What in the Hell was that the other night?
For a brief period in that match, records were in sight and there to be broken.
Had the manager not wanted to keep Griffiths fresh – a fully understandable decision given our total dominance and that he had already scored a hat-trick – Scotland’s top front man could have made them personally. That’s how good he was, that’s how good Celtic were.
And I ask myself; where did that performance come from?
There are roughly two kinds of Celtic fan today, when it comes to reading this blog.
There are those who will say “And you wanted the manager sacked …” and there are others who will refuse to get overly enthused by a big win over a team who crashed out of the Scottish Cup recently to Annan … and that wasn’t a 1-0 win late in the game but a 4-1 tanking.
On Tuesday night we scored eight. That’s twice what Annan got, but we’re on a different footballing planet from Annan, or at least we ought to be.
So where do I come down between these two extremes?
Well, I hate to sit on the fence but I’ve got to be somewhere in the middle.
Because that was an excellent display, from a team that looked in the mood right from the start and which boasted the best striker in Scotland by several orders of magnitude.
Yet at the same time, we scored early and then basically battered them into submission before a lot of people had even taken their seats.
Do that to any team and watch only the hardiest stand up to the pressure.
We had to come out and perform like that, and we did it and we deserve the credit for that, but Hamilton folded the hand so easily.
For all the pessimism I’ve had to write about this team in the last 12 months, I remain ever the optimist, always ready to see a revolutionary change right around the corner.
I am not going to start lauding this side and this manager, not whilst there are still serious issues to address and the tactics that never change … but I want to have my mind changed.
I want to eat my words.
I want to be proved just as wrong as a person can be.
If Ronny can turn us all around, who in the Celtic support will be disappointed?
Who will have cause for regret or complaint?
Easy answer; nobody.
So whllst I think you have to be somewhat cautious about praising the side too highly for what we saw the other night, I don’t think we should be simply pointing to the deficencies in the opposition either. We had to show up on Tuesday and we did. We had to put on a show for the fans and we managed to.
Everyone who’s suggested that this team isn’t good enough only has to look at the way we can play in the matches where we actually show up wired and ready for business. This was one of those games, and we showed all the necessary passion and verve a lot of the performances this season have lacked.
This Celtic side is capable. Deila’s one up front tactic (and that’s what it is and I don’t care how many times he or others try to spin that into something else) can also work when the players behind the striker are on their game … Stuart Armstrong was particularly good, I thought, and Tom Rogic was as magnificent as usual.
It would also be remiss not to talk about Efe Ambrose, who’s strolled through another game. He says he owes his recent good form to the support of the Celtic fans. Some of those who’ve spent the last few years making their displeasure at him known should take note.
But the prize in this side is definitely our free-scoring front man Griffiths. I feel like I could run out of words to praise this boy, and he’s earning every one of them.
Was this the moment Deila’s team started to play as a unit?
I have my doubts; it was a splendid performance and we deserve the plaudtis for it, but I’ll feel better if we get those kind of displays on a more consistent basis.
Worries remain and you all know what they are; the tactics never change a bit and that means a side which attempts to match us rather than on playing men behind the ball will have a chance as long as they can counter Leigh.
Nothing would ease my concerns more than to see us altering the gameplan a little; that would be a positive step that would change a lot of minds.
But I was pleased with that game.
How could I not be?
On that form we will wipe the floor with any team in Scotland.
For Europe … well there’s work still to do.
I’m still concerned we don’t know who the best first 11 are and that’s gonna be key in Europe. We need a settled 11 bar maybe 1 or 2, it’s getting closer to that now but my worry is that the abomination that is scott brown will come straight back into the team when fit, in europe he is a massive liabilitiy and I don’t ever see us doing anything in europe with him in the team nevermind our captain.
Shocking reply!
Also izaguirre and ambrose shouldn’t be anywhere near a game in europe, not on the bench or even in the stand, I wouldn’t even let them in to watch. If we get rid of izaguirre, ambrose, brown, mulgrew, forrest and johansen then maybe the players can settle into positions. Bring in some players, especially wide players, another holding midfielder and a striker as competition now and let a first 11 settle before the end of the season and before the qualifies begin. Then maybe we have a chance.
I dont agree re Brown. Our drop in domestic form coincided with his injury and i think that johansen was the Euro liability not Broonie. The troops feed off his intensity…that is a big intangible.
I’m gonna try and spin it. 1 up front doesn’t necessarily mean 1 striker. LG is our main striker, but the 3 players immediately behind should offer more in terms of link up play. They should be more cohesive during attacks and the only only time I’ve seen that during the Ronny Deila reign is against Dundee Utd last week and against Hamilton the other night.
Also, I’d be wary about partnering LG with another striker as it would give him less space to exploit and could actually impact on his performances rather than enhance them.
