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.
Totally agree with post, we’re rank rotten from boardroom, to management to team, what I witnessed today was UNACCEPTABLE, and I DO CARE, if we LOSE OR DRAW !!
What dross. Taxi for delia? Does anybody think that is entertainment?
These two dont have a clue it seems. Its like delia and collins sit and say what will we try this week, erm try him there and him here its a joke they still dont know there strongest team. Rogic is very clearly a tallented central mid player yet ronnie plays him today on wing. Same as he persists on playing armstrong there so as his pal johansen who has been shite all season can play in the middle and kick people! Allans never had a sniff commons our best player must sit on the bench and wonder what the hells going on. Personaly i like mulgrew at centre half . Team him up with smunovic give them a run. Honestly this constant changing the line up smacks of someone who doesnt know what there doing.
I agree James, with everything. We are not going anywhere with our present outlook, all the ‘getting behind the team’ ain’t gonna do shit for the drivel we are paying to watch. We should always be demanding better, at least in our league, due to the superior spending power (wages and transfers) of Celtic. We must not settle for this pish, Ronny has shown himself to be clueless sometimes, wrong starting xi, bad substitutes at bad times and a refusal to change tactics, it’s absolutely baffling why we play the way we do in Scotland, and his constant selection of players that are so off form drives me fucking mad. Tell you what, this Jozo bhoy better be dynamite or we’re fucked.
I would love to know why on earth Commons didn’t come off the bench today. I lost count of the amount of times we had the ball 25 yards out but failed to shoot. Perfect spaces for Commons to do what he does best. I think the loss of Van Dijk and Denayer is going to hurt us most though.
How many goals do we need to lose from crosses before we sort it out? The keeper needs to come off his line too, although its unfair to criticise him too much
100% correct. One upfront in spl is insult to Celtic team. Ronny tactically inept.
Fear for Ajax and fenerbache games. We are not up to Europa standard and light years from CL standard.
Spot on with everything James,
One up front…a joke indeed in Scotland, Lee is carrying us at the moment and that is too much for one man.
Ronny will never learn with Ambrose and Boyata is another disaster waiting to happen.
A lightweight Celtic team…..this manager is not the guy to sort out the mess.
An SPL team we most certainly are just now……..time for a change from top to bottom.
Get a grip win every game with a barrel load of goal away you go you we’re partying in may and now because if 2 yes 2 games your on the band wagon no team has the right to win any game win loose or draw we should be behind this manager and team and just say on Thursday they get a result will your attitude change then put your toys back in your pram we got beat and he is trying to get the back four sorted out mountain out of a molehill
Robert, I hope your right and I am a great believer in being positive and getting behind the team regarless of the result. HOWEVER, unless you havent been watching Celtic for a while, you would notice that any time Celtic encounter any team that has the belief and determination to beat us, then that is what happens. We seriously lack balls mate. Their is very little fight in this team and the likes of Malmo and Aberdeen were acutely aware that all they needed to do was play positively and they would win. I will accept that a lack of motivation can creep into any team but its looking more like this is a chronic problem. This is NOT a new thing. We have failed to qualify for the CL since Rangers demise, we have failed to even once win the treble in that time, and lets not forget that Aberdeen ran us very close last year before we managed to get our act together. This year we have lost VVD and JD and we now have Aberdeen and Hearts believing they can win the SPL. With our comparative resources and lack of Rangers, we really should be dominating this league and we really should be getting past teams like Malmo with nowhere near our money. It is early days but belief and motivation are key to any teams success. I just dont see much evidence of confidence or motivation in this side. We have good players, better players than the these teams, but when we are consistantly losing late goals in important games, you must question the character of the team and ultimately, this comes down to the manager and the board who hired him.
James I Agree wholeheartedly with everything u say.
I for one have never accepted or ever will accept RD as being the man to take us forward. In the main his signings have been shocking, I would ask anyone to come up with a signing he has made who would command a transfer fee of more than what we paid. All the decent players were signed by NL.
As a tactician today we are playing against 10 men yet he keeps 2 defensive midfielders on brings on Ciftci …. And leaves a proven goal scorer Commons on the bench… It is time for him and Lawwell to pack up and go before the heart of our club is totally ripped apart…
Celtic have no chance of winning the league this season with gutless performances like today playing a average Aberdeen team not a good Aberdeen team they are no fergie marvels by a long shot celtic are as poor as they gave been for many yrs we have more chance of ending 3rd than winning 10 in a row I think Aberdeen are a good shout for title this season celtic have no chance of treble little chase of double and be lucky to win title the way things are going celtic are falling to bits
How can some Celtic supporters still respond to the Ronny Roar. Is there no pride here at all? The performances in Europe have been shambolic and brought shame on the club. Stay well behind the couch for Thursday’s game. A pathetic situation at present.
I’d always urge caution about putting opinions down in print shortly after losing a game because sometimes emotions can get the better of you.
Today was appalling, there’s no doubt about it; in every area of the park bar Griffiths of that there can also be no doubt.
You went close to the root of the problem, you stopped one tier shy, in my opinion.
Dermot calls the shots to the extent he can pick up the phone to anyone he wants and offer them the job – completely going above the boards the head.
