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Celtic Gutless At Every Level As Aberdeen Win With Ten Men

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Today we saw the full scale consequences of failure at every level.

Let’s start with the manager.

Today, he’s lost a match against a team with ten men because his tactical system did not adapt to take advantage of that situation.

I’ve been a supporter of Ronny Deila, but it has become increasingly clear over the past few weeks that he simply does not belong at Celtic Park, if we’re to move forward and be the club the supporters want.

There is no prospect of him leaving any time soon though. He has the backing of the other person most to blame for this shambles.

And yes, I mean Lawwell, who has more defenders and fans amongst our support than is rational or logical.

Mark my words, under his “stewardship” we’re going to blow the epochal opportunity we had to dominate this game in Scotland for a generation.

We’re now in serious peril. Those waiting for the signs of life, of an improvement in the team’s performances, or from the manager … how much longer do you want to wait?

I listened to Deila’s comments over the last couple of days, about not losing sleep over our best players being sold. I found them staggering, and appalling, and the kind of thinking that belongs in the Norwegian league. They were not fitting of a manager of Celtic. That he had identified Nadir Ciftci as the number one target in the forwards position over the summer shows exactly how limited his thinking is, and how low we now set the bar.

We are an SPL team now.

Get used to it, because unless things change – radically – at every level of our club that’s not going to get any better.

We had better stop daydreaming about ten in a row.

We’re simply not going to get there, because sooner or later – and probably sooner – someone is going to put together a decent enough team and a good enough run of form to take the league flag away from us.

Some on other forums are already expressing their pleasure at us “having a challenger at last.”

I’ve never heard such defeatist garbage in my life.

For the record, I don’t want a challenger.

I want us to win every game.

By a hatful of goals.

It’s an excuse for an unacceptable display and a shocking defeat, and it’s a dreadful excuse as that.

Now, as a consequence of our constant backward drift a challenge is exactly what we do have … and we have that because we’ve allowed ourselves to be stripped to the bone, shorn of ambition and bereft of quality.

Today I watched as the same mistakes we’ve been making for weeks were repeated over and over and over again.

Our full backs, leaving their natural positions when the opposition has the ball, retreating into the penalty area, leaving the wings exposed and allowing wingers to whip the ball in.

Corner kicks where we mark zonally and leave men to get free headers.

An approach to set pieces in general which shows no signs of improving, because there’s no sign of it changing.

And the formation … one up front in Scotland. Shameful.

Tonight there’s going to be a lot of “oh stop moaning and get behind the team” and nonsense like “one bad result, these things happen …” getting flung about.

Keep those sentiments. I don’t want to hear them.

Anyone who thinks criticism is wrong at a time like this – when the whole club is going backwards – is a mug.

The inflexibility that got us here is now eating away at every single part of the club.

The board is wedded to downsizing.

The manager is wedded to the same, and to a tactical plan which is grossly unsuited to Scotland and is beginning to look cowardly, designed not to lose rather than to press teams and go for the throat.

A lot of our fans are equally stuck in an imagination free zone where they can’t even envisage better and are willing to settle for this dreck.

The infuriating thing is that, as I keep on saying, we do have the basis of a good team here.

But we have a CEO who will sell any player for whom we receive a good offer, a manager who’s happy to go right along with that and a playing system that is becoming a bad joke.

This is a bad spot we’re in here.

This wasn’t just one bad result.

Today, every weakness at Celtic Park, from the boardroom to the boot room, has been exposed in appalling fashion.

One good thing today; Leigh Griffiths. What a tryer.

What a player for the team.

He deserves better than to be stranded in a playing system that puts all this weight on him.

Things are not going to get any better.

Thursday is going to be a hard night, and if I might make a prediction it’s going to be an embarrassing one where every deficiency we just saw is going to be exposed even more horribly against the best team we’ve faced this season.

We are in a bad, bad spot right now.

Be under no illusions about that at all.