It’s also nice to RD actually spend a bit of money and get some of ‘his’ players through the door. I’m very excited to see what we do with the remainder of the transfer window!
Forrest is a mystery, he has so much talent, but doesn’t know how to use it. Don’t think his brain can keep up to his feet
In the 70 years I have supported Celtic I have never known a manager to come under so much criticism than Ronny D. and that includes times when we have not done well in Europe. The guy beat Rangers and won 2 trophies in his first season and could or should have been 3 trophies considering a bad and wrong call against Inverness. Even given poor showings in Europe its still not a bad record for a season and a half in charge. I’m 100% sure for whatever reason that its pure biased judgement from a section of so called Celtic fans. Remember lowly Morton knocked us out of the league cup at Celtic Park in the first round of Lennon’s last season in charge and I didn’t hear a murmer about that. A lot gets made out of us beating Barcelona 2-1 but then it was 1-6 to Barca the following season. Come on be fair, we are still involved in all three home competitions so let’s get off ronny’s back and be more realistic.
Keep the heed james. Sure celtic were on fire the other night, but in all honesty we should sweep the board with ANY scottish opposition. Fact of the matter is in Europe, and that is where we are judge abd jury. When we do well in Europe, i will give ronnie his roar back. Ave Ave
Out of our last 7 league games 5 of them have been great to watch and apart from the Hearts game, Celtic have been outstanding. Too many people are busy concentrating on the 3 (THREE) domestic matches (in 90 mins) we’ve lost in the last 12 months. If you start to look for positive things in games you’ll see Celtic in a different light. Let’s face it, all our European woes (apart from Molde) were from individual errors and off days. On another night Griffiths would have scored 4 against Ajax and we’d be talking about a great victory. Or we’d have cleared the ball against Malmo or Ambrose’s pass back would have reached Gordon.
I am 100% behind Celtic and Ronny.
Get rid of BROONY, heard it all, LOL
Forrest and McKay Seven both suffer from being played out of their natural position. Neither of them are natural wingers,but both can be deadly bursting from a midfield position and running at defences who will either back off or concede free kicks in advanced areas of the pitch.
Is it a coincidence that Johansen and Brown were absent?
Also remember we beat Aberdeen 9-0 and didn’t do much after.
Good post and I should imagine you speak for many. Mon the Hoops!
It’s about time we gave a team a hammering, like we should be more often than not! Tremendous display from the hoops, Hamilton went to shit straight away. Ambrose is improving as a defender too, johansen is still iffy but he’ll get his form back. But we’re not missing Broony, though he’s still an asset to the team. Need to paid Ciftci with Leigh and get a partnership on the go. Carlton Cole??? Never mind him.
Was this the time when celtic began to play as a unit? Good question. My one gripe at the moment is that we have quite a few greedy players who are more akin to taking a pot shot than getting their head up and taking the selfless option. If we only did that more often than not we could score more goals in my opinion. So we aren’t quite the unit I would like to see yet.
Scott Brown is one of very few in our team that has balls and drive! Can’t understand criticism of him, who are you watching? I personally don’t think Ronny should get another go at Europe no matter what happens this season. He was cheated out of a treble last season, but he embarrassed us in Europe. We will be saying the same this time next year.
Hi Don t know want your talking about? Just kidding magnificent at parkhead on Tuesday nite. Great performance from the lads and I think Mr d is commencing his method across to the players so hopefully he gets the recognition he deserves now. Judge him at the end of the season and next year in champions league with his new batch of players then if he doesn t produce us with decent performances then judge him.,therefore back him to success until end of season.
Credit where it’s due. Celtic were fantastic to watch on Tuesday. High praise, considering I’ve been moaning about performances all season. It doesn’t matter whether Hamilton were poor or not, Celtic were excellent. If Barca pump Getafe or Granada we don’t harp on about how poor the opposition was and the same applies here.
Scott Allan looks a right good player. He gives us another dimension in my opinion with his ability to see and execute a decisive pass. I’m also a big fan of James Forrest (the winger, not the obsessed Rangers hater that writes this blog). Young James, when fit, is a very potent attacker. I’ve been on GMS’s case for months but he shut me up on Tuesday, especially in the first half. More of that from him will do for me, take a bow son.
It’s a team that differs vastly from lennons, it’s a team in the truest sense and we will see good things next season. Last 16 CL, I promise ????
Would like to see GMS get a run in the team, he has energy and pace which defenders hate, If it is true about Aston Villa being interested in Stefan, I would take it as we seem to have an abundance of midfield players at the club.
Me too his game is in the middle running through them not sitting wide Ron has no clue hoe to use him
Agree with gms+ Allen, Must get A run off games… but come sat’ v st john ‘ will be back 2 normal Ronnie team !!!