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Celtic Diary Saturday September 15: We’re Not Very Good

It was just as tricky as some of us thought it would be.

0-0 in Paisley, and we can exclusively reveal why.

Oran Kearney knew his first game would be against Celtic. He did his research, and noticed that all he had to do was tell his lads to park the bus and try not to fall asleep while Celtic passed the ball from side to side in front of them.

Unless Celtic start to play to their strengths, and utilise what we have, then we’re going to see a lot more of this as the season goes on.

We have plenty of wide players capable of running at defences. We have players capable of hitting the target from outside the box, and we have players capable of pouncing on the ball and converting when its in the box.

Yet we also have a manager who values possession football, and as a result, we have a team that is afraid to take chances and lose it.

Even though the high pressing game, when played with energy, means we usually get it back fairly quickly.

A wee bit of imagination is required, and a lot of enthusiasm needs to be added if Celtic are to win an eighth title in a row, and thats before we start on the establishment taking their places to obstruct it.

The idea, we are told, is to patiently wait for openings, as opposed to try to create them.

Reactive, instead of proactive, and the problem with that is teams are quite content to let us wait.

we did say in the leader picture yesterday that on Fridays, the best stories come from bad decisions…

 

Olivier Ntcham got sent off last night, for two yellow card offences, and it was apparent to anyone watching that he was frustrated and a little less cool headed than he should have been. Rodgers, it could be argued, should have seen that, and replaced him before he was sent off.

There have been 37 games in 2018. 

Celtic have failed to score in 10 of them. 

Thats despite having three very capable strikers for most of the year, and can only point to a failure in the system.

Despite the adoration of Tom Rogic, he offers little creatively, and the wingers are scared to take players on. Calum MacGregor is a great link man, but he is a water carrier, and although an essential part of the team, he’s not going to open up stubborn defences.

 

Rodgers has proved he has man management skills, now he needs to show us a higher level of diversity in his tactical awareness.

 

After the game, the manager decided he would blame the referee. Something which Steven Gerrard was criticised for when things didn’t go his way. He was asked how he thought the referee performed…which made me think that was a planted question..

Not very good, to be honest.

“I never like to focus too much on the referees but I think for both teams I didn’t think any of the four officials were very good.

“I don’t know if it’s a mark of all the attention that’s around them.

“But there were lots of incidents the got wrong.

“The sending off for me is not a yellow card.

“If you watch it again, the first one is a booking and we take that. But before the second one there is an incident when Olivier makes contact with the ball and wins the ball, but the referee gives a free-kick against us.

“Then when you see it in the corner Olivier is running across to block the ball up the line and he St Mirren player as he plays it is falling over. At the same time Olivier slides but doesn’t have contact with the player.

“So from that – and the fact it;’s in the corner makes it lively – then the ref falls for it and he gets a second yellow.

“For me it wasn’t a second yellow or a sending off.

“I don’t think there was a good one between them all this evening. Listen, it’s simple I don’t think they were good.”

He has a point, but the referee was Andrew Dallas, and he didn’t do anything that  surprised us, which makes Ntchams attitude even more inexplicable.

“I think the fact we are speaking about them let’s people see there’s been indecision,” 

“There’s been a spotlight on the refs and I don’t want to increase that.

“But yeah – it was just a poor demonstration of officiating.

“There were a few. I thought Tom Rogic fouled the St Mirren player but he got on the ball and ran away.

“Then Tom got booked for something ridiculous.” 

Something ridiculous ? The whole set up was ridiculous. Its time to change the style if we’re not going to change the players.

Lets think about how we can change how we approach matches.

One could ask, or perhaps should ask, for instance, why do we need two midfielders sitting in front of the defence in games such as this ?

Are the defence really that bad ?

It doesn’t appear to be the case, and maybe an extra forward, in a free role, would be a better idea in games such as this.

Filip Benkovic made his debut last night, by the way. You probably won’t see much more of him this season, so I hope you took pictures.

 

The result has narrowed the gap at the top by a point, but Hearts play twice before Celtic visit Rugby Park next Sunday.

