Charlie Saiz has drawn breath and looks back over the first part of the season.(Note, this was written before the St. Johnstone game. )
I have a tendency to look back on a season at the start of January as I feel it a good time to reflect on what has transpired,where it has us and where we might be headed as a side.
Normally by this time arguments have formed,debates have raged and subsequently opinions based on the outcome these debates then become online fact.
Thing is we all tend to see things through different eyes,we all perceive things our own way but the ultimately the facts do tend to speak for themselves.
I approached this season with some quiet confidence but also with more than a hint of trepidation.
This mainly due to the fact that although last season was a minor success at home and in Europe after admittedly what was a very bumpy start in we were a much improved team come the end.
It seemed on the whole the managers plan had taken shape as well as bearing some fruit? A League and Cup Double secured and also marked improvement in Europe.
Not a bad haul for a first season given the changes to both systems and approach I thought.
The trepidation came by way of losing 2 key players in defence,the same defence that the bulk of last seasons success was built on.
Both Denaayer and Van Dijk had dovetailed well at the heart of our defence and as a result a 96 year League Record was taken…17 goals conceded over 38 games.
Coupled with not conceding a single goal on the way to lifting the League Cup just rubber stamped it.
Their subsequent departure this Summer has had (as expected) a massive part to play in our poor form so far this season.
The system, any system for that matter , is dependant on good defending and a solid foundation at the back so to have lost that partnership in the summer and to also have sustained injuries to Mulgrew,Lustig and (Van Dijks replacement) Šimunović was a massive blow to replicating that solid base formed last season.
Whilst Janko (also injured early on) and Boyata have both have ability the fact is they simply do not have the experience or quality yet of those who they are looking to replace in the first team.
This as a result left us with a constantly changing back 4 which of course in turn had a knock on affect on Craig Gordon in goals.
It is no coincidence his early form was far more erratic by comparison to last season.
The only upside in defence has been the emergence of young Tierney who I think many would argue has strengthened that area of the pitch.
Our overall performance in Europe has been poor as a result though I would argue not as big a disaster as many seem to be claiming?
It boils down to expectations, expectations are generally high at Celtic and while that’s no bad thing I feel a bit of a reality check is needed when it comes to where we stand in the big scheme of things?
It is my own belief we have regressed as a force in Europe in the past 3 years due to the new signing policy at the Club.
We do not replace quality with quality we now replace quality with potential.
As a result we are weakened in that area of the park.
The defence has been the major issue for us this season what I feared might happen has happened and given all the above it has come as no suprise at all.
In midfield the loss of form of Brown,Johansen and Armstrong has also caused us issues ultimately though poor defending has cost us in Europe as we went on to concede 17 times in 12 games.
I believe had we had a settled back 4 and these 3 key players fit and “at it” I doubt very much whether the results would have been the same.
The issues that have plagued us in Europe have also plagued us in the domestic games,so much so in fact the manager decided to ditch the zonal in favour of man marking in an attempt to improve things.
To a certain extent that has worked as we are now seeing less mistakes being made individually or on set pieces.
The team has failed to get out of 1st gear this season there have been so many flat performances which I think is mainly due to injuries to key men but also in part due to fatigue setting in.
We have played over 30 competitive games up to the 1st Jan with little break over the summer for those involved at international level this has had I think a very visible affect on energy levels but especially those who operate in the midfield where of course much of the running is needed to play the quicker style of football we wish to play.
In fact these guys are essential to that being possible.
I think now as I have throughout the past 4 months that this has had a serious effect on Ronny Deilas plans this season and has also seriously impacted any thoughts of kicking on from last.
In effect the manager has been on a hiding to nothing as they say.
Yet despite all of these issues the side has managed to sustain and maintain a healthy position both in the League and Cups (we are still very much involved in all 3) goes to show that the much maligned system and approach instilled by Deila is still producing results.
The one area where there seems to have been little or no impact is in attack but again the detractors have been keen to dismiss the system that plays with 1 main striker.
The results over this season would seem to suggest that all is well in that department given have hit 60 goals in 22 League games a feat that has not been achieved since season 2003-04.