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  • Gordon Valentine says:

    I totally agree James, the zonal defnding is not working. Deila and Collins unfortunately believe it is the best system despite losing terrible goals from set pieces in Europe and at home. I agree with Swiss, the sooner Boyata is shipped out the better and Ambrose is worth a goal to the opposition every time he plays.
    I hope things get better, starting with Ajax but i’m not holding my breath.
    Hail, Hail.

  • George torrance says:

    Totally agree with you James zonal marking must go 1up front in spl joke

  • degsy says:

    how come my comments gets deleted James?

  • frankiebhoy says:

    Finally people are seeing the light… Delia is a joke and has been since day one. I have said it from the start and get the usual shite of ‘your not a real supporter… support the team no mater what’. I do support and will to the day i die but this is utter shite. One up front in scotland is shocking. No commons again!! Commons saved delia’s job when he finally started playing him last season. Before delia came our 2 biggest attacking threats were stokes and commons. now stokes is nowhere to be seen and commons is being left out again. We have 2 defensive midfielders who dont score goals. we need 2 up front and an attacking mentality instead of this negative rubbish. Nice to see supporters waking up and seeing Delia for the shite he is We are going backwards people… right now we should be winning by 5 or 6 almost every week and winning the league by Xmas but we are far from that and heading the wrong way. wea re getting worse and not better

  • John says:

    Chris Commons scores goals!

  • Saint Marys Bhoy says:

    James,

    I’ve rarely read such rambiling drivel….

    Celtic were beaten today because Aberdeen have a settled team.

    Clearly we don’t.

    And with changes to key positions/players things are not going well.

    But if you really believe the pish that you have written (serious pearl – come on), i think it is you who needs 2 take a good look in the mirror.

    Celtic will only improve as the season progesses, of that there is no doubt.

    I remember all this hysterical crap early last year and how many points did we beat Aberdeen bye?

    17 my friend.

    Away for a lie down.

    • henkesdreadlocks says:

      Wow, your’e as gullible as the newco fans on the southside.
      Be prepared for many embarrassing Thursday evenings over the next few months.

    • Paul Morgan says:

      Saint Marys Bhoy,

      I’d love to be as happily deluded and positive as you but I care too much to sit back and watch our club lose its grip of the SPL, especially in the absence of Rangers, a time when we should really be tightening that grip.

      Yes, we beat Aberdeen with 17 points but this was in part because we never lost one of the four games we played against them, so thats a potential 12 points. Then there’s the fact they have strengthened their team whislt we have seriously weakened ours.

      Ok Celtic have added a few and will improve but I think you are missing the point mate. With the comparative resources, there shouldnt even be any hint of a talk of title challenges. Then there is Malmo, that alone should be a sacking offence. Again, this was a team with nowhere near our money and yet they bragged how they would beat us and did exactly that.

      Losing these recent two games agaisnt Malmo and Aberdeen cannot be taken lightly. The former has cost us a minimum of £20million in revenue and the latter has given a a large boast of belief to a team that are completely driven by their desire to prove that they can be as strong a force as Celtic.

      Aberdeen have a settled team, ok fair point but do we not have the cash to unsettle their team ie buy their key players. And lets face it, losing VVD was hardly a surprise so dont make pathetic excuses.

      This is the problem at Celtic. To short sighted, too disrespectful to other teams desire to win. Its time Celtic fans faced up to the fact that we are no longer the team that fights to last minute to get that last minute winner. We are now the complacent lazy team that gets itself ahead and then underestimates the other team who is more hungry to prove a point.

      I live in Aberdeen and have supported Celtic all my life but trust me, you are in for a shock pal cause this Aberdeen team are fully focussed while Ronny is still fannying about.

      Are you going to wait until the sheep have won the league before you change your mind or do just think Malmo was a minor upset and everything else will just click into place.

      I hope Im wrong but I just dont see any fight in this Celtic team. They lack a desire to win and to me the blame for this must rest firmly with the management team.

  • justshatered says:

    I too have watched as the team has been weakened progressively over the last four years however given the fact that our scouting network no longer seems to be delivering the Hooper’s, Wanyama’s, Van Dyck’s of yester year aligned with our poor financial performance revealed yesterday then I’m almost at a loss as how to change things.

