The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[michaelg]

Conspiracy theories?

Aye. Jim Farry never intervened to stop a Celtic signing from playing in an Old Firm game.

You'd need to by some deranged nutjob not to accept that the SFA has always had an extreme bias to Rangers.

Do you really think a club that has won the league title 51 times have been subject to bias against them?

Never said that. I said that they have benefited from referees and a football association with a clear bias to them and only a nutjob like Sid could look at the facts and deny that.

And my point would be that they can't have benefited too much if Rangers have won 54 to Celtic's 51 titles, particualry when you consider that Rangers were established 15 years before Celtic.

Doesn't really make sense. Celtic had far more success in European competitions in that time.

What doesn't make sense?

[illdecide]

Bar the odd flash in the pan Celtic have been deteriorating in Europe for the last decade and even beyond that. Results have steadily got worse no matter who the manager is/was, the money is clearly a factor but the CL does allow a few small fish thru the net and some people are right that Celtic's budget is greater than some of the teams that have been beating us regularly this last while. Is that then down to bad management? Do players just crumble under pressure? If the Board throw the money at players that the fans want them too then we could end up like Sevco. The fact that not one person here has a Scooby Doo on how to run a club and what it takes, we all just think it's as simple as getting the cheque book out but i'm guessing clubs in Scotland operating on a shoe string budget it's just not that simple. I for one would call for more signings too like the rest but the clubs books have to be balanced and planned for the future too. one other big problem is if Celtic throw £15-£20m at 3-4 signings and they're flops then they wouldn't be in a position to just keep signing more...bit of a tough titty really (Ajeti).

[Angelo]

Think some fans need a reality check. The sense of entitlement and hysterics is almost Rangers-like. "Big club" moniker has been bandied about the last 24 hours. Some things have been completely uncontrollable and out of the clubs hands.

That said; the things the club could control, the things the management could and should have done, but failed to,  have over the course of 18 months or so led us to where we are now. It is unforgivable the mismanagement that has went on in that period of time. All the injuries and covid and whatever else have been overshadowed by reluctance to spend, shite signings when they do, embarrassing results, clueless tactics and a rudderless team devoid of leaders.

I'd happily sacrifice 10IAR if it means a complete clear out.

You're completely misphrasing the debate. Celtic are a massive club in the same way clubs like Ajax, Porto, Benfica etc are. We shouldn't have a pub league manager who was sacked from Hibs and Bolton in charge of the club.

We have been eliminated on three successive occasions from CL football to three inferior teams with vastly less resources and budgets. It has cost the club nearly £100m of revenue. Celtic are a big club, there is no reason why they can't do what the likes of Porto, Ajax, Benfica, Salzburg etc do at European level.

Nobody here has said we should be going out and buying players from the EPL for £40m but we should be looking at our peers across the leagues in the likes of Holland, Portugal, Austria, Greece etc and how they perform at European level and how Celtic's budget is a lot more favourable.

Take that grouping of 40 clubs out then it's clear that Celtic are one of the richest clubs in Europe.

Look at what a club like Atalanta are achieving in Italy. Back to back top 4 finishes, back to back CL last 16 appearances.

They pick up unheard players from the likes of Gronigen, Heracles, Zurich etc and establish them into first team regulars in a highly successful team.

Celtic need to invest in proper structures and a proper management setup. We need to put that money into getting things right, it's there sitting in the club's bank account, it's sitting in our billionaire majority shareholder's bank account.

There should be a draw to Celtic, they compete for titles on a regular basis, they should be in the CL and have European football on a regular basis, they do have good facilities and an extremely passionate fanbase, the European nights at Celtic Park are what players across Europe do talk about regularly. Celtic are a good sell. They have the finances to compete with clubs from Spain, France, Germany and Italy outside their top 4/5 clubs. They have finances to compete with any club in the other European leagues so it really comes down to ambition and the Celtic board have shown none, they are happy to asset strip the club to line their own pockets.

The fan groupings need to hold the board to account, I think the fanbase have to make a stand that they won't renew their season tickets until such times as Lawwell resigns.

Back the team, sack the board.

