Alright, maybe its a bit premature to suggest that a young, on loan striker could possibly become the next Henrik Larsson or Lubomir Moravcik, but there was a glimpse of a personality within John Guidetti the other night that Celtic supporters tend to iconify. ( I’ve checked, it is a word, )
The Swedish striker was playing for his national under 21 side against France when the normally shy Gauls scored a goal that they believed would send them off to next summers Euro finals, and since there wasn’t long left in the game, goalscorer Layvin Kurzawa saluted the Swedes with a gesture that more or less implied “See Ya ” He didn’t add “wouldn’t want to be ya”, because its the under 21s, not the under 7s, and anyway, that sort of childish behaviour has no place in professional sport.
Guidetti had to suffer the indignity of ( hah, theres a coincidence, the word “indignity ” beneath a picture of Mr Dignity himself, Cap’n Baz of the Bigots ) the Frenchman saluting directly in his face, so when Guidetti scored the goal that put the Frnch out shortly after, he repaid the compliment, as you can see in the leader picture.
The game needs personalities such as Guidetti, and whp knows, if we tell him we like him, he might hang around when his contract is up next year…
Theres a video of the goals and celebrations here;
guidetti goal and celebrations..
Gallus guidetti. Just what we needed to cheer us up.
Speaking of cheeriness, Gordon Strachan mentioned the “bad feeling ” between himself and Roy Keane, who hasn’t written a book this week, but did one a couple of weeks ago which would have slipped under the radar had it not been for one or two interesting snippets that mae one or two of the papers;
“We have spoken about bits and bobs from our time at Celtic in the last three years with ITV. We just laugh at things.
“You need to take into account how he wrote the book. He was sitting smiling when he told that story. He laughs and so do the people round about him. There you go, it’s funny.”
Which probably describes exactly what the book is all about. Take it with a pinch of salt, as they say.
Meanwhile, Henning Berg, who knows a thing or two about football, if you don’t count the rules on player eligibility, has offered us his opinion on Ronny Deila, and Celtic;
Ronny Deila can become the
Arsene Wenger of Celtic, claims
fellow Norwegian and Legia Warsaw
boss Henning Berg
Hang on, whats the real reason for this story ?
Legia Warsaw boss Henning Berg, left, got the better of Ronny Deila, right, earlier this season
Theres the first one,
HENNING BERG dished out Ronny Deila’s biggest beating of the season but is backing his countryman to be a long-term success at Celtic if he’s given time to get things right
Theres another…
Deila has suffered a bumpy start to his managerial reign in Scotland with Berg delivering a nightmare early on when he led Legia Warsaw to a 6-1 aggregate thrashing of Celts in a Champions League qualifier.
And just in case you missed those three…
Celtic were saved after it emerged the Poles had listed an ineligible player in their squad but failed to take their second chance after being reinstated when they went down to Maribor.
The Daily Record. Still not aware of why people don’t buy it anymore.
At a recent management meeting , held at the papers headquarters, the papers editor had an idea to improve things,
However, he was reprieved when a junior reporter suggested that they should just stop talking shite.
Although the meeting carried on into the wee small hours while the concept was explained to them, and the health and safety people were consulted as to the effect it would have on the reporters if they were forced to act with integrity and honesty.
Meanwhile, the return of real football this weekend means that Ronny Deila has been talking to the press again.
We were very disappointed we didn’t get a better result against Hamilton, but we are going to fight to win trophies. That’s what we are going to work the whole season for, and I have a strong belief we are going to do that.”
I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here, and suggest that he meant determination as opposed to belief.
If I believe that perky popstar Cheryl Cole is going to go on a date with me, its unlikely to result in a night out.
If I am determined that she will go on a date, thens its likely to end up in a restraining order.
Its all in how you say things, for instance, looking ahead to the game, he added;
The Ross County game is very important. We want to bounce back at once.
“I saw their game against Inverness [another of the sides Celtic face in the seven-game run] and they were very good in the first half. It will be an intense game and we need to get the ball down, get the tempo up, create chances and defend well at times.”