They could easily be eight points clear by then.

Am I right in saying that is unacceptable ?

 

Something else that is unacceptable hit the news stands this morning..

Now Hampden’s future is safe the SFA can turn screw on Holyrood to fund redevelopment – Gary Ralston

The SFA can pressurise the Scottish Government by lobbying Westminster, who will know the value of providing the money.

Gary Ralston, the least talented scribe at that paper, now reckons the onus is on the Scottish government to pay to develop the white elephant that is Hampden Park.

Hopefully, that kind of pressure will prompt the government to look into allegations of corruption and collusion at the SFA, which should this ridiculous idea gain any traction.

It might be an idea for us to email Nicola Sturgeon with that idea…

Ralston says…

Some canny minds at the SFA – yes, they do exist – are looking beyond Southwaite Services for answers and that could mean knocking at the door of the UK government.

If £161m of public money (including a record award of £120m lottery funding and £20m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) can be found for Wembley, why not for Hampden?

It would leave Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP administration between a rock and a hard place at a time when the debate on Scottish independence is set to be ramped up again on the back of this never ending farce over the terms of an EU exit.

What message would it send if Holyrood was unable to provide investment for one of the totems of Scottish identity and yet Westminster could?

The DCMS oversee sport only in England and Wales, but May and her Tory cohorts are shrewd enough to see the value of Unionist support for one of Scotland’s most cherished assets. 

They are quite likely to see it as a chance to put one over on Sturgeon, possibly even an attempt to force her hand into what would be a massively unpopular move, and one could be crediting Ralston with considerably more intelligence than he has by wondering if this is a political move by someone who is possibly not an SNP supporter, and reading between the lines, I’d guess he isn’t, but there is something that anyone with an ounce of common sense that he appears to have missed.

As long as there is one person without a roof over his head, or one person forced to use a foodbank to feed himself then there should not be a single penny of public money spent on Hampden Park. 

 

Yesterday, we showed this picture

alzyerpal September 14, 2018 at 11:42 am · Edit · Reply →

Caption : At the SFA training course, the referees wait patiently for word to come back from UEFA about which pocket should the pen go in.

Today..

 

 

 

 

 

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BJF
5 years ago

Won’t over complicate it Cektic were crap, Ntcham looked as if he wanted an early bath, no attempt to break down St Mirren, they conceded our half of the field then pressed us from the half way line, it works against us, has before. Rogic and Eduard can be game changers, neither have performed to last seasons standards yet. Rodgers rightly shouldn’t publicly criticise his own players so he has a go st the officials. I understand why but they were not the cause of it, maybe trying to accommodate Beckovic led to the wrong formation, a right back would help.

Rebus67
5 years ago
Reply to  BJF

BJF,

I agree with most of what you said. The ref + were not very good but neithervwere we. The selected strategy did not work and it reduced the effectiveness of one of best attacking options….Tierney. McGregor seemed lost in the system or just jaded for most of the game, although he had a good chance late on.

Inthink that the three at the back should not be abandoned just yet but we should try it when a game is won.

Benkovic did OK and one diagonal pass to Forrest was outstanding. I think Boyata will be off in January and Benk will replace him until the end of the season, then a new CB will be brought in, or he will be purchased.

Currently, RB is more of a priority than CB. However, the real problems lie further forward. We need a replacement for Dembele…….a big, strong player that can bring Edouard into the game.

Should be interesting times,

Rebus

The Cha
5 years ago
Reply to  Rebus67

I fear you may be right about CBs, although not sure Boy will go in Jan, as that’s more in our interest to get money rather than his and, as we know, he’s not into self sacrifice!

It’s totally depressing that we’ll go into a 4th UCL campaign without a settled pairing in that area.

I’m aware of issues elsewhere but believe these are more easily solved and certainly not as long-standing!

Honest hoops
5 years ago

Caption; he mate, our supporters bus crashed again..any chance you could give me a lift to the game?

