The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[michaelg]

Is Paddy Mc Court fit?  Was he on the bench tonight or get on?  How come Lennon doesn't play him?

[Forever Green]

Is Paddy Mc Court fit?  Was he on the bench tonight or get on?  How come Lennon doesn't play him?

He is fit again and was on the bench tonight. Lennon doesn't play him because......I seriously do not f**king know. That man makes some strange decisions. Even when we needed a goal tonight, he kept McCourt and Stokes(our best player) on the bench. As for him putting Samaras on before Stokes and McCourt, that shit makes me want to cry

[Pat Mustard]

He doesn't/didn't play McCourt because he isn't very good. We only 'needed a goal' in the last 5 minutes, so I can't criticise Lennon for not making a change then. I can criticise him for a lot of other stuff, but thats beside the point. Samaras on before Stokes is ridiculous, though it should have been another midfielder on at that stage of the game anyway.

His persistence with Samaras is the main factor in turning me against him.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

He doesn't/didn't play McCourt because he isn't very good. We only 'needed a goal' in the last 5 minutes, so I can't criticise Lennon for not making a change then. I can criticise him for a lot of other stuff, but thats beside the point. Samaras on before Stokes is ridiculous, though it should have been another midfielder on at that stage of the game anyway.

His persistence with Samaras is the main factor in turning me against him.

+1

Will still support Lenny, but he's becoming frustrating with his attitude towards Stokes, McCourt and a few others.
Btw good performance last night, headlines today:
"Celtic get robbed by referee shocker...." See it doesn't just happen in the SPL 

Paranoid moi not.

[Muzz]

Granted Samaras came on and was woeful.  But Lennon putting Samaras on to run the channels hold onto the ball, hold up the ball, win free kicks in my eyes was the right decision.  The fact Samaras didnt do any of those things makes it look like Lennon hadnt a clue.

Last night was not the night for McCourt.  I have said it on here before...McCourt gets plaudits for going on a maisy run and scoring beating 10 players in the process.  However thats one run out of about 100 he tries in a game.  A lot of the time he will lose the ball and put pressure back on the team.  Midfielders bursting forward and then leaving the defense exposed.

Last night I really think Lennon got it spot on.  Commentators though Forrest was great.  I wasnt that impressed.  Bangura and Hooper were chasing and putting pressure on the passes.  Forrest didnt want to chase.  No matter how much I want to believe it Celtic will not be world beaters anytime soon.  That "2nd Strong" side of Udinese is better than any SPL team and most EPL teams. 

Keep the faith people!  No faith we wont have anything.  Lennon is still learning...but just think could be worse we could have a John Barnes or even a more experience manager like Tony Mowbray!

[whitegoodman]

Granted Samaras came on and was woeful.  But Lennon putting Samaras on to run the channels hold onto the ball, hold up the ball, win free kicks in my eyes was the right decision.  The fact Samaras didnt do any of those things makes it look like Lennon hadnt a clue.

Last night was not the night for McCourt.  I have said it on here before...McCourt gets plaudits for going on a maisy run and scoring beating 10 players in the process.  However thats one run out of about 100 he tries in a game.  A lot of the time he will lose the ball and put pressure back on the team.  Midfielders bursting forward and then leaving the defense exposed.

Last night I really think Lennon got it spot on.  Commentators though Forrest was great.  I wasnt that impressed.  Bangura and Hooper were chasing and putting pressure on the passes.  Forrest didnt want to chase.  No matter how much I want to believe it Celtic will not be world beaters anytime soon.  That "2nd Strong" side of Udinese is better than any SPL team and most EPL teams. 
Keep the faith people!  No faith we wont have anything.  Lennon is still learning...but just think could be worse we could have a John Barnes or even a more experience manager like Tony Mowbray!

That Udinese team would be in the bottom 6 in the EPL

IMO if Celtic had of been a bit more patient with Mowbray they would have won the league by now, far better manager than Lennon.  Look at the job he is doing with Boro at the min on a shoestring budget.

[lynchbhoy]

dont think that mowbray was any worse than Lennon but he ran out of time and at the end was trying too hard to force things. Lennon is doing a fine job for a rookie -but a club like Celtic need better than that.
Last night from the bit I saw, Celtic shoul dhave scored more to put the tie away. they didnt and they paid the price. There is always a possibility of a soft penalty. Cant moan about it.
Celtic had their chances. Think that fecking about with the line up weekly detracts from the sides effectiveness. Wait until the side get their choesion together for a while and a run of good results before tinkering with rotations.
Stokes needs to start alongside hooper.
Rogne the best and fastest centre half needs to start.

[Clown]

I dont think we ever stood a chance in this group considering the quality in the squad and our appalling away record. I think it should be used to help find a settled and best XI, Mulgrew and Dan last night at centre back looked solid and should be a basis to build on and given a run of games together. Bangura looks a decent foil for Hooper or Stokes, big and pacey, he just needs to get a few goals now.

Lennon needs to completely forget Samaras and Loovens and ship them out as soon as he can. Neither will ever be good enough to wear the hoops and Samaras coming on last night cost Celtic the match i thought. Its as if he's trying to prove a point with him

[Pat Mustard]

Those saying we'd have won a leagge with Mowbray in charge are clueless. He's a good manager in the championship. There's a different pressure of being in charge of Celtic, Mowbray obviously couldn't handle that. His signings were also, for the most part, woeful.

Rogne may start if he wasn't injured all the time, he's no great shakes either though.

