The most shambolic, badly coached Celtic side in years hit rock bottom today.

42 thoughts on “The most shambolic, badly coached Celtic side in years hit rock bottom today.”

1. We were fucking dismal.DISMAL.
   the players were all shite and the coaching team look like they dont have a fucking clue.
   Useless

2. I hate saying it, but Martin should bow out gracefully now, both for his health and piece of mind, and also for the Clubs well being. New blood is required, a new manager with enough of the season left still in front of him to reshape the side and to get us back on an even keel. Otherwise, it looks like rinse and repeat, and we certainly cannot afford to go through the same old fashioned motions. Thanks for the memories Martin, you will always have our respect, but please don’t prolong your stay and spoil those golden memories.

   1. Agree 100% Johnny,

3. So…we have a 74 year old coach …who not only doesn’t have a clue…but shouldn’t be here in the first place.
   Have you forgotten that we approached a young coach with a decent pedigree earlier in the year…only for the Mouth Brigade… and lots of band wagon jumpers… to bring politics into football…then post hysterical nonsense about the guy …and force the Club to backtrack and take the only option available.
   I said at the time …BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.
   Would Keane have fared any better…?
   Well one thing’s for sure…he couldn’t have been any worse.
   What we watched today was proof of how ordinary we really are…and not helped by a coach who shouldn’t be there.
   Maybe next time…keep politics out of it.

4. So what the hell is the way forward? Get rid of management? Last season he came in and steadied the ship, won us 2 trophies, saved the season. Now sack him. And what next? WHAT NEXT? who do you think will come? Could you not see the pattern already? Lennon came, Lennon left. Brendan came, Brendan left. Then again Lennon came, Lennon left. Then Brendan came, Brendan left. Then O’Neill came, then he left. After 33 days he came again, and now you want him gone?
   Who is available? Joseph Venglos maybe? Or Gordon Strachan?

   We are in such a mess; this season and last season showed exactly that the entire club needs major overhaul, from top to bottom. It is no longer about signing players, spending money, changing managers etc. What is a CONSTANT at this club is this bunch: DESMOND, LAWWELL, NICKOLSON, MCKAY and others. They never change. And it REALLY IS that needs changing.

   What serious manager is going to be offered a job and say: ‘wow, amazing, I want to work for these suits’??? NONE

   1. Money talks. The huns managed to attract Kelsy when they had been punted out the conference league and he looks a far wiser purchase than any signing we made WITH Champions league football on the horizon at the time. I agree with you the board are the main issue but they arent going anywhere so there’s no point going on about it. Offer Kieran McKenna Rodgers style wages and he will run to Glasgow, same with any decent manager. Football is run by money and we have plenty of it.

5. BigStevie is spot on…to a man we were second best the whole game. Not one Celt was up for a battle and that’s what you’re going to get against a McInnes team, bullied around the pitch & brushed off the ball too easily. That was painful to watch at one point I even accused the wife of being a Jonah.. that didn’t go down to well. Its too early to cast doubt on our summer signings that have managed to make it on to the pitch so I’ll leave that to one side but what I will say is that McGregor is a spent force, tackles left a lot to be desired and when was the last time he played a telling pass. Why, at any point, wasn’t Oxlade-Chamberlain on the pitch…mightily fucked off with this whole week.

6. You’ve said a lot of what I commented on your last article, especially the fact that we have a gift of 3 weeks now to sort this out. The only thing I disagree with is today is not rock bottom, Thursday was rock bottom, this is a continuation and something that will keep happening now until we change it. The players played for Martin last season because they were delighted Nancy had bailed. An interim should remain an interim. It was absolute laziness giving him the job and I have to agree partially with TerenceNova about Keane. I think i was one of the few people on earth who would’ve taken him over ONeill. But we couldn’t because it would’ve caused too much of a divide. I expect us to change nothing after this because our board are cowards and Martin is far too friendly with them. But we can still salvage what’s left of this campaign if we act now. The next 3 weeks will define our season, it can be the preseason we wasted.

7. I’ve just watched MON’s post match interview…
   He said he didn’t think that there was much between the teams…?
   As far as I’m concerned… we weren’t at the races…they were far better than us…
   And that’s all I needed to hear to convince me….
   IT’S TIME TO GO MARTIN.

