to include ways and means of addressing and fixing the obvious flaws in the current policy and seriously look at how our recruitment and forward strategic planning can be done much better than it currently is.

A long answer to what you were asking pal.

I’ve just highlighted where I was coming from and some of the reasons I think we are heading for stormy waters if we don’t change course and do it soon.

The Celtic Support are no mugs. Take them for granted and treat them with indifference or insignificance and they will react accordingly. Things need to change and be seen to have changed for the better sometime soon.

Failure of those concerned to react positively and soon, to the Support’s genuine concerns for the Club they love will see the bottom line take a dramatic hit. That I am convinced of....and that is where the real power ultimately lies.

I truly hope it doesn’t come to this...
Transparency and accountability and sustainability

We have transparency issues at board level that need ironed out

We have accountability issues due to the transparency and lack of real communication with fans which is leading to poor understanding of clubs mission statements and methodology in acheiving it.

Sustainability requires well run club both on and off pitch

value added in both areas

But the board lack of transparency is creating many many issues of trust on many different fronts.


Sustainability requires a healthy league as well as healthy club

But trust issues around corporate governance across football and all financial areas is clouded in transparency issues.

If board are not willing to address all major areas of club with transparency then they should be voted off the board.

if players aren't improving on field and in value

manager needs to address it.

Some of the wages of our loan in players are eye watering and risk is at all time high. imo

club are far from risk averse imo

but the lack of communications is making it look possible they are risk averse

but thats just tip of iceberg in the war against club and complacency is there as well. imo
 
I was simply replying to someone else's comment about O'Neill, but you failed to notice that. But at least we've got something in common, you couldn't give a fuck about what I said and I couldn't give two fucks about what you said. In fact I couldn't give a fuck about anything you say simply because you would need a degree in Egyptian hieroglyphics to decipher it.
😂😂😂Quality 😂😂😂
 
Whatever Lenny and his team did in Dubai after the last time they beat us they need to do it now and sharpish.
They cannot get any further in front of us

It's a simple fact that this COVID is getting worse and teams in this league are hit harder by it now than they were when we where awarded the title.
St Mirren couldn't field a team yesterday.
If we collapse and they get a significant gap opened up against us they will call for the league to be handed to them.
They will also get backing for it from other teams.
The SPFL probably feel they called the league to early after what happened elsewhere with playing on
They will feel they owe them the chance to right a wrong

We need the manager, staff and players to sort it quick and get back t winning in style

Get Eduard and Griff up front with an attacking ,midfield behind them.
This is the same team with additions that tore that league apart after the winter break last year.
They need to do it again
I don't see us winning in Europe if we continue to play like that so the next important game is Aberdeen
A win in style to get the confidence back.
 
@Bigian65
Dont be a cunt and pick up and snipe comments. Seems to be a pattern mate.
How about you stick your neck out and say something about anything and see how its recieved?
In the guise of a post?
Nae harm in having a laugh. No war wanted on my part either.
It was just something i noticed.
Try posting an opinion instead of a reply.

Im a bit edgy after that shit show so take my attitude with a pinch of salt
heres a opinion Kissinger people who look at numbers oan bottles a muck like buck fast really should fuckin lighten up and get a life .....
 
Well here we are the morning after... and I still feel rotten after what we had to tholl yesterday afternoon. I again have a blind faith in Celtic team and manager and although we’ve been rubbish recently I believed that because of who we were up against that our team and manager would pull out all the stops and win our game comfortably. But no it was actually the worst performance I’ve ever seen a Celtic team play.
I cannot for the life of me fathom what is going on with NL but I had total trust that he was the right man to get us the 10.
How can we go from the second part of last season and winning all our games comfortably and being well ahead in the league and a healthy goal difference to where we were yesterday?
There are serious questions that need to be answered by the team/manager/back room staff I believe. Just one other thing and I’m no sure if Damien Duff leaving from our back room staff has had an impact too. anyway it seems more questions than answers on this the day after...
 
I've waited till I've calmed down to post anything anywhere. Although having said that...

