The moment Efe Ambrose went off, I knew it was over.
The score was still 1-0 Celtic. Ross County had not yet converted their penalty to make it 1-1, but I knew it was going to be one of those days. Every fear I’ve had about this team, going back months, was going to be realised and I could see it all unfold.
I take no satisfaction from it. On the contrary.
We’ve all seen teams win games with ten men. It happens often. When you have better players, losing one of them doesn’t necessarily provoke high anxiety unless it’s the keeper who’s gone and you’ve no reserve goalie on the bench.
But that depends on what happens next.
If your team is in the lead you can afford to take a striker off. As most teams play with more than one of those you can do it without necessarily making your team notably weaker. If you’re chasing a game it’s harder to justify, but if you’re playing four at the back you can go to a three, which retains your attacking options albeit you sacrifice your full-backs.
If you have four in midfield you can sacrifice one of those, which often means giving away width and trying to play the game through the middle.
There are options. There are always options.
And with the right tactical set-up all things are possible.
We were never going to get the right response, and I knew that.
The need for a Plan B was acute, but we don’t have one of those.
When something goes wrong with Plan A we pay the price.
Today it’s a high price.
Ultimately we got what we deserved.
Weeks ago, when I started asking questions about our manager, a lot of people were of the opinion that myself and others had been too hard on him because we were “still on course for the treble.” We no longer are, and I said at the time we wouldn’t win it because the level of consistency required for that is beyond us.
I don’t think we’ll win the Scottish Cup either.
There’s a certain inevitability about the next “bad day at the office.”
On a mental level, this team is appallingly weak and that weakness goes up throughout the club; to the manager’s office, to the CEO’s, to the boardroom, to the chairman himself.
Until something major changes we’ll remain this way.
Watching Leigh Griffiths today was especially painful, and his penalty miss was awful to witness.
He toiled, as anyone will when he’s being marked 4-1 and the manager has made a decision which lends him absolutely no support. Any one of us could have formulated a tactical plan to achieve that objective knowing how we line up.
The questions will mount up now.
But I’ve got no faith in any answer being provided by the club itself.
I said Ronny had to nail it in this transfer window, and one signing and one on loan – a kid, at that, us developing another team’s player – isn’t good enough and not even close. We’re already hearing the expected nonsense about how hard it is to find players in January … but no harder than it’ll be to bring some in with Europe looming.
The prospect of European qualifiers fills me with dread today.
We’ll still win the title. Probably. For a lot of people that’s going to be enough and as long as they are in the majority and are willing to be “faithful through and through” the board has no incentive to change direction. This club will continue to stagnate.
There’s not much more to say at the moment.
I wanted to be writing a different article this evening, but from the second I saw Craig Thomson pull out the red card I knew it would be like this.
That’s somehow even more depressing than the result itself.
It was all so predictable.
What our so called board doesn’t get is that if THEY dont bring change to our management team then the FANS will……….. by staying away from the stadium, we are being short changed by the board and some of the players….I said earlier in the season when we were put out of Europe that
Ronny was one defeat away (“from a smaller team”) from getting the sack, today’s game was just that scenario…….but still…. he will be in charge in the morning….unfortunately and he will still pick players that should never have been in a Celtic shirt in the first place.
Any team that is up for it more than us.. like today.. have a great chance of winning…bad refereeing decisions or not.
Ross County did not beat Celtic, Jim McIntyre beat Ronnie Delia. No plan B full stop. Delia is a coach, he is not a Celtic manager. Ross County deserved their win, well done Staggies. Great to see Alan Stubbs commentating, why is he at Hibs?
Face it guys, since Rangers fall the standards at Parkhead have declined. The only hope for Celtic is the return of a rejuvenated Rangers to the top flight to provide real competition at a domestic level for Celtic. Without that Celtic will never be prepared to compete in Europe. At the first sign of adversity panic sets in to this team and it lacks any real on -field leader to rally and settle them. The management team looks very lightweight as well and I doubt if any of them has the personality or temper to galvanise the team ( read kick a#%e ) when required. Previous Celtic teams were famous for rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in even when outclassed by superior opponents.
It would seem that as long as there is no serious competition for the title the Celtic Board will not make any serious investment to prepare the team for Europe. The results of such shortsightedness and complacency are there for all to see.