Whereas what he really meant, I hope , anyway, was :
“ I’m fed up of these diddy teams making me look like a fitte and we are going to knock faen out of anyone who tries to stop us winning on Saturday ”
He’s thrown in a couple of Norwegian words in here, which is what I would have him do if I was head of PR. Swearing always sounds more convincing if its in your own language, and passion can be more readily delivered.
To be honest, you probably don’t need to look up what they mean. Its fairly obvious from the context.
Meanwhile, over in Dodge City, ( known in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a fairly lawless town ) , the new sherriff is banging on the door and demanding to be allowed to put things straight.
Tell, you what, todays Diary is a bit of a groundbreaker. Nowhere e;se will you see the phrase ” put things straight ” when they’re talking about Second Rangers.
Not convincingly, anyway
Dave king is still hanging around, and the media would have you believe he came into town on a white horse with his saddlebags bulging with cash…hang on, thats actually possible. The convicted tax fraudster has a habit of not declaring all is income, which is why he’s a convicted tax fraudster, i suppose.
Anyway, with the prospect of another Dodgy chap taking over at Ibrox, the support have decided to spring into action;
And they mean business this time…
As a team (Jordan Kerr, Laura Anderson & Joanne Percival) we are going to walk 5km around the Ibrox pitch which is 12 laps on Saturday 25th October. As it’s a Halloween event we will be getting dressed up too. We are hoping you can support us and in turn support The Rangers Charity Foundation which will help them continue with all their great work.
Please give anything you can. Thank you sooooooooo much !!
Well, i could give them some solid financial advice.
Don’t give anything to the Rangers Charity Foundation. As the STV report of August 6 suggests…
Rangers Charity Foundation has been found to have breached its duties in assigning cash from a glamour friendly match to the club when it was in administration.
Last March the foundation organised a match between former players of the Ibrox side and AC Milan, the month after administrators were appointed on February 14.
On Tuesday, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator found there was an “an inherent conflict of interest” when the charity foundation decided to transfer its proceeds from the game to The Rangers Football Club plc (in administration), as opposed to other charitable sources.
The regulator stated in a report that decision making at the foundation
breached regulations.
It stated: “OSCR concludes that since the charity was set up, there has been an inherent conflict of interest present as a result of the charity trustees’ connection to The Rangers Football Club plc.
“Based on the information provided to us, we further consider that the decision-making process in the charity, which allowed a decision to be taken by one trustee to assign the agreement with AC Milan Glorie to The Rangers Football Club plc (in Administration) without consultation with the other charity trustees and without a quorum, was in breach of the charity trustee duties.
“In addition, the conflict of interest presented by the assignation was not managed appropriately and professional advice was not obtained as required by the charity’s trust deed.”
Originally, the friendly tie at Ibrox been organised to raise funds for the Rangers Charity Foundation, which was going to receive 60% of all money gathered by the game on March 30.
The charity, which has donated more than £2.3m to various causes since it was set up in 2002, reduced the amount it would take from the game to ten per cent as well as a £25,000 management fee, meaning the majority of the money raised went to the club that was in administration at the time.
As a result of the agreement, the foundation received £38,286 as its ten per cent of takings from the game, meaning the club received around £230,000 from the match.
According to the regulator, the three trustees at the time of the incident were either current or former employees of Rangers, while one trustee – who is only identified in the report at ‘Trustee C’ – decided to make the decision to re-assign the amounts raised to the club.
The watchdog noted: “In Trustee C’s view unless the joint administrators had control of the income from the fundraising event they were unlikely to agree to the event going ahead. Assigning the charity’s interest in the agreement with AC Milan Glorie (‘the Agreement’), dated 16 January 2012, for the fundraising event to The Rangers Football Club plc (in Administration) would ensure the joint administrators would recover costs and satisfy their duty to creditors to derive income from it.
“Trustee C considered that assigning the charity’s interest in the agreement to The Rangers Football Club plc (in Administration) fulfilled the legal duties of a charity trustee because the event would still be able to take place and, in terms of the agreement reached with the administrators, the charity would still receive some benefit.