Monti
5 years ago

What anyone sees in Ajer as a defender is way beyond my understanding of the game, he like Boyata shouldn’t be in a Celtic shirt.
Ntcham had the body language & attitude of somebody who has just lost his best pal & doesn’t give a fuck….January transfer window should be interesting with him.
To top my night off i farted on leaving the pub & quickly realised it wasn’t a fart.

Spudscave
5 years ago

Caption Mate watch yer motor fur ye tae ye get back fae the game

Bognorbhoy
5 years ago

CAPTION

Im a bear…your a hun …

John McDermott
5 years ago

“FEED THE BEAR” HH

The real Anton Rogan
5 years ago

Caption: Haw mate!! Can you tell me what resource limit reached means?

Yoker Bhoy
5 years ago

Caption: Ah’ll keep an eye on yer motor mister.

Naw, I can’t bear the thought of that.

BJF
5 years ago

Celtic not Cektic, Strewth! Who did we miss most last night, Mousse or Paddy Roberts? I think Paddy at his best would have unlocked St Mirren, remember Paddy McCourt destroying St Mirren.

Puggy67
5 years ago

Caption: Naw the guy who wrote that sign just didny like Roy Aitken.

Mattgallscot
5 years ago

Got any fags mate?

Brian (not the messiah)
5 years ago

From heros to zeros again. Don’t agree regards callum as a water carrier. He has been one of our best players of late and had he scored when he broke through the defence last night everyone would have been singing his praises. Get a grip, its early days and you are all starting to panic again.

Uralius
5 years ago

Wee Mac is better in the hole behind big Edouard and wizard of Oz is better behind Griff. Brendan’s biggest fault is turning Griff back into a support striker because Brendan is obsessed with “power and explosive pace”. He plays 2 fairly similar players 1 behind the other in Edouard and the wizard. Brendan also has EVERYONE except Tierney cutting in, there is no variation anymore teams know that of they sit everyone in the box Celtic won’t score. In the invincible season Forrest went to the byline between the edge of the 18 and the corner flag more than he cut in. Nowadays all he ever does is cut in. Maybe we don’t win the header, but 2 players chased him and are not in the box, as players scrabbled to win the header the defense lost their shape and the secondary ball is likely to result in a goal because we pulled them all over the place and made pockets of space.

Uralius
5 years ago
Reply to  Uralius

I did notice that, what I also saw is that our players won’t try and use their weaker foot. In the past few years I have seen only 1 player try and improve his weaker foot….. Armstrong. I get it, maybe they will lose the ball, but on 4 occasions during the St. Mirren game we had the on the break only to stop and pass it sideways rather than risk losing the ball by moving it on or shooting with a weaker foot!

The Cha
5 years ago

Griff’s contribution was skying it 20 yards over when clear shot on goal and stupidly getting caught offside and denying us a winning goal.

Postively Naismith-esque.

bgbhoy
5 years ago
Reply to  The Cha

correct, that was a complete sitter, a professional football player should be scoring and at the very least hitting the target.. he should of played the two strikers, but Griffiths is not the saviour as Charlie would have you believe. he also gets caught offside about 6 times in a match.. a very good reason why celtic have not had a real offer for him.. was he not contracted to celtic until 2020 anyway? so he really only got another year? I cant remember but I think that’s the case

Rebus67
5 years ago
Reply to  The Cha

Cha,

Agree. Grif ambled back from being way offside and did not make it in time for the pass that put him in with a goal scoring chance. By the way, his volley was outstanding.

Rebus

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago
Reply to  The Cha

CS,correct….keep up the good work…..£9m for Eddie?…nope….

The Cha
5 years ago

Caption (apologies for coarse language and non-Celtic content)

Bear “Haw mister, got any bog roll? I’ve just done a shite in the woods”

Tim Buffy
5 years ago

I’m royally pissed off. Spent ages typing a lengthy comment into that poxy wee box and pressed ‘Post Comment.’ About two thirds of the wee blue line appeared then it ground to a halt before the “limit has been reached” message appeared and my words of wisdom vanished into the great beyond. FFS GET IT SORTED!!!

