El Cormaco is hiding behind his sofa, and refuses to come out until there are changes made. Well, at least until Wednesday anyway.. he suggests a few might be better off elsewhere, and a few can stay if they et their act together. No doubt you’ll have other thoughts…
Tuesday night was as bad as it gets. Excuses first, it was a terrible pitch, it was hot, it was early season. Right. You can chuck all of those because even if that’s all true the worst we should have come away with is a 0-0. But to lose to a team who were lifting us from the airport in the taxi they drove for work? It’s really bad.
It’s not Artmedia bad in my opinion because the result can be turned around, but frankly I m not too confident – any talk of 5 or 6 goals is wildly off the mark in my view, this team don’t have that in them against a team who puts up resistance
That we had 4 warm up games and still picked this 11 is either Brendan giving one last chance to those on shoogly pegs or the Deluded Bendan account is eerily accurate. For now I’ll opt for the former, though some of his comments were defininetly worrying. I cant remember who its was against but I recall Super Salary saying losing to whatever diddy team 2nd rangers lost to wasn’t embarrassing and thinking “ you don’t know what you’re talking about” Well, Brendan said the same last night; lets hope he learns quickly
Given he said he watched DVDs of last season and still picked that team I’m going to do him a solid a prepare him a chart he can print our a nd refer to in “training”: Its our first team squad, position, should he stay or go and why.
I know you can’t turn over a full team in one transfer window but I hope a lot of the guys I name today are not playing for Celtic this time next year. That’s a hard thing to write but most of them have had ample opportunity and are either not good enough, not brave enough or a horrible mix of the two.
Let me know what you think below
| Name | Position | Keep them? | Why / Why not? |
| Craig Gordon | GK | yes | he’s fallible, can be improved upon but he’s passable |
| Logan Bailly | GK | maybe | Not really been tested when he’s played although his distribution is scary |
| Leo Fasan | GK | no | He’s been here for a right while and is still no.3? Not gonna make it |
| Emilio Izaguirre | LB | no | I like Izzy, but he’s had his time |
| Efe Ambrose | N/A | no | Well, well, well. I’ve not given Efe a position as he can’t play in one. At centre half you think he might do less harm at right back, at right back you think he should play in the centre. The joke has run out of laughs, Efe, get your coat son, you’re never to be seen in a Celtic shirt again unless you’re on your holidays |
| Jozo Simunivic | CB | maybe | I fear we bought £5m crock here. Played very few times between injuries and looked pretty ropey when he did. Will be on good deal so difficult to shift, I would if we could |
| Dedryck Boyata | CB | no | Rivals Efe for frightening Celtic fans more than opposition forwards. To think we used to have big dominating centre halves like Bobo, now have timorous clowns like this guy, terrible passer, terrible defender, terrible signing. |
| Charlie Mulgrew | all sorts | no | Like Izzy, did a good job and should leave with his head held high, time and injuries have curtailed his “pace” to approx none and he can be a liability because of it |
| Saidy Janko | RB | no | I was pleased to see him last night, thought it was about time he was given a chance. I was wrong. A coward on the ball, unsure of his position when defending. There is usually a good reason clubs like Man United release players (see Boyata & Man City) |
| Mikael Lustig | RB/ CB | no | Another who has been a fine servant to Celtic, but is alos very injury prone and diminished because of it. Could possibly plug a hole at centre half but should be phased out and replaced |
| Erik Sviatchenko | CB | yes | A defender who defends. Novel stuff at Celtic Park. He’s slow sure and can lunge in, but has the right attitude and tries to keep some kind of defensive shape around him. Possible captain |
| Darnell Fisher | RB | yes | He seemed to be progressing well, good pace, decent defender, so it was odd he went out on loan last year. Hopefully he gets and takes his chance |
| A Ralston | ? | ? | Not seen him play. Listed as a defender |
| Kieran Tierney | LB | yes | our stand out youth player of the past few years, tenacious, committed, loves the Hoops and athletic. Possible captain. |
| Nir Bitton | DM | no | I wanted Nir to work, cut him a lot of slack but he appears to be playing a different game to everyone else, a game where the objective is to keep the ball from going forward and moving about the pitch as slowly as possible. He hasn’t got any better in his time here, so time to try someone else |
| Scott Brown | CM | no | Sorry Broony but time waits for no man and a snarling aggressive combative midfielder is only of any use of he can actually get to his opponents. Broony cant any more. His passing is also mediocre and he doesn’t score goals from midfield, so he doesn’t really offer anything. |
| Stuart Armstrong | CM | yes | Can be infuriating, can disappear from games, but seems to want to be a success at Celtic, which is something in itself at the minute, and has had very impressive games among the anonymous ones. Should play centrally |