   1. The interview was embarrassing. He spoke like one of the board.

8. I have been convinced since the end of last season that Kieran McKenna is our manager in waiting. The waiting should be over, it is time that he took over.

   1. Me too. The moment he left Ipswich after getting them promoted again he should’ve been in the door.

9. FIFO O’Neill is finished — he offered little last season and was saved by a few Maeda worldies.
   The squad and the story of the season far shows that we are in free-fall.
   Everywhere there is mounting evidence that we are a cos-play team.
   .
   The execs are to blame
   Manager is to blame.
   Coaching is to blame.
   Training standards are too blame.
   The captain is to blame.
   Some in the squad are phoning it in.
   The rest of the squad are happy to hide and do nothing.
   .

   Third rate is now good enough.
   We are paying good wages and delivering dross.
   CL fail should have generated a clear-out.
   If the clear-out doesn’t happen then when will it?

10. Who will be our Leo Amery to tell O’Neill — “In the name of God, go”.
    Things are so bad Donny John that would be an improvement.

11. It was ever thus. When ‘Fozzy’ is one of the supposed critical thinkers in your backroom team, you get exactly what you’re given.

    1. an embarrassment that he’s an allegedly integral part of our coaching team. an absolute muppet with a stupid accent that shouts nonsense and cuddles folk.

12. I thought Bauer, Donovan and CCV were the best of the bunch. But let’s face it the ibrox lot have better players, they are better on the ball and better off the ball. They are better coached.
    MON still saying things like (re McCowan) “He deserved a chance”. What does that mean?

13. To have any chance of winning the league Martin and his not so merry men have got to go if they stay we finish 4th or worse.

14. Coaching is non existent. Celtic players don’t run with the ball and always take two hits, one to steady the ball and the second to pass. Around the box this can be the difference between catching the defence off guard and not.
    My belief is the rot of laziness is ingrained starting with the board and filtering down.
    When he took over from Lennon, Ronnie Deila said the fitness levels were atrocious and I believe the players downed tools and did for him. They probably did for Nancy as well.
    We need a coach that has the team running on and off the ball for 90 minutes. End of.

15. First of all, ah see some people referrin to our manager as ‘O’Neill’ now ! You can fuck off right away ! Although imo, MON should now re-consider his position and retire, that’s utterly disrespectful. Given how he salvaged our calamatous last season. A chance was taken. Not one that everyone agreed with and it’s clearly becomin obvious, the wrong one. Ah don’t see what he can dae tae change this team now. Time for Martin to step down with respect and this board move their arses and dae somethin. Get a plan in order and ready tae pursue and put in place, before the January window. Anybody should know where the real blame lies here.

    1. Isn’t O’Neill his name after all? MON certainly isn’t a name. Martin I’ll grant you. And Maeda salvaged our season. Not anyone else. You say O’Neill salvaged our season and then savage him three times in the next sentence. Make your mind up.

16. If I go to a doctor who turns out to be an overweight, chain?smoking alcoholic, would I seriously take lifestyle advice from them? Of course not. So why would I take fitness or conditioning advice from similarly unfit individuals on the Celtic coaching staff? I think not. This is a Celtic that accommodated Paddy McCourt FFS. He scored one ‘wonder goal’ for us. We never learn and never will.

17. Why pay £11mill for Hogh, and apparently £6mill for Duran and not play a system that caters to their strengths???? We might aswell play scales and trusty up front.
    And as other folk have said, for Martin to claim there wasn’t much in it is nonsense.
    I have always been loyal to our players but its time Mccowan and Tounekti are banished, Nygren needs a fucking rocket up his hole they way he meanders about, Scales needs to stay in his own half of the pitch, trusty needs to grow some balls as he is soft as fucking shite and the rest of them need to put a fucking tackle in and stop being fucking pussies. Hassan needs to have a shot instead of floating crosses over the bye line and generally they all need to play with a bit more fucking heart and passion..and if the management team cant get these cunts to do the above then they need to go. I’ve no idea who the fuck we would get in or who would want to come in but somebody with a bit of an idea needs to sort these fuckers out

    1. Sounds the job for you Stevie…
       Good post.

18. The players have no cohesion, the missed passes lead to angry stares. No one is fighting for the other. This comes down to coaching or lack there of. Thank MON in a presser and appoint McKenna (and his team) immediately. Celtic are still top of the league so it’s all to play unless nothing changes.