Whilst I know that is hard for some to take it is a fact none the less.
In days gone by we had two maybe three good front men to choose from and were heavily reliant on them scoring as a result.
Not so this season even though Griffiths has been on fire (27 in total) he has still only bagged less than a 3rd of total goals scored…a high percentage have come from the midfield.
The 8-1 destruction of Hamilton last week emphasised that point beautifully.
We had finally come out of 1st gear and proceeded to shift through some more with ease.
On reflection I think Europe was poor and in the league we have gained results without hitting the heights set last season..
As a result the Manager has copped a fair bit of stick from within our fanbase and elsewhere in the media (no shock there).
Some of it warranted I feel but much of it not so as too many mitigating factors have been casually ignored to make a point.
I think with a bit of clever operating in this window we will see a much sharper more effective Celtic in the run in much like we did last season which I hope brings the rewards that are very much still on offer.
A settled defence which is has been bolstered this week ,a return from injury of key men and a return to form of others then we could be set up for a proper go in Europe next time of asking.
We have seen the difference in one game as both Armstrong and Mackay-Steven hit their stride again. (Now two after saturdays match -Ed )
Sure Hamilton were not up to much in thend but the fact we so comprehensively destroyed them without the likes of Brown,Johansen and Commons on the Park tells me at least we have several more levels to find.
We also have another window in the Summer to add that bit of quality that’s needed at the next level time will tell if we do of course but as always is the case in football patience is the key.
DEILA OUT!
MONTI OUT!
@Plumbs Understandable
Professor plum,
“Are you employed sir”?
Jeff Lebowski to Jeff Lebowski
Are you allowed to use the computers during 3rd period Maths Monti?
School has changed since I left.
Prredictable
Delia not for me.
Acceptable
9 of the 14 man squad were Scots on Saturday (mainly young too) Henderson pulling the strings at Easter Rd. I like that.
I would call that a step in the right direction Bawsman well said.
HH
Plums out…?
You didn’t say please…
@Plums Questionable
Dinner, then Plums oot?
Magical
The policy of replacing quality with potential is a lot more than 3 years old and cannot, on its own, account for our reduced position in Europe. The fact that we lost out to two beatable teams, Malmo and Molde, means we had bad results to add to the CL qualifying failure last year, which we redeemed in the Europa.
Domestically, RD has been a success this year and last but we don’t rate domestic succes as much as we used to.
The reason we don’t and cannot replace quality with quality is economic. We cannot replace a £10m sale with a £10m buy because the £10m bought player will be looking for more in wages than the player we sold for £10m had been enjoying. And the £10m sold player has to pay for the 3 other purchases we made that did not work out.
Therefore, the economic dominance of the big leagues, the bloated TV money they enjoy, and the continued effects of the Bosman ruling mean an inevitable decline long term for smaller leagues with smaller markets. In population size, we are a third as big as The Netherlands and half the size of Portugal. We used to compete with them when we grew our own world class players in the 60s and 70s but they have retained a place just outside the big leagues, through the 80s, 90s and onwards that we have rarely reached. The Dutch enjoy better economic conditions than us and the Portuguese have the Brazilian and S. American free access which has helped them (and Ukrainian clubs) punch above their weight.
No more “ambition” or speculation by Lawwell and Desmond can change those factors. We can do better than we are doing but there will still be a glass ceiling that prevents us going much further than we did in the noughties- a few last 16s in the CL and an occasional run to the quarters in the Europa in a good year.
We have to show the same patience our fathers and grandfathers showed in the 40s and 50s to wait till its our turn again when conditions change or are changed. Meanwhile, unlike them, we get to enjoy the dominant position in Scotland, a poor place but our own.
The policy may well be older than 3 years old but the fact is it has been ramped up now to be happening every 12 months bud.
It is at the forefront of the Boards strategy not at the back as in days gone by.
That takes me back to my point about levels of expectations within the support.
Results this Season in Europe have been hampered by loss of personnel and injury.loss of form of key individuals.
HH
Absolutely agree, everyone sees things differently.
