A poor display in what’s been a poor campaign.
For two teams with nothing to play for and punters making their Betfred wagers, you might have thought you’d have gotten some actual football this afternoon, but there was little of that on display for us. That was a thoroughly miserable final game, playing with no intensity and no urgency whatsoever, but a fitting epitaph for the whole of the season and the whole of the club right now.
No intensity and no urgency whatsoever. Sums the place up.
John Kennedy did himself no favours with the team selection, with the tactics and with the substitutions.
Any club watching him and looking for a manager, I advise that they look elsewhere and don’t waste their time as his brief, disastrous, tenure has wasted so much of ours. The bubble has burst for him, and his fan club in our boardroom have demonstrated again that they don’t know the least thing about the sport they work in if they still rate this guy.
Continuity? Get him out the door with the rest of his coaching team. This whole thing needs ripping up and starting again, and frankly the lot of us are sick to the back teeth of him and everything he represents; our club’s horrific embrace of mediocrity.
Too much of it has been allowed to fester at Celtic Park, and with the end of this shameful campaign I hope never to see such a fall in standards being tolerated at our club again. Not one person involved in overseeing this shambles deserves to keep their role and those hanging on are doing so like leeches, bringing no benefit, sucking the life blood out of the club.
It’s 15 May. We have no director of football. We have no manager. We have no signs of life on the horizon. We have a CEO going through the motions even as he still collects a wage. We have an absentee chairman and majority shareholder and the club is about to ask the fans for money. It’s like a bad joke, all of it, and there’s no end in sight.
But the football questions have all been answered now; shame on the lot of them.
Here are the final ratings for the last game.
Barkas
Hibs absolutely ridiculous negative display gave Barkas nothing whatsoever to do. The peformance of a player who simply shows up and does nothing merits a 5 but I’m giving him 6 because, I presume, he managed to stay awake during that game. Which I struggled to do myself.
6/10. He’d have had a tougher day sitting in the stand.
Kenney
Another uninspiring error strewn performance. Like other players at our club, went backwards the longer he was around. A poor day from him; a high energy player but a lot to prove in the game
5/10. Not worth wondering about any further.
Taylor
A decent enough performance but not tested in the slightest; as with the keeper and most of the rest of the team, he was able to play in second gear because Hibs didn’t offer a single thing going forward.
6/10. Showed up, did what he had to do.
Welsh
Cool, calm and collected but it would have been interesting to see him today had he faced Nisbet who was obviously being kept on ice for the cup final. This kid has had a great debut season, and for that he gets an extra point.
7/10. Well played young man, for stepping in at a very difficult time and doing a good job.
Ajer
Breezed through what ought to be his last game for the club. No reasons to complain. Decent display.
6/10. He will do well whereever he ends up.
Christie
Hooked on 60 minutes and turned in another forgettable display. Not a player we’re going to miss based on this year’s displays.
5/10. Poor. Like his whole season.
Brown
Final game and he has his usual aggressive match where he barely did anything wrong. The long goodbye is over. Scott Brown is now an ex-Celtic player and ex-Celtic captain. But he leaves a great one.
7/10. Nice one Scott.
Turnbull
Quiet afternoon except for one excellent long-range effort which was about the only thing that tested their keeper all day.
6/10. Big year ahead for this kid.
McGregor
Back in the team today and didn’t do much. A player more in need of an extended rest than any other in the country, and to come back next season fresh and ready for the challenges ahead. Unfortunately, he’s a certainty for the Euros and another short close season and from there right into the Champions League qualifiers. Seriously in danger of burning out. A big worry.
6/10. Wish to God Kennedy hadn’t played him today.
Elyounoussi
An excellent first half where we saw the player worth keeping. Annonymous second where we saw the player not worth keeping.
7/10 for the first half. 5/10 for the second half so a 6/10 overall. Only just.
Edouard
Bye bye. Talk that we are planning to have discussions with the French Under 21’s to see if he can stay a bit longer is preposterous. Take a bow, Eddie, that was your last game in a Celtic shirt.
6/10. Like his whole season.
John Kennedy
Awful. No other word for it. Went with the tried and test players on an afternoon where he could have experimented and showed future employers what he’s got. Absolutely dreadful team selection, like for like substitutions when the system is plainly what wasn’t working … this “audition” of his has been an utter calamity. It is impossible to imagine that the new manager will trust him with more than just handing out the water bottles. For his own good as well as ours it’s better that John Kennedy departs.
3/10. Shockingly inept.
Substitutes:
Griffiths
Annonymous. Playing upfront along against a packed defence, what do people expect from him?
5/10. For showing up.
Forrest
Did what little he could have been expected to do against a packed defence and in a transparent system that was easy to counter.
6/10. Produced one little bit at the end which gets him an extra point.
Dembele
Like so many others, a victim of a clueless manager and an inept playing system. We may yet see what this kid has to offer though.
5/10. He’ll get his chance pre-season and then we’ll see.