The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[the colonel]

was actually at the game myself. Fortune was great throughout the whole game. McGeady and McGinn were terrible. Samaras was doing ok to a stage then he just lost the plot. One of the things that pisses me of, in the crowd last night at nil nil all the fans encourage and cheer the team. Once it we were up it improved, but when they got their goal outta nowhere the idiots in the crowd starting goin beserk. Was unbelievable. still level and you think it was end of the world. this is bount to effect the players. The ref had an absolute mare and how he didnt give a free kick for a foul on Ki which led to their goal I do no know

some serious idiots as fans and people on message boards (not saying anyone here is an idiot, from other boards I also read)

But to contradict myself yes fans pay in etc... are allowed to complain at times but its the jekyl and hyde nature that I hate

[T Fearon]

To be fair, football fans are the same the world over, but you can understand the frustration of Celtic fans, when their great rivals are penniless, can't sign anyone (in contrast to Celtic), haven't even a fit recognised striker ffs, but still pick up maximum points, week in week out, and have established a ten point lead.

I for one quite enjoyed the Strachan era, the 1-0 win over Man Utd to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages was on a par with Armagh's All Ireland win in 2002, as the top sporting occasion I've been at.

Also I was at the game last February when they hammered St Mirren 7-0, in spite of his alleged boring football. Could you imagine Mowbray's team doing that to anyone?

As for managers I would have John Hughes of Hibs before Mowbray, he kept Falkirk up and took them to the Cup Final last year, and is doing a magnificent job with Hibs. Liam Miller was man of the match last night. He has far better managerial credentials than Mowbray, in my opinion

[rossie mad]

caldwell scoring last night or flood scoring an absolute fluke saturday has SFA to do with last night.Boro winning against bloody Doncaster has SFA to do with last night.

They are not arguments for last nights loss as both players are gone and rightly so.Nearly every celtic fan was delighted to see the back of caldwell and as for flood totally over rated and if boro get promoted he wont in their first team squad next year as he doesnt have the talent for the premeirship.

We dont have a finisher apart from skippy who is out of form and the greek is an absolute disgrace.
Taking a club from mid table to the summit of any league in the early part of a season is no managerial miracle and in lamberts case he was a proven winner in a good squad of players ie he had talent around him which unlike the current celtic squad which is full of bit players at best.Who assembled this squad?

Why is playing good football out of place in the SPL tony?
What did teams managed by MON or Wim Jansen play?

We had Josh Thompson and darren o dea playing in the centre of defence last night.Two very inexperienced defenders.
Is anyone going to give hibs credit for their win?
They are a good side and deserve to be in the position they are in because they have been consistent.
Will sacking mowbary win the league this season?
Not a chance so give him and the team a chance,this ridiculous knee jerk reaction is typical of fans who are glory hunters and get itchy feet when a few results dont go their way.
Ill hold up my hands if im wrong but mowbray in my mind will be a successful manager of celtic and will be for some time.

[JohnDenver]

Liam Brady had Celtic playing the "right" type of football (which is largely out of place amid the hammer throwers of the SPL), so that's no recommendation. I would look over all this if Rangers were even moderately good, but FFS they didn't even have a striker in January and still have a ten point lead.

Caldwell on the mark for Wigan last night, James Mc Carthy (a lad who would have been ideal for Celtic but the biscuit tin wasn't prised open wife enough, in contrast to the relative fortune laid out for Fortune, pardon the pun) set hi up, Flood on target for Middlesbro on Saturday, Boro had a great away win on Tuesday etc.

At the end of the day, Robson, Caldwell etc all had experience of going on 6 or 7 winning runs top clinch league titles, they are scrappers, and I don't see many of those around Celtic Park at the moment.

Lambert,a proven winner as a player (what did Mowbray ever win?) and Celtic minded, has taken Norwich from a 7-1 home defeat on the first day of the season to the top of the league. I can't remember the last time they lost. That sounds to me like a man with credentials and experience of lifting team morale, transforming fortunes and inducing among his players a will to win, all of which are conspicuous by their absence at Celtic Park.

You talk some sh1te tony    Remind me the wigan result from last night where caldwells main job is to keep out goals?

And how did flood get his goal at the weekend?

What did Jose Mourinho ever win as a player remind me? And look at Bryan Robson, Roy Keane for top players who didn't/haven't proved themselves as managers.

