The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Well he certainly picked up the tab for Roy Keane's wages, but I suppose with merchandise sales and extra bums on seats etc,its a question of speculating to accumulate.

Its a sorry state of affairs but you wouldn't bet on Celtic beating anyone at the moment and I don't see the logic of those berating Strachan after a few weeks at Middlesbro while still supporting Mowbray after six months at Celtic Park.

The rest of the season will tell the tale, that is if Mowbray lasts beyond the weekend (surely defeat to Dunfermline would bring the curtain down?). If Strachan gets Boro into a play off place with largely Celtic's team from last year, and Mowbray doesn't at least get within striking distance of Rangers, or vice versa, then that will prove who the better manager is. I genuinely hope they both do well, and if Mowbray proves me wrong I'll gladly hold my hands up.

Still think Lambert has done enough to merit a chance, perhaps with Neil Lennon as his back up, and John Hughes seems to have the knack as well.

Tony I would be astonished if Strachan does a job for Middlesbrough. The Championship is arguably a higher standard than the SPL, certainly it has far greater strength in depth, so how does Strachan figure that signing players he didnt use when at Cetic will benefit Middlesbrough? Killen is awful. Lee Miller is a player wjo had potential and pissed it away. He has scored 4 goals for Aberdeen this season and was out of contract this summer, the Dons couldnt believe their luck when Strachan paid £500,000 for him this week. Strachan did a credible job at Celtic but he is not a great manager and it was time for him to move on. He will fail at Middlesbrough and leave a pile of expensive duds behind him.

On another couple of points the Coyle/Mowbray comparison isnt a great one. With the squad he inherited and budget he had you would have expected Mowbray to promote WBA whereas Coyle took up a pretty limited Burnley squad against all expectation. In his 6 months in the Premiership at Burnley he made a better fist of competing than Mowbray did with WBA. At this stage Coyle's record as manager is better than Mowbrays.

Wouldnt be getting too excited about Hughes either. Did ok with Falkirk for a while but came within 20 minutes of relegating them last season when he had a better budget and squad than a number of rival clubs. Landed on his feet with Hibs but again Hibs are paying more cash this season than in a long time. With the likes of Riordan, Stokes and Miller on board he should be doing well and given how poor the OF are this season its a real chance for Hibs to break into the top two but that looks unlikely. Hughes would be a poor poor choice for Celtic and is a bit like Mowbray in that he goes on about his football philosophy all the time rather than going out and winning games.

[clarshack]

http://www.celticfc.net/news/stories/news_040210103021.aspx

I see the stiffs beat drogheda 3-1 last night with brown scoring. the irony is that celtic team would probably have beaten kilmarnock.

[slow corner back]

Falkirk are currently enjoying their longest run inthe SPL ever. Currently 5 years thanks to Yogi hughes. Their longest previous run was three years. Hibs are currently one point behind Celtic in the table with a fraction of the resources. John Hughes is a serious contender for the celtic job next time it comes up ( next monday maybe? )

[T Fearon]

What you need to succeed in the SPL is essentially a team with a good complement of scrappers, then when you've won the war you can concentrate on playing football. Walter Smith, Craig Brown, John Hughes, Jimmy Calderwood etc all understand this, Mopwbray unfortunately doesn't as Celtic haven't one scrapper in their team, apart from Brown who isn't even fit yet.

[lynchbhoy]

What you need to succeed in the SPL is essentially a team with a good complement of scrappers, then when you've won the war you can concentrate on playing football. Walter Smith, Craig Brown, John Hughes, Jimmy Calderwood etc all understand this, Mopwbray unfortunately doesn't as Celtic haven't one scrapper in their team, apart from Brown who isn't even fit yet.

Mowbray prob the biggest scrapper of all those mentioned when they all played soccer tony (guessing about calderwood/smith/brown as I'm not that old to remember them playing)
so I am pretty sure he understands - plus he played in the spl not that long ago.
He's better qualified than us as well as most others !

