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.
deila shoud go now but wee all know if it happens collins will get the job god help us then wee could do a lot worse but i would give allan stubs a go at it
We can blame decisions but overall this team has no bak bone
Absolute shite RD will not do and as for ambrose yet another fuck up!!!!!!!!
Ronny Delia and Joan Collins on Efe Ambrose,The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein.
Alright an injury forced his place into the team, however Boyatta , he would not get into the Ross County side either . I agree totally with the post and I saw it all coming again as well, the worst thing Celtic can do is score early , its like give the opposing team a goal of a start ass we always seem to lose when that happens as the team are already in the changing room. I felt the ref also was your usual Scottish shocking referee, and did not see far too many crucial incidents, i also felt the penalty was very soft ,but when you wear the hoops you have to expect the worst, and big daft Efe handed them the game on a plate and made it all to easy for the ref to APPLY THE RULES… That said good on Ross County for exploiting all of the weaknesses are were so so evident to the viewing public even if the Scottish Media BBC Scotland and Rob smug Mclean failed to ignore even briefly discussing them. If the Ambrose penalty truly was a clear penalty ,how many should Celtic have been awarded in the game,Griffths and Lustig were getting kicked up and down in teh box all day , and yes Celtic did get awarded a penalty and missed it so that cancels out the argument ,right????? To be frank and I hate to say it ,Celtic will be lucky to even win the League the way Hearts are playing just now , Celtic are clearly suffering now from one bad signing after another and its finally catching up with them now and unfortunately I include the board in signing that weak management double act. Big Stubbs could have done a better job.What else is there to say but Well Done to the Highlanders.
it was a definite penalty, but was not a red card. it would have been yellow at the other end of the pitch. i know that, because this cheat has previous of doing so (see my previous message).
still, a man down, and game tied, champions go on to win these games. celtic dont. i hate to say it, but ra***rs (IL) would have won 2-1 (probably with a penalty) as they did with 9 men against st midden a few years back.
the buck stops here now RD has got to go and take collins with him Clueless we can`t go on another fuckin season with this freak in charge he has no Idea what Celtic stands for he`s dragging us into the gutter it`s got to stop and it`s got to be done this weekend !!! SACK !!!!
him now that will please the fans and build for the next champions league challenge this is unbearable to watch griffiths up there on his own one striker semi-final of the cup against a lowly 2nd division team…… how humiliating poor fans all over the world watching this pish.
Ronnie Delia is too immature and overawed by the job. There is no discipline in the team that’s why you get tweets two minutes after players are off pitch. People eating tea cakes and folk playing endlessly on mobiles. On the park they all wonder where they like – we are shapeless, gutless and without a game plan – I am not so sure there is a plan A – there’s certainly no plan B. If it falls together we’re great and if not we’re here again. Also never seen so many unfit players in a Celtic team – some are breathing out our arses. Congratulations to Ross County they fought for everything and wanted it far more. A 10-man Celtic Team v Ross County in a Hamden Semi-Final – past managers would have taken up front.
Watched this beating from a bar in Malta. Locals said Maltese football was better than this. A team that was gutless, clueless, shapeless. Not many out there deserving of the jersey.
A pitch that was a cow field too. Scotland at it’s best
never mind we will have rangers back sooon
Efe tried to make up for Lustig falling asleep, and Boyata is clueless.
Agree many decisions today were shocking, a taster for next season perhaps?
i texted my mate about 8 minutes in. it could have been 4-0 by that point. i said we could have 4 goals, but we have actually been very poor. the midfield was non existent. only the two up front (griffiths and gms) were doing anything.
i was thinking to myself as i saw miss after miss in the opening few minutes that this is going to be another of those days where our wastefulness in front of goal costs us. and unfortunately i was right.
ive said already that the ref is a cheat, and i stand by it. it wasnt a red card, but the defending to give away the penalty is disgraceful at any level. youd through your sons boots ion the bin if he defended like efe did in an u12s match.
as soon as the red card came out i knew the game was over. it was a matter of time before they went ahead. you just dont feel celtic can hang on under pressure and break to win it against the odds any more.
ive barely missed a home game in the last five years, but i seriously dont think ill renew if wrongy deila is still there. its not entirely his fault, he is being let down by certain players, but he keeps picking them. id rather see someone from the youths get a chance instead of efe, boyata or johanssen. what is deilas fault is the formations and the lack of ideas if were up against it, if plan a isnt working.
Totally agree Degsy, the clown keeps picking Joahnsen every week,when I saw the team line up I had reservations right away, Ambrose+ Boyatta= No deference, Johansen and in the middle=Midfield with no Coherence at all, Griffiths up front himself= Brilliant with a full team and when your winning, but down to 10 and losing= 4 on one with littel chance of him scoring especially when he is the smallest man on the park. Totally agree about the ref as his track record is now glaringly evident ,too red card happy when its the Hoops.ABC
ross county 18 fouls 5 yellows
celtic 8 fouls 3 yellow 1 red
A team with no leaders and no winners , I have no idea who our best 11 are and neither does RD , for the money spent one of the poorest Celtic sides I’ve seen .
