If we were to base the planning of the Celtic management on yesterdays game alone, then one or two players have cememted their place in the squad, and one or two may well be heading out.
Celtic lost 3-1 to Barcelona in Dublin, not entirely unexpected, but put into context, it was just a warm up for the real football next week. Leigh Griffiths showed good awareness when he pounced on a defensive lapse to score Celtic’s goal, and Efe Ambrose was on the scoresheet as well, as he strove to get his annual fuck up out of the way before the serious stuff resumes.
Technically, two Celtic players scored, and two Barcelona players scored, so really it would have been 2-2 if not for the archaic rule that says you can’t just score into the nearest available net.
That evenness fits well with the match stats..
Now that Celtic cannot win the International champions cup, the side slip down into the European Champions League, despite still having one game to play , against Inter milan in Limerick.
And really, we should concentrate on that one at this stage, and maybe get ready for a serious tilt at the ICC next year.
Tom Rogic and Nadir Ciftci put in shifts that suggest they have a future under Ridgers, while , sadly for ambrose, the Nigerians shattered confidence may well be beyond repair even for Rodgers.
Not surprising when you consider he was booed by his own supporters. In a friendly. Which is absolutely disgraceful, and even stunned Brendan Rodgers into defending the likeable rogue.
Best fans in the world ? Aye, now and again.
Tom Rogic wore the captains armband in the second half, and he didn’t let anyone down, and its worth noting that he joins James Forrest in leading the side, at least nominally, in what seems to be a statement of intent by Rodgers.
If those two are going nowhere, however, its unlikely we’ll see Ambrose lead the side out anytime soon. For the sake of his own sanity, one feels he needs a fresh start somewhere else.
Friendlies are difficult games to judge anyone by, especially when they are sandwiched between a season defining european game, so criticism of Calum MacGregor, Stuart Armstrong and to a lesser extent Scott Brown is unjustified. Its what they do next week that counts.
Rodgers seemed pleased enough with the workout…
“It’s always a great education when you play against Barcelona. A lot of the elements we are looking to produce in our players in terms of that pressing element and possession is so impressive.
“But I thought my players were excellent, although there were times in the first half were we weren’t high enough up in our pressing.
“They exploited the space with the top quality players they have.
“We were much more aggressive with out pressure in the second half and created more chances.
“We haven’t had an easy game over pre-season – every one has been geared towards trying to qualify for the Champions League so this was a good exercise for us ahead of midweek.
“There is disappointment that we may have lost Nir Bitton. He has twisted his ankle and that prevented him from being able to move so well in the first half.”
Meanwhile, man in the know, the Sunday Posts expert columnist Gordon smith, has some advice for Celtics new manager…
Brendan Rodgers needs to deliver more top signings for Celtic
Don’t worry, he’s had a word with someone …
Smith, whose knowledge of football can be compared with anyone’s in the world game, not favourably, but compared nonetheless, has given his assessment on Celtic for the coming season, and its fucking hilarious;
It’s not just Oor Wullie and the Broons that make the Sundays a chucklethon with that paper.
Who can fail to nod quietly to oneself when considering insight such as this;
I think he will face two main challenges in his new position.
The first is recruitment, and how to get more players of the standing of Kolo Toure in to the club.
The second is being able to move others on to be left with the sort of lean group he likes to work with.
Laced with bitterness such as this…
RODGERS will lead Celtic to six-in-a-row but Hoops fans shouldn’t count on him hanging around to try and deliver number 10.
I believe his aim will be to build his reputation back up then, when his stock is high again, move back down to English football.
Fair enough, even Smiths entitled to an opinion. Why would he be looking to go back to England ?
You might want to make sure you’re not about to take a sip of a hot drink before you read the next bit.
That would be shrewd, too, because whether Celtic can get the 10 will be totally down to how Rangers develop, and Mark Warburton seems to be getting them going.
Nurse, he’s fallen out of bed again.
In fact, he’s rolled along the floor and tumbled down the stairs…
Still, in an article filled with objectivity assessing Celtic, he needs to mention “rangers ” just one more time..
MOST-IMPORTANT PLAYER
SCOTT BROWN is the captain of Celtic, plus the figurehead of the club.
But his form has dipped, and he was not at his best last season, with his performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Rangers much talked about.
But he is the top player at Celtic in the same way Joey Barton is at Rangers.
So I think he is the key. If he can recapture his form and fitness, then the Hoops will benefit greatly.
The comparison with Barton is presumably included to allow a reader who may not understand the role Brown plays at Celtic. Its why a writer would include it, as his job is to make sure the reader understands the point he is making.
So, lets further clarify this.
Scott Brown does for Celtic what Barton does for “rangers “.
Brown has been at Celtic for nearly ten years, won a basket of medals captained his club and country and has top level european experience.
Joey Barton is 34.
Its Sunday, and Knob of the Week appears to be sorted already.
Out of curiousity, and a desire to read more comedy gold, i had a look at what Smith says about “rangers “, and their championship hopes.
Better put that drink down again….
unless the Hoops have the distraction of a Champions League group campaign, I believe they are going to finish above their old rivals in the Premiership table at the end of this season
Yeah, sounds about right. He calls them our old rivals. And actually seems to think they are in with a shout. As long as we make the Champions League.
A side in the champions League will be usurped by a bunch of old men and kids who are led by a man in his first full season at the top domestic level -thats without mentioning Hearts, Aberdeen or a very consistent St. Johnstone- because, er, they are in the Champions League!
How could he have come to that conclusion?
THE way Mark Warburton has gone about his business has really impressed me. He has done things the right way.
Ah, right. The Warburton effect.
So along with infuential playmaker Barton we should be worried ? Right ?
Burnely, the newly promoted Premiershipside, faced “rangers ” in a friendly yesterday, which might well have alarmed a few bears. They figured Barton wasn’t worth a new contract.
After they duly dismissed the Ibrox side without breaking sweat, their manager , Sean Dyche , had a few words to say to his players ..
“But overall today I was generally pleased, but the last 30 minutes unacceptable from our team, simple as that.
“Some of it’s fitness, fatigue and that weird thing that when you’re 3-0 up you can get a bit lax.
“But the point is you can’t do that in the Premier League.
“We were there two years ago and you can’t do it; teams will hurt you.
“So we’ve got to learn from that today. Fitness will improve and as fitness improves so will focus and concentration.”
You might not see that quote in the papers today, and its odd how Smith never mentioned it…
Caption competition , and yesterday we gave you this…
and you gave us this..
The new Three Amigos issue a desperate “Come get me” plea to Big Brenders!
No doubt the next press conference will see Rodgers forced to deny any move for them…
Incidentally, it seems Warburtons denial of a move for Robin van Persie has come too late for one supporter,
He, or she, is no doubt heading into the cinema to see a film from the fantasy genre. Evidence seems to suggest he-or she-is a big fan.
Todays caption should be relevant, humorous and fit this picture…
