{"id":8600,"date":"2016-02-05T10:51:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T10:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=8600"},"modified":"2016-02-05T10:51:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T10:51:03","slug":"celtic-diary-friday-february-5-problems-problems-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=8600","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Friday February 5: Problems ..Problems..Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had a text from a mate at work yesterday. As some of you know, I had a chat with Ronny deila at a fans forum last May, and told him that the way the team were playing forced me to eat a little humble pie, but I was pleased about it.<\/p>\n

My mate, incidentally \u00a0once with PSV at the same time as Romario, although there careers took a different path, asked me if I was going to ask for my humble pie back.<\/p>\n

He supports blackburn, or bolton, or burnley. Some northern team undeserving of a capital b , anyway.<\/p>\n

And know what, it really annoys me when English fans do that.<\/p>\n

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It seems the goings on at Celtic Park have also attracted the major players in Hollywood. George Lucas and Steven spielberg (pictured below ) are looking at putting together a movie which will detail the Ronny Deila years, and they are just waiting to see what happens this weekend before announcing times and dates.<\/p>\n

We hear Harrison Ford will play Deila, with Kate Capshaw playing new manager Jorge Cadete.<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

Speaking of the world of light entertainment, congratulations to Matt le Blanc-Joey from Friends-who will co host Top gear with Chris Evans. Its a moment in tv history, a ginger with a friend….<\/p>\n

Before we start, i’d just like to remind everyone why , for television pundits, especially those who reckon that they-or their co-hosts-could do a better job than Ronny Deila, is , in fact talking bollocks.<\/p>\n

And for them, Sky really is the limit<\/p>\n

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Gary Neville, one of the better tv pundits, gave up telling others how to do their jobs and decided to have a crack at it himself.<\/p>\n

Fair play to him.<\/p>\n

Barcelona 7 Valencia 0 match report:<\/h1>\n

Gary Neville remains defiant after Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi run riot<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Gary Neville was defiant in the face of repeated pointed questions about his future at Valencia following a harrowing 7-0 thrashing by Barcelona.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The manager was asked a total of three times by Spanish journalists if he would resign from the job he took two months ago and quickly grew impatient with the endless jabbing, merely stating \u201cnext question\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTonight was a painful evening. That result and that scoreline is unacceptable,\u201d said an ashen-faced Neville after Lionel Messi\u2019s hat-trick and Luis Su\u00e1rez\u2019s four goals condemned Valencia to a heaviest defeat in the cup since 1928.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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So maybe its time to stop and think before issuing such statements as “I could do better than ronny ” or “Anyone could win this league “<\/p>\n

No, you couldn’t, and no, \u00a0they couldn’t.<\/p>\n

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Management isn’t easy, and to succeed you need everyone pulling in the same direction.<\/p>\n

You need to be leader and follower.<\/p>\n

You need to be decisive and flexible.<\/p>\n

You need to delegate and put in the work yourself.<\/p>\n

Above all, you demand loyalty and support from those above you and those below you.<\/p>\n

In equal measures, because if you don’t get the support from above, your authority is undermined, and you will lose respect in the eyes of your staff. They won’t see you as a boss anymore, they will see you as an equal.<\/p>\n

Before you know it, you’ll be in the pub with them agreeing that the bosses are all tossers.<\/p>\n

When in fact, you are their boss.<\/p>\n

And those immediately below you are only immediately below you because their fear of being sacked is greater than their chances of getting your job.<\/p>\n

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I mention all of this because instead of spending my Friday night reading Deila Out!, Deila In ! or You’re all fucking huns ! when I sit down to read the replies with a beer or two later on, I’d like to feel that together we have achieved something.<\/p>\n

Today , the training has been cancelled at Lennoxtown, which could mean that a press conference is on the way, and the powers that be have decided who will take over from Ronny Deila , at least until the end of the season.<\/p>\n

Or, it could be , that in a master stroke of man management, the players have been given time off to rest ahead of Sunday’s game against East Kilbride, who I am scared to google in case it turns out they know how to pass, tackle and shoot.<\/p>\n

If they can, we’re in trouble.<\/p>\n

The site receives a lot of “information ” from people who know things, have heard things or are merely speculating.<\/p>\n

The difficulty is in knowing which to believe, which to dismiss, and which to put into the Rumour Mill.<\/p>\n

Whereas a reader-thats you-might see the filtered version-the writers-thats us-see a lot more.<\/p>\n

And when we read the replies to our articles, we sometimes pick up on something that others haven’t, usually becaus they’re too busy taking offence at each other.<\/p>\n

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So, this morning we’re going to do a little exercise..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

