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.
i can see east kilbride scoring against us next week. i wouldnt be surprised if they took the lead, and even less if they given a penalty.
Ronnie deserves to go he keeps playing Ambrose whos a time bomb every time he plays
i also remember against ICT at parkhead a couple of years ago. the ICT keeper kept taking the ball to the opposite side of the goal from where it went out. balde ran after it and placed it on the spot for him. thompson booked him for it, and then with his back the field, but in front of the fans, pointed to the other side of the box so the keeper picked it up and moved it.
the guy hates celtic. he does everything he can to stop us winning. im just surprised he isnt just appointed our match ref to make sure we get relegated.
he did his job today. he earned his win bonus. but celtic players and deila have to take their share of the blame today
How many chances is efe ambrose going to get! The minute his name is in the team sheet its one calamity after another, we have just bought another defender in the transfer market and deilla still plays continues to play Ambrose he is a car crash waitiing to happen it beggars belief that deilla and the rest of his back room staff cant see that the guy is totally inept in every position therefore he shouldnt grace the hoops! As for deilla tactically inept in every way a fish out of water diabolical formations in every game plays one striker if it wasnt for leigh Griffiths deilla would be long gone!! As for european football forget it its a waste of time looking forward to it as its damage limitation as the players signed neither have the quality to go along with the hopeless manager!!!
Face it we were shite our team has no backbone our manager is about tactically inept as ally mcoist was efe is a donkey who needs the door and delia and peter liewell to follow suit ..I said at start of season we will win fuck all and still believe that …we are a laughing stock not only in europe but in scotland also we have the most turnover in revenue in the spfl yet use are all saying ref this ref that its not just the ref or ronny or efe its the full team no heart …I will not spend my hard earned cash to see celtic put another statue or slab on the ground while my team is a joke no thank you
i have supported celtic over sixty yrs board is cutting celts to bone more than the manager should go Collins should not have been allowed into parkhead the team is going backwords the board don’t try to help the fans this can not go on in three yrs they have dragged the team and fans down champions league forget it lawell is kidding the fans on we should be that far in front of the rest but we are going backwords
How can any ream expect a result when you have to rely on probably the two worst central defenders in British football namely Efe and Boyata who are more calamitous than Laurel and Hardy (who at least made you laugh).As for Ronnie Deila taxi who was expected to build a team capable of delivering us a treble ,it seems he has achieved this .We were dumped out of the Champions League,UEFA Cup, and now the Scottish League Cup.Thanks for the the memories Ron.
Whits the chance of you getting a taxi to the airport?, I’ll gladly pay for it.
I see that our manager is asking the fans to take the positives from the game!,FFS……how many times has he said that this season…..what positives Ronny? we were outplayed and more importantly outfought.AGAIN
what positives? that we only conceded three?
As soon as I saw the team he picked today I knew we were in trouble. All due respect to Jim McIntyre and his lads but really, we should not be having any trouble beating them in a Hampden semi-final. This is CELTIC, Ronnie…time to wake up to the reality of the job you are so fortunate to be in. Forget this negative, 1 up front crap, this is CELTIC…let us play the CELTIC way. OK the defence are absolutely dire, and have been for a long long time, but if we have a go and attack teams we will score more than them anyway ( if we had any strikers apart from Griff ) What more is it going to take before Lawell and his cronies decide the time is up for Delia and get a real CELTIC man in who will get us playing and winning in style once again. Send for King Henrik….
Congrats to Ross County, the better team won.
Yes, it was a soft penalty and was it a “CLEAR” scoring opportunity when the ball was going to Gordon. The middle ground was a booking and a penalty. But these things happen and it balances itself out, albeit I have doubts about the partiality/ bias of this ref.
What has not been mentioned is that Aberdeen thumped Ross County with 10 men recently. There are far too many passengers on the field, a lack of creativity and a lack of desire. Plus no one to come off the bench as a ‘game changer’.
Once again Johansen had little impact. Bitton was as bad. Boyata was very poor. Ambrose a liability and no lessons have been learned. You just cannot compete with FOUR passengers and its not fair on the other players such as Griffiths to carry the responsibility all the time.
I have been in favour of giving the manager time as he has been better for the younger players than past Celtic managers, but I agree, there was no PLAN ‘B’ today. A spineless, desire less, lack of pride and gutless performance.
A question for you: would Stokes have played for the jersey, been more effective and performed better?
