The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[lynchbhoy]

Never seen the match yesterday as we had our AGM  in the club and was battling it out with a few drunken morans...

Were Celtic that bad??? and was Boruc at fault for the 2 goals???

Celtic were dreadful, the first goal will be in every howler clips show for the rest of the year and next. Second goal was a combination of goalie c**k up and defence screw up.
Problem was we had no control in midfield, didn't look like we could score in a barrel of fannies, WGS only brings McGeady on after 70 mins and two goals down, Samaras left on the bench until the second half while Sheridan played, Caldwell now being used as a midfielder!

thats the disaster
GS cant or wont drop mcmanus or caldwell , but realises lovens is the better defender of th ethree so pushes caldwell into midfield therby upsetting whatever balance the team might have !

[southderryman]

Top notch performance today 
Loads of midfielders yet Gary Caldwell is now the playmaker....i'm thinking of coming out of retirement and offering my services

in fairness to caldwell he's just doing his job, its the stupid prat that puts him there that i blame, loovens and mc manus couldn't make a centre half between them and caldwell presently is the best centre half we have as kennedy is out on loan and he seems sompletely intent on not giving o'dea or balde a sniff, both of whom are vastly superior to either poayer who started centre half yesterday.

Never seen the match yesterday as we had our AGM  in the club and was battling it out with a few drunken morans...

Were Celtic that bad??? and was Boruc at fault for the 2 goals???

celtic were very very poor yesterday.

only hinkle and hartley could hold their heads high after that performance.

the team ahd no balance what so ever and strachan seems intent on playing as many players out of position as possible:

we had a right back playing left back (wilson)
a centre half playing centre midfield (caldwelll)
a centre midfielder playing right wing (borwn)

no creativity what so ever but what exactly do you expect from a midfield that contains hartley and caldwell. square pass, after backward pass, after square pass. far far too slow build up, very easy for hibs to defend against.

i honestly believe it is time strachan moves on, because it is simply dreadful to watch.

all these people who come out and defend him sayin "3 in a row" "12 wins on in a row" etc, well im sorry but that doesn;t wash with me. Rangers are at the poorest they've possibly ever been in their history and if you look at the 12 wins in a row:

motherwell (A) 4-2 good football in the first half, crosas controlling the game, second half absolutely shockin, couldn't string 2 passes together and defence resembled the red sea

Killie (A) 3-1 decent football in this game

aberdeen (H) 3-2 very lucky, mc geady bailed strachan out in the last 10 minutes, despite being left on the bench for a ridiculous length of time

hamilton (H) 4-0 decent football when we had naka maloney and mcgeady on the pitch together. why he doesn't play these guys together more often baffles me, if you play one of them he gets double marked, play them all and they cant be double marked and link really well together

Inverness (A) 2-1 poor first half admittedly the players were not protected by the ref and were constantly hacked down. better second half with crosas coming more influencial and a decent victory as inverness away is always tough

Hibs (H) 4-2 didnt see this one due to the boats being off, but from what i gather some decent football in parts and in general a good game of football.

Hearts (A) 2-0 good result, but hearts were shocking, average enough performance

Motherwell (H) 2-0 very poor performance with motherwell the better team for a large part of the game, the sending off helped

Killie (H) 3-0 some goog football, albeit against a poor poor outfit

Hamilton (A) 2-1 quite simply awful no creativity at all, a lucky decision made the difference and a quality strike from hartley

St Mirren (A) 3-1 the first half followed on from the week before, woeful 1st half, slightly better second half, a piece of magic from naka masked a bad performance against a very poor side

Inverness (H) 1-0 a woeful game of football. end of.

Hibs (A) very poor, no creativity what so ever. the people around me were screaming at maloney to create something, admittedly he wasn't at his best, but anytime he got the ball he was double teamed. there was no movement for him, he really needs to play with intelligent players like aiden, crosas and naka who understand how to play football

if you look at those 12 games i would say we played dedent football in about 4 of them, against some pretty poor opposition, many of whom i would think would'nt finish in the top 2 of the eircom league.

the creative players we have he seems reluctant to play. i dont care if he has fallen out with aiden or not, if you're manager you do what's best for the team, and the fact is he should be starting as it benefits the team. Fair enough he's been unlucky with crosas getting injured at inverness, but his team selections are baffling at times and yesterday was ridiculous, fair enough play a defender in midfield if you have an injury crisis and are short of numbers, but we had 3 midfielders on the bench yesterday ffs.

in 3 years he's won 3 titles, yet attendances are falling all the time, i wonder why?

and before anyone starts its got f**kall to do with the credit crunch.

[southderryman]

Never seen the match yesterday as we had our AGM  in the club and was battling it out with a few drunken morans...

Were Celtic that bad??? and was Boruc at fault for the 2 goals???