Very poor in the C.L.qualifying against poor opposition,yes we lost two key defenders but we had known at least one year previously that that would be the case,memo to club,stop developing other clubs players.
That pish poor planning the managers lack of experience and by stubbornly refusing to alter his tactics has cost my beloved club some 30million in C.L.revenue.
Domestically MY LITTLE PONY could have won the TREBLE.
I would have said we were poor away to Malmo (though disallowed goal and their handball one did not help matters) – aside we were not bad up until that point.
I agree G both Molde games were unacceptable both performance and input wise but the rest were not as bad as have been made out.
We lost 4 of the 12 games played in Europe this Season 3 of the draws could have been won had we been at full strength and key men on form.
Mulgrew Lustig Brown Johansen Armstrong are key men.
If Sviatchenko = i thank sevco.
And Ronnie Delia = One Ireland
Does Monti = No Tim
Just saying like…….hehehehe
Dont take it to heart Monti
Celticreggae,
Sshhhh
Ok, you have probably noticed Ronnie Delia isn’t an anagram for One Ireland….DOH
Griffths out. Monti. Last nights comments make sense now?? Little thug. Club must act. Behaving that way in front of opposing players.
Not at all, the best teams in history all had flare ups.
Flare ups? I wouldn’t call an unprovoked assault a flare up. More like a ned showing his true colours but if he scores 30 goals a year then that sort of behaviour should be accepted!!
I don’t know the details of the incident you are referring to, but yes I if it is serious I’m sure the club and players will sort it out.
Remember Tosh Mockingly puting the forehead on Larsson? Wasn’t the end of the world was it?
Mckinlay
Monti,
McKinlays attack on Henke was a training ground
bust up done in the heat of battle,so to speak.
Griffiths assault is completely different,you canny treat Stokes and Griffith differently,most experienced Managers would punt him or drop him immediately,it will be interesting to see where this leads,if Fletcher comes in?
Hey, enough wi’ the flares, yer gonnae get us aw banned.
I’ll get my coat…
IT took me four feckin goes to see what you meant wi that,fair spoilt ma dinner,but get it now,at last.
Poorly written article with the expected positive spin on anything Deila does.
If someone was reviewing the season so far, I would expect a fair and reasonable balanced article.
The European results and performances were embarrassing, there has also been a major dropping off of performances and results in the domestic games, points dropped with little fight in the side.
Yes we have lost players to injury but we can’t keep banging on about VVD and Denayer, the club knew these guys were off and brought in sub standard replacements.
If Celtic lose at Pittodrie the gap will be 3 points?
The other way to look at it is the gap could go to 9, again though for balance, we need to look at what that gap would be if we lost.
Deila is buying himself and Lawwell more time with each passing win, cracks are being painted over.
I have said in the past, there is a good squad of players at Celtic park, I wouldn’t include Ambrose in that, however I have no faith in Deila driving the bus.
It’s easy to sit back and pen an article after the team has won a few games, this may still be a rewarding season, but if the CL qualifiers were this week, would any of us really believe Deila will deliver qualification?
Stats are you ready?
more excuses for ineptitude. Players out of form for Europe, i saw players not even fit in Europe. Players with no desire or hunger in europe. No more Malmos Molde, Maribors or Legias please! We need a manager that can motivate and raise standards, not Ronny Deila unfortunately.
SPOT ON!!
Fatigue has been a factor this season as mentioned.
These early qualifying rounds in Europe are not helping sides like us who’s Season starts in August and ends in May.
Even more so with Internationals in the squad.
Agree with Monti about first half of the season it has been very poor and disappointing but believe in Delia and know things take time, I think we are turning a corner getting everyone on long contracts and building team dynamics stability experience, think the board could make a few once off signings of quality and experience to help him through the transition but a man city loanee (no matter how good he is) instead of our own players doesn’t make sense unless its for a year.
Beat me to it, I thought Deila said we weren’t going down the loan route again?
More smoke and mirrors…
I see Liam Henderson is excelling at Hibs, Stokes will do the same.