Bangura looks decent so far, dodgy first touch and hasn't got a sniff of anything around the box but he's barely played 2 full games. Hopefully he gets a bit of a run in the side. Wanyama looked good last night too. In him, Kayal, Ki and Ledley we have an embarassment of riches in central midfield compared to other positions in the side.

[lynchbhoy]

Those saying we'd have won a leagge with Mowbray in charge are clueless. He's a good manager in the championship. There's a different pressure of being in charge of Celtic, Mowbray obviously couldn't handle that. His signings were also, for the most part, woeful.

Rogne may start if he wasn't injured all the time, he's no great shakes either though.

Bangura looks decent so far, dodgy first touch and hasn't got a sniff of anything around the box but he's barely played 2 full games. Hopefully he gets a bit of a run in the side. Wanyama looked good last night too. In him, Kayal, Ki and Ledley we have an embarassment of riches in central midfield compared to other positions in the side.

whatever about the what ifs regarding mowbray, I completely disagree with Rogne.
Last years rise to form came off the back of the defence solidifying before Christmas, when Rogne finally got fit and took his place in central defence. His reading of the game and his pace coving for his slower and error prone partners in defence shored up the sieve at long last and the wheels only came off again after he started getting inj and was in and out of the team at the ending months of the season.
I really liked what I saw of him as a no nonsense defender. imo was heading for Celtics POTY before inj towards the end.
far more valuable than Izzaguirre - who is a great player going forward, but is enabled to do so when a great defender like Rogne is behind him.

[Pat Mustard]

I quite like Rogne, he isn't that good though. I'd Mulgrew is probably our best central defender (how times have changed), Wilson looked ok til the Rangers game, Maj and Loovens are donkies. Rogne is decent, he was nowhere near POTY of the year though. He was the weak link in the CIS final, and our season fell apart from there. If he's fit I'd play him,the problem is he's rarely fit.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Depressing crap on show yesterday.
Celtic now 7/4 to win the SPL with Paddy Power, worth a punt, long way to go and Huns still have possibility of being docked points if HRMC case goes the way its expected!
Plus they will drop plenty of points between now and May (so will we, but not as many  )

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Looks like the AGM is coming up again!! 
We just got rid of one injury prone player to replace him with another.
Not fussed atm on this one, suppose it could just be shite paper talk


James McFadden in Celtic signing talks

Celtic are in signing talks with Scotland forward James McFadden, BBC Scotland has learned.

The 28-year-old is a free agent after being released by Birmingham City at the end of last season.

McFadden had been out of action since September last year after he suffered cruciate ligament damage.

Following his recovery from injury, he had been training with Wolves and manager Mick McCarthy announced he was keen to sign the player.

However, it appears that McFadden has preferred to consider options other than the Barclays Premier League club.

It could mean a return to the Scottish Premier League, the forward having began his career with Motherwell.

Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley believes McFadden would be a welcome addition to the club as they look to reduce the gap at the top of the table.

"He is a great player and I think he will be good for the team," said the Wales international, who hopes to be fit in time to face Kilmarnock on Saturday.

"It is down to the club to sort it out, but we'd welcome him into the club.

"I have seen him play many times and he'd be a good player to have. He'd be a good addition to the team."

McFadden moved to Everton from Fir Park for £1.25m in 2003 and spent five years at Goodison Park before heading for Birmingham in a £5m.

Having been relegated to the Championship, the Blues decided against taking up the option of a two-year extension to his contract this summer.

[lynchbhoy]

McFadden prob long past his best.
From memory but this is what I recall about him -
A lad who almost joined Celtic as a youngster when he was tearing up defenses with motherwell. He was told to sit tight and keep himself out of trouble and Celtc would come in for him.
His family are celtic fans and season ticket holders and his father was desperate for him to join. However the lad got notions about himself and went a bit off the rails. So much so that Celtic then wouldnt sign him - or was it that he decided they were not offering enough and headed south instead.
Either way, he was another liam miller - loads of talent and a bit more of an apprenticeship under good men woul dhave seen the best of him.
However after a couple of short years as a nearly man he has been cast aside on the scrap heap and now trying to use his previously great reputation in scotland to land himself back with Celtic (again a bit like miller).
would like to thik he still has it in him as he isnt old. However he might be too long away from playing and playing a decent standard. Then you have to wonder has his infamous illdiscipline been curtailed.

[rossie mad]

i remember him with motherwell and i actually thought he was a great prospect and when he went to england he did well with everton i thought.however the thing about everton was his speed wasnt used to its true potential and was often used as a lone striker or on the right side of midfield and of course cahill filled the position mcfadden would have loved running of the front man.
its hard to see how he will be after that injury but he obviously was on big bucks or biringham would have kept him.
If he plays close to his best he would be a welcome addition and would be a great addition in a 4 3 3 formation.However if his injury comes back to haunt him he would be a waste of money.Sign him on a deal till the end of season and then get first refusal on him.

On the season so far i dont hold out much hope for a memorable one.I think our squad is poor in several areas.samaras,loovens,mccourt and stokes should be shipped off in january as i think they arent up to it and the likes of mark wilson should be shipped off at the end of the season.

The problem is are squad is inexperienced in several areas and we should invest in some experience in january to try and add a bit of steel to it.I thought letting jamie hamill off to hearts and not trying to sign him was a mistake as well as not trying to sign the likes of skacel and goodwillie as well as letting james mcarthur go to wigan from hamilton.

Who have we at the weekend?After the hearts defeat i seem to have lost interst hopefully that wont be a constant.