A lot of the problems at Celtic are the clowns like McGregor and Armstrong and lately GMS,they all talk a good game to the papers but they are not as skilled with their football.Celtic should ban these clowns from making comments and if they cannot do the business on the park get rid.Just not good enough to play for Celtic.While I am very angry with the result I must say well done to Ross County.
As soon as I saw the team he picked today I knew we were in trouble. All due respect to Jim McIntyre and his lads but really, we should not be having any trouble beating them in a Hampden semi-final. This is CELTIC, Ronnie…time to wake up to the reality of the job you are so fortunate to be in. Forget this negative, 1 up front crap, this is CELTIC…let us play the CELTIC way. OK the defence are absolutely dire, and have been for a long long time, but if we have a go and attack teams we will score more than them anyway ( if we had any strikers apart from Griff ) What more is it going to take before Lawell and his cronies decide the time is up for Delia and get a real CELTIC man in who will get us playing and winning in style once again. Send for King Henrik….
Does’nt have to be a Celtic man,just someone who knows what he is doing. HH
This is the worst çeltic team ever GM’s done nothing but score a goal if that’s the team the board want then they will never had a full stadium and if that’s the kind of team the fans want then they’re playing right into the board hands. I’ve watched Celtic for sixty years this team are rotten and boring
Com on the dons
Once again Celtic have been out fought and out thought by a supposed lesser team. Then once again we have to listen to Deila’s ramblings about “smal things” not helping us. This comes from a man who shows absolutely no passion for the game or the club. I was dismayed when he was given the post and nothing has changed for me on that point. He is tactically naive, is unable to spot decent potential signings ( from which I would only exclude Scott Allan ) and definitely is unable to change games in any way when the game turns against us. He does not appear to be decent enough to resign and the board are unlikely to sack him as they believed he was the man to take us forward. I see no signs of any progression even though Deila keeps telling us this IS happening. The falling attendances at Celtic Park should be ringing alarm bells for the board but this does not appear to be the case.
With reference to today’s game Thomson was correct to award the penalty and send off Ambrose but he was clearly at fault with numerous other decisions. Rather than tackling his display which we should have expected we should be questioning why Deila continues to choose Ambrose and Johansen amongst others.Neither has done anything to be chosen this season and in Ambrose’s case he is an accident waiting to happen any time he plays .The lack of signings in this window shows that the board hold the Celtic support in total contempt and nothing looks like changing soon.
i am afraid even Ronny god bless him hasn’t come close to the memory that is still within my brain helecoptor Sunday remember that when the great ( and I say that loosely) Martin O’Niel lost us the league and had the audacity to say when asked what was his most dissapointing moment as celtic manager and he mutters losing the eufa cup final. Sorry Martin b—- you and I know and you should feel it to this day like we do you know what day it was. Point being at least with Ronny we have honesty do I believe he is the man for the job no definately not if you put your hand on a bare wire you get a shock and you never do it again. Unfortunately Ronny likes shocks as in today to continue to play Ambrose and Stefan I should be in a premiership team is beyond me. To rub salt into the wound it wouldnt surprise me if Anthony Stokes scored the winner for Hibs in the final now that would be a story. im sorry but he Stokes should have been given a chance to prove himself in a frontline with Griffiths I have no doubt it would have worked. He didnt because he dislikes Stokes end off. Celtic has had the opportunity to leave everyone behind for years believe me if they do get through the next cup round which I am sure is not a forgone conclusion pray we dont meet Rangers because unlike many in the celtic team today they are hungry and it would be the ultimate insult to us all if that happened. Its time to say goodbye to Ronny im afraid he should have went last year in my opinion . We are becoming the laughing stock of Europe and now on our own patch . At least with Keane we would have gotten a bit of fight .Its nice to be nice Ronny but sometimes in fact most times vbeing nice isn’t the answer I admire you for your stance etc but please get yourself out of this hell mate its not worth it for you or us.
All to familure reduced to ten men let toning the occasion getting the better of the players. BUT it does not eccuse the manager for playing a centre half who has let the club down on big occasions before . I am not berating Effe Ambrose ,he us a good right back but having paid a great deal of money on his replacement why,why, why ,did you not play hin. Sorry but it is these decisions that distinguishes an average manager from a good manager
Rooney is an nice fellow I have watched Celtic since 1965
and been in Seville, Milan and Lisbon..
As much as we think Sevco ( The Rangers) are second rate we wil have to face them next season and if you think that today’s game was bad with its referee decisions ( it was not a penalty and it was no surprise we mist it , but it implies the ref was impartial)I IHAVE SEEN IT AL BEFOR
Give the team a chance get rid The assistant manager he is has not got a good record of being a shoulder to cry on, he is certainly not in the Tommy Burns role, Ronny was always meant to be number two, The club need to move quickly no get a number one with assured credentials
Mr Moys may have them I don’t know .