19. Safely back home after watching that car crash of a performance earlier!
    Can’t disagree with any of your article James!

    With the greatest of respect to MON, I think now would be the time for him to consider his health first and foremost, and step aside. Taking his coaching team with him.

    We all love Celtic but today was very painful to watch. There was no shape, no system, no strategy and no clue today !

    Yes Sevco are not a great team, but they’ve worked on a system to combat us quite easily, and they looked a yard quicker yet again! They won first and second balls all day and we were happy to give them it back with regularity !

    I thought Beaton was his usual dreadful self and although we contributed to our own downfall, his performance was as unsurprisingly bad, as we’ve came to expect! Can someone tell me how a ref, up with play cannot see a blatant handball and award a goal ? Yeah we all know the answer!

    Regardless, I’m not using him for our defeat, we were rank rotten and could’ve played for another three weeks without creating anything of note !

    As James said, there’s nothing cohesive about team selection or substitutions …it just appeared to be putting players on the pitch and hoping something positive would happen !

20. By god, Duran, who looked sensational 3-4 weeks ago, now has the appearance of someone who’d rather be elsewhere!

    Nygren is the luxury player we can’t afford to play in these fixtures! Should have started with Hogh, as all we saw were long punts !

    Why AOC can’t get any minutes in this team baffles me !!! The Dutch boy must still be in Eindhoven as we’ve seen neither head nor hair of him !!!

    The three players I’d exonerate today would be CCV, Donovan and Bauer!
    The rest were huff, puff and I’ll blow your house down without doing anything of note !

    I couldn’t finish a post without attributing our mess to those barstewards that purport to run our club, but have sucked the life out of all of us!

    The turmoil begins and ends with them and although they’ve been happy to use MON as their shield, it just doesn’t wash !

    He saved their skins last year by winning a double, and by virtue of that, any decent minded people would have taken on some humility and started to realise the need for serious change !

    Not this lot…their arrogance, greed and presumptive nature towards us, the fans, just continues the regression we’ve now came to expect!

    Surely there are a consortium of Celtic minded professionals out there that can come in and rid us of these charlatans?

    Yet again, a Sevco outfit should be dead and buried ( again) …is this the 14 year we’ve said this, and we should be completely out of sight !

    But no, our amateur board has allowed them to stay relevant whilst continually regressing our club !!

    Someone please explain!
    HH

    1. DDs wealth is so great that he will only sell on his terms.
       Seville recently changed hands for £400 million with a turnover close to Celtic. DD would be looking at £100 million+, forgot Celtic fan business men it will be foreign ownership.

       1. Jpm, I appreciate the money involved but there has to be Celtic men out there willing to invest, regardless of the obvious risks and dangers!

       2. The club isn’t Desmond’s to sell. Like everyone else in the plc he simply owns an amount of shares and they make up 34.7% of the total shares held by everyone. Around 20% are held by individuals, most likely Celtic supporters. The rest by institutions, banks, investment trusts etc.

          That means 65.3% of shares held in Celtic plc don’t belong to minority holder DD. It would only take 34.8% of shareholdings held by one individual/group/consortium to oust Trump’s friend from his position. Since individuals own around 20% they could form one bloc that would in effect be considered an individual with 20% of the club’s shares. Let’s call them “The Alliance”. If they could attract other current shareholders with 14.8% or more in shareholdings to join The Alliance and merge with them into one singular entity then hey presto, The Alliance are now the major shareholder and DD & the rest of the board given their notice to vacate the building.

          So theoretically there can be a takeover of these clowns who are mere vassels of DD as well as removing him from the boardroom from within. No need for rich outsiders to pour money into the club and oust them that way although by now I think most of us would welcome any serious investors with no conflicts of interest regarding the ethos of why Celtic were formed and the unrepentant pro-Irish sentiment that is still a staple of what makes Celtic, Celtic today.