Celtic is a massive name in football, nothing more and nothing less. No financial clout, and outside of Scotland unable to compete in Europe (even forgetting the last three seasons). Again you have your bee in your bonnet with  Lennon, it goes far beyond him (who might I remind you left both Hibs and Bolton by mutual consent and left both clubs in better shape than what he found them).

The reality is Celtic are at the same level as the bottom half of the English championship. They are currently not in the top 40 clubs in Europe. You are a prime example of the delusions of grandeur so many Celtic fans have. You pick out Atlanta, who play in serie A - As if Celtic can ever dream of the millions of tv money they get thrown at them every year. May as well compare them to Leicester City. The financial resources these clubs have far outweighs anything Celtic have.

Benfica, Ajax, Salzburg, Porto all play in better leagues. All have more tv money thrown at them bar Austria but Salzburg have red bull funding them - they've made like €300m+ in the last 6 years from transfers alone. I agree the club needs investment, especially in the first team, but until a new European league is formed (or sone wealthy sheiks come calling) the club  will continue to plod along at the level they're at.

Celtic are not at the level of the bottom half of the Championship.

Do you really believe we are worse than the likes of West Brom, Sheffield United, Burnley, Fulham or Brighton?

Celtic can offer more than the likes of Genoa, Hoffenheim, Villarreal etc can - players have the chance to win trophies, they have the chance to play at the top level of European football on a regular basis, the lure of European nights at Celtic Park is something those clubs can't offer. The lure of  winning titles and silverware is something they can't offer, the lure of one of the biggest derbies in European football in something those clubs can't.

Just forget about the Premier League, we can't compete with the finances there so don't compare us with that. The only reason a player goes to a Brighton or West Ham over Celtic is money - if Celtic could offer yer man Haller or Maupay the same financial package that West Ham and Brighton did then it's a no brainer, it's Celtic every time. Win trophies, play at the highest level of European football, Celtic Park on the big nights or relegation battles and mid table mediocrity? You look at the likes of West Ham and Everton and all those clubs, huge amounts of money spent and the players just punch it in under a variety of different managers, they don't give a toss. It's a different mentality for a club like Celtic where you are expected to win every game.

Villarreal can't dream of the regular £30m CL money every year, they can't dream of 50k season tickets. Celtic have the financial clout to compete outside the CL regulars and EPL. That's a fact but under Lawwell we'll always just be a mechanism for the board to enrich themselves while Celtic fall further behind.

Celtic have lost out on close to £100m in the last 3 years due to mismanagement at board room level. Red Bull have done well on player sales but so have Celtic in recent years, the difference is Salzburg have a very ambitious board who continue to reinvest that money back into their management team and playing squad, while the Celtic board swindle it into their pockets and use stop gaps as they continue to wind down the playing squad, appoint a manager woefully out of his depth because he won't rock the boat and what we get is what we have now. 3 successive failures in Europe in 3 successive seasons.

Stop making excuses for the failure of the Celtic board. They are a shit show and there is absolutely nothing stopping Celtic from being able to compete with the likes of many teams. We got hockeyed by Prague twice in Europe this season, a team that operates on a fraction of our budget.

[Angelo]

Bar the odd flash in the pan Celtic have been deteriorating in Europe for the last decade and even beyond that. Results have steadily got worse no matter who the manager is/was, the money is clearly a factor but the CL does allow a few small fish thru the net and some people are right that Celtic's budget is greater than some of the teams that have been beating us regularly this last while. Is that then down to bad management? Do players just crumble under pressure? If the Board throw the money at players that the fans want them too then we could end up like Sevco. The fact that not one person here has a Scooby Doo on how to run a club and what it takes, we all just think it's as simple as getting the cheque book out but i'm guessing clubs in Scotland operating on a shoe string budget it's just not that simple. I for one would call for more signings too like the rest but the clubs books have to be balanced and planned for the future too. one other big problem is if Celtic throw £15-£20m at 3-4 signings and they're flops then they wouldn't be in a position to just keep signing more...bit of a tough titty really (Ajeti).

If you have a diddy in charge of the team it doesn't really matter who we have or how much we spend.

