The Celtic defence has been under constant attack all season long.
Not from opposing players but from people in the media and, indeed, even within our own support.
This is in spite of the best record in the league, and by quite some way.
In 26 games, we have conceded a mere 15 goals. That’s outstanding.
That’s the kind of record that should be generating praise from every commentator and yet I detected more than a little glee and more than a hint of “I told you so” from some of them after midweek.
It is ghastly how many of our own fans have leaped on this bandwagon.
Getting it in the neck, as ever, is Starfelt, a guy who has been excellent these past couple of months and who is just starting to settle down and look like a real player.
Also getting stick is Greg Taylor, for whom some people don’t need an excuse.
I thought Taylor had a poor night, but the manager rates him and thinks he can do something for him in this team.
If he didn’t this is one of the positions we’d have made a big signing for in January. If you believe in the manager’s vision then believe in Taylor, cause Ange knows why this guy is part of the team and what he’s doing.
Honestly, the result was dreadful and the performance appalling, but deep breaths here.
Since the result I’ve read that the boss picked the wrong team and that Hatate should have started; this is just another version of the “Celtic aren’t Celtic without Kyogo” argument which has surely been put to bed these last few months, and now this.
Were mistakes made? Of course.
You know what? Mistakes are going to be made, and plenty of them along the way.
But this team is much better than the critics are saying over the last few days.
Whatever went wrong in midweek, it wasn’t all at the back.
What went wrong in midweek has been going wrong since the hun game. We weren’t punished because the opposition weren’t as good as Bodo. I don’t know if it’s fatigue or something else but there’s been a naoticable increase in iffy passing and players tripping over one another. I know not every game can be a 5-0 crushing of opponents but lets not dismiss Thursday as a one-off blip. Hopefully it was just a 3-game blip and all will be better tomorrow….
get real,defence oustanding,thats against poor spl opposition not half decent well organised european opposition,we are an average team with a poor defence when it comes to europe.if your happy being the big fish in the small spl pond thats fine but i would like to see us compete far better in europe.
I think you have to distinguish between critics who are fans and critics who are not and forget about the latter.
Fans comment because we care and we want our team to do well whenever, wherever they play. I have been a supporter of both Greg Taylor and Carl Starfelt but they did not do well against B/G. The importance of European football is that it gives us more perspective on our qualities and on the lack of them. That is true for the players too and remember neither Greg or Carl have played a lot at international level. I wouldn’t dismiss either player because I think they can do better and I hope they will do better. But accept that both players have aspects of their game that need improving even against SPFL opposition and a defeat of Celtic in which they’ve featured will bring out the critics. And to be fair I thought BJH’s criticism was constructive. Greg WAS turned too easily instead of taking the guy down the wing and Carl did commit a needless foul (again) which resulted in their second goal.
BJH = Big John Hartson
Having rewatched the game I would exonerate Greg for that goal. In general he had a good game, so did Carl Starfelt. But Celtic are still too porous at the back. Definitely a work in progress. The third goal was embarrassing with 3 players turning their backs to avoid getting hit with the ball, had they not done so there might not have been a goal. Stephen McManus would never have turned away.
The front three were not really doing much perhaps due to the defending of Bodo and the passing in the final third was generally poor. Midfield definitely had an off game too but Hatate didn’t do a lot when he came on nor did GG or JF.
Bodo play like Celtic but were marginally better in this match. I think the problem for Celtic is they never meet this kind of opposition in Scotland. Still I wonder what Bodo’s opposition in Norway is like. You can easily imagine if they played in Scotland they would be strongly challenging for the title.
The return match is not a foregone conclusion. Come on Celtic.