( This yoga sequence continues with the right leg being brought forward, the yogi standing up slowly, with the left leg remaing in the bind, and then , with his weight on the right leg, gently extending until it forms a vertical line . I have sort of done this one, but fell over at exactly the point when I realised I was actually doing it. )<\/p>\n

Not that sort of exercise, a thinking exercise.<\/p>\n

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We know something is wrong at Celtic.<\/p>\n

We know that the manager is under pressure, and , indeed, by the time we reach a conclusion, he may be out of a job.<\/p>\n

So, what went wrong ?<\/p>\n

What we are not going to do is state that “he is out of his depth “-that doesn’t mean anything .<\/p>\n

We are not going to say the job is too big for him-that means the same as out of his depth. Nothing.<\/p>\n

What we are going to establish, by talking it through sensibly, is where he went wrong, because he has.<\/p>\n

Or, at least, he is being perceived as having gone wrong.<\/p>\n

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First, lets look at the manager himself, a profile, if you like.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t shout or scream on the touchline. His style is quieter and more cerebral. He wants the players to work out what to do next. As highly paid professionals, they receive their training in the week, and are expected to perform on matchdays.<\/p>\n

Unlesss, of course, you are a defender, when it seems you can do what you want, when you want.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

This picture, posted by Etims colleague Hector Bandido elsewhere on the site, illustrates a problem.<\/p>\n

The defence don’t know what they are doing, or how to do it. They play as though they met each other on the bus that morning.<\/p>\n

Yet we ( apparently ) have a full time defensive coach. It used to be Danny McGrain in that role, and he did it very well, but he’s not been well, and the task has fallen to John Kennedy.<\/p>\n

not only does the personnel change from wek to week, the system seems to be similarly haphazard. One wekk it’s man marking, the next it’s zonal, and then the following week its “can someone fucking get that ? “<\/p>\n

The picture above seems to be depicting the third way.<\/p>\n

Emabarassingly , I’ve only ever seen one picture that mathces that one for defensive ineptitude;<\/p>\n

\"weir\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why is this happening ?<\/p>\n

If a coach wants to play a certain way, whether rightly or wrongly he must instill that into his players. changing it every week doesn’t inspire confidence or encourage familiarity and therefore competence.<\/p>\n

More than that, it means he isn’t sure which is the way forward, and therefore if he isn’t sure, how can he expect the players to be ?<\/p>\n

First.lets ask who is responsible for the coaching of the defence.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, of course, it’s Deila.<\/p>\n

He has delegated Kennedy, who , from what we have seen lately, doesn;t appear to be decisive enough. He is unsure which is the better system. Although the players seem to make both equally unworkable.<\/p>\n

If Deila feels that Kennedy is not doing as he asks, he must instruct him accordingly. If he continues to ignore instructions, then its time to be ruthless.<\/p>\n

If, however, Kennedy is following instructions, and the indecision is Deila’s, then the fault is at the top. We don’t know for sure which it is, but if it were Kennedy’s problem, then something , you would hope, would have been done about it.<\/p>\n

Or does Deila feel he doesn’t have the authority ?<\/p>\n

Can he hire and fire his own staff ?<\/p>\n

The appointment of assistant John Collins suggests he cannot.<\/p>\n

In which case, he needs to make a stand, and stamp his authority on the club, something he should have done on day one. When you take a job in management, the first few days are the only time you will get things your own way, and its crucual to establish the rules.<\/p>\n

Your rules.<\/p>\n

You are welcome to disagree, but I feel that Deila , in accepting Collins, ceded the control that he needed to make the job work, and although its taken nearly two years, now its going wrong, he can’t do anything about it.<\/p>\n

Of course, injuries sales and loss of form haven’t helped, but there are now six players, all of them who have represented their country at some level, capable of playing centre half.<\/p>\n

Yet it’s only recent arrival Sviatchenko who stands out.<\/p>\n

Then again, he hasn’t been here long enough to be “corrupted “.<\/p>\n

The concept of defence is simple.<\/p>\n

You have to stop the other team from scoring.<\/p>\n

This is best achieved by everyone knowing what they should do, what everyone else should do, and if in doubt, blootering the ball into the stands.<\/p>\n

We are not actually doing any of that.<\/p>\n

Which is unforgivable. There are two former defenders on the coaching staff. How can both of them fail to get their message across.<\/p>\n

To me, this must be because they are saying two different things. They do not agree on a system, or how to play it. When this happens, the two “idea’s ” become blurred, and a new idea emerges.<\/p>\n

That idea seems to be “ah fuck it. someone else can chase him “<\/p>\n

You may feel there is a valid argument that the two holding midfielders should be protecting the defence. If thats the way we are set up, then yes, they should be.<\/p>\n

