I think Koki has tried to bulk up and I think that this has affected his pace and acceleration to an extent. He didn't look as quick in the pre-season games this season as he did the year previously. Was that Keane's first game after the transfer window closed away at Rugby Park? I agree that I think he needs time to settle into the 'unique' style of Scottish football but in the appearances I've seen from him, in general, he has the desire to succeed. It's never easy being the new guy trying to bed into a struggling team though. And Lenny looks to be favouring players he knows to win him the matches he hopes will secure a permanent role for himself and Johann, which will limit Ki's opportunities in the short term.
one thing that Brown gives us more than Landry does is an attacking presence. TM had a view of how he wanted to use skoosh and I don't think it was quite the correct one. I'm seeing Lenny encouraging him to move forward quite a bit more and it's a more exciting spin on our midfield as opposed to pass.....pass...............................pass..........................pass......................................pass.........etc. the more i see out of lenny, the more i hope he gets the job permanently. it's early days yet but so far so good
blow it up. my last post couldn't have been more wrong. brown was awful today. lenny didn't make enough adjustments soon enough. our 4-3-3 was counteracted by ross county through their flooding of the midfield and waiting for a chance to counterattack and exploit our weak defence (sound familiar?). lenny did nothing to combat this. brought in paddy mccourt for fortune when it was obvious that rassa needed to come on for samaras who was his usual lazy oblivious self. why lenny continues to play him is beyond me. (for those who want to say samaras works hard and has pace, i have nothing for you. repeatedly he was behind the charge to the net, not in the box. repeatedly he's standing on the touchline hands on his hips not involved in the play. repeatedly he gives the ball away due to lack of skill) fortune i must conclude was a big mistake and a huge waste of money. doesn't handle the ball particularly well and misses sitters constantly. midfield can't bring the ball forward from the defence and 2 out of 3 forwards can't handle the ball? this is what you get. robbie keane can't be considered a middle of the field striker so why do start 2 players with him (samaras, fortune) who do the same thing. why not have rassa play with him? it stands to reason. n'guemo was awful, hinkel had his worst game in a while after really coming on as of late. lee naylor returned to typical lee naylor form. thompson doesn't have the pace to play centre half at this level. o'dea is a nightmare on too consistent of a basis. crosas was a tourist on the field today. mcgeady chucked it after the first half it seemed. the sooner he's gone the better, he should have been sold in january. there needs to be a house cleaning and i think it must start with peter lawell. otherwise we're in for years of dark times. simple as congrats to ross county, they played well and deserved to win. i hope they win the cup
I'm in a deep, dark place. Wow... Just when you thought this wretched season couldn't get any worse... It's the Tom Cruise line from A Few Good Men, "And the hits just keep onnnnn coming." Well played Ross County. I really mean that. Thought they were a class above us for the whole match. At least they played some nice football and I wouldn't have begrudged them scoring a third goal. But looking on that match as a Celtic supporter and picking out the bones of it from a Celtic viewpoint I have to say that was the worst performance I've seen from a Celtic team for quite some time. Given how the rest of the season has gone and the fact it was a Scottish Cup semi-final with a place at stake in the showcase game to close out the season and they turn in a performance like that?! It was an utter disgrace. In the short time that Lenny and Johann have taken over at the club I've noticed, as my title suggests, a bit more heart and soul being shown but that was clearly absent today. From the first whistle to last it was a shambolic performance from a group of players that looked like they'd be more interested in taking a stroll round Buchanan Galleries than play in a Scottish Cup semi final against opposition that were right up for it, and had some belief and ability about them as well. I'm not kidding myself on here. I realise that Neil Lennon isn't the next Guus Hiddink but he was the logical move to make when TM was removed. But I have no idea how next season is going to pan out. I'm a glass half full kind of guy but I suppose I need a result like this to knock it into my thick skull that the majority of this current squad aren't good enough to be wearing those shirts. How next season pans out is anyones guess. Will the current board be willing to take the kind of financial plunge that will be required to reinvigorate this sorry looking team? I have my doubts.
i'm taking small victories here: I think it was good that Neil Lennon will not accept a performance like that from his strikers, where TM would just take it on the chin. He's called out Sammy and MAF and identified that they need to do better. He isn't goig to be satisfied with them and he's holding the players to account. I'd be surprised if big Rassa isn't playing up with Keane on Tuesday. that'd be progress wouldn't it, rather than banging our heads against the wall seeing samaras starting every week and not admitting that something needs to change.