| Kris Commons | AM | no | In all honesty even in his pomp I want a huge fan, too slow, too keen to shoot when a team mate is better placed but probably still our best player technically. Time must be up now though? |
| Gary Mackay Steven | winger | No | do you remember his debut? He was tearing past people, scoring goals? It was also the last time he played well, the jersey is too big for him, get him away back to Dundee United type team where one good game every 6 weeks is okay |
| Ryan Christie | CM / AM | yes | Its too early to judge, wants the ball which again at the minute is a bonus, still young so deserves a chance |
| Tom Rogic | CM/ AM | maybe | He’s a weird one Rogic. Last night he was spectacularly bad. Other games he can look like a world beater. He’s slow, inconsistent and hides at times, but he does have something. A last chance to show that consistently now or sell him, I m not really bothered |
| Scott Allan | CM / AM | yes | he can see a pass. He gives the ball away a lot too and isn’t in great physical condition, but he’s not been given a fair chance yet so until he is I say keep him |
| Stefan Johansen | CM | no | he wants to go, we are on the same page. One great season a complete non entity last year. If he wasn’t fit then he shouldn’t have made himself available for selection. Nowhere near as good as he thinks he is, like so many of the squad |
| Patrick Roberts | winger | yes | He’s on loan for another season so of course we will keep him. Despite his horrendous semi final miss he’s shown up well and it was a mystery why he didn’t’ come on last night |
| Kristof Ajer | DM/ CB | yes
|
only just arrived so not seen him, seems he is into being thought of for the first team for now |
| Callum Mc Gregor | CM | yes | Good squad guy, can score a goal and keeps the ball moving. Not really the standard to get where we want to be but not so bad he should be punted either |
| James Forrest | winger | no | Why did he come on last night? His tracking back was non existent, his chance at Celtic has come and gone, offers nothing positive – rumoured to have pace, never shows it, cant cross a ball or beat a man. Looks done at 24 |
| Liam Henderson | CM | yes | I like this player, has a bit of character, as he showed when he turned the cup final Hibs way last year. No more loans out please, start integrating him into the first team |
| J Thomson | ? | ? | Not seen him |
| Nadir Ciftci | CF | no | Just not good enough. Was okay last night but he’ll never be prolific and I m not really sure what the point of him is- even in his best Dundee United form he didn’t look good enough and the size of the number 7 shirt seems to have killed his confidence. |
| Leigh Griffiths | CF | yes | I doubt if we would have won the league last year without him. Has clear limitations but he scores goals, simple as. Needs to play centrally, while the idea of him cutting from the right onto his left foot makes sense in reality it doesn’t suit him |
| Moussa Dembele | CF | yes | for a hlf last night he looked good, only just arrived, and should get better over his time with us. |
| Aidan Nesbitt | CF | yes | only seen glimpses, but he seems like he has a chance. |
| J Aitchison | ? | ? | Not seen him |
So that’s it, only 14 of the squad I d definitely want to keep, and only four of those play in defence. 15 can go tomorrow if we can get some one silly enough to take them, and a few others are heading towards make or break time.
So we need a right back, centre back, defensive midfield, centre midfield, winger and striker. Over to you Peter / Brendan
Interesting views on some of the players. I like Jainko, he is young and missed a whole season practically through injury, he will get better. He fits the mould of how BR will want to play, a full back who can get forward and run all day, the DM should be clever enough to cover for him. Noticed the other night when KT went up the wing to give Forrest an out, when Forrest lost the ball he just did the usual, fixed his hair, pulled up his sox and it was Broony who covered the ground to bail him out. Maybe it is time Broony was told to just sit, to stop thinking he can drive the whole team forward like he used to, he has a clever enough brain to just sit in front of the cd’s and offer some protection and to give the ball to the likes of Armstrong and Christie to go and create. I dont see the need for 2 holding mid’s BUT if we get Joe Allen then Broony will be off I think. The rest are difficult to argue with, nto sure about Fisher, hasnt really kicked on from when he 1st broke into the squad, would prefer Janko I think. Johannson is an strange one, when he plays he does give you that energy and dynamism but last seaosn he didnt play and I think he see’s himself elsewhere, a good player in my eyes and if BR keeps him can see him becoming a big player for us. Up front we are ok I think, if Ciftci goes then we will replace him. Now if we can get 10million for all of those other players that pays for one top clas splayer, nto 3 or 4 fillers. Coupled with what the board have agreed to spend we have the opportunity here to add some real quality into a very very young inexperienced side. Going to eb an interesting month or 2.
