The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[lynchbhoy]

im not convinced by loovens at all. against st mirren hibs and the aberdeen game especially, he has looked a long way short of a decent defender. His timing is poor, and if he's looking to hit a man he cant disguise it whatsoever, he gives away many many daft free kicks and his postioning is poor.

i agree caldwell tries to play football which he simply cant do, but he is better talker and organiser than rest and can read the game better.

if you see my other most i completely agree o'dea is a much better defender. the biggest kick in the teeth that lad had was the completely ridiculous decision by strachan to sign pressley. strachan seems unwilling to give the guy a chance at all. he was magnificent against AC Milan in the san siro in the last 16 game and the sunday after it he was dropped for pressley for the rangers game. last season again he came on against rangers in the 3-2 game, played very well and never got a look in again.
boruc is nuts alright, but he simply doesn't have faith in the centre halfs to deal with even the most straightforward ball over the top.
hinkel must prove himself this season, wilson i agree is poor, and yes strachan doesn't do defence. then again he doesn't do alot of things: man-management, proper marking at corners, youth development, transfers, normal match analysis, playing players in proper postions, etc.

that drives me nuts
also how the team go breain dead for quick free kicks
coaching is v poor imo
Team also too 'soft' huns kick the carp out of them and they hide away,its a bit like pre MON Celtic all over again.
Oh for a Mjallby (or a Sutton  and Thommo)!

[southderryman]

im not convinced by loovens at all. against st mirren hibs and the aberdeen game especially, he has looked a long way short of a decent defender. His timing is poor, and if he's looking to hit a man he cant disguise it whatsoever, he gives away many many daft free kicks and his postioning is poor.

i agree caldwell tries to play football which he simply cant do, but he is better talker and organiser than rest and can read the game better.

if you see my other most i completely agree o'dea is a much better defender. the biggest kick in the teeth that lad had was the completely ridiculous decision by strachan to sign pressley. strachan seems unwilling to give the guy a chance at all. he was magnificent against AC Milan in the san siro in the last 16 game and the sunday after it he was dropped for pressley for the rangers game. last season again he came on against rangers in the 3-2 game, played very well and never got a look in again.
boruc is nuts alright, but he simply doesn't have faith in the centre halfs to deal with even the most straightforward ball over the top.
hinkel must prove himself this season, wilson i agree is poor, and yes strachan doesn't do defence. then again he doesn't do alot of things: man-management, proper marking at corners, youth development, transfers, normal match analysis, playing players in proper postions, etc.

that drives me nuts
also how the team go breain dead for quick free kicks
coaching is v poor imo
Team also too 'soft' huns kick the carp out of them and they hide away,its a bit like pre MON Celtic all over again.
Oh for a Mjallby (or a Sutton  and Thommo)!

completely agree with that. it is incredible the amount of times we get caught out by kick free kicks and corners.

thats the problem when we play rangers, too many guys who don't wanna get stuck in. for these games we need to have guys like robson in midfield, can play a bit of football, but isn't scared to get stuck in, and can look after himself (ask christain dailly). ah, big johah, god he knew how to hit and make it look innocent and acciedntal!

also, with all the "decisions celtic have been getting lately" it will give the scottish media/laptop loyal to the perfect defence for dec 27th when the ref offers our players no protection..."these decisions even themselves out, blah blah blah." i wait with bated breath to see them complaining en masse about the blatant penalty samaras had turned down yesterday 

[T Fearon]

Disappointing yesterday but it had to happen I suppose.

On a couple of more positive notes I took delivery of one of my birtday presents on Saturday. A framed signed picture of Caesar Mc Neill holding the European Cup with a copy of the programme and match ticket embedded. Only 50 of these were available

Also during Saturday night's Simple Minds gig in the Odyssey Belfast, before the band launched into their version of Van Morrison's Gloria, lead singer and Celtic fanatic Jim Kerr said "We are going to do a song now from one of Belfast's favourite sons.. Charlie Tully!

[Rav67]

The tactics were simply awful on Sunday.  Hinkel had to play the whole right side himself as Brown never showed on the wing at all and jut played centre-mid.  Hartley and Caldwell is far too negative to be playing against a team with a defensive record like Hibs.  The strikers were all shite, particularly Sheridan who having seen a lot more of him I now think is a very poor player.  He'll probably get a couple of caps for Ireland but he's worse than Caleb Folan.  Only Hinkel had a decent game and to a lesser extent Wilson and Maloney.  The game was crying out for Naka and McGeady to come on together in the second half.

Lynchbhoy I don;t know why you rate Loovens on what he's shown at Celtic so far, i think he's been totally rubbish.  I would rather have Caldwell every game at CB with either McManus or O'Dea.

[lynchbhoy]

Lynchbhoy I don;t know why you rate Loovens on what he's shown at Celtic so far, i think he's been totally rubbish.  I would rather have Caldwell every game at CB with either McManus or O'Dea.

saw him play v well for cardiff on tv last season
seen caldwell for the past couple of years
I'd rathe play nakamura at cb instead of caldwell, I really rate caldwell that badly!

loovens has shown glimpses of potential to me, thats all, its still imo beter than bombscare gary !

