Here’s what bothers me most about what we watched.
The equaliser had been coming.
Too many players were not on it, especially in that second half.
The performance overall from coming in after the break was so, so far from what we expect and what we hope for that it was like watching a different team, one that was weak and easily bullied, one that could not keep its composure, one with no organisation.
I take back every word I said about McInnes before the game.
Because it looked for a long time in that second half as if he did have us figured out, and that is as much down to our own failings as his being some sort of tactical genius.
But enormous credit to him – the first and hopefully last time I’ll ever write those words; his team did not sit back. It did not contain. It did not try to defend.
They got in our faces. And we didn’t like it.
Worst man in the Celtic team today? There were a lot of candidates. But I thought Natt Phillips was abysmal. Absolutely abysmal. He was certainly not alone, but I thought his performance was rank. It damns Rodgers that he left him on the park for the duration.
He surely has to be going back down the road in January and if you’re going to tell me that we’ve not got a better option than him in Nawrocki or Lagerbeikle I refuse to believe it.
A couple of times now when he’s played, he’s looked shaky. Today, he got plenty of time to show us what he could do. It was terrifying to watch.
The whole performance was terrifying to watch.
Bad enough that we seem to find it really hard to break down ultra-defensive teams, which is what we face just about every week … if we can’t stand up to a team which presses our players on the ball then we are in a lot of bother, we are going to drop lots of points.
That second half was worse, far worse, than the first half was last weekend.
Nothing about it looked right.
We were a shambles. This team looks out on its feet, but how is that possible? It wasn’t just a failure of one or two footballers today, that was a collective mess. The second for Kilmarnock had more of an inevitability about it than us scoring a winner.
I can rant and rave and I can moan about that.
It deserves all that and more.
It was a disgrace. Something has gone badly, badly wrong with the machine.
It is not working as intended. It is not functioning right at all.
But the important thing I take away from this is that Rodgers has big, big questions to answer after that. We’ve lost to this joker twice in a season and plastic pitches have damn all to do with this … we won comfortably on that same pitch twice in the last campaign.
Nothing went right with that today. Not one thing.
No intensity. No urgency. No quality.
We’ve given our rivals a massive lift at the worst possible time, and short of handing out more verbal roastings Rodgers doesn’t seem to have answers.
That’s the truly scary thing.
He took too long to make any changes today, and they weren’t even the right ones. We needed an extra body in midfield and he would once have been able to see that clearly.
So a collective failure, and not just on the pitch.
Rodgers got that wrong today.
Leaving Natt Phillips on the pitch was wrong. Leaving Johnston and Palma on as long as he did was wrong. We could have sacrificed one, or both, of them for the extra midfielder and competed more for the ball. I cannot fathom a single one of his changes or the logic behind them.
This was not like other bad performances this season.
Kilmarnock did not, as I expected, sit back and let us have the ball. They did not pack their own defence. They smelled blood today and they went out for it. We were passive. We were weak. We were pathetic, in fact, in every department, in every way, from back to front, and even on the touchline.
There’s no point in ignoring that.
We rallied last week after a dire first half, and this week we’ve turned in a second half that made that one look like sexy football.
I said last weekend that was the worst 45 minutes I’ve seen from Celtic in years; that, today, is the worst 45 minutes I’ve seen from Celtic in a decade. Neil Lennon was manager at this ground and was 3-0 down at half time the last time I saw a team in our colours play as bad.
I don’t want to hear excuses from Rodgers.
None will suffice.
He can talk all he wants about quality. Derek McInnes, with vastly inferior resources, has beaten this guy twice in a few short months and today he did it comfortably, easily, with plenty to spare.
That’s on him. That’s nothing to do with the transfer policy, nothing to do with the tools at his disposal, nothing to do with plastic pitches or VAR or refs … the manager carries the can for that. This is his system. This is his style. This is how he wants this team to play.
From now until that window opens, I don’t want to hear any more out of his mouth about us needing quality. We have enough in this squad to beat a Derek McInnes team. Even with injuries. Even with key players out.
I said in the summer, if he wants certain players, of a certain type, he needs to fight for them. It’s his failure to do that which has hampered him, and its high time we stopped letting him hide behind excuses.
He talks too much about lack of quality; the guts of this side won a domestic treble last season playing football ten times more attractive than this garbage we’re watching now.
This is a collective failure, absolutely, but he’s the man at the helm and if this season unravels – and it could, it really could – he will carry the can.
Brendan Rogers is full of himself he’s going to make everyone better players because he believes he is a genius he’s full of shit. He has no interest in Celtic the players don’t have any clear instructions players he’s playing and the positions he is playing them is all wrong. The Liverpool center back is the worst I have seen in a very long time please get another good manager in to guide Rogers he hasn’t a clue.
you’re an idiot, the sate of the comments on here. You were likely ripping the head off it at half time
James, how about you stop blowing hot and cold depending on results? We are not awesomely wonderful. Neither are we complete sh*te. If we want this title we’ll have to scrap for it all the way. We are better than the Ibrox mob, but not that much better. You’d do well to remember that next time you feel like writing another piece sneering at Ibrox. I suspect we’ll gub them in a few weeks. When that happens? That’s the time to lay down a marker.