The regression of those players that excelled under Rodgers since Lennon has been in charge has been utterly staggering. It's frightening the decline in them. Guys like Forrest, McGregor, Christie, Rogic are barely recognisable.

The manager is a dud but he's a yes man and Lawwell couldn't give a f**k how out of his depth he is so long as he can run his coroprate dictatorship.

[Angelo]

What's Lennon's identity as a manager?

Do his teams play attacking football?
Are they defensively solid?
Do they play possession football?
Do they press hard?
Do they play direct football?

I haven't a f**king clue and the sad thing is neither does Lennon, he has no identity. He really doesn't have a clue, the word that has come out is worrying. When Deila took over from he panned the culture that Lennon had there with regard to nutrition and diet and fitness of the players. Kelvin Wilson also said the exact same thing with regard to Lennon. Read some of what Wilson said:

Asked if it was true that tactics and preparation weren't a massive focal point during his time, Wilson said: "It wasn't, that is the truth.

"I can probably recall maybe once or twice doing shape on the training ground with Neil Lennon.

Asked to confirm or deny a 'rumour' that players back then used to learn about the opposition from the matchday programme, Wilson added: "That is probably a rumour - but we didn't concentrate on the other team until probably the Friday.

"And that wasn't on the training pitch, it was on the video.

"We would get to the team hotel, whether that was home or away, and we would go down to dinner at 7.

"We would eat dinner and while we were eating dinner he would get their last game up on the projector and play it.

"So we would be at dinner watching bits of it. Then he would stop it and go through a few bits of it, but it was only 20 minutes of it, hardly anything.

"And I think that was because he was so confident in his players."

As for diet and nutrition, let's just say arriving to the austere regime at Nottingham Forest was something of an eye-opener.

Wilson said "Lenny didn't really care what we had. Although if performances on the park weren't going well, then I am sure he would have looked at that.

"We ate what we want, but it wasn't McDonald's and Burger Kings, things like that. It was steak and chips and chicken, things like that.

"It was good food, but I got a bit of a reality check when I went to Forest, going into the canteen.

"I was thinking 'I don't want to eat this', because it was food that was tasteless and wasn't nice but they were really big on the nutrition side.

"At Celtic, you could eat what you want, you could have a can of Irn Bru at dinner, things like that!

"But I think it is different now, different with players. Times are changing for the better in that sense."

It's an amateur setup under Lennon, he is a lazy manager who does not put the hard work and dedication into the job that top managers do. The preperation, diet, lack of expertise he surrounds himself with is proof if proof was needed he should be nowhere near the job. He should never have got beyond the reserve team at Celtic when it comes to his coaching ability.

[dublin7]

What's Lennon's identity as a manager?

Do his teams play attacking football?
Are they defensively solid?
Do they play possession football?
Do they press hard?
Do they play direct football?

I haven't a f**king clue and the sad thing is neither does Lennon, he has no identity. He really doesn't have a clue, the word that has come out is worrying. When Deila took over from he panned the culture that Lennon had there with regard to nutrition and diet and fitness of the players. Kelvin Wilson also said the exact same thing with regard to Lennon. Read some of what Wilson said:

Asked if it was true that tactics and preparation weren't a massive focal point during his time, Wilson said: "It wasn't, that is the truth.

"I can probably recall maybe once or twice doing shape on the training ground with Neil Lennon.

Asked to confirm or deny a 'rumour' that players back then used to learn about the opposition from the matchday programme, Wilson added: "That is probably a rumour - but we didn't concentrate on the other team until probably the Friday.

"And that wasn't on the training pitch, it was on the video.

"We would get to the team hotel, whether that was home or away, and we would go down to dinner at 7.

"We would eat dinner and while we were eating dinner he would get their last game up on the projector and play it.

"So we would be at dinner watching bits of it. Then he would stop it and go through a few bits of it, but it was only 20 minutes of it, hardly anything.

"And I think that was because he was so confident in his players."

As for diet and nutrition, let's just say arriving to the austere regime at Nottingham Forest was something of an eye-opener.

