07 Feb 2016 18:03:19
ED
setting aside what's been said by all of us over the past few months what do you think needs to be done to
Get CFC back playing winning football
Get CFC back to being the sort of club that makes the fans feel proud
Get CFC in the ascendancy before every match whereby domestically speaking we are feared
Get an atmosphere back in to Celtic park
Get the fans united
What happened to us ED that sees a great divide open up whereby fans are happy to cling on to what we have ( which is below standard) because we think that anything else out there would take us to an ever darker place? Why do we see our club in such a poor light whereby we feel that managers across the globe would all give us a wide berth? How did we get it so wrong or are we actually closer to the light than we think and the recent responses or narrative has been exaggerated?
Your views kind sir?
{Ed007's Note - Get rid of PL and JP would be a good start. Those two are THE major problem at the club and if RD is sacked both of them have to fall on their sword and be sacked or resign as well.}
07 Feb 2016 20:33:55
Have to agree after all its pl who hired Ronny and jp couldn't find a striker on a match box.
07 Feb 2016 21:37:38
The thing that really irks me is we have the best players in Scotland by far, a squad mostly all full internationalists, i'm not saying they are Europes finest but any 11 from probably 17 should be able to walk onto any park in Scotland and win 90% of their games, so in a way that takes the blame away from PL, he's supplied us with enough to comfortably wipe the floor with anything Scotland has to offer. European level is a different matter PL has let us down by only buying for domestic competition. As for the current squad not performing it can only be the fault of the coaching abilities of the current regime , whether that's down to trying to play a formation that none are comfortable with or players have no respect for certain personnel I don't honestly know. Maybe our squad just aren't very good
07 Feb 2016 21:20:29
Ed, you don't sound convinced Ronnie should go though.
I agree PL, JP and JC should be punted (they won't resign as they would lose money)
RD is just not putting any entertainment out there and the players are just not up to it. In a game like today you would expect someone to have a real go but it was the same old boring game we get every week. If that had been Aberdeen they would have humped us again.
{Ed007's Note - I'd like to see what RD could do working under a strong Director of Football who will fight his corner against the board. The influence Park has on our footballing recruitment is dragging us into mediocrity. For me, if Lawwell wants to save his own neck he must replace Park and RD should be part of any process of selecting a DOF and allowed to bring in at the very least his own assistant.
The last few years it's been as if Park has read the paper and seen that the press and fans were raving about the likes of GMS, Armstrong, Ciftci, Scott Allan and decided they must be good enough. How can fans demand CL football when you're signing players like them? We replaced an England internationalist GK with a injury ravaged crock who had hardly played a game in years. I said at the time CG would never get his sharpness back and he hasn't. Going with a central defence of VVD and Denayer that had both players leaving was a major mistake too, PL and JP knew that VVD was leaving and that Denayer would be going back to City so where was the forward planning in that? We've been trying to bed a new defence in all season and injuries haven't helped with that.
I'll shut up now - I'm starting to bore myself - before I prattle on all night on one post!}
07 Feb 2016 22:06:18
Stevie
The problem is we don't have the best players by far. 2 or 3 of Aberdeen's back four would get a game for us plus Hayes and Rooney would improve our squad.
I have said it before, when Celtic come calling the price doubles if the selling club are in a good position with the players contract. We might be buying 1.5 million pound players but they are 750k to 1 million max for other teams.
07 Feb 2016 22:51:36
There only two players I would take from ANY SPL team and we gave both of them away Jackson Irvine and Niall McGinn no way would any other Aberdeen player improve us IMO.
{Ed007's Note - Exactly. Yet people expect us to be signing players of SPFL standard and still be a force in Europe. Who had the bright idea of 'Let's sign 3 players from Dundee Utd and one from Hibs and have a right go at this CL.'
Does anyone honestly believe that RD came to Scotland, and a year later he thought the best way to have spent nearly £4m was to sign GMS, Armstrong, Ciftci and Scott Allan? Surely if it was his decisions he would have signed some players he knew better or knew more about. After 6 months in the job, in the country, and he wanted Armstong and GMS whose team we humped 6-1 in one of RDs first games? It's not as if their Scotland careers caught his eye is it?}
07 Feb 2016 23:24:14
Not boring Ed, quite practical and informative. Its comments like yours and others on this site which changed me early days to give RD a chance. I have always felt that he has one hand tied behind his back but that was mainly in JC being influential. Like many, we have to assume that RD has some say in who is signed so he is open to criticism on that. I also feel that once the team is out there, then we have no plan B if plan A is not working for whatever reason.