After yesterday's result it could be another couple of years before this team is able to overtake Rangers. Keane will be gone this summer (the only one who is capable of scoring goals)..Plus it will take two years worth of spending to: A) Bring in a new manager B) Provide him with funds to overhaul the team entirely
Haven't been on the board in a while, but what is going on know is just shocking. I haven't been a supporter for a huge amount of time, but this surely must be the low point of it. We need some sort of revamp, but honestly I don't know how that's going to be possible, or have an idea of how to go about it. All I'm hoping for is we just keep 2nd spot and just go from there.
Sound advice. We may think things can't get much worse after Saturday but there are still points to be won in the league.
I think we need to start a petition to get me and fraser the managerial position at Celtic if Lennon doesn't get the job. ---------------- I believe, again, the wrong people were picked today and the wrong subs were made as well. Firstly, as much as I don't want to conceed it I think Samaras time is up. Too inconsistent and his small runs and bursts are not enough to grant him a place in the team, nothing comes of his runs and a few times he ran into a crowd of three thinking he could get past them and continued to lose the ball. Secondly, MAF is not a winger, McCourt should have been on for him to begin with or not at all. MAF should learn to play the striker position but again he was picked ahead of Rassmussen which cost us I believe in my heart. Hopefully come saturday Lennon will try that pairing once more before we lose 2nd place. McGeady didn't show up today or like Samaras found himself out numbered but tried to run around it, I think he should have played more smart but didn't. Crosas should have started along with N'Guemo at the beginning but I think something at the start upset N'Guemo and I am not really sure why he was pulled I think if N'Guemo was settled (as he looked rattled) I think Crosas/N'Guemo could have dominated the pressuring midfield with some smart passing and spacing. Our downfall was the midfield, I didn't feel our players were looking for the ball enough, no angles, coming too close or booting it too far. I understand a lot of people like Brown, believe me I do... but I don't think he does enough off the ball and sometimes even with it. Sure he's a battler but he doesn't consistently bring any flare to the table where I believe Crosas and N'guemo at full confidence could. we also need to sort out our wing players... McGeady is a sure start unless he continues to play poorly. We need Shaun Maloney back or try some of the others, taking into account what Fraser said about Koki I would even give him another chance still or better yet look at my reserve/younger players to try get some attacking pace there. ------ The defence needs over hauled. Can't wait for Hoovield returns and we need some more young but experienced CB (Like Ramis! or similar) someone who isn't afraid.... I'd even give McManus/Hoovield a try at this stage. As for our left back situation.... I want Brafhield back in, Lee Naylor has good delivery and can sometimes show some intellegent play but it's not enough or anything better than what I think Brafhield can do but Brafhield has pace and attacking tenacity. if for some reason he isn't good enough then we have to get a new one. Lee Wallace from Hearts, thank you very much. Also from a winger point of view, I would like Mehdi Taouil. ------------------------------ I'm not even going to comment on the game, all congradulations to Ross County for their desire and will to win. You deserved it this time.
My guess is that this approach is necessary for Lennon to have any chance of staying right now. http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Neil-Lennon-gives-Celtic-board.6220627.jp
I'd definitely vote for you! Damn, what's up with this team?? I thought the guys were playing against TM (would be crazy enough, as they are cheating the fans) ... but when even Neil Lennon can't prevent them from producing embarrassing results, something must be going totally wrong there!