WHAT A DISGRACEFUL CLUSTERFUCK OF AN OMNISHAMBLES THAT WAS!!! :mad::mad:

Right now that I've got that off my chest I'll throw in my tuppence worth.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Duffy is a journeyman centre-half. No more, no less. The EPL is riddled with overpaid crap that steal a wage week in week out. He's not anywhere close to being Celtic standard and it showed yesterday that young Welsh came in for his Glasgow derby debut and was the standout player along the back line.

I want him to come good but this ain't the season to let guys have six months to bed into the team!

Laxalt came in and was MOTM for me. Hungry and eager to show what he's got. I said when we signed him if he was 70% of the player I saw at the WC then we've won a watch. I think we've won a watch.

Frimpong was utter dross yesterday but he wasn't alone. Ajer tried a couple of runs but there wasn't the same ruthless drive to them we've seen in the past.

Barkas isn't Forster but then who is? Yesterday wasn't his fault.

McGregor played well enough in the first half but the lack of help in midfield from Ntcham and Brown (who should NEVER be on the pitch at the same time again) was glaring.

Elyounoussi brought a small bottle of stale babycham to a party that required a magnum of Dom Perignon.

Playing up front with virtually zero service from anyone, Klimala had the most thankless task of all on the day.

The blame for this pish lies at one mans door. The manager of the club.

I get that many on here will also want fingers pointed at PL and DD. However, they have bugger all to do with tactics, team formation and player selection.

We won the league last season, not because we did anything unexpected. We beat who we were expected to beat in that final run of games and we won it because, after the winter break, that lot imploded like a tin can at the bottom of the Marianas Trench

Neil Lennon has screwed up nearly ALL the vital games since the beginning of last season.
In no particular order we have Cluj, Copenhagen, Ferencvaros, Rangers*, Rangers* and Rangers*.

Although we won the Cup against them in one of those games, we were absolutely BATTERED from start to finish.

The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We're fully inside that scenario just now wearing a comfy pair of pyjamas, sitting by a warm fire and smoking a pipe thinking it'll all come good in the end.

If the board refuse to acknowledge it then we'll be looking at the gut-wrenching sight of hun ribbons on the league trophy in May.

Lennon must go immediately, if not bloody sooner!
 
From the moment that Lennon started playing without strikers, I’ve wanted him out the door. I remember when Jock Stein played without strikers against Dukla Prague to get to Lisbon in 1967. After that match, Jock Stein that a Celtic team will never play that way again. This Celtic team is slow and terrible to watch. If there had been 60,000 inside Parkhead yesterday, they wouldn’t have been long in telling Lennon that his tactics were wrong. BUT no he thinks everything he’s doing is correct. Maybe it’s a good thing that the fans are not getting into to see this crap every week.Neil, you’re tactics are not working. Change them or to get out.🤬 How long are the board going to let this man, ruin our club.
 
The morning after the disaster before and it still isn't getting any better.

I don't want to point fingers at individuals, we win or lose as a team, but there are many issues that are apparent at the moment and it needs some strong individuals to answer some serious questions.

If it were any one thing that was a problem, then that may be easily resolved, but there are several major problems that are all converging at the same time and they might yet prove to be our undoing.

I've got plenty time on my hands, so I guess I'll go through my concerns one-by-one:

1. The Manager and coaching team:

Neil Lennon is undoubtedly a Celtic icon. He was functional and adept as a player, but he was never the man that was likely to turn the tide of a match. In fairness to him, that's not what he was bought for, but I doubt he would feature on the list of the all-time great Celtic players.

When he first dipped his toes into management - he did so with the same aggression and gusto that he played the game with. He got the fans fired up and back behind the team and almost won the title at his first full attempt. The fact is, is that we didn't almost win that title.......we lost that title ourselves. It's hard to blame Lenny for Charlie having a series of brain farts at Fir Park and for the utter lack of cohesion in Inverness. It's hard to blame Lenny for Sammy's backpass that resembled a penalty at the midden, but ultimately we fell short and the buck has to stop with the manager. Of course, the huns were cheating their tits off, but when was that ever not so.

For whatever the reasons - Lenny probably took his leave at just the right time during his first stint. He achieved what he set out to achieve and there were several high points during his tenure that would secure his legacy as a Celtic icon. Not quite legendary status, but certainly ranked in that second tier of the Celtic food chain.