“Trustee C did not obtain professional advice before making this decision. The date of the decision to assign the event was, unfortunately, not formally recorded but was made on or about 21 February 2012.”
The regulator added: “Mindful that if the fundraising event did not proceed the charity would receive nothing, and that it had already incurred costs in relation to organising the event, Trustee C agreed to assign the charity’s interest in the agreement to The Rangers Football Club plc (in Administration) on the agreement with the Administrators that the charity would receive 10% of the net profits together with the management fee.
“The only alternative to this assignation that Trustee C considered was cancellation. The option of the charity paying a fee to The Rangers Football Club plc (in Administration) for the use of Ibrox Stadium and facilities was not explored, even though this may have resulted in less of a reduction in income to the charity. However, a fee would have left the charity in control of event income and this, in Trustee C’s view, meant there would be uncertainty over the event taking place.”
According to the inspectors, the inquiry into the charity foundation’s action had taken almost 18 months “partly due to the difficulty of obtaining information from some of the parties involved in a complex and fluid situation”.
On Tuesday afternoon, the charity released a statement on the ruling, which read: “The trustees of the Rangers Charity Foundation have noted the findings of OSCR’s report and are pleased that OSCR has concluded that the decision to assign the rights of the fundraising event to the Club was done ‘in good faith and in the interests of the Charity given the risk that otherwise the event may not have taken place, in which case the Charity would have received no benefit at all’ and their investigation is now at an end.
“In the event, the Rangers Charity Foundation received £63,288 from the events in March 2012. If the events had been cancelled then the Foundation would have lost over £12,000 in pre-paid deposits and our ability to generously support worthy causes up and down the country would have undoubtedly suffered as a result.”
At the time of the decision, Connal Cochrane, manager of the charity foundation, said: “The club and the Rangers fans have been tremendous to the foundation over the last ten years and now it is our turn to stand alongside them and step up for Rangers.
“The Rangers Charity Foundation suggested the club should now benefit from the match and we were delighted that the AC Milan Foundation agreed.”
In relation to the conduct of the foundation, the regulator concluded: “After careful consideration of the circumstances in which the decision to assign the charity’s interest in the agreement was made, we have concluded that although the decision was a breach of legal duties the circumstances were such that it would not be a proportionate use of our regulatory powers to take further action.
“The decision to assign the charity’s rights in the contract was made in good faith and in the interests of the charity given the risk that otherwise the event may not have taken place, in which case the charity would have received no benefit at all.”
The regulator’s head of enforcement, Laura Anderson, added: “This case has generated considerable interest and while it features its own particular circumstances, the issues it highlights are straightforward governance issues common to many of the concerns we receive about charities. It’s therefore essential that charities generally reflect on the key lessons in the inquiry report.
“What this case has highlighted, however, is the potential conflict of interest that may exist between charities and professional football clubs. This is a matter that we are considering as regulator with a view to working with relevant bodies to highlight key governance issues they may wish to examine. Such issues are also set out in the report and I would urge the trustees of such charities to consider the points we raise.”
Of course, there is no suggestion that they are still a bunch of cheating thieving lying bastards, or indeed , that they were at the time of the report, but I’ll give my money to the foodbanks anyway.
Which reminds me,
There must be a new takeover in the air at Ibrox. everyones after their money…
And a wee reminder that if you support fan ownership you can help the RST – and get yourself a smart shirt or scarf! – by using these two links –
SHIRTS – http://www.redandblackshirt.com
SCARVES – http://redandblackscarf.co.uk
RST stands for Rangers Supporters Trust, as ever, they got rid of the tricky bit in the title. Trust.
STV again, December 14 2013
The Rangers Supporters Trust is investigating allegations of improper conduct against its spokesman Mark Dingwall.
The co-founder the group, who has denied the allegations, will have his future decided at a meeting this week.
The Trust holds the largest membership of any Rangers supporters group and also holds the largest shareholding of any collective supporters group.
