A Season Review

Season In Review: The Squad: A Case For The Defence And John Park

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Football.

Remember that ?

Nothing to do with EBTs, taxes, administration, liquidation…Not to trivialize, but I am thoroughly bored with “off-field” matters.

So let’s look at how Celtic have performed ON the field this season. Everyone has an opinion on whom we should sell and whose future lies elsewhere.

The Coaching Staff and Scouts

Apart from Neil Lennon, the first person on the list of those to stay at Celtic should be John Park.

Park and his staff have done an excellent job over the past year, helping Neil Lennon build a young, robust squad that is, at times, naïve but hungry for success. Winning the league by such a margin was always likely to instill a measure of apathy amongst the first team, but Lennon has largely managed to focus the players and deliver some memorable results since events developing at the Big House.

Couple this to the addition of one or two more experienced players and Celtic have a recipe for success and a team that can, once again, generate some noise in European competition. Celtic’s five year plan is fairly clear to me. Finish top of the SPL, gain some momentum in the Europa league and build from there. A good run in the Champions league is unlikely, we’re not there yet, and we need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

The Defence

In one of the biggest “what the f**k ?!” moments that I can recall in recent Celtic history, Neil Lennon re-signed Charlie Mulgrew from Aberdeen in the summer of 2010. I’m not a fan of re-signing former players. I was aware of the threat he posed from set pieces, but I thought he was an average footballer and a poor left back.

In and out of the team following his return, mostly due to the emergence of Emilio Izaguirre (and Mulgrew’s knack for being absolutely rubbish at left back), he did little to dispel the opinion that he was a busted flush; his overall play was generally very poor and he was prone to being turned and pulled out of position.

A defining moment for Charlie during the 0-2 win at Ibrox, Lennon, recognizing the utility of Mulgrew’s left foot, deployed him in the Alan Thompson role, relieving him of his inadequacies at full back ie. his natural tendency (given his youth training) to drift into the centre and his overt left-sidedness that made him easy prey for an inverted winger or a tricky player advancing on the opposition’s right wing. It’s not uncommon in the modern game for players to be isolated in a position that doesn’t take full advantage of their skills.

Mulgrew is arguably the best crosser of a ball at Celtic since Nakamura. A ball-playing centre half. A capable deputy at left midfield (where I’d like to see him more) when Kris Commons falls out with Lennon/doesn’t fall out with Lennon/can’t be bothered. Future Celtic captain.

Centre half is a position that has plagued Celtic since the demise of the Seville team. McManus and Balde formed a decent partnership for a while, but injury and Strachan’s famous man management skills conspired to relegate Bobo to the bench, resulting in his eventual transfer. Following Balde’s departure it became pretty clear that McManus was way out of his depth without an experienced partner.

Celtic’s long standing issues in defence (excepting the left back position) seemed to have been remedied when Dan Majstorovic was signed in 2010. In his debut “Desperate Dan”, a nickname that would eventually bear some truth, looked solid, if unspectacular. Unfortunately he proceeded to prove an unwritten law in recent club lore. As a defender, talent and/or consistency is inversely proportional to the number of arm tattoos you have. That and “let the ball bounce in the box a few times and then tamely kick it 10 yards out to a member of the opposition”. Otherwise known as the McManus/Caldwell special theory of being shite.

Dan has secured a transfer back to Sweden and I wish him all the best. Probably a strong, old-fashioned centre half in his hey- day but someone that came to Celtic at a time of great expectation that, given his advanced years, he was unable to satisfy. In any case, it’s unlikely he’ll be missed given Thomas Rogne’s emergence as the most natural centre half at the club.

A composed, solid defender, if (in the Celtic tradition) lacking a little pace and with the specter of “injury prone” looming. If Rogne can improve on his fitness and banish the ghost of injury he can establish himself as the best Celtic centre half since Seville.

Kelvin Wilson, our other option at centre half, and someone pursued aggressively by Lennon, I’ve yet to make objective judgement on and I’ll give him another season. Players often take a season to acclimate and, having not reached anywhere near his prime, Wilson is due some consideration before the final vote is cast. Like goalkeepers, experience is everything with centre halves.

It seems redundant to talk about defence when it comes to Celtic but, given that our width traditionally comes from the full back/wing back positions, it makes sense. I was initially annoyed when Andreas Hinkel was allowed to leave the club. I’m not sure I buy into the myth that he was a poor defender, but he had an excellent assist record and was a great crosser of the ball.

Looking back, realistically, he made too much money, he was getting on and this signalled the start of Celtic fully embracing the current transfer policy of buying young prospective gems that we can sell on at a profit. Emilio Izaguirre and Adam Matthews are excellent examples of this philosophy. Matthews was a shrewd purchase and, at only 20 years old, an excellent prospect. Unfairly labeled with the “better going forward than defending” cliché (like Hinkel) but he has the luxury of youth and his work-rate is immense.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Izzaguire has been out most of the season through injury. The reaction to his form has been largely exaggerated, given the severity of probably his first major injury, and I expect him to regain some form over the pre-season and build from there. Izzaguire is a perfect example of the markets that we should be pursuing and testament to the fact that we have far better scouting (perhaps out of necessity) than many EPL teams.

Lustig expands the options for next season and looks decent but it’s too early to cast judgement on someone we’ve seen so little of. Cha Du-Ri, an occasionally decent winger, but truly awful defender, is surely off in the summer. Loovens, not a fan favourite, is unlikely to feature for Celtic next season and, like Majstorovic, probably a decent player before his arrival that has simply crumbled under the weight of expectation.

Generally, the Celtic defence doesn’t particularly bother me. We’ve had some great defenders but, classically, it’s not a consistently strong area for us; not in the way that it has been for Rangers (that, in itself, sums up the disparate footballing mentalities of the two clubs). I’d like to see experience added but, realistically, while we can hoodwink a Central American team to hand over one of their country’s best prospects, that rule doesn’t necessarily apply when it comes to more experienced players.

Celtic’s strengths (when on their game) are their ability to swiftly move the ball the up the park, pass, and hit the opposition hard and fast. Set pieces, with the emergence of Mulgrew and Commons, are also beginning to figure again in Celtic’s play. We can do “tippy-tappy” too but, especially against a standard SPL 9-1-0 and lacking a stand-out creative presence in midfield, we struggle. Lennon, while relatively inexperienced as a manager, has a good footballing brain. He was not the most talented player but he knew that, sometimes, passing the ball back and keeping possession was more important.

Football is changing. 4-4-2 is a one-dimensional, static formation and I fully expect to see 3-5-2 more in the SPL and, in Europe, the fluid 4-2-3-1/4-3-1-2 next season. Both rely on a well-balanced and dynamic midfield that can rapidly switch between attack and defence.

We’ll look at that next.

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