I was dubious when he was offered the post after the snake. I could understand the logic, but not quite the reasoning. As a short-term strategy - it worked out fine, but I thought at that stage we had to take the blueprint used for hiring Rodgers and attempt to get the best coach/manager we could entice with our budget.

Neil Lennon looks like a man alone at the moment and not just within the sphere of football. He looks bereft of ideas and answers and his responses at post-match briefings are generally quite insulting to a well-informed and knowledgeable support.

It's a team game - we win and lose together - but a manager takes any job with the full knowledge that the buck stops with him/her.

Lenny looks out if his depth. He can still turn it around, but he needs a big, strong personality in there to offer some resistance to his excesses. He is indulging himself and the team at the moment and it could cost us dearly if these indulgences are not tempered soon.

I admire John Kennedy. I also admire the way the Club stood by him; however - he is not a first-team coach. He dies not have the presence, authority or standing to motivate, enthuse and fire up players. He may well be popular and a nice guy, but that does not a great coach make. Apprenticeships should be served in apprentice yards. A bit of time away from the protective blanket of Celtic might have benefited his coaching development and instilled the knowledge that coaching and management is much more than just strategy, formations and training drills.

Hard to comment on WGS II, but there are no smoke plumes coming from the heather yet.

2. Formation/Strategy:

Man, this hurts like a bastard to write, but it has to be said again (although I appreciate many of you have already stated it) we are a team without a definite style or identity at the moment. Under the snake, we had long periods of possession, but then we could open up at the appropriate time and slice through teams with penetrating passing and movement off the ball. Right now, we are a team in stasis, both in a playing sense and personnel wise.

We commit bodies at the wrong time and our forward passing is quite frankly shocking. We play in straight lines across and up and down the pitch. We lack runners from midfield that want to get beyond the forwards and we insist on consistently underhitting or overhitting passes to feet. Even with our most talented players on the park, it's easy to crowd them out and nullify them when they are a static target facing the ball. When we tried to go long and direct yesterday? Well let's not talk about that debacle any more.

That mob have implemented a way of playing over the last 2.25 seasons. It's relatively crude, but is now starting to pay dividends for them. Their rigidity has been their downfall at times, but they seem to be getting it right at the wrong time for us. They have 8 players who maintain a basic structure and 3 who have licence to do what they want. Arfield breaks the lines and often finds himself ahead of their strikers and Kamara just keeps everything ticking along. Their defence mainly holds shape - it will get buckled against genuine quality, but they had the cigars out yesterday. Davis and Brown are comparable in age, but Davis was never a snarler - his game was all about popping the ball off and picking out 30-yard diagonals or a 20-yard over the shoulder dink. Scott Brown isn't that player. Never was, never will be. If Scott Brown had a deadly pass in his armoury, then he would have been the most sought after midfielder in Europe. The huns know their limitations and play within them. Our boys still think we have extra gears to go through - our boys are sadly mistaken.

Unless we quickly find a formation and strategy that suits the team, as opposed to accommodating favoured individuals, then just grinding out results against the other 10 teams in the league may not be enough to bring home the prize.

3. The Players:

I firmly believe we have the best group of players in Scotland. I also believe they have the biggest egos. They may not brag to the media. They may not make hyperbolic statements on social media, but there certainly appears to be a strut and a false sense of greatness about a few of our boys.

Perhaps it comes down to money. Perhaps it comes down to fan adulation. Perhaps it comes down to complacency. Whatever it comes down to, I hope their egocentricity got a mighty boot in the balls after that catastrophe yesterday. Fuck.......it's not as if the warning bells hadn't been sounding recently.

I won't name individuals - we win and lose as a team (see the pattern emerging here) - but some boys have to hold their hands up and take accountability for themselves. One or two have to ask themselves a serious question about their capacity and capability now. It takes a long time and a lot of hard knocks to earn legendary status - it doesn't take that much to damage that legacy for good!

Lenny has implied that there are players who may not want to be here. If that is/was the case, then the board and he have an obligation to get them out of dodge for the biggest buck possible. I'm sure many of you have been in dressing rooms where even one or two wantaways have spoiled the whole fucking mood of the team. I'd rather have a group of players who would die trying, rather than a group of players trying to work their ticket.