STV understands the complaint against Mr Dingwall has been withdrawn as the complainant resigned from the board of the Trust during the investigation. Remaining board members are still concerned about the accusations of improper conduct and will address the matter at a meeting this week.
On Saturday, a board member of the Rangers Supporters Trust told STV: “Mark Dingwall is currently serving a three-week suspension, pending an investigation into allegations of improper conduct. He will be given an ultimatum to resign from his position this week.”
The chairman of the Rangers Supporters Trust, Gordon Dinnie, confirmed there is an investigation and that after the complainant stepped back from his duties, the Trust asked Mr Dingwall to do likewise.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Mr Dinnie clarified the terminology used by his fellow board member, saying: “Both people involved [in the allegations] have stood back from participation in the trust’s internal affairs whilst the complaint is being progressed as per the rules of the society, neither was suspended.”
In response to the allegations, Mr Dingwall said: “It would not be appropriate to comment at this time. The matter will be discussed at the Rangers Supporters Trust’s next meeting.”
A letter circulated to RST members on Sunday evening read: “The board of the RST would like to inform you that we are currently dealing with an internal matter that has unfortunately entered the public domain. We assure you that we are still working in the best interest of our membership and will inform you of any decisions taken once due process has been followed. The board members involved voluntarily removed themselves from Trust duties until this situation is resolved.
“We would also like to assure you that the Trust board remains focussed and committed to our goals. We hope to announce the results of our AGM poll in the coming days,
Again, there is no suggestion of impropriety, but is it any wonder there support keeps chucking their money at the Spivs ?
Theres no-one else to give it to.
Stephen MacManus was the last Celtic player to captain his country and score a goal while doing so.
Scotland play Ireland at Celtic Park next month. Theres quite a few Celtic connections within this tie. What are they ?
Saturday is an acid test for us, drop points against Ross county and the knives will be sharpened. Hopefully, we will see a determined Celtic side put out who will place a marker for the rest of the season.
On fields of green site (am I allowed to mention a competitor lol) has a great article summing up sevco and the flagrant SFA disregard of what is supposed to be the ‘fit and proper’ regulations on club ownership. Well worth a read.
As for sevco, I’m beginning to come round to the thought it’s all smoke and mirrors. We will no doubt see shortly and sky seem to report something is happening with King and his associates but it all seems an exercise in ‘look, I tried but the big boys currently in power won’t play ball’. In any case, it gives wee Bazza something to write about at a time when he should be preoccupied with his managerial role at Clyde yet somehow always seems to have time to obsess about his old dead club and it’s current splinter group.
Any way, I’ll take the advice of a fellow poster who stated that there are problems of our own that we should attend to rather than focusing on that soap opera. Dwindling crowds is one of those problems. I see Celtic have produced a statement enthusing on what they are currently offering in terms of ticket pricing and incentives to get supporters in. I applaud that and hope there is a continuation with this process and strategy. However, all the deals and special offers in the world won’t work if the ‘product’ on the pitch is not up to scratch and this season thus far, it has been poor. Speculate to accumulate is mantra I hope is eeking it’s way into the thoughts of those in power at paradise. In the next couple of windows, we need to see signings and a strategy that will keep us ahead of the game domestically, offer hope for the CL and get supporters excited. Financial prudence is all fine and well but it’s coming somewhat counter-productive at present. They need to realise that sometimes, investment is what’s needed in order to maintain standards and keep ‘customers’ coming back for more. Taking a support for granted, even one as faithful as ours, will only lead to big problems.
Any way, enough of my waffle. Hopefully, a solid and good win on Saturday will be the stepping stone to improved performances and results and we can finally all pull in one direction. I want Deila to succeed, I hope he succeeds and we can be in a sting position for the challenges that face us in future seasons. HH
I think Deila will come good given time and patience from the bulk of the Support myself.
Having reviewed all the stats from every League game already played (obviously discounting the first two because we won them at a skoosh).
It would appear though not playing particularly well in most of them we still dominated possession in most and had the lions share of the chances created in all of them.
