The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[Applesisapples]

I think it was Sutton who said, that in recent months the issue is that Celtic are not putting away the chances and as the match progresses the pressure gets too much.

[Angelo]

I think it was Sutton who said, that in recent months the issue is that Celtic are not putting away the chances and as the match progresses the pressure gets too much.

The Celtic tempo is too lax.

We also tire and fatigue a lot in games. Our shape is poor and we are bombscare on set plays.

These are all training ground issues.

[Itchy]

Defending yesterday was shocking, Conor Hazzard was poor throughout, but I doubt the other 2 would have been any better. I guess Gordon kicking himself he left. I have to say NL's indecision and lack of decisive action led to the scoreline. Sutton thought Brown was their best player. I didn't see it that way.

Apples just out of curiosity who did you think played well, not being a smart arse but going to games you hear people say x played well and y was good and you think to yourself "what match was he watching". TBH I thought Brown was decent and one of Celtic's better players but wasn't a stand out either, If I was being honest there was one or two Hearts players who were MOM for me. I couldn't honestly single out any Celtic player and say he was top notch yesterday.

To be fair I thought Brown started well but faded in the second half, Ajer I thought was fairly decent as was Turnbull, Christie had a good hour also. I felt as a team Celtic were hanging on in the second half. I am not well versed in tactics but it appears to me that McGregor and Brown don't give enough cover to the centre backs. Reaction to the second ball from set pieces is also an issue. IMO

Celtics biggest problem is exactly that, their ctr midfield is shite. No creativity, work rate and frequently out of position which leaves their ctr backs in particular very vulnerable. Celtic need to purchase some quality in that area. I dont rate McGregor at all and Christie is average.

[rodney trotter]

Stuart Armstrong has developed into a very good midfielder at Southampton.  Celtic lack that sort of midfielder

[lurganblue]

Defending yesterday was shocking, Conor Hazzard was poor throughout, but I doubt the other 2 would have been any better. I guess Gordon kicking himself he left. I have to say NL's indecision and lack of decisive action led to the scoreline. Sutton thought Brown was their best player. I didn't see it that way.

Apples just out of curiosity who did you think played well, not being a smart arse but going to games you hear people say x played well and y was good and you think to yourself "what match was he watching". TBH I thought Brown was decent and one of Celtic's better players but wasn't a stand out either, If I was being honest there was one or two Hearts players who were MOM for me. I couldn't honestly single out any Celtic player and say he was top notch yesterday.

To be fair I thought Brown started well but faded in the second half, Ajer I thought was fairly decent as was Turnbull, Christie had a good hour also. I felt as a team Celtic were hanging on in the second half. I am not well versed in tactics but it appears to me that McGregor and Brown don't give enough cover to the centre backs. Reaction to the second ball from set pieces is also an issue. IMO

Celtics biggest problem is exactly that, their ctr midfield is shite. No creativity, work rate and frequently out of position which leaves their ctr backs in particular very vulnerable. Celtic need to purchase some quality in that area. I dont rate McGregor at all and Christie is average.

McGinn is still a shameless balls up by the board

[Angelo]

Stuart Armstrong has developed into a very good midfielder at Southampton.  Celtic lack that sort of midfielder

I actually think we have plenty of that sort of midfielder - Christie, Rogic, Ntcham and Turnbull all play a similar role to Armstrong.

The problem is we lack that defensive presence in our midfield. Brown's legs have gone, McGregor has been hot and cold. Soro has done well since coming in but we could with another energetic, defensive minded option in the midfield.

For me Soro should be an automatic starter if he maintains his form.

[Itchy]

Stuart Armstrong has developed into a very good midfielder at Southampton.  Celtic lack that sort of midfielder

I actually think we have plenty of that sort of midfielder - Christie, Rogic, Ntcham and Turnbull all play a similar role to Armstrong.

The problem is we lack that defensive presence in our midfield. Brown's legs have gone, McGregor has been hot and cold. Soro has done well since coming in but we could with another energetic, defensive minded option in the midfield.

For me Soro should be an automatic starter if he maintains his form.

Not one of those players is near Armstrong, I am sorry to say. Rogic at his prime perhaps.

[Angelo]

Stuart Armstrong has developed into a very good midfielder at Southampton.  Celtic lack that sort of midfielder

I actually think we have plenty of that sort of midfielder - Christie, Rogic, Ntcham and Turnbull all play a similar role to Armstrong.

The problem is we lack that defensive presence in our midfield. Brown's legs have gone, McGregor has been hot and cold. Soro has done well since coming in but we could with another energetic, defensive minded option in the midfield.

For me Soro should be an automatic starter if he maintains his form.

Not one of those players is near Armstrong, I am sorry to say. Rogic at his prime perhaps.