I would judge Mowbray when next season when he's had a year to shape a squad and get rid of the dead wood that strachan had hanging around.

[lynchbhoy]

Liam Brady had Celtic playing the "right" type of football (which is largely out of place amid the hammer throwers of the SPL), so that's no recommendation. I would look over all this if Rangers were even moderately good, but FFS they didn't even have a striker in January and still have a ten point lead.

Caldwell on the mark for Wigan last night, James Mc Carthy (a lad who would have been ideal for Celtic but the biscuit tin wasn't prised open wife enough, in contrast to the relative fortune laid out for Fortune, pardon the pun) set hi up, Flood on target for Middlesbro on Saturday, Boro had a great away win on Tuesday etc.

At the end of the day, Robson, Caldwell etc all had experience of going on 6 or 7 winning runs top clinch league titles, they are scrappers, and I don't see many of those around Celtic Park at the moment.

Lambert,a proven winner as a player (what did Mowbray ever win?) and Celtic minded, has taken Norwich from a 7-1 home defeat on the first day of the season to the top of the league. I can't remember the last time they lost. That sounds to me like a man with credentials and experience of lifting team morale, transforming fortunes and inducing among his players a will to win, all of which are conspicuous by their absence at Celtic Park.

Jaysus Tone, rangers had boyd or novo as well as miller in jan - maybe not all at the same time so thats pants !

caldwell was dire for celtic, and while the defence is still a bit fragile, they look far better than when he was playing. Josh thompson looks like a great prospect !

winning as a player means nothing when a manager - ask ferguson, john barnes, lou macari, arsene wenger, liam brady !

afaik McCarthy was offered he same deal to go to Celtic but chose to go south ! Being a Celtic fan is not always the clincher- and I'd agree with his moving south!

I have issues with some of mowbrays team selections, but its not the style of play its that they look like a better more cohesive team and are better looking in defence - though conceded two soft goals - albeit completely against the run of play.

If Celtic were to get mourinho or hiddink or MON I'd quickly drop mowbray, but he is as good as Celtic can get right now and while John Hughes has hibs playing and winning well (didnt they beat the huns just before Christmas?) Mowbray did the same in his stint with the hibees !

Celtic can still win the league, but they may not. However I think they are coming together and improving as a side. It might not be enough for this season ...but will see what happens !

[T Fearon]

Bottom line I think is the Celtic squad of last season should have won the league, Rangers signed no body and should have been there for the taking, with the squad Mowbray inherited.

Its not as if he was asked to do a Wim and transform a team that was miles off the pace.

In modern football at big clubs, managers are expected to do a job quickly. Mowbray has given no hint that he is up to the task and should have been able to win this league while rejuvenating the squad simultaneously, give the dire state of Rangers.

The attendances will prove his undoing. Only 41,000 there last night, and I'm telling you Celtic fans will not patiently wait a year for things to turn around.

[the colonel]

if strachans squad was so good why did he not win the league last year Tony?

[lynchbhoy]

Bottom line I think is the Celtic squad of last season should have won the league, Rangers signed no body and should have been there for the taking, with the squad Mowbray inherited.

Its not as if he was asked to do a Wim and transform a team that was miles off the pace.

In modern football at big clubs, managers are expected to do a job quickly. Mowbray has given no hint that he is up to the task and should have been able to win this league while rejuvenating the squad simultaneously, give the dire state of Rangers.

The attendances will prove his undoing. Only 41,000 there last night, and I'm telling you Celtic fans will not patiently wait a year for things to turn around.

they were off the pace last year - if they were any good they would have won the league.
they didnt and this team were looking worse this season.

managers are expected to do as well as possible, but no rightminded Celtic fan can complain that mowbray isnt winning 7-0 having less money to spend than strachan and a team of misfits !
at least he is jettisoning the deadwood now !
Is strachan expected to work miracles immediately with boo - its not going so well right now if thats the case !
Same with fergie to man u ...wanst exactly a roaring success initially !

reality Tone reality !

[T Fearon]

But Mowbray has been there six months and has shown no sign, not one iota, that his team is taking any shape, or effecting any sustained improvement. Also can anyone really say any one of his signings has been a moderate success, or even looks like being one?