Celtic were dreadful, the first goal will be in every howler clips show for the rest of the year and next. Second goal was a combination of goalie c**k up and defence screw up.
Problem was we had no control in midfield, didn't look like we could score in a barrel of fannies, WGS only brings McGeady on after 70 mins and two goals down, Samaras left on the bench until the second half while Sheridan played, Caldwell now being used as a midfielder!

thats the disaster
GS cant or wont drop mcmanus or caldwell , but realises lovens is the better defender of th ethree so pushes caldwell into midfield therby upsetting whatever balance the team might have !

you must be joking

[lynchbhoy]

Never seen the match yesterday as we had our AGM  in the club and was battling it out with a few drunken morans...

Were Celtic that bad??? and was Boruc at fault for the 2 goals???

Celtic were dreadful, the first goal will be in every howler clips show for the rest of the year and next. Second goal was a combination of goalie c**k up and defence screw up.
Problem was we had no control in midfield, didn't look like we could score in a barrel of fannies, WGS only brings McGeady on after 70 mins and two goals down, Samaras left on the bench until the second half while Sheridan played, Caldwell now being used as a midfielder!

thats the disaster
GS cant or wont drop mcmanus or caldwell , but realises lovens is the better defender of th ethree so pushes caldwell into midfield therby upsetting whatever balance the team might have !

you must be joking

not as much as you are when you say that caldwell is anything more than mediocre as a defender. Would be better myself, he's that bad.
nice lad (half the problem) and too much of a footballer, not a natural defender.
Would half expect gstrachan to play him as a striker next !

[southderryman]

Never seen the match yesterday as we had our AGM  in the club and was battling it out with a few drunken morans...

Were Celtic that bad??? and was Boruc at fault for the 2 goals???

Celtic were dreadful, the first goal will be in every howler clips show for the rest of the year and next. Second goal was a combination of goalie c**k up and defence screw up.
Problem was we had no control in midfield, didn't look like we could score in a barrel of fannies, WGS only brings McGeady on after 70 mins and two goals down, Samaras left on the bench until the second half while Sheridan played, Caldwell now being used as a midfielder!

thats the disaster
GS cant or wont drop mcmanus or caldwell , but realises lovens is the better defender of th ethree so pushes caldwell into midfield therby upsetting whatever balance the team might have !

you must be joking

not as much as you are when you say that caldwell is anything more than mediocre as a defender. Would be better myself, he's that bad.
nice lad (half the problem) and too much of a footballer, not a natural defender.
Would half expect gstrachan to play him as a striker next !

i said he was better than loovens and mc mcmanus, that doesn't exatly mean he's a good defender. celtics back four is sub standard. hinkel is coming on a bit in recent months but the jury is still.  caldwell is the best of 3 poor centre halfs. i know boruc has been dodgey at certian times his season, but imo the reason he comes charging out of his goal (st mirren and hibs) is due to the imcomptence and very slow reactions of both loovens and mc manus, quite simply he doesn't trust them to deal with it.

[lynchbhoy]

i said he was better than loovens and mc mcmanus, that doesn't exatly mean he's a good defender. celtics back four is sub standard. hinkel is coming on a bit in recent months but the jury is still.  caldwell is the best of 3 poor centre halfs. i know boruc has been dodgey at certian times his season, but imo the reason he comes charging out of his goal (st mirren and hibs) is due to the imcomptence and very slow reactions of both loovens and mc manus, quite simply he doesn't trust them to deal with it.

still think I have seen more natural defensive ability in loovens in the short time he has been there than I have in the rest.
O'Dea is also better. Caldwell lacking something to be good. Maybe it is just aggression and attitude. Too nice, tries to play football, which cant happen as a centre half. Row z before the fancy stuff.
Boruc can drop clangers, think he is just crazy, but would be better behind a better defence. Hinkel has come on a lot, still maybe not good enough. Celtic have no left back. wilson is pants.
Strachan doesnt do defence.

[southderryman]

i said he was better than loovens and mc mcmanus, that doesn't exatly mean he's a good defender. celtics back four is sub standard. hinkel is coming on a bit in recent months but the jury is still.  caldwell is the best of 3 poor centre halfs. i know boruc has been dodgey at certian times his season, but imo the reason he comes charging out of his goal (st mirren and hibs) is due to the imcomptence and very slow reactions of both loovens and mc manus, quite simply he doesn't trust them to deal with it.

still think I have seen more natural defensive ability in loovens in the short time he has been there than I have in the rest.
O'Dea is also better. Caldwell lacking something to be good. Maybe it is just aggression and attitude. Too nice, tries to play football, which cant happen as a centre half. Row z before the fancy stuff.
Boruc can drop clangers, think he is just crazy, but would be better behind a better defence. Hinkel has come on a lot, still maybe not good enough. Celtic have no left back. wilson is pants.
Strachan doesnt do defence.

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.

[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.