I agree with what you are saying about Johannson, I do think he’s a good player but simply put unless he has a drastic change in attitude then get him sold at the first opportunity. I would LOVE to see Brendan signing Allen, that would be a real beaut of a signing. Sadly I suspect, on wages alone, he will be out of our reach. Deffo get rid of Cifti, in my view we should of never signed him in the first place, he was never prolific and the whole biting incident just put me off, we don’t need that sort of player at our club.
Totally agree with the exception of Mulgrew.
Keep everyone apart from Ambrose and Boyata!
They are shite!
Good article Elco.
Didn’t disagree with one assessment there.
Except possibly Janko who I think need a bit more time given his injuries last season.
Ain’t got time to individually go through them Ralph..But in the main I agree with your thoughts.
My two other points ‘though…
Who the hell recommended some of these buys…?
I despair at some of our signing decisions.
Not everyone will be a gem….but I know plugs when I see them…and we’ve signed some plugs…Does ma head in.
Second point…
BR’s team selection and tactics the other night.
The pitch was designed to slow everything down…and he plays Bitton,Brown and Rogic… who don’t need any help in slowing down…FFS Brendan.
Give the young bucks a chance…they’ve got enthusiasm..energy..and desire.
And who says we have to have 75% possession every time we play ?
In away games like this…sit a bit tighter…and let them come at us…If only to get away from the usual crap…where Clubs have us sussed anyway.
Rant over…
Onwards and upwards Celtic.
Firstly.. agree with you on Liam Henderson..Character YES and how badly we need character.. there’s defo something there and I’d like to see more of him.. yes on all your yes’s, Rogic would be a yes for me.. though I wouldn’t break the bank to keep him esp if £7m+ was on offer.. Stefan Johansen may still have something.. but I suspect he’s half out the door already.. I actually think that Lustig could be a revelation at CB.. but is his body finished already? .. Mackay-Steven deserves a last season with fitness to see if there is anything there.. wont be heartbroken if he leaves.. and BROONY.. I totally agree with you regarding his usefulness around the middle of the park.. not sure he can play box-to-box anymore… could he sit in front of the back four.. maybe.. I’m not convinced.. a maybe.. but there is an issue with Brown.. Rodgers.. like Deila.. ONLY A LOT BETTER.. is a manager that plays to a philosophy.. players are heavily coached and I’m not sure quite how vital a component CHARACTER is in those sort of teams.. it’s a fatal flaw of many of the advocates of that system.. they overlook character.. if Brown goes..as the longest serving squad member.. might the identity of the team suffer.. if he goes we need a BIG character to replace him.. would we/Rodgers get that player? I remember back in the Strachan days.. we were struggling and a bit aimless and then a supposedly less technical player, in Barry Robson, came in and because he had character in spades he lifted the team and became a pivitol player.. I’ve been saying it for years .. we need 3 players down and around the spine with experience and character.. everything will knit together from there.
Janko looks like a poor mans Anton Rogan without the heart.
Got to agree, but you missed out John Kennedy, sorry he hasnt a clue.
I have to admit to not being a BR fan, but I am afraid he will become another RD, sticking to a system that didnt work and players who were not good enough. BR needs to remember he doesn’t have the guy from Barcelona to rescue him this time.
Play 4 4 2, get Henderson, christie, Armstrong and Mc Gregor in the team and give young O Connel (if that’s his name) a chance at the back. HH
El,
A good article. Full of talking points. I agree with most of them, but what about McCart and O’Connell?
I say keep the former but get rid of the latter.
Unfortunately, it will take contract buyout to get rid of most of them. Can you guess what that will cost?
Rebus
Can’t disagree with what you have said. There is very little of the players that played on Tuesday that should expect/deserve a first team start. Unfortunately Brendan has inherited Delia/Lawwell’s mess and it will take time to sort out and we must remember that. Virtually every section of the first team requires surgery, from central defence to midfield to the forward positions.
It also worries me that we have no-one challenging Gordon for the GK position. Not sure that Bailly is good enough to do that. Gordon was an excellent keeper but, to me, he’s let in some soft, soft goals for the past year, the defence needs to take it’s fair share of blame but at the end of the day the GK is the last line of defence and I think he could’ve done a lot better.
Hopefully over the coming weeks we’ll see Brendan bringing in players to improve the first team. With the size of squad we currently have it must be a thankless task to move a lot of these guys on and also try to get other players in.
We just need to keep the faith despite the team doing their best to try our patience.