If he uses that approach to the letter it'll be just him(Lennon) and Mjallby standing on the pitch at Lennoxtown when the training starts in the summer for the new season.
then what does it have to do with? tm has been a manger. lennon hasn't. why is it shocking that lennon can't do a job that mowbray couldn't?
As I supposed that the team was playing against TM lately, I expected a new manager (no matter how experienced he is) to prevent them from producing embarrassing results ... especially when knowing that this team isn't as bad as the current season may suggest. Capito, amico? )
i think there's something to be said for the fact that Lenny desperately wants the job, knows the importance of it and wants to do anything he can to get it. This vs. someone else we may bring in who needs to avenge a failure elsewhere or is looking at Celtic as a stepping stone to another job somewhere else. Did Jock Stein have much experience when he managed Celtic? maybe only 3 or 4 years if i remember correctly. He knew what the job meant and what the club meant and i think that worked well. I know you'll say the same about TM as he was supposedly a "celtic man". But in the end he really wasn't, was he? He was more of a Mowbray man as he refused to ever play a pragmatic style in order to secure a result. It was always, style of play first, results second. i don't see this as having the clubs best interests in mind tbh. Lenny's the type that could grow into the job and be here for many years. That's the case for. There's still plenty of reasons against that don't have to do with experience but i digress. i don't think he'll get the job anyway. he'd do well to become someone's number 2 but would he do that?
Another decent performance from Celtic. I'll go into it in a little more detail when I get a bit more free time next week. Work has been all consuming recently.
Well the season is over... at last... So I thought I'd put some short thoughts down on each player to have played for the first team this season, that finished the season with us, and whether or not they should be here next season. 1. Artur Boruc - The Holy Goalie recovered his form this season but, with only one season left to run I think the club may be thinking it is time to cash in on him. I also think that the man himself may be looking for a change of scenery. I'd sell him, as long as the offer was right. 24. Lukasz Zaluska - One of the reasons why I'm not against Artur leaving is the form of Zaluska. He has shown himself to be more than capable between the sticks when Artur was absent. An extended run in the team and the knowledge of him being no.1 may spur him on to even greater things. Keep. 21. Edson Braafheid - It all went down hill early on in his Celtic career with the crazy handball up at Pittodrie. And he never recovered from it. One loan signing I wouldn't want to see back at the club. 52. Paul Caddis - Another season of limited opportunities for Caddis and the time is fast approaching where we either start giving him more regular appearances or we move him on. I'd like to see him be given more time next season but I'm not sure RB is his best position. After watching Mark Wilson play the final game of the season in the central midfield area against Hearts I'm wondering if it would be worth giving Caddis a shot at that area in some pre-season friendlies. 2. Andreas Hinkel - Another player who will start the new season going into the final year of his contract. He started the season well and was our best outlet for assists but his form became increasingly patchy as the season progressed. Sell if we get a decent offer. 16. Jos Hooiveld - Bitten by the injury bug and hasn't been able to show the fans or his teammates what he's capable of. 22. Glenn Loovens - I think Loovens can be a good CB if he is paired up with a strong personality. He isn't a leader but he is strong in the air and has reasonable positional sense. Keep him but pair him up with the right guy. 3. Lee Naylor - Did the job in the run in for Lenny. He seemed to be able to get good performances out of him. If Misun isn't ready to come in and if Lenny gets the job full time then Naylor may have another season in him. 48. Darren O'Dea - Darren went to Reading with high expectations but had a disaster down there after a promising start. He arrived back at Celtic and it took a bit of time for him to get his confidence back. But he played well in the run in and at 23yrs of age he still has plenty of time to continue to develop and improve. Keep. 25. Thomas Rogne - Another player beset by injuries which is a real shame as I see genuine talent in this lad. He's strong, quick and isn't afraid of a challenge. Keep for sure. 38. Josh Thompson - Thrown in at the deep end due to injuries and a lack of depth at CB. Did well overall although has a distinct lack of pace. Keep. 12. Mark Wilson - Mark is 25 now and although he did see some time on the pitch as the season drew to a close I don't think he'll be a regular next year. May be best for him to move on. Sell. 8. Scott Brown - Still to convince a fair amount of the support. He can be an infuriating player. One minute his control is exemplary and the next he can't play a simple 5yd pass. And it's fair to say that a standard 4-4-2 doesn't seem to get the best out of him. Keep. But we need to find a way to utilise him better. 