Wilson said "Lenny didn't really care what we had. Although if performances on the park weren't going well, then I am sure he would have looked at that.

"We ate what we want, but it wasn't McDonald's and Burger Kings, things like that. It was steak and chips and chicken, things like that.

"It was good food, but I got a bit of a reality check when I went to Forest, going into the canteen.

"I was thinking 'I don't want to eat this', because it was food that was tasteless and wasn't nice but they were really big on the nutrition side.

"At Celtic, you could eat what you want, you could have a can of Irn Bru at dinner, things like that!

"But I think it is different now, different with players. Times are changing for the better in that sense."

It's an amateur setup under Lennon, he is a lazy manager who does not put the hard work and dedication into the job that top managers do. The preperation, diet, lack of expertise he surrounds himself with is proof if proof was needed he should be nowhere near the job. He should never have got beyond the reserve team at Celtic when it comes to his coaching ability.

You can question Lennon's signings, but you have no idea how he runs the club, what he does in training or what hours he puts in. Celtic have sold their better players like Tierney and the remaining players are not that good.

Celtic have their own full time nutritionist so if the player's diet is so bad then surely he is the one who should get the sack

[Angelo]

What's Lennon's identity as a manager?

Do his teams play attacking football?
Are they defensively solid?
Do they play possession football?
Do they press hard?
Do they play direct football?

I haven't a f**king clue and the sad thing is neither does Lennon, he has no identity. He really doesn't have a clue, the word that has come out is worrying. When Deila took over from he panned the culture that Lennon had there with regard to nutrition and diet and fitness of the players. Kelvin Wilson also said the exact same thing with regard to Lennon. Read some of what Wilson said:

Asked if it was true that tactics and preparation weren't a massive focal point during his time, Wilson said: "It wasn't, that is the truth.

"I can probably recall maybe once or twice doing shape on the training ground with Neil Lennon.

Asked to confirm or deny a 'rumour' that players back then used to learn about the opposition from the matchday programme, Wilson added: "That is probably a rumour - but we didn't concentrate on the other team until probably the Friday.

"And that wasn't on the training pitch, it was on the video.

"We would get to the team hotel, whether that was home or away, and we would go down to dinner at 7.

"We would eat dinner and while we were eating dinner he would get their last game up on the projector and play it.

"So we would be at dinner watching bits of it. Then he would stop it and go through a few bits of it, but it was only 20 minutes of it, hardly anything.

"And I think that was because he was so confident in his players."

As for diet and nutrition, let's just say arriving to the austere regime at Nottingham Forest was something of an eye-opener.

Wilson said "Lenny didn't really care what we had. Although if performances on the park weren't going well, then I am sure he would have looked at that.

"We ate what we want, but it wasn't McDonald's and Burger Kings, things like that. It was steak and chips and chicken, things like that.

"It was good food, but I got a bit of a reality check when I went to Forest, going into the canteen.

"I was thinking 'I don't want to eat this', because it was food that was tasteless and wasn't nice but they were really big on the nutrition side.

"At Celtic, you could eat what you want, you could have a can of Irn Bru at dinner, things like that!

"But I think it is different now, different with players. Times are changing for the better in that sense."

It's an amateur setup under Lennon, he is a lazy manager who does not put the hard work and dedication into the job that top managers do. The preperation, diet, lack of expertise he surrounds himself with is proof if proof was needed he should be nowhere near the job. He should never have got beyond the reserve team at Celtic when it comes to his coaching ability.

You can question Lennon's signings, but you have no idea how he runs the club, what he does in training or what hours he puts in. Celtic have sold their better players like Tierney and the remaining players are not that good.

Celtic have their own full time nutritionist so if the player's diet is so bad then surely he is the one who should get the sack

Do Celtic have a full time nutritionist? Looks doubtful that we did in Lennon's first spell

Do you have any notion what of what role the manager to the players? He is the boss, the person who oversees everything, the person who sets the standards and makes the implementations to improve standards. Deila was in the job a wet week and he couldn't believe what the players were allowed eat and how they were allowed live. Deila was also the manager, standards are set by the manager and we can see from the words of others that Lennon was running an amateur set up where the work was clearly not been done on the training ground in terms of tactics, in terms of planning and preparation, in terms of shape, in terms of diet and fitness.