Both players should be in the Celtic squad!
If they were you would be moaning about us not buying CL type players, showing no ambition blah blah.
Oh,
Fucking forgive me for wanting Celtic to do well, can’t have that now can we?
Pmsl!
We are a shambles in Europe and the stadium is half empty…..
Everything is going to plan then is it?
Seems to me like some people are so desperately unhappy with their own miserable existences that they have transferred said misery to their fitba team and our Norwegian manager.
Tragic stuff.
Plum duff,
Yeah that’s right, looks like half our stadium feels the same way.
Aye, it’s all Ronnys fault. Nothing to do with the general downsizing of Scottish fitba, overpriced tickets, a growing ten year apathy among the support or the global economic situation.
It’s all Ronnys fault.
You really are a sad, sad specimen.
Plum duff,
Of course NONE of it is Deila’s fault is it?
Deila is out of his element, a bit like you Donny!
Do you go to the games monti?
I go to the games and i agree with Monti.
P.L.must accept the bulk of the critisism for appointing him in the first place,although he accepted the position so he has to accept the critisisim, that comes with the job.
The rest of your argument is total pish,overpriced tickets the Global Economy,the downsizing of Scottish Fitba,Malmo,Molde have much lesser budgets than Celtic.We could be 30million better of if we had qualified for the C.L.
Delias budget is bigger than the WHOLE of the SPFL combined,supporters apathy is down to the shite fitba on display,we could do a lot better than we are currently doing givan our budget.
We pay more for less than Scandinavian teams.
That’s because we have the richest League in World Football on our doorstep and as a result we unfortunately have to pay more to secure a players services.
I would tend to agree with the budget argument if we were in the habit of buying top level players but the simple fact of the matter is we don’t and we haven’t done so for a long time now.
Average players on an above average pay scale.
The wild goose,
No I don’t, I work every Saturday.
I hope you aren’t going down the road I think you are….
Sorry ma man, think I got out of bed on the wrong side today.
Suffering from Scottishness?
http://youtu.be/sSS34o9WjpU
How many times have you posted that?
By the way, that’s my nephew, bottom right.
Are you in the middle Andybhoy or is that you back right.
I’m the horny one in the middle.
HA.HA.HA.Fair Maid ma day that.
i regularly travelled from Ireland for matches,and especially loved our european nights. Getting picked up at half 5 in the morning and not getting in through the door til 4 the following morning and then up for the work never was an issue as i was proud to be part of a team giving their all for the cause. There is not a hope in hell of me doing it again as long as Ronny is in charge of us in europe. I wont do it and i know loads that feel exactly the same. There is no excuse for no desire and hunger apart from poor management as far as i am concerned. Barcelona, Man Utd, Juventus, Milan etc are long gone and disappearing into the distance and with zero chance of ever being repeated.
John,
Your post covers how I feel!
Performances have been poor and I don’t like it either but think its more down to lack of quality and experience than hunger or desire IMHO.
Factors overlooked by many bud.
Spot on.
Celticreggae,
Deila is well into his second year FFS, how long does a manager need to get his message across?
No one is going to tell me this guy is a good manager, he is out of his depth!
I have a good mate who doesn’t miss a home game year after year, tell me he has considered not going, he has never said that in the past.
Is he wrong as well?
The fans aren’t going to the games, I don’t know about anyone else, but when I see thousands upon thousands of empty seats,it tells a story.
The pressure on Deila is about to be cranked up, three years in a row without CL football would be pathetic!
Monti i can accept defeat as long as the team give their all. I can leave the ground proud of how we fought every minute of the game. Malmo and especially Molde will never leave me. No fight nor desire. It looked like the team didnt give a stuff. We cant have another euro nightmare this summer. A treble wont change my view, Ronny had a treble stolen last season. Ronny unfortunately cant recover from this imo.
Both Molde performances were unacceptable I felt then entire teams baring 1 or 2 exceptions did not perform or show the fight needed AT ANY LEVEL never mind crunch European ties.
A few held their hands up others never.
Deila held himself accountable but the players should be claiming responsibility too for that.
