The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[Angelo]

Somebody leaked the Celtic team yesterday.  This has happened a few times now.

Why would someone do that?

Not sure what's going on behind the scenes but it's not good.

I'd imagine there are a lot of disgruntled players, Celtic have a lot of automatic starters regardless of form and fitness.

[From the Bunker]

The 10 in a row is a once in a lifetime. There will more than likely never be an opportunity of doing this again. On the all time Roll of honour Rangers are on 54*, Celtic 51. Rangers win they go to 55*, 4 ahead. Celtic win it there will only be 2 between them. This is the closest Celtic has been to Rangers since 1988. In 2000 we were 13 titles behind.


* 1 shared title.

[Baile Brigín 2]

The 10 in a row is a once in a lifetime. There will more than likely never be an opportunity of doing this again. On the all time Roll of honour Rangers are on 54*, Celtic 51. Rangers win they go to 55*, 4 ahead. Celtic win it there will only be 2 between them. This is the closest Celtic has been to Rangers since 1988. In 2000 we were 13 titles behind.


* 1 shared title.

That club is dead.

[blasmere]

From Kieran Devlin in The Athletic

It was an opportunity to redress an unconvincing start to the season, to dispel a gnawing unease about the absence of cohesion and creativity that underpinned Celtic's performances so far in 2020-21, if not the generally positive results. Such an opportunity was not taken, and instead the game confirmed the malaise drifting over the club.

This didn't happen out of the blue. This wasn't unexpected. It's just the underlying performances of Celtic's 2020-21 reaching their logical end point.

When the line-up dropped at 11:15am, it was hard to escape a twinge of apprehension. The most glaring decision was at the back. Celtic were without three centre-backs and, in calling upon 20-year-old Stephen Welsh for only his second-ever senior appearance to fill in the back three alongside Kristoffer Ajer and Shane Duffy, the management clearly opted for formation over personnel.

Rather than revert to a back four to adjust to half of the first-team centre-backs being missing, there was a belief enough in the formation to succeed with the sixth-choice option starting. When Celtic initially switched to a 3-5-2 after last season's winter break, and revitalised their form, they never had the opportunity to play it against Rangers, with the season officially pausing just two days before the fourth derby of 2019-20. Saturday's set-up was apparently designed to address this. Even among the various wild cards considered over the past week, we didn't see this coming. In hindsight, the commitment to stick to the formation seems overly optimistic, even desperate.

It wasn't Neil Lennon's first-choice line-up by any stretch of the imagination, and Celtic had been overrun in three of the previous four derbies — both factors which complemented the uninspired displays preceding Saturday to create some degree of anxiety before kick-off. Anxiety which was quickly aggravated with Ajer, Duffy and Moi Elyounoussi all making needless errors in possession in the opening 10 minutes, including a slack lay-off from the latter that led to the foul for Connor Goldson's opener. But there was at least some urgency from Celtic within that period that vanished as the game wore on.

Celtic were occasionally dangerous on the counter in the first half, enabled by the pace of Jeremie Frimpong and Elyounoussi in particular, but when Rangers had time to reset their shape, their defensive organisation was sound enough to stifle Celtic's build-up. It's the continuation of an ongoing theme for Celtic's season; when facing a well-drilled defensive unit, they struggle to break through their lines and create chances.

Rangers didn't press as aggressively high up the pitch as they have done in previous years, organising themselves up in more of a mid-block with nine men behind the ball, assumedly because they're conscious that if they set up this way, Celtic would labour in passing through them.

This was especially the case after the second goal. Rangers sat back and soaked up Celtic's timid pressure, happy to find space on the counter — as they did when Ryan Kent nearly scored a third through a straightforward ball down Celtic's right flank, which was crossed for an unmarked Kent to find the outstretched boot of Ajer who deflected the ball for a corner.

The number of absentees is inevitably a factor in the disjointedness, and but in reality Celtic were so flat they were in two dimensions. They didn't have a single shot on target the entire game, and didn't have a shot at all in the second half. It was a footballing vacuum.

It's also another high-stakes, one-off game that the management have got wrong over the past 14 months. Cluj in last season's Champions League qualification, when the selection of Callum McGregor at left-back imbalanced the team.