I feel we either have a system which is not working or we do not have the players to accomplish what RD wants.
I also think that we will struggle next season when sevco, Hearts and Hibs are challenging (cant see sevco not getting automatic promotion being realistic)
Todays showing should have embarrassed a lot of so-called professionals against a group of hard working part-timers. No one earned their win bonus and the pot should be donated to charity.
Anyway, still top of league, still in Cup and still Glasgow Celtic, eh? Hail Hail.
{Ed007's Note - I'll be delighted if CFC wins another double this year.}
07 Feb 2016 23:51:20
Ed if you think pl is that bad he is behind Ronny like you if pl goes so does Ronny after all he hired him I agree both should go because pl is standing by his man surely you must agree if pl standing by him is a mistake then both have to go.
{Ed007's Note - Did you miss my answer to the OP?}
08 Feb 2016 00:38:02
Totally agree Ed, For me only Armstrong could be enhanced / improved IMO and don't get me started on Ciftci and the jersey he filled
As you pointed out earlier in the season we lost VVD and Denayer and in that entire cluster of midfielders we don't have ONE! natural CDM and we gave away Irvine drives me daft that heard John Hughes recently wax lyrical about the lad, just plain daft and now by all accounts we are in the market for a natural CDM! (y)
{Ed007's Note - I thought Armstrong could have been the long term replacement for Scott Brown but even though he is playing out of his natural position he's been an empty jersey. Sadly I don't think he has the mental toughness to be a CFC player.}
08 Feb 2016 00:55:49
Wouldn't give up on him yet Ed but your probably right, certainly since he started to get niggles/ injuries this season he has been posted missing for sure
I think Ed that RD cannot get them anywhere near as fit as he wants/ needs them to be only LG, Brown maybe Boyata can get as fit as he wants be interesting to see the levels Sviatchenko gets to
If LG had got injured the day on that surface in that tackle early on we would have been in big bother IMO.
{Ed007's Note - It's ridiculous if fitness is still an issue and any player not meeting standards need to shape up or be shipped out. Those demands aren't going to change under a new manager. Even before RD came in regarding playing in Europe I said there was no excuse for us not being the fittest you can be, why shouldn't every single CFC player not strive to be as fit as Ronaldo or have the same focus as Roy Keane? I've often thought the fact JC is a fitness freak is one of the reasons he got the assistant's job, JP knew him from their time together at Hibs and he knew RD's attitude and approach to fitness and conditioning.
Younger players understand all this, do you think Patrick Roberts needed any diet or fitness advice when he took his medical? He'll have been living the life of an athlete for years.
It's a Scottish thing, the same as PLG at Ranger or Keane getting on the bus to see Hartson stuffing his face, the game and the majority supporters haven't moved with the modern game, if Roy Keane thought that back then what's the big deal about RD changing things now? And why has it taken so long for us to catch up?
It's took us long enough to catch up with the rest of football. One of my good friends runs the local boys club and does some scouting for Hibs and he says he is learning stuff about fitness and conditioning at courses for the BC that he didn't learn at professional clubs during his playing days.
John Barnes and KD gave us Petrov, Jansen gave us Henke, Dr Jo gave us Lubo, MON gave us Seville, WGS gave us CL, Mowbray gave us nightmares, NL gave us beating Barca and RD has dragged our asses into the modern approach to the game. Even if RD leaves I still think a young hungry manager is the way to go.
I wonder if Moyes came in with his approach to this stuff people would still say the same, Everton used to use Football Manager's statistics in their player recruitment and then there's Everton's School of Science. Moyes is not dissimilar to RD when it comes to utilising at the technical side of management.
08 Feb 2016 10:17:07
Agree with you most of the time ed and have a lot of respect for your opinions. I know you're a fan of Deila, as was I. But would you take him being sacked if it meant PL and JP would go too? In effect, who is most important?