Today we WERE completely shite. Argument?
Agree, today we were rubbish. That’s not my point. Overall, we are a decent side but not a great one. You have been lauding Brendan as a supreme tactician. I’d argue he has yet to prove he can reach the heights he achieved earlier in his career. I don’t agree with the despair and hand wringing after a result like today’s. Neither did I think we were world beaters after destroying Aberdeen. A sense of perspective is needed. We are the easily the best in a mediocre league. But we are susceptible to results like today.
It will continue to be thus unless we invest to create an insurmountable gap. And we know that’s not gonna happen, right?
This has been coming for weeks, the few wins we’ve had just papered over cracks, Rodgers style of football is boring, side to side passing with little penetration, Ange was 3 passes and we were in the opposition box, players have downed tools slightly for whatever reason but we should have enough in our locker to beat Killie.
I said it last week after the St Johnstone game (go check if you don’t beleive me LOLZ). We were a bawhair away from that game ending 2-2 instead of1-3). And was with Levein in the dugout. I am no fan of McInnes but I rate him far more highly than that dullard.
We are hobbling our way to the transfer window. But the turning point MUST come before then, against the huns. That is a must win now. No question.
He’s living on past glories. What worries me is that he is doing the same as his last season at Leicester, they sold players and did not bring in players of the same “quality ” and BR basically chucked it, God forbid he’s at it again.
Even though as a club we are no stranger to late late goals, I knew the equaliser wasn’t coming today – far less a winner – so confidently changed over to the Luton-Man City match to avoid having to listen to McInnes or see the grinning fat pus of that imbecile The Tarbolton Wanderer at full-time. There is a concerning lack of creativity without Hatate and a worrying lack of effort without Maeda. Their stand-ins are not of the same level and with a series of tough matches still to play before either returns, further ground could easily be lost. I also think the training regime needs re-evaluated because far too many players are obviously running on empty by the end of matches.
Oh, and you’re right about Phillips. He is useless. As bad a signing as Shane Duffy, an absolute bombscare. He should never see the light of day again.
Bringing Roy back is a worse decision than Lennon’s second coming. Did the board forget how bad Celtic were on the eye in Rodgers last year. They were brutal to watch. Our players are lacking in motivation, we have lost Kyogo as a threat, this is down to the manager. Don’t want this guy spending the money in January, don’t trust his judgement and playing style. His record in Europe is dismal going back to Liverpool, so how the hell did we expect him to improve our Euro status. The guy is a very wealthy ego with no hunger.
Utter garbage today and Phillips was by a country mile , shit. I thought Shane Duffy was back in the side, Phillips is so one footed , he doesn’t run, he hop,s and if we could see this coming after about 5 minutes of that dreadful second half, why the fuck could Rodgers not see what was unwinding. Too many lack lustre performances this season , we are in a bit of bother.
If he is as good as he thinks he is he will change the system. If not he falls and managed decline is the winner here. Mark my words if the system does not change our japanese players will leave. The system simply has too.
Yeah. That was bad. Really bad.
I suggest we all take the slaggings that are coming our way on the chin. Soak it all in. Because when we smack those chimps on Dec 30 right across the face … HARD, it will feel all the more better.
However, if this is not a warning to the board that we need to get shot of some pretty poor deadwood and project player shambles (coz they aint helping) with a view to giving us better options when the chips are down – then I don’t know what is.
What a horrible game of football that was from Celtic. Killie deserved that win.
Our team has handled the press in Champions League matches better than it did today the loss of CCV will explain some of it but you are right Roger’s has to take this on the chin , he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights in his post match interview & that may be the most frightening thing , has he lost the dressing room or is he just going through the motions & picking up his wages having a pop at the board to save the fans turning on him we have went from a team that never stops to looking like a fragile cracked egg shell that can’t handle a bit of pressure in an SPL game
That was very poor today…so wasteful in the first half and completely anonymous in the second ! Kilmarnock fully deserved the 3 pts and that says more about our current squad than the opposition. This is where Rodgers now has to earn his big bucks and get this team/squad performing again ! Definitely no excuses!!!
We brought in 2 centre halves who haven’t yet been given a chance and the manager persists with Nat Phillips when CCV isn’t available. He clearly isn’t good enough and whilst Scales has had a great start I feel that lately his decision making and timing hasn’t been great and isn’t the answer.Whole team is too slow and also playing a system that doesn’t suit the best striker since Larsson. That is on the manager.
