Articles

The Dreadful Men Of Dens Park

|
Image for The Dreadful Men Of Dens Park

Celtic-Celtic-FC-SPL-SPFL-Ronny-Deila-Leigh-Griffiths-576180

Well that was awful, wasn’t it?

And what makes it worse is that it went almost exactly the same way as the match against Kilmarnock, albeit there was no last minute winner.

When I wrote the Kilmarnock game match report, a few people were angry that I didn’t simply enjoy the victory and put a smile on my face. But I said, and I say now, that the first 89 minutes weren’t erased by what happened in the last one, and but for Tom Rogic’s spectacular strike we would, right now, be looking down the barrel of a big gun.

There are times – too many of them – when we are simply woeful. Last night was one of them, and I fear it won’t be the last before this season ends.

We’ve got a points advantage which should be enough, but I worry … oh yes I do.

I worry that we lack imagination in a lot of games, that the manager has no clue, that the team has too many players who are simply checking in but not putting in a shift.

There are too many who are off the boil.

Scott Brown, what the Hell has happened to our captain? Did his new hairdo take away his ability to get up and down the pitch and pass a ball?

Leigh Griffiths has been dreadful for a solid month; what in God’s name is wrong with him?

Others, like Kazim Richards, are an absolute waste of space, offering us no more in a Celtic shirt than guys like Boerrigter did.

Then there’s Carlton Cole, the invisible man, nothing more than a drain on club finances.

Too many players in our squad look like filler; there’s not enough genuine quality in certain areas.

Griffiths in particular is suffering from having no competition for his place. He’s lost the spark because he knows he’ll start every week. I’ve seen nothing from our second Turkish dud to convince me that he’s a player who we can rely on. Last night he was woeful, but he wasn’t the only one.

And what of the manager’s tactics?

At one point, towards the end of the game, he had Scott Brown playing at right back.

Excuse me?

Instead of going three at the back and keeping our midfield strong, whilst adding to our options up front Deila opted to stick with the same basic team shape by moving players out of their natural position.

He is clueless. He cannot take us into next season, although I’ve said repeatedly I fear the decision has already been taken barring some calamity that makes it impossible.

I still think we’ll win the double, but that ought to accomplish nothing more than to let Ronny leave on some kind of high.

A lot of people on other sites were saying after the game that they weren’t too disappointed with the result. I wonder what planet they’re living on. They want us to focus on a five point lead, as if that erases some of the garbage we’ve had to watch and would, without a doubt, have to watch again next season with this guy at the helm.

Last night reeked and what made it was worse was how predictable it all was.

Our entire club needs a radical overhaul in the summer.

I just hope it’s not too late by then.

Share this article