Other ties wee thee to be won the factors I mentioned were relevant to the fact we never.
The defence was the issue in these ties I felt.
barring’
Charlie,
By your comments you put the blame of the Malmo/Molde onto the players,you fail to mention the cavalier tactics,when we were cut open with our defence charging upfield leaving our goals unprotected.
Who accepts responsibility for that,where was the Motovation,
where was the guidence,he was standing on the touchline like a rabbit caught in a cars headlights.
He accepted a position that he was not equipted to handle.
He (Deial)like them is learning on the job as far as Europe is concerned.
By the way I have stated many times since that Deila has accepted his part in these performances my point is only a few players came out and held their hands up.
It’s a learning curve and a very steep one at Celtic as we are no longer a force in Europe.
That issue lays further up the chain.
I know where the blame lies for the under investing and for appointing an inexperienced Manager.I also blame Deilla for accepting a position that he was not ready or equipted to handle.
All i hear when we are defeated is the players did this or didnay do that,that to me confirms his inexperience not to mention what it does for players confidence or dressing room harmony.
@Mike
“Deila held himself accountable but the players should be claiming responsibility too for that.”
Think you will find I apportion blame to both bud.
As it should be.
“we view ourselves as a Champions League CLub” “Our aim is to be in the CL 3 years out of 5”
Not the words of a fan with unrealsitic expectations, but of our Chief Executive Pater Lawwell. So if the fans expectations are unrealistic and we should all cut Ronnie some slack for being, well, a bit sh*te; tactically naive, never learning from mistakes, showing no ability to set up a team to close a game out when in a winning position, it is not the fans but the club istelf setting the expectations Ronnie is failing to meet.
As I questioned last week if Ronnie is just the head coach handed the squad and told to get on with it, I can have some sympathy but if he is the manager and responsible for player recruitment, which has gone down somehwat in spend but massivley in value for money then he has had a chance to shape his own team and imho opinion failed to convince when it really matters.
If he is in charge next season do you honestly believe the team wont be set up in the same wide open manner, with no aggression, no nasty streak in what our are most important games of the season, the CL qualifiers?
I don’t haven’t done for 3 years.
I also don’t listen to half the flannel Lawwell spouts either.
He’s a spin doctor.
The debt free stand alone pish backs this up.
We aren’t and we don’t.
elcormaco,
Once again a quality post!
i am totally dreading another Euro embarrassment, cant see it being any different.
John,
Same here, utterly dreading it to be honest.
Elcormaco,
Irrespective if hes the Manager or the Head coach,
he accepted the position and has to accept the critisism.
I totally agree with you re the naitivity never learning from his mistakes,he should never have been handed the position and for that i blame P.L.He is where i put the finger of blame.
Mike,
You’re right!
We need men in the boardroom who want to drive us on, it’s a football club, who mean the world to a lot of people, in fact fuck that, Celtic is a dominant thing in our lives, we just want it to be always flourishing.
I refuse to watch a Celtic side being shat on at home by the Molde’s of Europe, fuck that!
Monti,
I am not looking to win the C.L. or Europa League,not in the situation that we find ourselves in at the moment, but with sightly better investment and a management team that knows what its doing we could be should be doing much better.
Mike,
Winning either European trophy isn’t where I’m coming from, all I’m looking for is a Celtic side on the park that can FIGHT the best sides and push them.
We are not at the races and the last two seasons have been abysmal.
Monti with you 100% on that.
Ditto John, the way the central defenders are continually left isolated and exposed against poor, at best, domestic attacks suggests to me we’ll suffer the same fate as in the recent past. I agree with SFTB’s assessment of the transfer situation too, it’s cyclical, just the circumference of the circle getting smaller. Virgil and Jason were an exceptional partnership, in my opinion, and are proving hard to replace. Maybe Erik and Jozo (or A.N.Other)can bring some much needed solidity at the back, which will spread confidence through the rest of the team, as V&J did. I hope to be proven wrong regarding Europe.