[T Fearon]

Well if he understands he's not putting it into practice!

Alas I'm old enough to remember Walter in his Dundee Utd playing days (he featured in the 1974 Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic) and I remember a long haired, much slimmer Jimmy Calderwood, in the Birmingham City team of the mid 70s as well, alongside Trevor Franics and Kenny Burns

[lynchbhoy]

Well if he understands he's not putting it into practice!

Alas I'm old enough to remember Walter in his Dundee Utd playing days (he featured in the 1974 Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic) and I remember a long haired, much slimmer Jimmy Calderwood, in the Birmingham City team of the mid 70s as well, alongside Trevor Franics and Kenny Burns

would say that he prob does know, also that imo he does need a bit more physicality
but
as me Dad used to say, when yer fightin, yer not playing football....

so Mowbray requires a mixture of a lot of things that he is obv trying to rectify
I dont agree with his tactics of team selections the other night but he's the man in charge and imo getting it right - though looking like it may be too late for this season

I also think that Robbie keanes arrival took mogga by surprise. I'd say DD had a hand in that
Keane might have skewed the balance and Mowbrays decision making a bit- as I cannot understand why Rasmussen was not on or even starting the other night!

[T Fearon]

if and when they start winning on a consistent basis I'll believe he's getting it right, Id be amazed if DD isn't picking up the tab for Keane, but he will be expecting a return and that can only come from a successful team

[lfdown2]

GDA, can ye rename this the 'Tony Fearon - WGS appreciation thread'

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Falkirk are currently enjoying their longest run inthe SPL ever. Currently 5 years thanks to Yogi hughes. Their longest previous run was three years. Hibs are currently one point behind Celtic in the table with a fraction of the resources. John Hughes is a serious contender for the celtic job next time it comes up ( next monday maybe? )

Sounds impressive but pretty misleading as the SPL was only formed in 1998. Falkirk have previously enjoyed much longer spells in the Scottish top flight. Hughes was very fortuntate not to relegate them last season. The reason Hibs are just a point behind Celtic with a fraction of the resources is more down to Celtic's missuse of those resources than anything Hughes is doing. With the players he has been able to sign he should be finishing 3rd and given Mowbray's mess Hughes should really be going all out for 2nd. I would laugh very loudly if Celtic appointed Hughes.

[Myles Na G.]

while we are on the subject of dreaming when are you going to wake up from that dream of yours of being a celtic supporter?

'Rossie mad'? Which football team would that be a reference to, I wonder. Oh right, it's a gaelic football team.

Stick to what you know, lad. Square balls, take your points, all that sort of stuff. 

[Minder]

When will it stop being Strachans fault for the current malaise at Celtic and start being Mowbrays?

[T Fearon]

Exactly. For far too many people Mowbray can do no wong and Strachan nothing right. If Celtic had been in the same shambles this time last year, there would hav been protests galore and Strachan would have been sacked.

[Club Rossa]

Leaving aside Strachan,Mowbray has been there long enough now that we should be able to see a marked improvement.Look at the teams we have dropped points against,its ridiculous.
I know that some of the lads on here have said that Celtic's football this season is easier to watch than in previous seasons,but unfortunately its a results business.I had my fill of fancy football when Liam Brady was in charge.
I would love nothing more than for Tony Mowbray to prove the doubters wrong but i honestly think the job is too much for him.

[T Fearon]

Mowbray reminds me a lot of Glen Hoddle. When he was appointed Spurs manager there was widespread euphoria and every Spurs fan was willing him to succeed but he didn't. Surely defeat on Saturday will spell the end of the line for Mowbray (Dunfermline will fancy their chances and remember they knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup immediately after Le Guen left), and if this season is to be a write off, far better to go back to the 2000 scenario and let Lennon and Mc Grain look after the first team for the rest of this season and this will give the club 6 to 7 months to get the right permanent replacement.