Ie enough chances created to win them all by a decent margin:
Game 1 St Johnstone AWAY 3-0 Win
Possession 54%
Chances Created 16
On Target 8
Scored 3
Game 2 Dundee Utd HOME 6-1 Win
Possession 63%
Chances Created 29
On Target 14
Taken 6
Game 3 Inverness AWAY 1-0 Defeat
Possession 53%
Chances Created 13
On Target 6
Taken NONE
Game 4 Dundee AWAY 1-1 Draw
Possession 63%
Chances Created 13
On Target 5
Taken 1
Game 5 Aberdeen HOME 2-1 Win
Possession 49%
Chances Created 19
On Target 4
Taken 2
Game 6 Motherwell HOME 1-1 Draw
Possession 63%
Chances Created 27
On Target 10
Taken 1 (penalty)
Game 7 St.Mirren AWAY 2-1 Win
Possession 54%
Chances Created 11
On Target 2
Taken 2
Game 8 Hamilton Accies HOME 1-0 Defeat
Possession 60%
Chances Created 16
On Target 7
Taken None
For me Deila is not the problem.
Individual errors in defence and a poor return rate from the Strikers at the pointy end are more to blame.
Far too many chances being squandered so far and it has cost us points that otherwise should have been won.
The fact we have not played to great overall and have had key players out injured for the majority of games tells me anyway when the form of the strikers returns along with the likes of Lustig Mathews and Mulgrew who were mainstays under Lenny then so too will the results.
Patience is the key here folks.
Well put Charlie…..cheers!
Interesting to also note that if you include Ledley, what with players who have left and those have not played this season due to injury..they contributed 37 goals between them last season.
To a lot of Tims the charity cornerstone of our Club is of great importance, I’m indifferent. I come from the school of thinking that believes charity to be one of the oldest and dearest institutions borne from the empire. Consequently, I believe it to be another ruse to screw Working people over. Whatever? The point I want to make is this. If our Board believes that charity is such an important tenant (a bit like they do with fiscal prudence) then why would you consider doing business or being linked in anyway with an organisation both dead and walking with such a disreputable history?
Celtic connections with a game between Scotland and Ireland? Can anyone help me out..?
Charlie Siaz hits nail on the head, at long last someone on here talking a bit of sense. Back the manager not the msm agenda!!!
Charlie,Una,
We are on the march with Ronny’s army…..Yes we all want
RD’s team(s) to come good.I was critical but will be more patient and understanding.
However, results have to improve.Not taking chances,could mean we require 2 strikers at times.
Ronny say’s, ” we will be fighting for trophies “I would like to see that fight on the park first.A trait that has been absent,from
any of Ronny’s teams,so far.
The fight starts at County,3 points,is all that counts.If we have to win ugly,to climb the table,so be it.Then we have 4 home
games.We should win all of them,if the players have the FIGHT
and the fire in their bellies.Over to you Ronny…..
We are on the march with Ronny’s army…
In a when they were down they were down kind of way?
Yes Fred,
I was just being a tad ironic ! m8
Charlie Saiz…has delivered some telling stats there…..but one of the most important for me is the brand and style of football we’re watching…..the Dundee Utd game apart the football in style and quality has been utter dross.
I don’t think it’s been dross Jim but it’s been far from where he and we want it.
I thoroughly believe once either Lustig or Mathews fill the RB slot again and the wide men settle or return from injury then we will overrun most if not all sides on the Domestic front.
When we have the wide men on both sides it means less overlapping required from the FB’s which in turn means a stronger defence.
At the moment we have Efe who with all the best will in the world is not a wingback ..christ he’s hardly even a FB going off his recent form.
He will be a bench warmer I reckon when Lustig and Mathews return.
There have been several key players who have started this campaign slowly too and this has had a dad effect on performance of the side.
Izzy in the early games was reaaly ropey getting caught up the park too often.
Virgil looked a little un interested I thought in the early games probably due to not getting a big move?