No more accusations of cheating or complaints that the establishment team are being favoured. That the SFA or the SPL or the Refs or UEFA or the Press are biased against them. These feeble and largely untrue excuses only provide the smokescreen behind which the Board and management hide. This team has too many bomb scares in defence and too few players of real ability elsewhere purely because those in charge don’t see the need to spend when average will do.
For the sake of all true Scottish football fans God speed the return of a competitive Glasgow Rangers F.C. To the Premier League.
We don’t need sevco, we just need this celtic team to step up to the plate. Grow a pair and get stuck in. Deila, Johansen, Ambrose, Boyata half got too go. Even Armstrong is getting dragged down to there level these days. We need a plan B and maybe even C because when we go behind we don’t know what to do to get back in the game. If we need to give youth a chance then so be it. I would rather that than watching the same shite week in week out. HH
Bobocop
rangers died, get over it.
Sid if we happen to get through the next round of the cup you might just eat your words. They Rangers are hungry unlike Celtic and believe me if Celtic get them. In the next round you will see that they are very much alive don’t kid yourself this Celtic team is the most spineless I have ever seen the signings have been atrocious boyata holy mother of god ambrose number two another time bomb . He lets a proven goal scorer go out on loan continues to play johansen seriously I’m just stopping now never witnessed such an inept performance ever . If Ronny doesn’t go now Rangers will comfortably win the league next year in fact if Aberdeen beat Celtic this week I don’t believe Celtic will win it this year that’s how bad it is . All this talk about bedding people in before the champions league campaign seriously undermines other teams . This could be the worst year ever
7
Joe ,I think your spot on with your assessment of where we are with this team,it pains me to say it ,se co are very hungry and should we get through to next round and draw them ,I’m not confident that we would win
Hard to disagree with some of the comments re Deila’s suitability. However I still feel we were cheated, yet again in a semi final.
Once again the pivotal moments were refereeing decisions.
I thought we were well in control until the sending off.
Was it a penalty? Well, if there was contact it was for me, minimal.
I am always of the opinion that when a player throws his hands up in the air when supposedly tripped, well it’s just not the natural reaction. I would argue the natural thing to do is throw your hands out in front to cushion the fall.
The guy wasn’t getting to the ball so gave the usual “Shot by a sniper” fall, and it worked.
The second pivotal moment was their second goal, when Craig Gordon was clearly impeded.
Don’t disagree with the lack of a plan B, but seems to me when it comes to Celtic and a semi final, plan B has to be “How to play 70 or 80 minutes with ten men !.
I have to admit I switched the TV off when their second goal went in, that for me was when it became a lost cause.( HATE to watch Celtic get beat !) So I can’t comment on the apparent lack of fight, but as I say up until the sending off I thought we were playing well enough to win the game.
Regardless of Deila’s abilities he can hardly be blamed for us once again being on the wrong end of refereeing incompetence/cheating, call it what you will.
A right few Mystic Megs on here eh?”As soon as i saw the ream i knew we would get beat” “I had this awful feeling when i saw Ambrose was playing”. Seems there are a few lottery tickets being washed then claimed by some of the assorted guff on here.The self same mystics who would have proclaimed an easy Celtic victory as it would have been as night follows day if not for the absymal refereeing of Thompson . On the heavy,wide open spaces at Hampden park being down to 10 men its all but over for any team.Romantic reminiscing about 10 men winning the league (however misty eyed and nostalgic)dont cut the preverbial mustard .Ambrose ,whilst not a graduate of the Paolo Maldini school of defenders ,generally cruises through spl games and unfortunately has become the latest in a long line of Lee Harrvey Oswalds(see Rogan ,Thomson) for a section of fans and of course the ever voracious for a bad news Celtic story media ! Some of the crap being spoured on tv and radio about these decisions by Thompson was laughable i mean things like “well Gordon was impeded but it was bad defending anyway” a la Wullie Miller .i mean really? The team Delia put on the park would have cruised a fair contest but unfortunately for us and the game of football ultimately,piss poor refereeing (at best) has robbed (not too strong a word) us of an opportunity of the treble.buckle up its only gonna get worse when Sevco play in the top tier for the first time decisions on the park and pretence at same club scenario by subserviant media lackeys will reach new heights of nausea !yOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!