But they aren’t. It appears that they aren’t sure how to play this role.<\/p>\n

Again, why is this ?<\/p>\n

John Collins was a damn fine midfielder in his day. If he os half as good at coaching as he was at playing, then he should be able to bring one or two a least somewhere near his level.<\/p>\n

But again, is he telling them one thing, and Deila another ?<\/p>\n

The defence seem uncertain of where they should be, but comapred to the holding midfielders, they are positvely disciplined.<\/p>\n

The two in those positions don’t actually remain in position. Like a dog chasing a bin bag on the beach, they race around with little idea why they are doing it, and then stand, tongues out and tail wagging when it all goes tits.<\/p>\n

In fact, with the full backs also given licence to roam, with little or no cover, we have four headless chickens in a line, leaving the two centre halfs exposed.<\/p>\n

No wonder we keep losing goals. It can’t all be down to Ambrose or Boyata .<\/p>\n

But hey, we need a scapegoat.<\/p>\n

If Collins is telling the midfielders one thing, and Deila another, it could also explain something else.<\/p>\n

Why have we got so bloody many midfielders ?<\/p>\n

Not counting those on loan, there are fourteen listed in the first team squad. Sixteen if you count Mulgrew and Kazim richards as midfielders.<\/p>\n

How do you keep them all happy ?<\/p>\n

Some of the more credible stories emerging from more than one souce involve players who have been promised one thing and received something else.<\/p>\n

Game time being the main gripe.<\/p>\n

Scott Allan, for instance, must be now believing his mates who are telling him he was only signed because it would annoy whoever happens to be in charge at ibrox.<\/p>\n

Of course, \u00a0this is nonsense, but its not difficult to build a case to back that argument. He hasn’t started a game yet, but has shown he has talent, vision and attitude.<\/p>\n

Ryan Christie ? Will he get a game ?<\/p>\n

No wonder Aiden Nesbitt took his chances with Partick.<\/p>\n

And heres something else to think about.<\/p>\n

Something i think may be at the heart of the lack of heart and passion when things go against Celtic on the park.<\/p>\n

We’ve seen that Dedryck Boyata doesn;t want to make a mistake. Efe Ambrose doesn;t care, he’s used to the flak by now.<\/p>\n

But when things are going wrong, and its up to the middle men to create something, to inspire those around them, there seems to be a fear of trying something different.<\/p>\n

After all, if they do as the boss tells them, and don;t make any mistakes, they won’t be dropped. There are a dozen men waiting to take their places in the team.<\/p>\n

This could go back to Stuart ?Armstrongs decison to play in Scott Allan from a corner against ajax. Had Allan been a little quicker and scored it would have been a superb piece of imagination. He didn’t, he lost the ball and Ajax scored from the break. Or was it Fenerbache ?<\/p>\n

It seems so long ago, and yet it may have been a defining moment in the season.<\/p>\n

Have the players been told not to take risks, not to try anything different ?<\/p>\n

Is that why there’s no fight, and we’ve reverted to just sidieways passing, hoping a defender falls over and creates a bit of space ?<\/p>\n

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Add to that the guaranteed abuse from the crowd when a player misplaces a pass, or makes even a slight error, then it’s little wonder the players are , well, at best nervous, at worst terrified.<\/p>\n

So, whose fault is that ?<\/p>\n

Collins was no shirker in going forward. so has he passed that on to his changes on the training pitch. Or has he decided that safety first is the way ?<\/p>\n

Has Deila adopted at policy that prioritises not losing before winning ?<\/p>\n

Whether he has or hasn’t, the lack of fight is disheartening. After all, its not so long ago that we would settle down , a goal behind , and not be worried at all because there was still injury time to be played.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night, after about an hour of the game, you knew it wouldn’t happen.<\/p>\n

If we, as a support, know it, is it also possible the players know it ?<\/p>\n

As for the forwards, we now have two Carlton Cole and Leigh Griffiths.<\/p>\n

I’d be wrapping Kris Commons in cotton wool right now, as he is the only other player on the books who can be counted on to score goals in and around the penalty area.<\/p>\n

When Henrik Larsson left Celtic, I, and a number of others watched his last game at Celtic Park wearing sunglasses. That way, the tears and the fear couldn’t be seen by anyone around me.<\/p>\n

Tears-becuase we were gonna miss him.<\/p>\n

Fear-because I couldn;t see how we would cope without him.<\/p>\n

If Leigh Griffiths gets an injury, or a court case , or any other kind of incident that affects his performance, we are knee deep in doodoo.<\/p>\n