I don't know really. Armstrong was never a guaranteed starter under Rodgers or Deila. He was in and out of the team. He's a decent player but I'd probably have Christie and Rogic over him. Granted he is probably in better form than both at present.

Christie and McGregor are ahead of him in the national team pecking order in any case.

[illdecide]

Guys how can you say the work rate is not there? The damage is coming from set pieces mostly and we can't cope with the high balls into the defence, that's what is causing us grief. Teams aren't playing thru us and turning us inside out...it's free kicks into the box and corners which we cant defend...

[Angelo]

Guys how can you say the work rate is not there? The damage is coming from set pieces mostly and we can't cope with the high balls into the defence, that's what is causing us grief. Teams aren't playing thru us and turning us inside out...it's free kicks into the box and corners which we cant defend...

We don't win the ball back quickly enough. It's why Rangers are doing so well this year. They coughed up an early goal against Motherwell at the weekend and effectively had Motherwell pinned in their own half for the remainder of the game.

We don't do that to teams, we are don't play with a high enough tempo, our shape is terrible. We are dreadful on set plays but look at the goals conceded in Europe, from the CL qualification through to the EL elimination - how many of those goals were set plays. We got pulled apart again and again by Sparta Prague on the counter. The same with Fernecvaros.

Look at the game at the weekend. How many chances did that boy Ginelly have when he came on? Hearts played through us again and again and again.

You're trying to oversimplify our problems by saying they are set plays. We have huge problems from set plays but we have huge problems in our shape, our energy and cohesiveness and our fitness I'm afraid to say.

It's clear as day standards at the club have dropped badly since Rodgers left.

[Itchy]

Guys how can you say the work rate is not there? The damage is coming from set pieces mostly and we can't cope with the high balls into the defence, that's what is causing us grief. Teams aren't playing thru us and turning us inside out...it's free kicks into the box and corners which we cant defend...

Look at the European games, exceptionally bad tracking allowing overloads on defenders. I would also say work rate in possession is poor, no one running beyond the ball when a team sets up defensively and a real lack of quality to break such defences down. Just my opinion on it.

[Main Street]

Guys how can you say the work rate is not there? The damage is coming from set pieces mostly and we can't cope with the high balls into the defence, that's what is causing us grief. Teams aren't playing thru us and turning us inside out...it's free kicks into the box and corners which we cant defend...

Look at the European games, exceptionally bad tracking allowing overloads on defenders. I would also say work rate in possession is poor, no one running beyond the ball when a team sets up defensively and a real lack of quality to break such defences down. Just my opinion on it.

Ntcham is a workhorse, born to backtrack.

[illdecide]

European teams with a bit more quality were cutting us open thru the middle 100% accurate on that but i meant domestically where teams of less quality knew lumping the ball into the box had Celtic in a frenzy...TBH S Duffy I thought would have mopped them balls up all day long and was our answer to high balls into the defence, a no nonsense defender who would clear his lines and wouldn't be bullied by any Centre Forward but it hasn't really worked out like that. I believe the Goal keeping situation is our biggest problem though and if we'd have kept big Frazer F I think we'd have another 10pts on the board by now (IMO).

[Angelo]

European teams with a bit more quality were cutting us open thru the middle 100% accurate on that but i meant domestically where teams of less quality knew lumping the ball into the box had Celtic in a frenzy...TBH S Duffy I thought would have mopped them balls up all day long and was our answer to high balls into the defence, a no nonsense defender who would clear his lines and wouldn't be bullied by any Centre Forward but it hasn't really worked out like that. I believe the Goal keeping situation is our biggest problem though and if we'd have kept big Frazer F I think we'd have another 10pts on the board by now (IMO).

Why do Rangers do considerably better than us in Europe so?

I'll tell you why, they are a better drilled, more cohesive and fitter unit.

Celtic are an extremely poor prepared outfit.

Anyway in other news, James McCarthy linked with a move. He would give the midfield a much more solid defensive option there and if we can get shot of Ntcham it would be a good move for me.

[MoChara]

European teams with a bit more quality were cutting us open thru the middle 100% accurate on that but i meant domestically where teams of less quality knew lumping the ball into the box had Celtic in a frenzy...TBH S Duffy I thought would have mopped them balls up all day long and was our answer to high balls into the defence, a no nonsense defender who would clear his lines and wouldn't be bullied by any Centre Forward but it hasn't really worked out like that. I believe the Goal keeping situation is our biggest problem though and if we'd have kept big Frazer F I think we'd have another 10pts on the board by now (IMO).

Why do Rangers do considerably better than us in Europe so?

I'll tell you why, they are a better drilled, more cohesive and fitter unit.

Celtic are an extremely poor prepared outfit.

Anyway in other news, James McCarthy linked with a move. He would give the midfield a much more solid defensive option there and if we can get shot of Ntcham it would be a good move for me.

Hard to take much from a rumour like that, he's been linked every window for a decade