Daniel Docherty
5 years ago

Stop trying to out-coach teams and start outplaying them
I have said for the 16 months we need a creator in mid-field All this talk about a bad defense has diverted eyes away from the number of time we have failed to score more than two goals and often only one with very few clear cut chances missed on a weekly basis We are the best the biggest and brightest it’s time to show it consistantly

Daniel Docherty
5 years ago

consistently

charlie
5 years ago

caption the bear sais aye a see the daft cunt under the caravan changin the tyre but ile eat yer sandwiches first

TicToc
5 years ago
Reply to  charlie

HaHaHa, fuckin’ brilliant Charlie, HaHaHa! 🙂
HH

Rebus67
5 years ago

Charlie,

That is a pretty good summary. Where we do differ is on Grif. Yes, he is worth another contract but I think we paniced a bit in giving it to him at the moment. Grif is an add-on to the striking department not the star that we need.

I think it was OK for BR to try something different but you are correct it did not work.
I also think that Rogic should have been subbed early in the second half. He was getting banged all over the park. His value was his long range shooting…something that did not matter.

The good news is that we have options to fix things but we need to do it soon, else the unfavourable reffing will have profound effects.

Rebus

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago
Reply to  Rebus67

Put Super Leigh alongside a striker similar to Hartson or Sutton and he would be dynamite……also Mr.Rodgers,could you please train someone to take bloody corners to enable Leigh to take his rightful place,in the feckin box….

Una
5 years ago

On this form the 10 ain’t gonna happen Brendan is play ronnies system of 1 up front he must have found his game plan in the office when he took over. It’s tome for 2 up front or the 10 will be down ghe drain

Monti
5 years ago
Reply to  Una

Una,
Calm down Serena….

Monti
5 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Does she have a neck?

portpower
5 years ago

Is it though we should get what they get a week?

Big Jessies, 5 games in.

5 years ago

http://celticbynumberscom.ipage.com/the-boyata-bounce/

Defensive performances so far this season.

5 years ago

losing the class of Armstrong,Roberts and Dembele and not replacing them is criminal.not organising defence is ridiculous for new season just amateur and predictable for Celtic.,but when they are paying millions in wages to guys that are never ever going to play for the first team tells you all about the latest custodians.Too busy buying and selling players for their own bonuses and salaries!Tory scumbags!

portpower
5 years ago

It`ll be an away from the IOUbrox asbestos stadium,for all to march up to our Hun Hampden.

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago

CS,absolutely spot on……

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago

Watched a junior game today,spoke to two of the coaches on the sidelines and they stated that everyone in football knows how to play against Celtic…..plus the only reason we sort out Sevco is because their fans won’t accept parking the bus against us,as Gerrraaarrd found out when he obviously tried it last week…..

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago

Question: If it’s happy days at Parkhead,why can’t we attract even semi decent players? ……

Celtic mikey
5 years ago

Happy for Armstrong dembele and Roberts to go. Not happy will still haven’t bought someone with guile in the middle of the park.
I miss Kris commons.

Brian (not the messiah)
5 years ago

In fairness i have seen games where roberts dembele and armstrong have had trouble breaking down 10 men.
Keep calm and chill the f***k out.
In Brendan i Trust.

jimboh
5 years ago

CAPTION….
Hitch-Hiking Union Bear body swiped by Green & White car.
Massachusetts Highway Patrol on the look out for a Boston Celtics fan. Failing that any non Sevco Scottish fan will do.

rab wallace
5 years ago

Google maps “bear right”

Spudscave
5 years ago

Caption hey mate av lost ma wee mate boo boo hiv ye seen him (aye he’s just got a lift aff the Yogi Hughes Csc bus fae Bearsden).

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago

Take note,Ralph and D.Mond can’t even be arsed……..Signed Scott(daddy)Sinclair #emptyshirt…..

Rob O'Keeffe
5 years ago

Caption: Hungry,homeless but not cold……

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