Hail Hail
Charlie Saiz. A well-reasoned summary. Perfect in fact. Time will prove you right. What’s more, mostly we were unlucky in Europe and some results could easily have gone the other way. there were a few mistakes at key moments. Two draws away from home was beyond some of our Celtic teams in the past. I urge those fans whose minds are not made up about Deila to see where we are after his season, and after CL qualifiers next. I think we may all be pleasantly surprise. Charlie, thanks for your optmism. Truth can be optimistic as well.
There is none so blind as those than cannot see. Our tactics leave our back line continually exposed, very little cover provided. Mr Deila? Mr Lawell? When we are put out of Europe yet again by some club who come from a town with the population of one of our stands, I know who is to blame, Ronny not Peter. But some of our support will still be saying Ronny should have another go! He is driving people away.
John,
Spot on mate.
Devoy,
At this moment are you really optimistic this head coach will get Celtic into the CL group stages?
Based on his European record at Celtic, where is your belief derived?
@Devoy
Cheers bud as I say I leave it till January every year before I start to worry or get exited about what has come and gone and what lays ahead.
It could well go wrong and Ronny could well be found wanting this Summer in our next tilt at CL but only time will tell bud.
The same folk who accuse us and people like us of being to blind to see casually ignore the fine details in order to make a point.
We did lose a great central pairing
We did suffer early injuries to key men and particularly in the problem area
We are still involved in all Domestic Competitions
We are still currently sat on top of the table with points to spare
The much maligned 1 up has produced more goals after 23 Games than the previous 10 Seasons
We are not as reliant on Leigh Griffiths as has been suggested he scored 27 of the 88-less than a third
We have several more gears to find the Hamilton result a sign we are finding them now
We have several key men yet to hit top form
We have 2 windows including this to bolster the side
Europe was poor no getting away from it but we know from last Season we can play alot better.
We found our rythim
rhythm’ 😉
To those of us who are not happy with the manager, don’t believe what you see with your own eyes, those eyes are lying and are not to be trusted.
Don’t use your football knowledge, your instincts or balanced judgement.
Do not have the audacity to make your own mind up because remember, you don’t know anything.
Just read the statistics of the games and get right behind a guy who was NOT being considered for the top job, but as an assistant.
So there you are….trust in the stats and close your eyes, everything will be OK…
” It’s ok to lose “- Deila.
Or alternatively folks make bold statements without any fact or foundation,play FIFA 16,Football Manager or some other fantasy football game to gleam serious insight into what is transpiring before your very eyes.
Ignore the fact your team sits top of the league without playing well
Ignore the fact it still is in with a serious chance of a treble
Ignore the fact the syatem has produced more goals in 23 Games in the League than the previous 10 Seasons
Ignore the fact the CF who is on fire on 27 goals has still only scoed a third of all goals scored so far
Ignore the fact we just pumped a team 8-1
Ignore the fact we did so without our 3 top players.
Ignore the fact Efe AMbrose has been our best CB the past 4 games
In fact just get steaming every night and post Deila out Ambrose out every 10 minutes.
Just ignore the facts 😉
And stats that back them up of course.
DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER: OASIS
Slip inside the mind of a man, who has all the stats, at the turn of a hand,
Don’t believe the things that you see, it’s not Ronny you see, it’s the players to blame.
So No Ronny can wait, it’s time to head for the exit gate,
The players are not to blame, so goodbye Efe and Ronny, it’s you to blame.
Don’t look back in anger, don’t look back in anger, I heard you say……take Ronny away!
Where’s the caption competition?
HH
Sue
Susan,
Just make it up as you go along……just like Ronny does..
Out!
Some quality posts, glad to see nae need to resort to personal slagging to huv a say. me personally ah agree wi Charlie S but see the validity wi other opinions. Mon the Hoops!
Cheers Brian the way this/any site should be bud.
HH
Bondibrian,
I agree with part of your post…..
GRIFFITHS IN!
Charlie your stats are spot on as usual, but how about some stats regarding attendances,empty seats don,t lie.The support do not like
the style of football we are playing.ALL TO PLAY FOOTBALL THE GLASGOW CELTIC WAY.