The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[yellowcard]

Exactly.Brendan Rodgers has thus far succeeded in meeting the minimum requirements.He is certainly undeserving of an inflated status for remaining unbeaten against other Scottish teams who are of a similar status to Cork City or Dundalk (in fact no Scottish team came close to matching Dundalk's Europa League campaign this season).Given Celtic's huge budgetary advantage and wage bill,no Scottish team should be capable of even giving them a decent game.

He achieved every single objective this season and not even the most rose tinted of Celtic supporters would have predicted that the team would go unbeaten into the last week of April. If he achieves a treble it will have been an unbelievable season for Celtic supporters and the unbeated run is just the icing on the cake. The average attendeances tell you all you need to know. Rodgers does shoot his mouth off at times and has a bit of an ego but underneath it all I believe he is a good coach moreso than a manager. He has been good for Celtic and vice versa.

Since you brought budgets into it, Rangers budget for last year was over £10 million which is well in excess of the budget for the entire LOI so the comparision with Cork and Dundalk is daft. Dundalk in particular had some unbelievable results in Europe in a cup competition where anything can happen. It is unlikely to be ever repeated. However neither side would compete consistently at the top level in Scotland.     

[T Fearon]

I do not think a manager who earns a weekly salary of £45k in the SPL,with the resources to sign vastly superior players (like Sinclair and Dembele) than any of his rivals,should be treated like he was Jock Stein reincarnated,just because he has thus far remained unbeaten by any Scottish rivals (but not against part time teams from Gibraltar).

A little perspective is needed.Celtic,given their budget,support,tradition etc should comfortably win all domestic honours (when their main and only realistic rivals are in disarray) and not only qualify for the group stages of the Champions League annually,but be competitive in those group stages.

[Dougal Maguire]

Have I gone back 9 months in time?

[bennydorano]

Is it dividend season? I don't know if any of you know but Tony Fearon is a Celtic shareholder (& general major player as evidenced by photos), Brendy's bIg pay package may have reduced the payout and hence the narkiness?

[T Fearon]

The next dividend Celtic shareholders get will be the first one.I am not being narky.Brendan is simply doing his job,for which he is handsomely paid,to satisfactory levels.A bit like my postman.Lavish praise or elevation to iconic status is simply not merited yet.

[Milltown Row2]

The next dividend Celtic shareholders get will be the first one.I am not being narky.Brendan is simply doing his job,for which he is handsomely paid,to satisfactory levels.A bit like my postman.Lavish praise or elevation to iconic status is simply not merited yet.

If he won the CL, would you be happy?

[T Fearon]

I am not unhappy. Just looking for a bit of perspective.Our manager is a pass mark student currently not Grade A one by any means.

Winning the Champions League is an unrealistic target.If he makes us competitive in the group stages next year,that will be significant progress,though nothing more than both Strachan and Lennon achieved.

[Milltown Row2]

Of course.But that is an unrealistic target.If he makes us competitive in the group stages next year,that will be significant progress,though nothing more than both Strachan and Lennon achieved.

Unrealistic? I thought the way you were waffling on he should be winning the world cup nevermind the CL... I think that its you thats being unrealistic, why enter a tornament every year if you have no chance of winning it.... A bit like Armagh then? win it once and, well you know the rest..

Being competitive and going out more or less at the same stage every year is the same, no progression, different managers with different teams will generally get you different results

[Hectic]

I agree to an extent. Rodgers is currently hitting all his targets. Being unbeaten domestically at this stage is more than would have been expected but at the same time if we want to be progressing we have to be a lot better than everything in Scotland. I am not saying he is the next Stein but at the same time you have to say that so far he has made a very good start and let's see how far he can raise the bar. What I will not do is try to anticipate when it falls apart or if it falls apart. That is for others, particularly the Scottish media who will have the knives sharpened already for any sort of slip and will be dying to create some sort of crisis.

[Main Street]

It's a common syndrome that once a team wins the title, their performance level drops. Celtic will have to regain their title winning pace for this game. I suppose it helps that Rangers are the opponents and that last poor performance against them needs to be diminished in the memory.

[thebar]

I am not unhappy. Just looking for a bit of perspective.Our manager is a pass mark student currently not Grade A one by any means.

Winning the Champions League is an unrealistic target.If he makes us competitive in the group stages next year,that will be significant progress,though nothing more than both Strachan and Lennon achieved.

It's sad you cant enjoy it.

[StGallsGAA]

I do not think a manager who earns a weekly salary of £45k in the SPL,with the resources to sign vastly superior players (like Sinclair and Dembele) than any of his rivals,should be treated like he was Jock Stein reincarnated,just because he has thus far remained unbeaten by any Scottish rivals (but not against part time teams from Gibraltar).

A little perspective is needed.Celtic,given their budget,support,tradition etc should comfortably win all domestic honours (when their main and only realistic rivals are in disarray) and not only qualify for the group stages of the Champions League annually,but be competitive in those group stages.

The Stallion unmasked.

[ned]

I have supported Celtic all my life. No choice really due to my Dad being a fanatic and regular attendee. I'm glad of that.
It was the late 70's before I really paid attention to scores and league positions, just after Dalglish had left for Liverpool. This was when Big Billy was managing a Celtic team who had Ferguson's Aberdeen and McLean's Dundee Utd as their main contenders, then a brief spell under Davie Hay followed by the glorious Centenary Year Double. We had exciting players and even the odd top class player who would have graced most teams in the world from Danny Mc, Charlie Nicholas, The Maestro, Brian McClair to John Collins and even the odd cult hero (mine anyway) like Anton Rogan. The common theme of Celtic teams then and under Stein was the style of play.
We then entered a dark period when rangers dominated until MON brought us back to the top and despite what others may say that team could play, maybe not all out attack like the Celtic teams before but they were exciting times again. Neil Lennon gave us some wonderful days as did Strachan but the football had become staid. Deila talked a good game but ultimately we were regressing.
The reason for my litany of a post is to emphasise what a majority of Celtic supporters believe we have now. That is, a manager in Brendan Rodgers who is giving us winning football with a style that, although far from Lisbon Lions style attack, is very pleasing to watch. None of us are naive enough to think we are guaranteed progress from here but I for one am certainly not going to spend my time worrying about next year and what might be but I am for enjoying every moment of this fantastic season now.

[Main Street]

You credit Tony the Troll with having an opinion worth replying to.

[stew]

Tony is winding people, if Rodgers was not the gaffer Dembele would not be there, a manager like Rodgers attracts young talent and on that signing alone he has justified his wages. mix in Sinclair and the players now playin far better than they did under that last bomb scare and you have to say the manager has done a tremendous job to date, i think he will crack on and go undefeated and win the treble, if he does so he will cement his legacy as a great Celtic manager, especially when you contrast him with Delia.