Johansen was poor first 4/5 games but he like the 2 mentioned prior has picked it up a bit I think the last 2 games with the return of Brown who in my opinion is several games off being 100% match fit.
We should have destroyed Hamilton truth be told with the amount of chances we created and squandered.
Scepovic is taking time to settle and Stokes has been decent outside the box but very poor inside it for me.
Stokes ,Guidetti and Griffiths all squandered good chances especially Stokesa who on another day bags a decent hat-trick.
I see plenty to be optimistic about as I tend to look beyond just the result.
Are we creating? Yes we are.
Are we controlling large parts of the games? Yes we are
Have we room for further improvement? Most definitely.
It’s not like we don’t have the players to piss this League.
We do.
And we will.
It has been utter dross.
I’d say it has been eratic but I would rather we played this way than go back to the playing it across the Park shite we were guilty of last season in many games.
Fucking dire at times.
Scotland vs Republic of Ireland? Managers (Strachan and O’Neill), Assistant managers (McGhee and Keane), probable captains (Brown and Keane), players and former players (Marshall, Gordon, Maloney, Brown and McGeady and Keane… To be played at Celtic Patk.
I don”t believe Ronny is the man for the job but I’ll back him as long as he’s there.
Charlie makes some good points but I’d also like to see how many chances we gave away in those games too and a comparison with previous seasons/meetings with those clubs. It’s onlt stats but maybe I’d be more convinced if they bore out what’s being claimed.
I have the opposition stats too pal.
We are stronger in all for the most part.
On looking at last seasons results pal it’s a waste of time different Clubs are trying different things this Season,changes in personnel and tactics v us due to our change in approach have meant sides have tended to throw caution to the wind and some have had a lucky break as a result.
We destroyed Motherwell they walked with a point.
Morton did the same thing last Season in the Cup it happens.
“I don”t believe Ronny is the man for the job but I’ll back him as long as he’s there.”
Think Morto sums it up right there.
BTW Charlie When your reverting to stats at this stage its like the cunning lawyer getting his client aff on a technicality
The stats don’t lie they are a proven indication as to what we are achieving or failing to achieve in each game.
The point of showing these stats is show those who simply go off the result as an indicator of how we are performing that it’s not that simple.
We have created enough chances in all of the games to win them comfortably that is an undeniable fact.
The stats prove it is not the system or the Manager who is at fault but those who fail to take these chances when presented.
This all goes back to our signing policy because for me Hooper is yet to be replaced as a poacher and goalscorer and Big Jans presence in the box has yet to be replaced by any of the players who have come and gone since.
None of that has had anything to do with Deila.
If I could produce the stats from scoring from Corners and set pieces at Celtic in the past 4 years it would not make very good reading at all.
We have produced 54 Corners in the 8 games played so far in the League and from those we have scored :
1 Direct from the corner Commons v D.Utd
2 From the second ball from a corner
Denayers First v D.Utd
Denayers Deflection off Ambrose shot v Averdeen.
3 goals from 54 Corners is a pish return so far I think considering the height we have throughout the side.
So if we get beat again, we persevere with Ronnie! Until when exactly? Against accies he takes of Guidetti with 30 mins left when we need a goal – the guy just diesn’t have it, we need an experienced manager, but will end up with John Collins.
He took off Guidetti who had missed a complete sitter early on and drifted out the game by that point and put on Griffiths to partner Stokes.
That partnership worked well towards the end of last season so I can see why he thought they might click again?
As it happened both Stokes and Griffiths missed chances to win the game too.
The only stats that matter are goals for and against and points won
on all count RD fails miserably .time for a change before its too late
Talking shite again mate.
No change there.
Love that Guidetti salute. A proper GIRFUY.
Interesting stats Charlie, but a couple of things. What constitutes a chance? For henrik any where over half way was a chance, for Stokes I think more than a yard out its a half chance?
And is the fact that the stats show we are missing chances possibly a sign that we should have more than one striker on the pitch at any time, as we might convert more chances with more specialist goal scorers being the guys who get these chances?