He’s the guy who wrote Peter Lawells KPI bonus structure and the fact Peter gets the full whack when there has been little success on the park is completely counter productive and you would have thought contradictory.
I think it’s worthwhile mentioning Ronny is the 1st manager in Celtics history (barring Lou Macari) who is unable to scout or attempt to sign 1st team English Premiership players so that has to be taken into account.
If the manager goes – another one will be appointed working to the exact same brief.
Let’s not forget the brief was so bad Lennon wouldn’t sign up to it and tendered his resignation on the spot at the beginning of his annual appraisal.
Young players will be scouted on your behalf and you may be consulted.
You must play them and give the platform to develop so we can sell them on.
Peter coined the phrase ‘intellectual purchases’ a few years ago meaning no more Chris Sutton, John hartson type signings even if they were available, interested and within budget.
If Lawell goes, he will be replaced by another businessman required to achieve the exact same KPI’s.
The whole thing needs a fresh pair of eyes.
Desmond needs to relinquish his control over the club and become a silent shareholder.
Lawell needs to be replaced.
The scouting system needs to be overhauled completely.
Ronny should be given the opportunity to work with decent players, the type of players smaller clubs are able to scout but we are currently unable to.
The type of players that completely out play us in Euro qualifier games and play for clubs like maribor, legia Warsaw, karagundy etc etc.
If he is unable to improve then he should go.
The players are showing they don’t have the attitude or temperament to grace the hoops – and as of January we should alter our tactic of slowly changing the squad and put half of them up for sale.
We Have 3 football coaches, some pal of Ronny’s who is a video analysis expert and a highly regarded sports psychologist to mould our well paid (in Scottish terms) footballers into an effective force.
Despite all this we do not look like there is the necessary togetherness in the team. Too many echoes of Malmo today, and too many basic errors being repeated.
Even this early in the season ,I think Ronny is approaching a crossroads.
failure to win the league is a real possibility unless changes are made fast. And I’m not just basing that on today’s result.;
Watching that was like watching Celtic under John Barnes passionless & clueless. Boyata cannot even get the basics right of easy 10 yards passes he’s brutal who the fuck thought it was a good idea to sign him, deary me piss poor stuff Celtic!
Ps nae wonder the Ajax scout was in the strippers by halftime with his note book & pencil in the bin there was absolutely nothing in Celtics play to give that geezer skidmarks in his jockies… So Tonny what’s yer feedback? Tell us all about them?? Aye there dung boss nowt to worry about!!! ????
Ajax could play their under 16’s against Ronny’s easybeats and win.
How many goals and points is boyata going to cost us?
I didn’t think we played badly, well I thought our midfield controlled the game but our defense is a shambles and only playing 1up front in Scotland is just wrong.
What scares me is that we only have 1 player who can score goals and what happens when Griffiths is unavailable or injured.
I have been Ronny’s biggest supporter but I have to admit that I am getting worried.
We have to now fully focus on the league and Europe will have to take a back seat otherwise this season will be a total disaster.
Ronny has got until Christmas to get this team on track because if he doesn’t….well I don’t want to even consider that.
But as you said James, Peter Lawwell is totally to blame. Even last week Ronny said that he needs to sign experienced players but PL is never going to do that and from what I have heard Ronny also told Lawwell that a striker was of the upmost importance and again Lawwell fails to deliver.
Ronny has got to admit his system doesn’t work in the spfl and change to 2 up front and I will give him 3 months to get us playing the Celtic way.
As for Lawwell, the sooner we get him out the better……he is killing us.
Good points Ewan but one point I will disagree with…..anymore performances like that and Ronny wont have to Christmas……..PL will fire him and take the spotlight away from himself and some of the others who should be taking flak!
You are right there Swiss, it’s probably already on Lawwells mind…the snake that he is.
i cant understand why ronny would tell lawwell that a striker was important when he doesnt like using them.
He already has had two Christmas’s too many.
If you want to check back over the last two years I have said since day 1 Ronny Deila was never good enough for a club the size of Celtic,but they seem to want to bring our club down to Deila’s level.
I have said it before and I will say it again,the board and Lawell are slowly destroying the greatest club in the world.Think about the reputation the fans had worldwide, they have slowly destroy it by allowing a group called the green brigade to use our club for political means,and they foisted Deila and Collins on us as they were the cheap option.Time to show the board what we feel by staying away till they sort it all out,but I won’t hold my breathe for that,it will be the same old same old.
Great article James have you posted this on to the new ‘Celtic View’ or CQN as it is known yet? CQN populated in the main with a lot of head in the sand types arguing with those who can actually see that the emperor is naked (PL). CQN used to be a bastion of impartial reporting on matters pertaining to Celtic FC now it is no more than a mouth piece for PL and the board. Not once has the lead article criticized any of the PLCs machinations. Succulent lamb comes to mind.
watched the game today. what a load of rubbish
Hate to say it but it look’s like the board only have champion’s league aspiration’s in a money sense Because to enter into European competition with a defence that dos’it know each other and have no European experience is crazy ,today was almost as bad as Malmö is Ronny up to it ,beginning to look not ,I fear the worst on thur’s