Rangers in last season's League Cup final, when Lewis Morgan as a false nine offered no outlet to an overrun midfield. Rangers at Celtic Park in the league last season, when that same midfield was fielded, playing in the exact same manner and again being overrun despite a then-on-form Olivier Ntcham being available on the bench.

Copenhagen in last season's Europa League last 32, when Ajer was played at right-back, unbalancing the team similarly to McGregor against Cluj.

Ferencvaros in this season's Champions League qualification, with Ryan Christie played as a false nine with two strikers on the bench.

Rangers on Saturday, when the 3-5-2 didn't suit the personnel available.

That's now four of the last five derbies that Celtic been comfortably outplayed, and following on from the Ferencvaros loss, two from two this season in underperforming in high-pressure games against good opposition.

But team selection isn't the critical issue here. Laxalt and Welsh weren't terrible in isolation, though the latter did overcommit to the man rather than the position on a number of occasions, and Klimala commendably attempted a job he's not suited for as he's never evidenced a penchant for hold-up play. Lennon subbing off Elyounoussi, who'd been frustrating at times but also Celtic's only connection between the midfield and attack, was baffling. Perhaps even more baffling was persisting with the 3-5-2 until the 84th minute, chasing the game with three centre-backs and a defensive midfielder.

The 3-5-2 hasn't transpired to be the derby-day holy grail the management hoped it would be. It isn't a magical cure-all to solve Celtic's chronic underperformance against Rangers.

But really, the problems are, and have been all season, much deeper-rooted than just formations, team selections and substitutions. They haven't helped in games such as Ferencvaros, but the reason Celtic lost that important qualifier was because there was so little shape to their midfield and the Hungarians countered through it easily — an issue determined by coaching on the training ground, not one decided by tactics on the day.

Against Rangers they were abject, lifeless. There wasn't a refined defensive shape, as there hasn't really been this season. There was little fluency going forward or well-developed attacking patterns, as there really hasn't been this season either. There was a lethargic pace and purpose to ball progression, which once again, follows the model of the season. They are still a group of individuals without an underlying system to steer them in a collective direction, to fulfil their potential as a unit. That's the story of this season, and Saturday was just the latest chapter. Only this time they've played a team at their level and were well beaten.

It was a poor quality game all told, as these derbies perpetually are. There was no blood or thunder, and Rangers didn't have to raise their game above a 6 out of 10. The game just sort of happened, and happened with minimal input from the Celtic players.

Stripped of the cauldron atmosphere and sense of life-defining gravitas which both sets of fans provide these fixtures, it was simply a routine win for a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus. It was a derby lost not with a bang, but the most limp and pathetic of whimpers.

[MK]

a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus

as seen at set pieces

For Goldsons first goal Duffy actually played him onside leaving a non defender to stop his run

Meanwhile when Celtic had a set-piece and invariably targetted Duffy in the opposing penalty area Goldson was there to  stop the target and thus defy the threat

[illdecide]

I just hope it all works out...Bringing in a new manager is a risk and so is keeping the existing one, what i want is to get the 10 this season and for NL to walk away from the poison he gets now from both sides. He played for Man City, Crewe & Leicester and captained N Ireland at that time and no one batted an eye lid at him but the day he signed for Celtic everything turned against him for pure bigoty and sectarian reasons. Now though he's getting it from his own fans which i think is despicable tbh and in my opinion wrong, WTF is wrong with people?. I just don't get it...

Back to the game yesterday and the more i think about it and look back at the players we have at our disposal would this Celtic team have made any difference...

V. BARKAS (which i'm not convinced off just yet)
C. JULLIEN
S. DUFFY
K. AJER
D. LAXALT (not match fit but we have to assume he's gonna be good)
J. FORREST
C. MCGREGOR
S. BROWN
R. CHRISTIE
O. EDOUARD
L. GRIFFITHS

Not making excuses for the defeat but that team surely would have done better with Ajeti waiting for a slice of it too?