HH
Agree with 90% of your assessments El. Goali position is a funny one,Gordon mibbee eye mibbee naw,do not rate Janko at all or Sumo who looks like he has glass ankles.Sviet is ok with K.T.We defo need a completely new midfield,was always a big fan of Broonie,but alas his time is up,Bitton no thanks,Allan Scott no thanks,Hendo yes,Christie has still a bit to go,Armstrong yes,same as griff and Dembelle,who given time and maturity could be great.Agree about GMS.
The team has the look of being badly neglected,thanks for that Pete and similiar to R.D.Brendan will need time and some serious cash to mend it,but mend it he will.
Hows the lovely Lisa,give her our best.H.H.
Thanks Mike, I will do!!
Hard to argue with any of that.
When you look at the players written down it is truly frightening. Terrifying to be honest. And I don’t really disagree with you on any of them. Janko is utter shite. He is hopeless. He is Efe Ambrose all over again and the only reason he doesn’t make more mistakes is because he is a shitebag and hides. The description above about Anton Rogan is good without the talent or heart. when you look at who we have it is possible that the aged crocks at Ibrox could actually give us a run for our money. If Barton is indulged by the referees and Krancjar loses two stone it might be quite scary. Imagibne the indignity of losing the league to them on their arrival in the top flight. Rodgers better be at his inspirational best to motivate he dumplings we have. That is why they have signed him to get the best out of what we have. But you can’t polish a turd. He needs to put McCart in for a start next Wednesday. I thought he looked quite good in preseason. Why was Nesbitt not on the tour by the way? I have asked afew people but they did not know why. He has been touted as just about to make the step up.
The spine of the team is crap, we need a Wanyama a Forster and. Van Dyck, shit we had them
Overall agree with the majority of your player opinions, however we need a leader on the field. When things go wrong the exam are like a rabbit staring a the headlights.
Hopefully Rodgers will have noted this and be prying finance from the Parsiminious Lawell to bring in two leaders.
I am not a great Commons lover, but at least he had a bit of bottle.
One other thing JPK should not be the coach. He has served his time
After this week’s performance, it is a “safe watching area” that we should be opening, with a restricted view where you can pay to watch without actually seeing Ambrose, Bitton and one or two others, rather than a “safe standing area”.
Efe ambrose is on course to be a sevco legend.
NUFF SAID
I thought he had pried money from them at the end of May? We were told his extensive network of contacts throughout Europe, the plethora of talent that he had previously worked with and who loved him would be queueing up to sign on for the Revolution. The only problem was that he would only have a month with them before going into a real qualifier at the end of July. we are now in the middle of July and we have signed a teenage striker for under 500,000 pounds. 14.5 million remains unspent and the usual list of names are in the papers every day, yet they have not signed for any other club? Surely it would have been relatively easy to tie up a deal for Duffy 2 weeks ago, if he is the one they want. Sinclair is the same. No one else appears to be interested. Are they interested? Possibly not. They will be waiting on a call from one of the bottom EPL clubs or possibly Championship. Now we are apparently interested in a guy who could not make it in the Championship with Forest, who has Scepovic/Bangura/Berget etc etc stamped all over him. We were told that these stabs in the dark were over. ‘Real manager , real budget, better quality players. Give us yer 500 quid, you can trust us, have we ever lied to you before, by the way we are looking at this Resolution 12 thing as well’. the first question Rodgers was asked was can you get us into the CL with the shite we have. And Brendan being the deluded guy he is said Yes. Pete I can. You can achieve anything if you ignore reality and remain positive. It is all about the attitude. The players are a bit happier as they can have chips and coke with their lunch.
Duffy I’m sure could be convinced to sign being that he’s a fan, Sinclair I don’t know, really depends on the player himself, some players are more motivated by money than the desire of winning things. Look at that tosser Fletcher, not that I would’ve taken him but he’s a typical case in point, though he’s found his real level now at Sheffield Wednesday. It’s difficult to say what’s true and what isn’t, everything is speculation until something concrete happens so I hope to god that the “interest” in that ex-Forrest striker is a pile of crap.
Thanks for reading guys. Its kind of depressing that there are so many players in our squad that we all agree should go – our recruitment for the past three seasons – Lenny’s last & Delias 2 years has been pretty rank and will take time to undo.
Wouldnt agree 100% , but overall a very fair and accurate view imo.
We have some amount of wasters at the club, some should have been out the door following the semi final.
Some cowardly performers in the ranks.