Its that simple.<\/p>\n

Eleven defenders, Sixteen midfielders, one striker and Carlton Cole.<\/p>\n

That’s the squad coming up to the time when medals are handed out.<\/p>\n

Who allowed this to happen ?<\/p>\n

Who is in charge of recruitment and planning ?<\/p>\n

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For good or bad, I’m hoping that we stick with Deila.<\/p>\n

Partially because i don’t think he’s all to blame for the ills at the club, although he must take responsibility for, well, not taking responsibility and making sure he was in complete charge from day one.<\/p>\n

Partially because there is a good coach in there, although perhaps one who , again, needs to be a little more assertive with what he wants from the players, and , of course the other coaches around him.<\/p>\n

And finally, and this is the important bit, the alternatives are really too terrible to consider.<\/p>\n

I know some of you have your favourites, I know that some of you think Moyes, Rodgers et al are the answer.<\/p>\n

They aren’t, really, they aren’t.<\/p>\n

Pick up a copy of Michael Calvins Living on a Volcano. You’ll see where I’m coming from.<\/p>\n

The other scenario is that Collins takes over as an interim manager. Far more likely at this stage, I would venture.<\/p>\n

And that would worry me, as it would mean his fear of being sacked has been pushed away by his hopes of getting the top job.<\/p>\n

Despite not being popular in the dressing room, the board may see it as a logical take a step back and assess the next move type of appointment.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the dressing room, where the fuck does everyone sit ?<\/p>\n

Is it first come first served ?<\/p>\n

Theres too many players. simple.<\/p>\n

At the fans forum in May of last year, Deila spoke of trimming the squad .<\/p>\n

What happened ?<\/p>\n

Which also begs the question…for a selling club we didn’t sell too many players last month, did we ?<\/p>\n

None actually.<\/p>\n

Recently we had a new director of finance, as Eric Riley stepped down. Is he taking time to assess the assets ?<\/p>\n

Re directing the finances ?<\/p>\n

What input into transfer policy and spending will he have ? Will he operate differently from Riley ?<\/p>\n

His name is Chris Mackay, and he’s an accountant.<\/p>\n

Just what we need. Someone to count the money.<\/p>\n

A Director of finance should also be able to raise and distribute money, not just excel at counting it. well, these days accountants are more used to hiding it than counting it, though I must stress that is not my impression of Mackay, or the board. Its more of a sweeping statement based on an inherent mistrust of the profession second only to bankers in fund , er, management.<\/p>\n

In summary, there is no plan on the pitch, off the pitch and the whole set up seems to lurch from one “crisis ” to another .<\/p>\n

Yet the team remains at the top of the table, and still in with a chance of the double.<\/p>\n

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Do we stick or twist ?<\/p>\n

It’s certainly possible, and I’d argue quite likely, that removing deila at this stage will increase the nervousness and tension around the ground.<\/p>\n

Install Collins and we’d be lucky to make top six. The players don;t like him, Common’s rant a few months ago is indicative of that, why else would he have a pop at him and not Deila ?<\/p>\n

Maybe its not Deila making the decison s…maybe he is just plodding along amd optimistically making it up as he goes along ?<\/p>\n

Some of his \u00a0team talks cannot possibly be true, Really, they beggar belief, and thats why I’m not repeating them. not because I don’t believe them, though I’m certainly sceptical, but because at this stage they are irrelevant, do piont to, shall we say, a less than professional attitude, certainly less of one than he is trying to put across.<\/p>\n

From what we are told, Gran Canaria last year was just a jolly for him. He didn’t take a single training session.<\/p>\n

A persona, incidentally,that \u00a0fooled me.<\/p>\n

I don’t see him every day, though, the players do, and they may have noticed something, and perhaps they feel that he is a little more lackadaisical than he used to be. Maybe its easy for him to promise them something, and think thats the problem solved….<\/p>\n

However, if he has chucked it, mentally at least, then do the honourable thing and resign.<\/p>\n

If he hasn’t , then start doing the job properly.<\/p>\n

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Theres a lot to think about in that, some of it only occured as I was typing. So, if it doesn’t flow properly, and appears a little disjointed, I can only apologise.<\/p>\n

Not that I give a toss, but it’s nice to apologise.<\/p>\n

The purpose of this article is to make you think, and for you to offer your own opinions, sensibly and maturely.<\/p>\n

And hopefully in a much more readable and presentable style than I have.<\/p>\n

There is a problem at Celtic, there’s no doubt about that, but by talking it through together, I’m willing to bet we’ll be very close to solving it by teatime.<\/p>\n

Or at least identifying it.<\/p>\n

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If the team or the manager isn’t going to unite the fans, then we’ll have to do it ourselves.<\/p>\n

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I had a text from a mate at work yesterday. As some of you know, I had a chat with Ronny deila at a fans…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/problm.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2eI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8602,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions\/8602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}