[illdecide]

a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus

as seen at set pieces

For Goldsons first goal Duffy actually played him onside leaving a non defender to stop his run

Meanwhile when Celtic had a set-piece and invariably targetted Duffy in the opposing penalty area Goldson was there to  stop the target and thus defy the threat

TBH i haven't been impressed with Duffy...

[paddyjohn]

a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus

as seen at set pieces

For Goldsons first goal Duffy actually played him onside leaving a non defender to stop his run

Meanwhile when Celtic had a set-piece and invariably targetted Duffy in the opposing penalty area Goldson was there to  stop the target and thus defy the threat

TBH i haven't been impressed with Duffy...

But he's Irish so that's ok. He can make all the mistakes he wants but he Irish...

I kinda feel for him, he's not a ball playing centre half but he's being asked to do that job.

[MK]

a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus

as seen at set pieces

For Goldsons first goal Duffy actually played him onside leaving a non defender to stop his run

Meanwhile when Celtic had a set-piece and invariably targetted Duffy in the opposing penalty area Goldson was there to  stop the target and thus defy the threat

TBH i haven't been impressed with Duffy...

No harm to you Ill'decide but this is a poor reflection on the manager/coach NOT the player who was signed by the management

[Main Street]

Celtic's problem has nothing to do with Duffy. He plays behind 2 other Centre Halfs  who are well able to play the ball forward and Ajer is a capable midfielder  . Since when does a team with playing 3 52 need all three centre halfs to be ball playing Beckenbauers?

[illdecide]

Jesus H i wasn't blaming Duffy at all...all i was saying that i wasn't impressed with him having come from a supposedly higher standard but he's only played half a dozen games and as u say Main St he's playing with two other centre halves who are meant to be better with the ball their feet.

[illdecide]

a well-coached team against one without any identity or impetus

as seen at set pieces

For Goldsons first goal Duffy actually played him onside leaving a non defender to stop his run

Meanwhile when Celtic had a set-piece and invariably targetted Duffy in the opposing penalty area Goldson was there to  stop the target and thus defy the threat

TBH i haven't been impressed with Duffy...

No harm to you Ill'decide but this is a poor reflection on the manager/coach NOT the player who was signed by the management

MK it's only my opinion...and for what it worth it means nothing as long as NL is happy with him then that's all that matters. As for signings and a reflection on a manager what would be the % of signings for any manager's being a flop or a star. Look at the stats and i'd reckon all managers would have a similar % rate of good'ns and flops. Celtic have been well known recently for spotting talent but they have their fair share of terrible signings too just like every other club

[MoChara]

Couple of videos from Saturday under no pressure pinging the ball woefully out of play. Perhaps he's been asked to  pick the pass or just fancies it cause its Scotland but he has to be told to stop. We bought him to take no shite from attackers and nut in the odd goal from set plays at the other end, do the job and playout the simple ball.

Does anyone else think Lenny doesn't look like a well man these days? His complexion and even his weight starting to tell a story but what it is I'm not sure.

[Angelo]

I just hope it all works out...Bringing in a new manager is a risk and so is keeping the existing one, what i want is to get the 10 this season and for NL to walk away from the poison he gets now from both sides. He played for Man City, Crewe & Leicester and captained N Ireland at that time and no one batted an eye lid at him but the day he signed for Celtic everything turned against him for pure bigoty and sectarian reasons. Now though he's getting it from his own fans which i think is despicable tbh and in my opinion wrong, WTF is wrong with people?. I just don't get it...

Back to the game yesterday and the more i think about it and look back at the players we have at our disposal would this Celtic team have made any difference...

V. BARKAS (which i'm not convinced off just yet)
C. JULLIEN
S. DUFFY
K. AJER
D. LAXALT (not match fit but we have to assume he's gonna be good)
J. FORREST
C. MCGREGOR
S. BROWN
R. CHRISTIE
O. EDOUARD
L. GRIFFITHS

Not making excuses for the defeat but that team surely would have done better with Ajeti waiting for a slice of it too?

Bringing in a new manager is not a bigger risk than getting rid of a guy who is out of his depth.

It's important we don't go for a cheap, yes man option this time. It's not too hard to get an upgrade on Lennon, that's the bottom line.

[illdecide]

Dunno if you sound like a Parrot or a broken record...starting to get boring now