John I think you should lay off of Brendan, crazy to blame him when he is just in the door, give him time and he will sort this mess out
I really hope you are right, Ewan. I have no problem with him. I think Di Matteo and Clarke would have been a far superior choice, Di Matteo has actually won stuff an Clarkes achievements at Wet Brom are as good as Rodgers at Swansea. My concern with Brendan is that he appears a grade A bullshitter. I cringed every time he came on TV when he was a t Liverpool. He was a figure of fun for months coming out with the same auld nonsense every week when Liverpool were falling apart with players that he and the committee had signed for a fortune. I remember his last post match comments which seemed detached from reality and he declared himself ready to fight for this football club, not realising he was getting sacked in less than 15 minutes. The result was bad enough, the other night, but his reaction was astounding. And this from a guy that claims to have grown up supporting Celtic. I hate it when people mock and ridicule Celtic. I take it very personally. And his comments made Celtic a bigger laughing stock then they already were. English language newspapers from Mumbai to the Himalayas to China had big articles on the defeat and his reaction to it. He picked that team. He included Ambrose, Ciftci nd James Forrest, after claiming to have watched videos of last season’s games and watched them in preseason. While Allan, Roberts and Nesbitt are not getting a game. But I don’t want to upset anyone, not singing from the same hymn sheet like we are all supposed to do. No more criticism from me. i will just get on my knees like everyone else and pray that things go right. That seems to be the strategy that is employed at celtic. However, Ronnie Deila did not get the same support. It was Ok to boo his teams onto the park. Rodgers doesn’t have time. That is why he was employed. He would make the players we have better with his inspirational style and would attract a better standard of plyer to get us into the group stages this year. I hope it happens. But some people are now saying it will be next year before we see improvement, two or three transfer windows. That is a bad dael for 2.25 million a year. .
John, I’m sorry to say, but I have the same misgivings on BR. I remember all the money he spent at liverpool, his failures and excuses. Please god we haven’t picked up another yes man.
Nobody seemed to be offering him a job apart from us, must have thought he had won a watch. Please God he proves me wrong and he can start by getting rid of the dumplings there just now…that would be a statement!!!
Desmond/Lawwell- THE 5th COLUMN inside Celtic ! A famous football club reduced to embarrassing mediocrity. Beating Rangers in the Semi was a must- instead they get a huge psychological boost and with their additions must be feeling very confident about taking Celtic’s title. Celtic require major surgery and I doubt there’s time= No CL and probably No Europa either and probably a struggle to retain the title. I fear for this season ! Desmond/Lawwell are complacent/incompetent and need to be replaced by people who understand it is Celtic FOOTBALL Club and it stands and falls with the team on the park,not acountants wet dreams. How can one explain that Rangers return is going to be welcomed by the worst Celtic team in years ? That’s the Board’s doing. Profit before progress.
Surely there is a better alternative ? Of course it was embarrassing Mr Rodgers ! You worry me already and you’re not a proven winner
Totally agree with last 2 posts. Broony was so shite even Ronny dropped him but what truely scares me most was using Forrest over Roberts (who should be first name on team sheet) and playing Griff out of position. Same as Lenny and Ronny did. I pray to god it was only to give those guys 1 last chance chance. Signing no defenders so far is simply criminal and anyone thinking that squad could get to Group stages is insane. I doubt it will even get into the EL groups if BR uses the same players he did on tues.
If there is at at least 4 changes then BR is completely deluded. Those players have failed every time when it really matters and if he cant see that then this season will be a horror show.
Get rid of Commons? Some people have short memories. Guy scored 32 goals the year before RD arrived and bailed out RD in his first season. Was the only one who looked capable of bringing us back into it against Malmo – which was of course Ronnie’s cue to take him off.
Still the most gifted player we have and, as somebody pointed out, he’s got bottle, and we desperately need some in that team.
Please Brendan, don’t f*ck it up, we’ve endured enough humiliations in the last few years. Don’t over-think this – play Griffiths up front with Dembele, play Roberts, play Commons (if he’s fit), drop Ambrose, and we win.
Shhhhh, Hamish, you’re not supposed to say this. It will be OK, just pray. With a positive, sunny outlook (and character) it will all work out in the end.
I got depressed reading this, the amount of dross we have now is beyond a joke. I agree with the author, I’d get rid of Gordon as well though, don’t trust the man after that night against inter Milan.
Brown looks finished. I believe brendan knows now who has to go.
Everything is going to be okay.
Hail hail
to all the Brendan bashers. you have to remember he’s into this new age, psychology. no talk negative. be positive. positive positive. n o saying it works but he doesn’t do criticism. only to think positive and n urture players. tho his use of Griffith’s on wing and relying on Brown is worrying
what do you have to say to the bishop bashers