[southderryman]

The tactics were simply awful on Sunday.  Hinkel had to play the whole right side himself as Brown never showed on the wing at all and jut played centre-mid.  Hartley and Caldwell is far too negative to be playing against a team with a defensive record like Hibs.  The strikers were all shite, particularly Sheridan who having seen a lot more of him I now think is a very poor player.  He'll probably get a couple of caps for Ireland but he's worse than Caleb Folan.  Only Hinkel had a decent game and to a lesser extent Wilson and Maloney.  The game was crying out for Naka and McGeady to come on together in the second half.

Lynchbhoy I don;t know why you rate Loovens on what he's shown at Celtic so far, i think he's been totally rubbish.  I would rather have Caldwell every game at CB with either McManus or O'Dea.

Hartley had a decent game imo and was unfortunate to be subsituted. Agree about sheridan, and while i realise he's still young and learning the game the fact is that he has neither the determination strength or aggression to make it at celtic, i would like to be proved wrong, but i dont think i will.

the game was certainly crying ut for mc geady in particular. the fact strachan replaced sheridan with samaras is maybe fair enough considering sherdian was playing poorly, but the fact he didn't address the situtation in midfield shows me he's a man doesn't clearly know what to do. he was hoping that resorting to high hopeful balls would rescue a point and dig him out of another hole.

loovens should have been substituted, caldwell moved to centre half, brown to the centre and mc geady and maloney on the flanks. there was quite simply no width, andy hinkel tried his best to provide some and worked tirelessly.

paul caddis was another option down the right with his pace, but as usual strachan wont give the lad a chance.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Caldwell has been by far the best central defender at Celtic this season. That doesn't make him Baresi but he's been substantially better than McManus or Loovens.

Boruc is being indulged at the moment IMO due to his personal problems but it's costing Celtic points. He's about two stone overweight and increasingly prone to ridiculous blunders. If Celtic had a decent understudy he'd be dropped but there's only so much undulging you can do. He has to start being professional and sort himself out.

[southderryman]

Lynchbhoy I don;t know why you rate Loovens on what he's shown at Celtic so far, i think he's been totally rubbish.  I would rather have Caldwell every game at CB with either McManus or O'Dea.

saw him play v well for cardiff on tv last season
seen caldwell for the past couple of years
I'd rathe play nakamura at cb instead of caldwell, I really rate caldwell that badly!

loovens has shown glimpses of potential to me, thats all, its still imo beter than bombscare gary !

very harsh lynchbhoy. i believe caldwell is very unfairly treated by a lot of people who still think back to his mistake against barcelona. Gary Caldwell is a better and more reliable centre half than mc manus and loovens.

I will give loovens time to settle into the scottish game and establish himself but presently is not a better defender than caldwell. if he proves to be a better defender in the future i will be more than happy.

Hopefully john kennedy will get an extended run in the norwich side and get himself back to full fitness as i had really high hopes for him before his terrible luck with injuries. from what i hear he's been doing reasonably well at norwich although he did get sent off last week.

[lynchbhoy]

I'll say no more about caldwell. You know my opinion on him. I dont think its harsh at all.
Kennedy seems to have gotten better with time ....
he was a young untried unproven cb when he got selected for Scotland (no big deal there as they were and are sihte)
after his inj, people are saying they hope he gets back to as good as he was.
he was only a kid that was light years away from being actually any good tobe honest.
While I wish him well and hope he has a long and successful career, I dont think he was going to be much better than caldwell - unless he started being able to kick with his right foot as well. Way too one sided and soft imo.

[carribbear]

Caldwell is the new Tebily as far as I'm concerned.

[Doogie Browser]

Well done to Celtic tonight, that amazing home record remains and they did Utd a favour in the process!

[carribbear]

I wouldnt care too much about whether it helps united or not, still disappointing to come bottom of the table.

Perhaps best to concentrate on the league as we don't have the players for the CL.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

I'll say no more about caldwell. You know my opinion on him. I dont think its harsh at all.
Kennedy seems to have gotten better with time ....
he was a young untried unproven cb when he got selected for Scotland (no big deal there as they were and are sihte)
after his inj, people are saying they hope he gets back to as good as he was.
he was only a kid that was light years away from being actually any good tobe honest.
While I wish him well and hope he has a long and successful career, I dont think he was going to be much better than caldwell - unless he started being able to kick with his right foot as well. Way too one sided and soft imo.

Kennedy played an outstanding game for Celtic in the Nou Camp and due to being seriously injured shortly thereafter thats what he is remembered for. Bit like Ian Durrant who played some good games for Rangers in the late 80's and was then crocked against Aberdeen, and never managing to find consistent good form on his recovery saw the injury blamed for not realising his potential. I hope for Kennedy's sake he doesnt go the same way but he has plenty to prove.

As for Caldwell he was never a player I liked and his off the field antics make him instantly dislikable. Must be said though his performances in recent months have been very good and if maintained could see him head to a higher level.

[carribbear]

I wish Caldwell would shut up and stop speaking to the press...he's never out of it....if only he's spend a wee bit more time on the training ground...

[youngfella]

up the hoops !