{Ed007's Note - I'm not sure what you mean buddy. The way CFC are structured just now the all 3 positions are just as important but ultimately the buck stops with PL. For me there's two ways out of the current situation, either all 3 of them leave OR John Park leaves and RD is given more control or a proper DOF is appointed for RD to work under.}
08 Feb 2016 13:54:18
Your right it is a Scottish thing Ed, Following on from this and the top point I think you have just nailed the FULL reason JC was appointed! due to his ideas on fitness and RD's
But anybody can see 95% are not interested in buying into it mate
For the first time ever I noticed yesterday and it was probably because it was against PT opposition we were more than happy to stand off the ball, let the other team have the ball we have no one in that team who can "nastily" get us the ball back or even disrupt the other team
Conditioning is everything these days and NL really had more MON in him so they are not used to it IMO and have went from one extreme not to the next level but to the opposite end of the scale that's what is wrong with GMS IMO you take him out and rest him a few weeks put him back in and he is great for two games then he just wilts IMO because his fitness is just not there (y)
{Ed007's Note - My argument is that it should have never been an issue in the first place and RD should be applauded for changing it. We had young players leaving the club and their new managers commenting on how unfit they were and that's embarrassing as hell.
The press made a mountain out of a molehill over the changes RD made and a lot of the support jumped on the bandwagon, some have never gave him a chance since. At any other top club in the world the changes wouldn't have needed to be made and the fact they did shows how badly the club has been ran over the last few years.
Why hadn't our Football Development Manager sorted this out years ago as it's a vital part of developing players and he spends enough time at other clubs to know this.}
08 Feb 2016 16:08:49
Your far more advanced in that Ed than probably all of us that post on here
I wonder initially when RD was approached to be number 2 that was to be a big part of his remit ie to take a new approach
I think PL in all probability got lazy giving RD the post directly coupled with the fact how many knock back's PL took
Would it be possible to place RD as director of youth if removed as manager? A good friend of mine has that post @ a championship club and bearing fruit or is it to big a come down for RD
You really need to equip and educate the young they embrace change much better IMO he would be great in that post IMO (y)
{Ed007's Note - In my opinion, long term RD has more to offer the club in any capacity than JP has. Unless it was a step up the way though I doubt RD's pride would let him take on another role at the club, running the youth set up would be a step down for me.}
08 Feb 2016 17:19:52
Ed I don't think anyone is disagreeing about the fitness and medical science thing. The issue is that they don't look any fitter now than they were under NL! So the issue must be that they are not taking on board what RD is asking them to do. It's up to him to sort that out. No use him just telling us what he wants he needs to get the players to do it.
{Ed007's Note - James Forrest is fitter than he's ever been in his career, LG looks fitter and sharper than ever, Craig Gordon's fitness has been managed magnificently even though I don't like him as a player as has Lustig's problems, I could go on. Just because Kris Commons isn't running marathons doesn't mean it isn't working for those that are willing to work at it. Johansen covers some amount of grass when he's playing and Ambrose never stops running for 90 mins. Do you think KT looks unfit or lazy? If KT's an example of the fitness levels, focus and attitude we're instilling in our youth players I don't think there'll be any complaints from fans or their future managers if they're moved on. Even the newer players for that matter, for a big lad Sviatchenko can fairly get up and down the park.
Players themselves have came in and spoke about the difference, here's what Stuart Armstrong had to say soon after he signed:
'I didn't quite realise how hard the boys work until I came here, in training and the games, it’s phenomenal the amount of work we put in. In one of the first training sessions, we played a big game. It was up and down – relentless. I was thinking: "Bloody hell – this is actually quite hard!"
'That was a bit of a shock to the system. A few days in, the sports scientist said to myself and Gary (Mackay-Steven) to watch what we were doing and to ease our way in. He’s been great with us and has looked after us really well.'
'The training definitely will help. The tempo of it will help my fitness gradually improve. But it was a bit of an eye opener to see just how fit the boys here are. If I can get to that level in a few weeks’ time I will be delighted.'
08 Feb 2016 18:20:40
We can mutter all day and all night about the usefulness or otherwise Of PL, R D,
J. C. Many individual players and at the end of the night we won't have got anywhere we will have the same problems tomorrow and so forth .
However all is not doom and gloom we have the power to make change . We are the supporters and we can unite and build up the support, build up encouragement and build up confidence within our players. We can make Celtic Park a fortress that every team fears . We can inspire our team to victory home and away . That's what us supporters can do.
{Ed007's Note - Muttering all day and night about it all is the point of the site though. Other guys luckier than me make a living from it.}
09 Feb 2016 14:01:17
When your team is playing twice a week from start of August to start of December and away on Int duty any week that he isn't playing twice it is very difficult to build real fitness as the amount of games curtail the number of full training sessions .
Hopefully R D has managed to get the fitness level increased just now and we will benefit for the rest of the season.