That's simply down to ineptitude or laziness. It's clear to anyone that the standards at the club have dropped significantly at the club since Rodgers left. Lennon doesn't what he's at. He's guy who walked from coaching the reserves at Celtic for a few months into the top job. He then had short spells at Bolton and Hibs, sacked from both, was unemployed with nobody in for him and he's back into the Celtic job. He's out of his depth, clear as day.

His next job will probably be Wrexham, Forest Green, Falkirk or Northern Ireland u21s or something which he will make a complete balls of too.

Lennon is the last manager to lose the title for Celtic each side of 9IAR. That is his legacy.

[illdecide]

See that's exactly the thing there that irks me and i'm not backing Neil Lennon up BTW but it's just a post like that which is the second or third time Angela has posted it about someone and it's all pure fabrication and bull shit, he doesn't know one thing about the setup, the training, what they eat, what analysis they do or don't do and what work or lack of work anyone puts in but still makes it up. Ohh wait he read it somewhere because someone said it in a news paper or read it on-line...Jesus wept.
It sounds like i'm backing up NL here which i'm not, i'm pointing out how someone can just spout whatever crap he feels like it in the public and get away with it.

[Angelo]

See that's exactly the thing there that irks me and i'm not backing Neil Lennon up BTW but it's just a post like that which is the second or third time Angela has posted it about someone and it's all pure fabrication and bull shit, he doesn't know one thing about the setup, the training, what they eat, what analysis they do or don't do and what work or lack of work anyone puts in but still makes it up. Ohh wait he read it somewhere because someone said it in a news paper or read it on-line...Jesus wept.
It sounds like i'm backing up NL here which i'm not, i'm pointing out how someone can just spout whatever crap he feels like it in the public and get away with it.

It irks you because it's weighted in facts.

I haven't made any of it up, it's all verifiable. Why does someone stating the truth irk you so much? If you were a real Celtic fan and not a cheerleader for some guy from Lurgan you would be outraged that we appointed a guy completely out of his depth to the job.

You won't go and contend anything I said, all you will offer are a few petty digs at me rather than try and debate anything I've said.

Absolutely pathetic but I have been told the real reason why you defend the indefensible.

[6th sam]

See that's exactly the thing there that irks me and i'm not backing Neil Lennon up BTW but it's just a post like that which is the second or third time Angela has posted it about someone and it's all pure fabrication and bull shit, he doesn't know one thing about the setup, the training, what they eat, what analysis they do or don't do and what work or lack of work anyone puts in but still makes it up. Ohh wait he read it somewhere because someone said it in a news paper or read it on-line...Jesus wept.
It sounds like i'm backing up NL here which i'm not, i'm pointing out how someone can just spout whatever crap he feels like it in the public and get away with it.

It irks you because it's weighted in facts.

I haven't made any of it up, it's all verifiable. Why does someone stating the truth irk you so much? If you were a real Celtic fan and not a cheerleader for some guy from Lurgan you would be outraged that we appointed a guy completely out of his depth to the job.

You won't go and contend anything I said, all you will offer are a few petty digs at me rather than try and debate anything I've said.

Absolutely pathetic but I have been told the real reason why you defend the indefensible.

I have absolutely no connection with NL, and feel as manager he must take his portion of responsibility, but your unhealthy aggressive antagonism towards NL demeans your argument. He may have made mistakes , may have lost the changing room, but none of us actually know the specifics of what goes on at the club. Much as 10 iar is an unprecedented milestone and a chance to make history, if a more competitive Rangers improves Celtic on the European stage to get back to competitive big midweek CL games Then that would be much more important to me, than Glasgow bragging rights

[Angelo]

See that's exactly the thing there that irks me and i'm not backing Neil Lennon up BTW but it's just a post like that which is the second or third time Angela has posted it about someone and it's all pure fabrication and bull shit, he doesn't know one thing about the setup, the training, what they eat, what analysis they do or don't do and what work or lack of work anyone puts in but still makes it up. Ohh wait he read it somewhere because someone said it in a news paper or read it on-line...Jesus wept.
It sounds like i'm backing up NL here which i'm not, i'm pointing out how someone can just spout whatever crap he feels like it in the public and get away with it.