    Whether you like them loath them or ambivalent to them our board will not pay more than £2.5M for a player. Forget the money we have supposed to have paid for Siminovic; we have paid no where near £4M. That leaves us in a perilous place right away as the players we are pitching for are an immediate gamble.

    We are good at analysing figures from across the city but consider this for a minute; Celtic announced a loss of £3.9M last year. That loss includes a group stage of the Europa League, three Champions League play off games, one of them a sell out, and a sell out last 32 game against Inter Milan plus this years season ticket money.

    Now I’m no financial analyst but that shows that we are currently running a Champions League club without that revenue. That is simply unsustainable and you can blame whoever you like for that state of affairs whether it is the board through poor management and acquisition/appointment, player scouting and acquisition including tactics down to fans not buying season tickets. That includes a reflection of the current tactics. I know personally people who no longer go because they simply will not attend a domestic game watching a Celtic team playing only one man up and I understand that.

    While we have seen players progress under the current management, notably Nir Bitton, yet others have drifted to become periphery figures, Commons.

    Now while some lament the defending today I’m not that concerned believe it or not with a new back four going to our closest challengers but I am concerned by our slackness all season. Van Dyck played as if he already had his bags packed, Boyata never bursts a gut to get back once he has either lost possession or given the ball away, Izzaguire is positionless. All of that MUST change and I expect it to.

    Our club has been screaming out for a goal scorer now for three years as well as a midfield play maker. We have heard long and weary about us wanting a presence in the box and yet nothing ever appears simply because we will not buy a player with no re-sale value.

    In 2011 I wrote a few articles for this very website when we were 11 points behind RFC under Neil Lennon. I believe our current team does not have the cutting edge or finishing skills of that team. This could be a long season. Buckle up for a bumpy ride.

  • John forsyth says:

    Disgusted by the majority of the comments short memories,mon the tic.

  • Jimmy Devlin says:

    Didn’t see it today as I’m away on holiday,thank fuck. I do agree 100% though,and fear real humiliation in Europe

  • russell todd says:

    Well there you go. A team with heart and a support with none of your religious bile you have from the two biggest and most bigoted teams in Scotland. A breath of fresh air – long may it continue. STAND FREE!

    • James Forrest says:

      russell todd:

      Would you care to tell me where there is sectarian bile from Aberdeen or Celtic fans?

      Because they are the biggest two teams in Scotland … and neither is sectarian in even the remotest sense.

  • GER says:

    For once i agree with you your team is shite.

    • Frank McGaaaaarvey says:

      Hope you enjoyed watching 22 full-time professionals (plus subs) playing. Surely a step up from the part-time dross of decorators, navvies and fishermen the overpaid tools at your infant club has been playing against for the past three and a bit years.

    • henkesdreadlocks says:

      My my, the klan beat a few dumplings and they think they can come and play with the big boys. Go forth little zombie and try to save your fledgling embarrassment of a club.

  • Tam de Bam says:

    After this performance we will struggle to up our game against Ajax. You thought we would have learned how to deal with set pieces after the Malmo tie. Our defence is a shambles , Boyata looks average and Mulgrew lacks pace. Deals might have been great in Norway but the style he’s trying to impose on the SPL seems wanting. But Lawell and co will as usual scrape the bargain basement of mediocrity .

  • NeillyBhoy1 says:

    Today’s performance was as bad as it gets. Since when have players like Boyata, Ambrose and Cifci been Celtic quality.
    It wasn’t all that long ago we were hammering Aberdeen by 5&6 goals.
    The biggest insult is the fact that Cifci has been given the famous number 7 shirt.

  • Oliver Plunkett says:

    A perfect summation of the current position. I fear for the future well-being of our club. There is too much focus on the Champions League. Try horsing every team in the SPL every week and winning regular trebles, fill the stands and then move on to better things. It seems to me that if we don’t get 6 games in the CL each season everybody packs it in.