Hmm was it Ronnies fault we gave away a penalty and missed scoring one. Did he have any other option but to play Effie in the first place due to current injuries. When the team lacks guts and character all over the park is this down to the manager. For years we have been bemoaning the fact that the board have been downsizing the club. There is no quality on the park. No one to lead others or simply take the game by the scruff of the neck and change things. To bring in quality players the board needs to show fans they are willing to spend decent money on players that we have come to expect at Celtic. How can the manager operate in the transfer market with one hand tied behind his back due to financial restrictions.. Ronnie has little to work with and I can’t see a new manager turning this group of mediocre players into champions league players
yes. he could have started with the new guy. efe has had enough chances. hes let the club down enough.
its his fault he keeps picking efe and johanssen who offer more to the opposition than celtic.
its his fault hes not brave enough to play with two strikers.
its his fault hes tactically naive
its his fault he doesnt have a plan b
its his fault he wont give scott allan a chance (IMO the most talented midfielder we have)
wrongy deila has spent around £15m in 18 months (figures from wikipedia). hes had money. either hes not getting anything from the players, or someone is signing shite players.
even if the club is being downsized, we should be capable of beating RC with ten men. thats what champions do.
a good side hangs in at 1-1 and takes a chance when it comes. celtic dont do that. they give up.
Yes it is his fault, the new guy should have srarted
I agree with a lot of the points you have made Gerry. The problem with Ronnie is I think he is a good Coach for developing a player but he is not a good Team manager and for me that is where the problem lies. I also feel he might be working with one arm tied behind his back and that is due to our current Board and the instruction(s) he is given for bringing players to our Club. If Ronnie was to leave who would we bring in and we know the level of success we would expect at home and in Europe. I know it is a simple question but not an easy one to answer.
Agree with you completely,this clown has as much chance of turning these idiots in to champions league players as I have of turning Shite in to brown sugar.
Who the fuck else’s fault would it be Gerry. The team has no vision, no direction. Ronnies fucking job!. Hh
How many times have we seen these big decisions go against us. Celtic as per usual will say nothing about it. That said, Ambrose is always a disaster waiting to happen. He didn’t react to the first ball as he was sleeping. However, how many times will Thompson get away with it. How many times has he did this to us. That’s now 2 year in a row referees have cost us dearly in cup semi finals.
I agree with you too James. I think it’s time for some big decisions were taken about the manager!
Aberdeen have confirmed they are appealing Ambrose’s red card, so he can play on Wednesday.
James
” this team is appallingly weak and that weakness goes up throughout the club”
This for me is the crux of the matter, appallingly weak indeed, yes the referee was rubbish ( as usual) BUT where was Biton, Johanson,Lustig.Boyata, and especially Armstrong in the match? all were garbage….and just before Ambrose was sent off he nearly had one of his daft moments in dallying with the ball.Make no mistake Ross County deserved to win and good luck to them,
we are weak physically.Hearts.Aberdeen,and maybe Inverness have all realized this and take no prisoners when they play us, time to toughen up Celtic and please find us a manager with a plan B
HH
I seem to remember not so long ago a 10 man Aberdeen team having a man sent off in the 26 min against Ross County go on to win the game 3-2. Moreover, dominate proceedings.
Deila has demonstrated at every level he is not capable of winning at the critical moments. He is out of ammo!
He promotes mediocrity and holds it aloft as development. Our club is the poorer for his tenure. And the future is assured as long as we allow him to manage the team
Ask yourself this. How will history see his term?
Penalty wasn’t a penalty and 2nd goal didn’t the ref see the Ross county player holding Gordon to the spot ofcourse he did but did fuck all about it celtic were the better team zero fault to Ronny deila but when the red is against you no point playing
it was a stonewall penalty. it wasnt a red card. deila has to take as much of the blame as the players. he selected efe and johansen.
my list above, i forgot to add last years semi against sevco. thompsons decision to bring griffiths back to giove a freekick when he was one on one with the keeper. same game, celtic 20 fouls, 3 yellows. sevco 21, 2 yellows. mcculloch elbows griiffoths in the back of the head and doesnt get spoken to. two footed tackle on guidetti, gets up and two foots brown. gets the free kick himself.
but were just paranoid.
It’s true there is no Plan B as usual. Griffin is doing great but he needs help and cannot do it all on his own but as usual RD does not think like that.
No disrespect to County but a ten man Celtic team should still be able to dig out a win. RD has to go and this feeling will increase if we lose at Aberdeen on Wednesday. He should take big Effe, Cifti and a few others with him as this has been a disastrous experiment.
Put efe on gardening leave. His last chance has gone. If ur going 2 get sent off do it for something decent . Ronnie won’t change his 1 up front and today when we needed goals the support from midfield was poor. Why take off Bitton when johannson is again missing. (He must have good photos). Another big game we don’t show up malmo, molde?No fight or tactical awareness. We better get the finger out as the zombies are in our league next year and they will get every help next year (Craig thomson)etc. Change it now before anymore embarrassing defeats.