EFE AMBROSE IS A JOKE FIGURE, A COMPLETE CLOWN!
Celtic fans embarrass ourselves when we talk about cheating! It was a penalty and arguably a sending off for denying a goal scoring opportunity. The second goal was a terrible decision but the decision to give Celtic their penalty was equally as bad! The reality is this team and individuals have not progressed under the manager and coaching staff. Only griffiths appears stronger now under the management team. Some of the signings have been extremely poor and his team selection is not only baffling but actually flying close to either arrogance or stupidity. Knowing his assistant it may well be arrogance but any manager who continually picks players who have failed continually will continually get the same results when a degree of pressure is applied. The Celtic board do have a lot of responsibility here and I am sure their arrogance in convincing the fans that he is the man for the job may be a rock on which they perish. What that actually means he is a yes man,says the right things and by all accounts is a nice man! I thought Lennon embarassed our club at times but players seemed to respond to him and he had some fantastic results. I can’t think of a game under the management team where we have won against the odds? I am also convinced his team set up is stifling players creativity,Armstrong and GMS arrived and in first few months were exciting,direct and a bit different. For us. Unfortunately they are mundane at best and that for me is down to the roles and ethos that the team structure and shape is more important than individuality. I am fairly convinced that even if we sign good players they will have this flair coached out of them. The managerial teams arrogance/ignorance is typified with the stokes scenario. They receive handsome wages to manage situations and while acknowledging stokes discipline is an issue,a public flogging and subsequent shunning of a player with undoubted ability while he persists with guys like Cole and cifti is truly ridiculous. He doesn’t seem to know a decent player and even if we get some in he then imposes his tactical discipline on them. Structure is one of the most vital elements of a teams purpose but it is counter productive if the players are stifled and have little fluidity. He has better players,a better budget,a better support and better facilities than any other manager in Scotland so the blame lies firmly with him and his coaching team am afraid. The board should be looking to make a positive change very quickly as am afraid the damage has been accelerating this season,the board isn’t ther to please the fans but they would be foolish to ignore their thoughts! No conspiracy boys,a couple of dodgy refs decisions but am more convinced our management teams selection policy will get things wrong more often than our erratic referees!
So its a penalty and a sending off?
dillusional once again to blame ref, second goal a foul and that was all. shocking defending decisions again at 1st and 3rd goals , shocking positional sense again from ambrose, boyata and the one who seems to escape blame but is rotten defensively, Lustig.
We appear to constantly blame officials when we are the team who mess up, poor decisions, shocking tactical lack of knowledge from management and no plans to change shape or tactics during a game.
Ideal opportunity when down to 10 men to go 3 at back so at least to keep grip on midfield bit dear auld ronny hopeless goes 4-4-1 and and that allows an average side to get grip on game and have pish easy day in defence. and no scott allan again was a disgrace as well as johanssen staying on pitch. And he should have been sent off for stupid rash tackle at end of game.
Steviebhoy
Everything you say is spot on………….especially on Lustig! Johansen just as bad maybe even worse,Forrest on for only ten mins,Armstrong who was garbage allowed to stay on pitch far too long, all down to Ronny, time for a change
HH
Sam he is a pub team coach and the board at Celtic go to the same pub no pride in the club it’s all about money big jock will be turning in his grave that are killing our club hail hail
I am not making excuses but that pitch was a disgrace same as always, Also the officials again were a disgrace, How they did not notice that Gordon was being held when they scored the second goal, How officials did not see this is beyond me, Celtic started the game so well I thought great here we go 5 or 6 Goals today, Then Ambrose got sent for commuting the cardinal sin and I believe that the keeper was getting to the ball anyway, But Thompson couldn’t wait to pull the Red Card from his pocket to send off Ambrose and we all know what happened after that, The players again didn’t have the balls or the giule how to play together with 10 Men, The Manager has to accept the responsibility and take some of the blame, To the players you cheated those supporters at Hampden yesterday, They should hang their heads in shame, No disrespect to Ross County, But we should have beaten them and beaten them convincingly, “But” As someone once said “Football Is A Funny Old Game” But today I am not laughing, Iam hurting same as every other Celtic Supporter all around the world, Now the treble dream has gone, We shall have Champions League Qualifiers coming up, “OH Holy SHIT” With this team we shall be very lucky to get the domestic double now never mind trying to qualify to get into The Champions League Proper, We really are in a terrible position with some players, Who should never pull on a Celtic Top ever again, Our Tops Do not fit Inferior players, Gone are the days of giving your all (ie) Blood, Sweat and Tears for the club and for the supporters, That was another shambolic performance from players in the Green & White Hoops, You owe the supporters a public apology for that dismal performance, The worst thing of it all you under achievers are getting paid for that fiasco, Take your thousands of pounds every month, Then you all should hang your heads in shame, Donate your pay to those less fortunate that are in need of it, Then you should take the walk of shame in front of the supporters at Paradise and apologise whole heartedly each and everyone from, The Chairman, Manager, Coaches and Players, Not even to get The Treble again this season is nothing short of “DISGRACEFUL” The best supporters in the world have been let down again, Time for a Management change, “The Three Stooges” Have to go their time is well and truly up, Or else as the big man once said, ” Football Without The Fans Is Nothing” Never more a truer word has been spoken, The Celtic Hierarchy Should Listen !!!