Awwww fukkit.........I'm burned oot, hungover and angry. My head's stonkin' and I need to find a hairy dog fae somewhere. I've got two bottles of poitin, but that would likely send my nugget into deep orbit..........I'm away to the shops.

HH
 
I've waited till I've calmed down to post anything anywhere. Although having said that...

WHAT A DISGRACEFUL CLUSTERFUCK OF AN OMNISHAMBLES THAT WAS!!! :mad::mad:

Right now that I've got that off my chest I'll throw in my tuppence worth.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Duffy is a journeyman centre-half. No more, no less. The EPL is riddled with overpaid crap that steal a wage week in week out. He's not anywhere close to being Celtic standard and it showed yesterday that young Welsh came in for his Glasgow derby debut and was the standout player along the back line.

I want him to come good but this ain't the season to let guys have six months to bed into the team!

Laxalt came in and was MOTM for me. Hungry and eager to show what he's got. I said when we signed him if he was 70% of the player I saw at the WC then we've won a watch. I think we've won a watch.

Frimpong was utter dross yesterday but he wasn't alone. Ajer tried a couple of runs but there wasn't the same ruthless drive to them we've seen in the past.

Barkas isn't Forster but then who is? Yesterday wasn't his fault.

McGregor played well enough in the first half but the lack of help in midfield from Ntcham and Brown (who should NEVER be on the pitch at the same time again) was glaring.

Elyounoussi brought a small bottle of stale babycham to a party that required a magnum of Dom Perignon.

Playing up front with virtually zero service from anyone, Klimala had the most thankless task of all on the day.

The blame for this pish lies at one mans door. The manager of the club.

I get that many on here will also want fingers pointed at PL and DD. However, they have bugger all to do with tactics, team formation and player selection.

We won the league last season, not because we did anything unexpected. We beat who we were expected to beat in that final run of games and we won it because, after the winter break, that lot imploded like a tin can at the bottom of the Marianas Trench

Neil Lennon has screwed up nearly ALL the vital games since the beginning of last season.
In no particular order we have Cluj, Copenhagen, Ferencvaros, Rangers*, Rangers* and Rangers*.

Although we won the Cup against them in one of those games, we were absolutely BATTERED from start to finish.

The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We're fully inside that scenario just now wearing a comfy pair of pyjamas, sitting by a warm fire and smoking a pipe thinking it'll all come good in the end.

If the board refuse to acknowledge it then we'll be looking at the gut-wrenching sight of hun ribbons on the league trophy in May.

Lennon must go immediately, if not bloody sooner!
Agree Laxalt and Welsh were two of our better players. Frimpong lacked courage to try any of his runs and didn’t manage a single cross. Laxalt put several in. 100% agree Lennon was tactically naive yet again. He is stubborn and you see that time and again. His excuse - Strikers lacking fitness - whose fault is that! And why does he use that as an excuse with the strikers but not other players who he pitches straight in. The team has chopped and changed way too much with favourites playing regardless of form. I am worried.
 
Lets go furra pint ;)
I'd love to Len, but I'm not sitting ootside the boulevard of broken dreams and regularly occurring nightmares in the feckin cold and rain (again).

Especially a fuckin Wetherspoons, seeing as they're the only place that have the capacity to get punters ootside.

As if things could'nae get nae worse........I can't even get barred fae boozers the noo!!!

Lenny has plenty to answer for, but wee Nicola has really pissed on my fire!!
 
For me only Walsh and Diego got pass marks, and even then with Walsh his passing isn't good enough to be in the team long term. Although he is technically better than Duffy who week by week is turning into a fucking haddy. Had serious concerns about him and they are coming to the fore.Hopefully its just he's lost form as well, because he's fucking pish.
 
I'd love to Len, but I'm not sitting ootside the boulevard of broken dreams and regularly occurring nightmares in the feckin cold and rain (again).

Especially a fuckin Wetherspoons, seeing as they're the only place that have the capacity to get punters ootside.

As if things could'nae get nae worse........I can't even get barred fae boozers the noo!!!

Lenny has plenty to answer for, but wee Nicola has really pissed on my fire!!
Need something stronger than a pint to get you back to normal SP😂😂
 

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