I’m not having a go, just reserving judgement, Ronny has not been convincing so far regardless of the stats, they don’t make him talk pish, or play guys who joined the tram that morning in cl qualifiers. Something doesn’t appear to be right, the players could certainly be trying harder, my fear is they’ve smelt shite and are downing tools till the next manager comes, not that that is right of course.
We had Stokes Commons Guidetti on the pitch from the start.
That’s 3 attacking players who we expect goals from.
Griffiths and Tonev are also expected to chip in with goals.
It’s not like we are playing 2 banks of defenders with 1 lone striker up front waiting for a long punt up the park is it?
A chance is a shot on goal from inside or just outside the box which either hits the target or misses it.
The stats show we are commanding the bulk of Possession,creating more than 15 chances on average a game so far and not converting as many as we would have expected by now.
That tells me we are not far off getting going again.
The strikers have to do their job though for it to work.
Commons was our top scorer last season…from Midfield.
He’s not producing anywhere near the level of finish this Season so far bur I doubt that will continue myself.
Charlie,I didn’t know your wife’s called Una ! lol
Fair play,your defending Ronny to the hilt.And yes with the
quality of player we have,we should scoosh this league.I will be a little more patient,but 3 points is a MUST,on Saturday.
Winning games breeds confidence,for both players and fans
alike.
Cheers Charlie & Una.
Hehe Holy I shall defend him until I think it’s down to his poor judgement Holy but at the minute there’s too many other factors involved to lay the blame for the poor results at his door.
Injuries,Bedding in players,poor individual effort and performance by some and shite finishing have all had a part to play I think.
Give him benefit till Christmas and see how we are then methinks before I start questioning him?
Just for the record John Guidetti did not score any of the 4 goals for Sweden´s U21 against France on Tuesday. He did play extremely well and set up the second goal superbly however. John is the the real deal and we need him at Celtic Park.
I was just watching highlights from this season so far… and every corner taken by Stokes has been an attempted shot at goal by him…FFS just deliver the cross for VVD or Denayer to attack, it’s not rocket science!!!
Hail,Hail
Our set pieces have been poor again this Season I think the loss of Mulgrew is partly the reason for that as his delivery can be superb at times.
Stokes has had an indifferent season so far for me he’s back to snatching at shots again.
A bit of composure and he could have had a hat-trick against Hamilton.
A name check on the Guidetti piece wouldn’t have hurt Ralph!
And by the way he didn’t score – lazy journalism!!
Btw
I went to school with Ross County.
Helluva nice guy.
His brother was a different kettle of fish altogether. Wonder what happened to old Hazzard……
Just gettin me coat now…………
I wanted him to score which is pretty much the same thing
Delia shouldn’t have been given the job in first place or we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
The more I see Celtic this season, the more I am convinced Ronny is trying to play the 4-5-1 style that led to so many goal-less draws and games going to extra time (where the fitness comes in) at the world cup.
Ronny and Johnny use 4-5-1 gets beat 1-0 by Hamilton, Stevie Frail and John Kennedy use 4-4-2 (minus international players) beat Hamilton 2-0. Not a good indication of progress.
the football’s been hard to take this season, but we are in transition and we have been missing any number of players already.
Mulgrew, Lustig, Matthews, Brown, Forrest would all be likely starters for us and have all been missing for large parts of the season. Fisher has also been injured and although not a likely starter could have played instead of effe or izzy when they were poor.
I’ll give RD the season to see if he’s got it – I expect the league and at least 1 cup, with qualification from the Europa group stages. That’ll do me – anything else is a bonus.
WE should have won at least 5 – 1 against Hamilton (stokes should have, never mind could have, had a hat trick) & the same against Motherwell – we didn’t and dropped 5 points.
I also don’t think the ross county game is an absolute must win – it’s too early in the season to panic – a run of games unbeaten will see us move up the league – every other team is capable of beating each other, so they’ll all drop points.
KTF
Kudos to Charlie for speaking for the other 50% o fans (I think its at that stage already)
its only October and were not 10 games in
Appreciated Kris too many panic merchants following Celtic nowadays.