That team lacks heart. How many 50/50 balls did our midfield duck out of. It was always the case that you need to match the physical challenge first then out play the opposion. We have to many lightweight players but Ive been saying that for ages.
I’m sure that we must have a better defender than Phillips àt the club. He is absolutely shocking and Rodgers must take responsibility and pack his bags and get him back down to Liverpool ASAP ,others were as poor. We need a shake up or were in trouble
There comes a time when good managers lose their “magic touch” and just cannot see what is happening on the pitch and have no answers although it is obvious to everyone else. We’ve seen it with so many and BR might well be on first step of that journey.
Worst fears starting to be highlighted upon a more regular basis now, with very worrying signs imo.
This Celtic team has no identity about itself whatsoever?
Hardly surprising when the level of inconsistencies to date is unreal, and starting to develop a stinking attitude within it also.
This is the job of the manager as you stated James, is to set the tone and manner of the team he wants and expects to play and deliver?
This is failing at an alarming rate currently, where the focus of blame lays at the managers door first and foremost?
If Philips is his example of experience and quality then God help us come January?
How much further is Taylor going to remain as going backwards within his game?
Same could be said about a number of established players currently, so what chances of any newer players trying to fit into a team, which is lacking so much direction within it?
To see a Celtic team playing like wimps and not in the least bit interested in getting itself up for the fight required and no quality on show whatsoever is starting to become far to much of a regular occurrence for my liking at present.
Games are usually determined by big moments within them?
Total lack of creating them big moments for ourselves, and even going down to zero within long periods of games, and all the while still handing up way to much to the opposition?
This is making in turn, the whole balance within the team and its approach towards a game totally wrong?
These are not new trends that have just started within this Celtic team, they have been there nearly all season to date, but starting to be seen on a more regular basis and getting longer and worse within games also imo?
Said a few weeks back that the jury remained out upon the leadership of Rodgers?
That discussion will be starting to grow legs now, and yet to remain convinced that he was the right choice in trying to take us forward now, especially with so many established players seemingly going backwards within there own games currently imo?
Thought he would be in the beginning, now getting close to totally reconsidering the situation regarding his appointment?
As bad as Philips was Greg Taylor was even worse pathetic performance from him and it’s not the first this season he offered absolutely nothing offensively or defensively. As poor as Bernabei has been at least he plays with a bit of aggression and energy or maybe try Scsles in there which is his natural position whatever happens this left back position should be a priority signing In January
Going to Kilmarnock and leaving your top goal scorer on the bench well what can you say, bullied all over the park in second half worst Celtic performance in long time. Too many passengers today not up for the fight crying out for a hard tackling ball winning centre midfielder this Celtic side is too easily intimidated and this January window can’t come quick enough.
Rogers failed to cope with an energetic high press the last time he was here and Gerrard was the beneficiary.
Needs to learn now or it will all end in tears.
Hmmm…
We don’t need to react to today’s result: most of the games this season domestically
and in Europe have been well below expected standards.
And we’re now looking at BR – quite rightly.
He couldn’t mix it up today to grind out a result at Killie.
Not a good look for a supposed, ‘elite manager’.
It’s gloves off now: BR v. the Board.
And with such tepid team performances: could BR have lost the dressing room…?
Worrying.
It’s been coming in the league over the last few games the team have been poor slow in the build up some players just not good enough at present Rodgers is a yes man to Desmond was not that keen on him coming back but he has changed. The way he wants us to play pass pass just to slow.Hope now this defeat is out of our system and a wake up call to the manager and players there is a long way to go in the league and no bad thing a tight league keeps everybody focused every game .
MARCO TILIO HAS TO PUT HIMSELF ON THE TRANSFER MARKET IMMEDIATELY..
A TOP ITALIAN CLUB WOULD APPRECIATE HIM.
RODGERS IS A POOR JUDGE OFAN EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD FOOTBALLER.
POSITIONAL PLAY POOR TODAY. GREG TAYLOR’S MISDIRECTED PASS WAS A CLANGER. EVEN JOE’S ROLL-OUTS LACKED SURETY
Oh behave and turn off caps lock. Nobody will ever take anyone who type with cap lock on serious
Thank you James for telling it exactly who things are. Fed up listening to and reading that we had an off day. Gar too many off days for FFS. Wake up people we have been rank rotten for months. That back four today outside of our right back were as bad as I have seen fielded by Celtic in 20 years, Phillips Scales and Taylor. Your taking the piss Rodgers. OHand Mikey Johnson are just as bad. We are a very poor team. Wake up before otd too late Celtic l.
I have a rare disease of the choroid layer of my eyes. An epiretinal membrane peel of
one eye left that eye with no sight for reading. My good eye receives regular/ injections.
The small font size for letters in this box was slowing my typing.
I will not use Cap Lock again.
Celtic FC can still win the Premiership. Three draws is the same as two loses. 6 points gone.