Why can’t we offer a decent manager the same deal Lawell is on.Otherwise we will be alsorans very soon,and will be playing to a half empty stadium.
Fergus must be squirming at what they are doing to the club he kept alive,and left them with one of the best stadium,and best team in Scotland. HH
Sorry Joe. I think you largely agree with me but I stick with what I said about Rangers and the need for decent competition . In the real glory days of CFC they were up against a tremendous Rangers side who themselves contested on a par with the best in Europe. It’s for that reason that I rate Celtics 9 in a row above Rangers. Place that alongside the European Cup and then ask yourself if Celtic could have achieved this without strong domestic competition to drive them on and harden them to battle. Sure, in that era the team had superstars but they also knew how to graft and dig out results. As did Rangers. The Old Firm was definitely more than just a name and,all the bigotry and small mindedness aside, both teams and their support benefitted from the fierce rivalry and competition. The lack of this proving ground has probably led to the air of complacency that surrounds Celtic now and not just the team. I bet when Rangers folded most Celtic fans thought that treble after treble would and should follow. I’m obviously a ‘Gers fan but I thought this as well. It should have been the case and over each season Celtic have skooshed the league but in one off cup games and in Europe it’s a different matter. When it’s all too easy week in week out standards eventually drop. That’s when lesser teams can take advantage and scent blood. Outside of Rangers no other team in Scotland has the stature to challenge Celtic. Aberdeen, Hearts and the rest are kidding themselves on if they think they’re near good enough.
On the subject of Rangers winning the Premier league I think that is still several years away. Unless they seriously strengthen the team, and even if they do, they will struggle against the better teams. They might take Celtic because they’ll be underdogs and should be well up for it but I don’t see the quality in the team to allow them to be competitive across a full season.
On being robbed and cheated. Any fair minded supporter knows that over the piece decisions even themselves out. Celtic have been awarded more penalties since the start of the Premier league than any other team . Have probably played against 10 men more than any other team with the possible exception of Rangers, and that’s down to them being better than the opposition who eventually bring down Old Firm players to stop them.
The supporters of all the other teams are adamant that their teams always suffer injustices when they play Rangers and Celtic and they may be right. Crowd pressure is a potent force after all.
The continual cries of foul play from some Celtic supporters demeans the game and does a disservice to the opposition who are up against a much larger opponent and more vociferous support. Ross County are due praise for their win. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and get on with it.
I agree on the whole with all comments abou Deila and his no plan B and was pleased after some performances in times gone by when he appeared to have cracked the game of high pressing and putting opponents under pressure,however EV en when we were down to ten men yesterday,by the way if new centre back is fit enough for 77 mins then surely he could have done 90 so why then did effing Ambrose play at all.Ronny your tea is not mate clear off with several others and give the chance of real Celtic man to rescue us and challenge again for Europe’s top table.That is all am sure most of the Celtic family want,someone earlier mentioned Moyes or Keane please listen Mr Lawwell time is ripe for change
Forgive the sins but keep the faith
So we lost ,but we are celtic ok shit management
But at least we have history