It irks you because it's weighted in facts.

I haven't made any of it up, it's all verifiable. Why does someone stating the truth irk you so much? If you were a real Celtic fan and not a cheerleader for some guy from Lurgan you would be outraged that we appointed a guy completely out of his depth to the job.

You won't go and contend anything I said, all you will offer are a few petty digs at me rather than try and debate anything I've said.

Absolutely pathetic but I have been told the real reason why you defend the indefensible.

I have absolutely no connection with NL, and feel as manager he must take his portion of responsibility, but your unhealthy aggressive antagonism towards NL demeans your argument. He may have made mistakes , may have lost the changing room, but none of us actually know the specifics of what goes on at the club. Much as 10 iar is an unprecedented milestone and a chance to make history, if a more competitive Rangers improves Celtic on the European stage to get back to competitive big midweek CL games Then that would be much more important to me, than Glasgow bragging rights

Unhealthy antangonism?

You are completely out of touch with the Celtic fanbase.

The manager is out of his depth, the dogs on the street know this and there is a cohort of posters here who seem to be more concerned about Neil Lennon than the mess he is making of the team. There is absolutely nothing I have said about Lennon that is either inaccurate or unfair.

The last manager to lost a title either side of 9IAR - says everything you need to know.

[JimStynes]

Jesus change the record

[Angelo]

Is Angela and Marty34 the same person?

Thats a silly comment.

You're completely out of touch with 99% of Celtic supporters.  This love in with Lennon needs to end.

It'd be great if Lennon was the lad who lead Celtic to the 10 but he's been found out big time.  No Celtic supporter, apart from you, wants him in charge. That's a fact.

All agree also that Lennon is only part of the problem - Lawell is the major problem but the both need to go.

Take the blinkers off.

WTF are you talking about, I gave him every chance and gave him my full backing until it did not warrant it. I have continually this last month or more said NL has to go, the problem is you're listening to Angela too much. I haven't backed NL in quite a while but other clowns keep posting up because we're from the same town that i'm blinded by loyalty blah blah...Read my recent posts and you will see that i've said numerous times that the Board need to replace him. I said what i said as you just repeat everything Angela says or give him kudos for his comments and to be fair i don't disagree with everything he says or posts it's just the repeat repeat crap that's annoying but on a positive note i don't see his posts anymore.

You were on here goading and pratonising those of us who said he was not up to the job for ages. So cut the absolute bullshit. You care more about Neil Lennon than the club. A blind man could see he was not up to the job but it did not stop you attacking posters who offered valid criticism of the management team.

Wind your neck in.

[bannside]

Theres one point no one here has addressed. That Rangers have actually kicked on big time. They are competitive in Europe for the first time in years. Not even the most deluded of Celtic fans can deny that. Punching above their weight whilst we punch well below ours. Thats the really disspointing thing!

Look, its better to accept that now that the ten has probably gone this really puts the Celtic Board and Mr Lawell in a sticky predicament. Decisions will be made that might not have been had we won yesterday and made a challenge that may still have ended in a narrow one or two point deficit that might have got the board off the hook on the back of a massive gallant fightback!

That might just have papered over the cracks. Zero hiding place now!

[MK]

See that's exactly the thing there that irks me and i'm not backing Neil Lennon up BTW but it's just a post like thatsecond or third time Angela has posted it which is the about someone and it's all pure fabrication and bull shit, he doesn't know one thing about the setup, the training, what they eat, what analysis they do or don't do and what work or lack of work anyone puts in but still makes it up. Ohh wait he read it somewhere because someone said it in a news paper or read it on-line...Jesus wept.
It sounds like i'm backing up NL here which i'm not, i'm pointing out how someone can just spout whatever crap he feels like it in the public and get away with it.

Did you not already state that you blocked the tyrone trouble-maker .....therefore how can you comment on something you can't see.....it seems you can't heed a word from these armagh people