  • Andy says:

    Today was the latest in a fairly long list of poor performances by those players wearing Celtic jerseys. There are some suggestions that all is not well behind the scenes following Deila’s comments that the team looked scared against Malmo. Senior players were quick to deny this but openly admitted they were not very good…………..privately, I’m sure they were seething at his comments. I gave my ST up 5 years ago as I could no longer suffer the poor quality being served up and incredibly things have got even worse!! The sad thing is I don’t think I will ever go back

  • John says:

    I’m not looking forward to Thursday. . It’s time for the management team to go . They can’t even pick the best eleven

  • Angwyn Campbell says:

    You’re completely spot on, James. The club has become a joke in all aspects. Since when is hiring SPFL and Norwegian rejects supposed to inspire confidence? It doesn’t.

    Add to it Ronny and his management style. I’m sick of hearing his excuses. Under him, Europe is beyond us.

    Zonal marking is a joke too.

    Ronny must go. Head back to Norway.

  • Scooter says:

    Remember the great 2012-13 Champions League campaign? Our first away win in the group stages in Moscow? A fantastic, albeit unsuccessful, performance in the Camp Nou? Quickly followed by the unforgettable victory against Barca in Paradise? Last 16 secured and a tie against Juve. Those halcyon days eh before Celtics boardroom policy started dragging us down? Yeah yeah well here’s the facts. The last Champions League proper game we played before that season was against Villareal in 2008. Yeah 4 years. The team and manager that performed so well in that 2012-13 campaign had been slated mercilessly in blogs like this for two years previous after dismal performances in Braga, Utrect and Sion. Our financial situation as a Scottish club means we will never be able to compete and improve in Europe year after year. If you want proof look at the half a billion pound Man City have spent in the last 5 seasons and where it has taken them in Europes premier competition. This season has started badly. There’s a long way to go and prizes to be one. Some people just need to vent and that’s their perogative. Me, i just keep the faith. Hail hail.

    • henkesdreadlocks says:

      Not many people on here have been discussing CL campaigns, simply the dross that is now served up by our club on a weekly basis in run of the mill, good old Scottish football.
      If you are happy with what you are watching then good luck to you.

      • Mack says:

        Rogic out commons in
        GMS out forrest in
        Blackett out izzy in
        charlie out simunovic in.
        Commons gets 32 goals off the striker rogic is slow and for a no 10 doesn’t do enough, impact player not who bid build a team round – bonkers.
        GMS been poor for a while, forrest been much better this season – as if we are scared to play these players away – bonkers.
        Izzy got criticised but time to bring him back, best we have by some distance Blackett looked scared…. At Pittodrie, what’s happen in Istanbul.
        Paid 4mill for simunovic get him in.
        And stop letting boy at a play ball out good defender imo more like bobo than I realised, needs a baller beside him.

    • Henry Clarson says:

      Too sensible. 🙂
      Mind you, there ARE problems which need to be sorted out.
      Celtic simply aren’t beating the teams that they ought to be able to defeat comfortably.
      There’s a severe dearth of good footballers in the squad and, much more worryingly, there’s a clear lack of team spirit.
      I’ve been prepared to give the Ronny experiment every chance but it’s not looking likely to succeed at the moment.

  • James Forrest says:

    I just want to say cheers to everyone who’s posted a comment, discussing their thoughts on our club.

    Even those who I disagree with here have been excellent. Sorry that your posts don’t always go up when you submit them. For some reason a lot of them seem to get held in moderation. I’m going to have a look at the causes of that so that it doesn’t keep on happening.

    Love and respect to all of you. Hail Hail.

    • edward says:

      Your comments about Deila and Celtic are way over the top and maybe just maybe you should re read your rant which is really unworthy of you.
      For instance /
      Deila is ‘cowardly”
      /’does not belong at Celtic Park’
      /’belongs in the Norwegian League’/
      and even John Clark and the ball boys are not safe from for anger.
      /’Today,every weakness at Celtic Park, from the Boardroom to the bootroom ,has been exposed in appalling fashion
      ‘Oh and about your prediction for Thursday night .
      Thanks for that,
      I hope it makes you feel better.

  • Vince says:

    all I can say is Celtic is going to get gubbed on Thursday and why does Gordon never come off his line that second goal was his… A pub team display at best

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