          Caveats to “The Alliance” gaining more shares than DD obviously include the possibility he acquires more shares himself to remain the major shareholder or forming a bloc himself with other shareholders. It would have to possess 51% or more of total shareholdings to prevent “The Alliance” from obtaining a majority of shares themselves.

          btw. DD’s other minor hobby horse, Shamrock Rovers, did exactly what I outlined above in the theoretical forming of a shareholder bloc that keeps DD out of a position of power like he enjoys at Celtic where his 34.7% of shares is considerably lower than his holdings with Shamrock Rovers. He wanted the same kind of power there that he has with Celtic but the SR fans and especially the shareholders were dead against this. DD owned 49% of Shamrock Rovers shares, far more than the 2nd largest investor, but all the shareholders who weren’t Dermot Desmond formed an anti-DD bloc that held in total 51% of Shamrock Rovers, meaning the club had 2 shareholders and DD was/is the junior investor meaning he couldn’t take over the running of Shamrock Rovers, the others who all merged into the anti-DD bloc (I can’t remember the name they gave themselves) with their 51% of total shares have control of their club instead of Desmond. So it can be done – on paper even more easily at Celtic since DD only holds a third of total shares as opposed to the 49% he held at Rovers when he tried to take over their business and footballing operations.

          Don’t believe the hype about his self declared wealth. His major investment is the Mountain Province Diamond company. It’s been running at a loss of over $150m in a 6 month period. Like Trump everything he touches dies. Tax evasion, a long criminal history of bribing politicians, presidents, their families, and the ridiculous current state of affairs where he claims Gibraltar to be his permanent residence, no doubt tied to taxes he would be paying in Ireland if he was honest about his domecile but since he’s a Gibraltan resident he won’t be paying the taxdman in Dublin.

          He’s in severe trouble at Mountain Province Diamonds (which has a son of his on the board!) and he’ll be a very lucky man if his major partner The De Beers company -of “Blood Diamond” movie infamy- don’t make a cash call on MPD which would dissolve it as Desmond’s company and be fully absorbed into the De Beers company which has the wealth to weather several disastrous years in the diamond mining business and come out the other side still standing. DD’s company MPD is not equipped for this, owes hundreds of millions to banks and the De Beers and is running at such a loss I’m surprised he hasn’t just called it a day as every day that passes MPD builds up more and more debt, plus the usury which he’s unable to pay far less the loan amounts.

          1. Very interesting insight Green Fhloyd…now if only we can arrange for these non DD shareholders to do a Shamrock Rovers ! ?

21. I think you are correct, this was worse than the other games because it ratified our suspicion about our coaches.
    It also exposed one or two other points, namely this team looks as if is at the end of its cycle: Calmac, Jamesy and Keiran look done and others have been here too long or are a product of a failed transfer model and laziness from the board.
    Sevco looked fresher, I suppose no EL helps, but they looked like they had a clear plan.
    Scales, McGowan, Tounetki, Yang, Sinisalo, Donovan and Murray are all SPFL level, CCVs been here too long and Trusty is patchy. Hogh, Hassan,Baur and Duran who knows ? But at one point we had 3 wingers on as MON threw the kitchen sink at Sevco.
    One shot on target at home against MacInnes’s Sevco again, they even look composed, relaxed and assured whilst we ran about like headless chickens getting nowhere.
    Talking of going nowhere that is what will happen with MON and his coaches until he walks or we are how many points behind ?
    Although.
    Maybe he can rally the team and turn it around, I’d love to think so.
    We are still top of the league but look bereft of ideas, the capitulation continues for the moment and unfortunately no solutions were provided today.

22. Keane was the correct call for manager in the summer unfortunately his career choices upset the fans who are all perfect. McGregor legs have gone, mid field is lightweight, wingers are not good enough,new Dutch player is obviously a board signing, fitness and desire are non existent. AJ and Yang will make a difference on there return. We are stuck with this squad until January, On the current trajectory the league will be over by then. New manager now and heavily backed in the window is the only thing that will save the season.

23. “Nobody moved off the ball. Nobody supported the man in possession”

    THIS! I commented before on this when readers were complaining about Liam scales’ passing. Nobody made themselves available or found space. It’s easy to appear a bad passer when nobody shows for the ball. This was a problem that should have been amenable to coaching but it still persists.

    1. You have reminded me of my first ever coaching session with a new team…and the first thing I ever said to them.
       “Right guys…If I’m on the ball…who’s the most important man in the team ?”
       Everyone, without exception, said ” You are “.
       “Naw ” I told them….”The player who gives me an option to play to them is the most important “.
       Were you in my team Kevin ?
       Only kiddin’ …but your point is an excellent one…Cheers.