I believe being dominant for so long creates a a false sense of security and when the results start to wobble or falter some fans hit the panic button.
Understandable though it is I don’t tend to take any notice of the first 10 games of any League Season 15 when it’s a new Manager bedding in.
Todays Stats:
Ross County 0 Celtic 5
Possession 37 – 63%
Chances Created 5 – 12
On Target 0 – 6
Taken 0 – 5
Corners 2 – 10
Now go compare those stats to the games against Dundee,Motherwell and Hamilton.
Poor finishing cost us points not poor judgement from the Manager.
Fact.
Finger off the panic button. The team looked good today. Charlie Saiz a lot of sense. But…poor finishing is one thing, poor finishers another. I like Guidetti a lot.
Agreed Devoy and on that score you generally get what you pay for.
Stokes took his goals well today it’s a shame he cannot be that clinical every game.
I think the difference with Stokes today was that he had time on the ball, and found space just outside of the box to do his work. Ross County were poor but are they any bigger a club than Hamilton? I am not saying that we have turned the corner but there is a glimpse of light shining through and a change of system seemed to work
Due to Ralph not getting his finger out(surely WiFi is out there)the comments on the Thursday Diary have turned into Charlie vs doubters, and the bhoy done good.
Great performance today, loved the clean sheet more than anything else; and it was a clean sheet earned without Gordon saving us 5/6 times. Although Ross County were awful we cannot qualify every good performance by the opposition. I saw players with confidence and smiles on their faces for the first time this season, I hope they are all on the same page and put in something similar over the next five games or so to really build over this crucial period.
Only negative was Mathews who looked well rusty, to be expected, but perhaps Andy Bhoy will tell me the real reason for his demeanour.
I agree the back 4 looked so comfortable today Gerry and that I think we will all agree is because they did not have to worry about bombscare Efe.
Gordon’s distribution was excellent today as well a side of Forsters game that was lacking more often than not with his brutal kicking.
Lustig provided so much more of an outlet playing the wingback role because he unlike Efe knows exactly when to stick or twist and seldom get’s caught out of position.
when to stick or twist and seldom get’s caught out of position and seldom get’s caught in possession
Still nae Pensionerbhoy ? Give us a sign, PB…!
He’s sent us his thoughts which will be published tomorrow….
10 mates and myself could beat Ross County nothing to get excited about. Deila is a donkey, the proof of a team is how they play against decent opposition not a pub team.
Deila is not the problem Rab go look at the stats again from every game including the last two you will clearly see the side is creating more than enough in every game to win them comfortably.
The fact (FOR IT IS A FACT THE STATS DON’T LIE)the frontmen for whatever reason are blowing hot and cold week in week out and this is causing the issues.
We actually created twice as many chances against Motherwell and had more possession but dropped 2 points.
Time you and all the other panic merchants admitted you have jumped the gun way too soon on Deila and got behind the man.
No EFE means a relaxed back 4 4 guys comfortable on the ball not needing to keep one eye on him for his inevitable balls up or caught up the Park?
Mulgrew back in gives more cover for the back 4 enabling both FB’s to overlap with less fear of being caught out.
Johansen being moved forward into his more suited attacking Midfield role allows him to create and threaten in a way MrSlow Commons simply can’t or won’t most games.
3 key changes that Deila was able to make due to the availability of 2 Key players who were mainstays under Lennon at Celtic most weeks.
With the return to fitness of Forrest we now have serious options developping out wide again and can perhaps start playing with the width Ronny is wanting us to play with.
Most of our play went through the middle under Lenny we had no wingers as such most weeks so if the opposition setup with 2 banks of 4 we usually struggled to break them down under him resorting to endless passing across the pitch getting absolutely nowhere most of the time.
With genuine width and pace we can now switch it out wide left,right through the middle?
No probs we now have the personnel to cope with that.
That btw is down to Deila spotting the deficiencies we had under Lenny.
That is good management.
Top of his shopping list in Jan will most probably be a Left Back..another area Lenny failed to strengthen in 3 years.