17. Marc Crosas - He has the ability to control games but doesn't seem to be used enough by our managers. And that goes for Strachan, Mowbray and now Lennon. Can all three be wrong...? Still, I like the way he plays football and at only 22, I'd keep him. 49. James Forrest - Our most impressive youth player and someone that Lenny obviously knows well from his time with the youth team. Great things are expected from him. Hopefully he can live up to the belief that surrounds him. Keep. 20. Paddy McCourt - What to say about Paddy. He's a game changer. No doubt about that. A scorer of wonderful goals. Worth keeping for those reasons alone. 46. Aiden McGeady - A lot of noises that Aiden will have to be sold to finance our summer transfer splurge. I hope not. Yes, he still lacks consistency at times but for all that, he's still the player we look to time and time again to win us matches. No contract worries either as he's signed up until 2013. 14. Niall McGinn - He showed us flashes of what he can do this season and consistency can follow as he matures as a player. Keep. 29. Koki Mizuno - Not sure if Koki can get back to the first team squad. Rumours suggest a loan spell at ICT this coming season. That doesn't seem like a good fit to me but there is no doubt he needs to be playing regular football next season. 6. Landry N'Guemo - Before christmas I would have been certain about Landry but his performances did tail off as the season wore on. In saying that I'd still sign him, if the price was right. £1-1.5mill tops. 27. Zheng Zhi - Scored one of the goals of the season on the last day of the season. Not sure if that will be enough to save his Celtic career. They say that goals can change careers. I feel Zheng Zhi will be moving on in the summer though. 10. Marc-Antoine Fortune - Big season coming up for this guy. For the price we paid he needs to show it this year. The goals he scored against Motherwell and St Johnstone are easy to remember but there were plenty of other missed opportunities. 15. Diomansy Kamara - No doubting that he is an impact player. But his injury problems don't look to be going anywhere any time soon. And for the kind of wages he'd want to be on we couldn't afford to have him on the treatment table for half the season. 7. Robbie Keane - Keane proved in his half season that he was a cut above the rest of the league. If there is any way we can get a deal done to bring him back permanently then we must pursue it. 18. Ki Sung-Yong - Although an unknown before he was mentioned with us he did come with a fairly big reputation. Hopefully he has a good World Cup and comes back to Celtic Park and proves why he had that rep in the first place. 13. Shaun Maloney - Sorry Shaun. But you're too injury prone these days. I've even heard whispers that he could be finished. He has the ability but his body is letting him down. 55. Paul McGowan - A decent player but I doubt he will ever be anything more than that. Sell. 19. Morten Rasmussen - I'm certain he could score 20 goals for us in a full season if given the chance. He's a penalty box striker that knows where the goal is. Needs to be given more playing time next season. 9. Georgios Samaras - Has now become the latest target for the boo-boys. Only an exceptional World Cup will save his career in Scotland.
St Pauli 0-2 Celtic The importance of this result cannot be stressed enough. A clean sheet away from home in Europe against a Bundesliga side!! Seriously though, it was a very good second half performance from us in this friendly. Click the link below for the goals. p.s. Does Paddy McCourt ever score a tap-in...? Goals p.p.s Word is that Neil Lennon will be confirmed very shortly as our new manager. Maybe we should get next seasons Celtic thread off and running early doors as I think it may be a busy summer even with the World Cup on our doorstep. Perhaps borussia could kick it off. I don't seem to be carrying much luck with it.
i hope this is true so we can get on with it. also hearing steven reid is being considered on a bosman as well as sol campell and jimmy bullard.