24. I am very hesitant to criticise Martin as I know too well how manipulative this board are. That does not look like a MON team in any respect. He always liked physically strong players. I think it possible the manager is just a face and voice for the media.
    I do believe we are watching a cheap for the board Shaun Maloney team.

    1. Dan…My mate has bet me 50 quid that SM is the next manager,
       Watch this space.

25. I’ve got a feeling O’Neil will see the inevitable outcome and resign with the rest of the coaching staff

26. Before the game I thought MON would have sorted things and Callum McGregor would rise to the occasion and guide us to victory.Sadly I was wrong on both counts To me this leaves 3 options
    1.The coaching staff stay the same in the hope that we can turn it back round
    2.Martin walks and Maloney becomes intrem boss until January and see where we are then
    3.We thank Martin and his staff for their service and have a new manager in place for the end of the international break
    As much as I love Martin and think he may well get us back on track it seems too much of a risk
    Sean Maloney as a short term option would be a disaster given how the fans feel about him and he’s not Celtic manager material in the first place
    Right now the best option is number 3 if it’s done quickly and in the right way
    Celtic should get back to Eddie Howe straight away make him an offer he can’t refuse This would give him about 3 months to assess the squad and of course he will need a big transfer kitty to get the players he needs come January
    Watching that today was painful The defence is slow and apart from Baur the midfield was posted missing As for Callum get yourself a nice 3 week break you deserve it Heard Saudi is nice this time of year

27. We have eventually reached the point where a decision has to be made. Quite simply the decision is sack Mon & his team, or carry on.
    My hunch is it’ll be option 2, carry out.
    This board are a bunch of parasites and couldn’t make a decision on which filling to put on their halt fine sandwich’s. If they sack the current coaching team it’ll involve spending money. Do you honestly see this mob parting with any, given the disastrous transfer window?

    In 3 weeks time we’ll be back to square 1. Same problems will still be there, as well as the same players.
    McCowan & Nygren were absolutely atrocious. The midfield was inept . The tactics were schoolboy stuff.

    I asked the question at the start of the season re Mon and his legacy. For his sake, I hope he resigns and keep at least some of it intact, before the whole fucking lot goes

28. Pains me to say guys but I’ve been saying on this site for 9 months that “Rome is burning”,well very sadly and inevitably Rome is truly ablaze.
    While the despot and his lackys were fine dining and sipping the best champagne and brandy,our fans were standing waving banners and chanting sack the board.
    Did that make one iota of difference to these charlatans????
    I have said repeatedly, drastic action is required.
    New coaching staff? Forget it.
    Major player spend? Forget it.
    They had 6 months to replace Martin,who did they come up with?
    Martin.They had 1 year to scout nee players,signed 4 and then 6 on the last day of the window none of whom have been involved.
    Before any decisions are made,it is critical that this board are removed.
    What is the definition of insanity?
    Oh aye trying the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a different outcome.
    James I mentioned months ago that you could orchestrate this from your platform,something meaningful,something effective, something that works.
    As we wave our protest banners and sing playground songs the board are seriously wrecking our club.
    Rome is well and truly ablaze.

29. The players are a disgrace they need to take a long hard look at themselves for the performances, or lack of, that they’ve put in against Lask away and in the last three games. Standards are set from the top of the club and when those standards are fundamentally wrong it filters down through the rest of the club until they’re eroded completely. We all know how poorly Celtic are run it’s been evident for a long time, when you’re paying the taxman more than you’re willing to invest in a player that tells you everything that’s wrong with the business side and that’s before you even look at the football side. This board are constantly pushing kits and casual wear and prostituting legends like Henrik Larsson in order to fleece the supporters out of more money, that wouldn’t be so bad if we could see the money improving things in all aspects of how a well run club should look like but we don’t see any of that. We need a clear out of this board and to get rid of the Desmond’s monopoly at the club, until that happens things will become much worse before they get better. We’re too loyal as a support and this board takes that loyalty for granted and actually uses it against us without any embarrassment. I don’t know how to fix the state that the club finds itself in that’s for smarter men than me to work out but something needs to happen and soon. As for Martin’s position I thought he should’ve went at the end of last season and become an even bigger legend than he was already, by staying it was more likely he could only harm his reputation than enhance it and if he leaves now the damage would be minimal.

Comments are closed.