I know he had more money to spend (but so had Rangers too), but O'Neill from day one, gave an indication that he knew what he was doing, and took Celtic from miles behind Rangers (the previous season), in his very first season to win the league at a canter. Thats what good managers do. Look at the immediate improvement Mancini made to Man City when he replaced Hughes?

There have already been protests against Lawwell, Reid and Desmond, they have responded by making funds available, Mowbray is moving rapdily to centre stage target and when that happens, like Barnes, he will be gone overnight.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Thats what good managers do. Look at the immediate improvement Mancini made to Man City when he replaced Hughes?

I think he's taken them up about 2 places in the league table and out of the Carling Cup and he took over when they had a handy run of fixtures coming up. Hardly earth shattering so far.

I do agree that Mowbray looks on a wobbly peg at Celtic. His body language is not good and it doesn't even look like he wants to be there. The grind of dealing with the Scottish media and Scottish referees seems to be getting to him.

[T Fearon]

All those things (ie ability to handle pressure etc ) define a manager, and say what you like about Strachan, but he took no crap from the Press etc, and was his own man. Even if Mowbray showed a bit of passion and got the hairdryers out every now and again it would help.

Mowbray is a better off at smaller clubs like Hibs and West Brom, where not much is expected in terms of silverware or success and the natives usually, console themselves with the "nice football, nice bloke as manager" syndrome.

[lynchbhoy]

But Mowbray has been there six months and has shown no sign, not one iota, that his team is taking any shape, or effecting any sustained improvement. Also can anyone really say any one of his signings has been a moderate success, or even looks like being one?

I know he had more money to spend (but so had Rangers too), but O'Neill from day one, gave an indication that he knew what he was doing, and took Celtic from miles behind Rangers (the previous season), in his very first season to win the league at a canter. Thats what good managers do. Look at the immediate improvement Mancini made to Man City when he replaced Hughes?

There have already been protests against Lawwell, Reid and Desmond, they have responded by making funds available, Mowbray is moving rapdily to centre stage target and when that happens, like Barnes, he will be gone overnight.

matter of opinion obv tony,
for me I'd say that the team are looking better and more solid defensively (esp recently since caldwell is gone - and thats not me on a crusade against him, I'd like him if he wasnt sihte!).

what improvements have man city had ? Still gonna be borderline fourth place in epl despite all the zillions they have and will spend.

as for protests - some folk 'supporting' Celtic are never happy.There were mini protests under MON even while winning leagues, trebles, domination of rangers - the fans didnt like his style of football. protests - so what.

[lynchbhoy]

All those things (ie ability to handle pressure etc ) define a manager, and say what you like about Strachan, but he took no crap from the Press etc, and was his own man. Even if Mowbray showed a bit of passion and got the hairdryers out every now and again it would help.

Mowbray is a better off at smaller clubs like Hibs and West Brom, where not much is expected in terms of silverware or success and the natives usually, console themselves with the "nice football, nice bloke as manager" syndrome.

strachan couldnt handle pressure, he couldnt handle questions of give a decent answer - to say he took no crap is not quite true, he threw the toys out of the pram on a regular basis and if that was anywhere else - would have been an embarrassment to a club.
However as that is the cauldron of scotland, and the media are mostly hunhacks trying to twist the knife where possible, its understandable.
Only someone with huge intellect and presence/personality like MON could not only handle, but make them look like complete idiots - even he had a hard enugh time doing it as the brain dead knuckledraggers simply didnt understand they were being made fools of and repeated the same idiotic question numberous times and indeed at numerous dates !

Mowbray is as good as Celtic could get righ now.
you say  he should stick to smaller clubs but are at the same time looking for a lesser experienced man like lambert to come in to take control ...fecking hell - that doesnt make any sense Tone!

[T Fearon]

Yeah, but the evidence is, even only after a handful of games, that Mancini is a far better bet than Hughes. Six months on, after flopping abysmally in the Scottish League Cup, the Europa League, and trailing the worst Rangers team in my living memory by ten points, the jury ,at best is still out on Mowbray and at worst, has him tried, convicted and sentenced as a flop

[T Fearon]

Lynchboy, Lambert is on an upward curve, while Mowbray's has been at best horizantal throughout his career. I can't help noticing the parallel with O'Neill either, managing Wycombe, and Norwich, plus what he learned under the tutelage of the likes of Hitzfield and O'Neill.

I think its a no brainer, particularly if as it looks increasingly likely, Celtic are writing this season off, to keep Mowbray in there