Congratulations to Ross County whom I believe were deserved winners in today’s semi final. Aside from the first 12 minutes they played the match perfectly. When I saw the team sheet included Efe Ambrose I feared another Hampden nightmare was about to unravel. If it’s not him it’s Izaguirre or the true Celtic nightmare scenario – both of them playing at the same time. Even opposing fans taunt Ambrose whenever he goes within ten feet of the ball in anticipation of another self imposed cock up. Already feeling short changed I then discovered Johansen was again selected for his midfield non contribution.
We effectively start matches two or three players down whilst the other eight are expected to cover up all Ambrose , Izaguirre and / or Johansen’s shortfalls. Is this fair to the other players who wear the Celtic jersey ? I don’t even bother if we lose a game when the opposition played better – after all it’s sport with no guarantees. What I cannot accept is the manner in which we so often commit football suicide , from an advantageous position , courtesy of the same old players and their catalogue of school boy errors.
I understand the frustration felt by other Celtic fans but unlike most I thought Craig Thomson was correct in awarding Ross County the penalty. It wasn’t the ref who made the illegal tackle or wrote the laws on straight sending off offences or for that matter missing our own penalty. Nor could I understand Ronnie’s theory of bringing on a holding midfield player , who hasn’t played in two months when chasing the game by two goals and little time left to save the treble. I’ll probably renew my season ticket yet again next season but it’s pretty painful to watch at times. Entertainment factor – mostly comical.
I agree with your very balanced article.As well as Ambrose,Izaguirre,johansen I would add Stuart Armstrong ,these Four players like the manager have consistently underperformed and they cannot be allowed to drag the team and the results down any longer.I think we will struggle badly to win the cup,and Aberdeen will fancy their chances on Wednesday.Unless Desmond,Lawell and co. act decisively next May 25,000 supporters will become the norm at home games.How sad would that be.?
Delia and the rest of his back room staff have to go now before it’s too late.
The script was already written for this match.
Two days ago John Flemming comes out and says referee’s were feeling let down by the criticism of their performances. Queue yet another shocking display today.
This is the referee that could not bring out a red card earlier this season in the Aberdeen, Celtic game when Griffiths chested the ball back across the defender six yards from goal. Today he had to make the decision to either whistle for the foul or get the red card out first it was that close.
If a referee cannot see a goalkeeper being wrestled to the ground, with no one in his eye line, sixteen yards in front of him then he has no place being on a football park. This area of the park must be invisible for referee’s as it is the same spot where nothing was seen in the Inverness semi last year.
Already the media are saying ‘well Celtic with their superior players should still be able to win’ well that is just utter nonsense when those same players are being whacked off the ball and kicked, sometimes right in front of the ref when going forward. When he does give a penalty there is no yellow card as usual. To be honest I was surprised he gave it.
The sad thing is I really do think he is one of the better ones. They are all just rank rotten.
For all the Celtic fans who paid good money today ………………… you are the mugs. Over the years I’ve witnessed good Celtic teams relentlessly cheated at Hampden. No more. After the events of 2012 I no longer pay money to watch my team at Hampden. As was clearly stated at a recent meeting between the SFA president and a fan, minutes of which were published last week, the SFA’s own communications officer is reported to have said the SFA would only act if fans walk away from the game.
Well I won’t walk away from my club but I will be damned if the SPFL or the SFA get one single penny from me. These cheats and cowards should be financially cut off at the knees. NOT ONE PENNY MORE!!!!
Our part of the stadium should be left empty. Our club should state they will no longer accept tickets until the governance and standards within our game are radically improved.
Now that the rant is over, today has been coming. We are all over the place, tactically bereft, spineless, and unmotivated. This really cannot be allowed to continue much longer. I still do not understand why we play with two wingers when we have no one in the box.
Agree 100%.
Get out of the rotten league.
Boycott this biased organisation.
The only thing they want from us is money
I live in Adelaide Australia. I am Celtic through and through however I would rather watch the A League than that shite !!
The Celtic supporters are being conned but even worse they accept this level of football from a group of so called business minded retrobates !!!! The Chairmen of the Celtic board, the CEO and others are taking everything and giving nothing back! Is this the Kelly’s in disguise ? FFS Celtic supporters send these greedy, self absorbed and lying A***holes a clear message enough is enough improve or you will not be getting our money ……simple as !!!!