Celtic Banter Archive October 20 2016

20 Oct 2016 14:44:01
I wonder how many will agree with what I am about to say.
We beat ourselves by complacency by the team, who thought after the Man City game all they had to do was turn up. And yes, I think our manager bought all the hype about the team and the fact they had 4 players missing and supposedely were on a "poor run of form" The work rate and passion showed in the City game went AWOL.
Complacency by us the fans, the atmosphere was no where near the City game, most fans turned up simply expecting a victory, they too bought into the "poor form", we were beaten by a very good team because both players and fans got suckered into "this is an easy 3 points"
They had 4 players missing, we had more than that missing, Lustig, Biton, Rogic did not seem fit or up to the pace of the game. Toure came in and he looked rusty as well. Forrest in big games does what he always does, HIDES.
In fact most of the team looked off the pace.
I hope players and manager take a good look at themselves and give us fans a real "City" like display against Cheaters FC on Sunday.

20 Oct 2016 15:35:41
They are / where just a better team tim . thought forrest was the better of the two wingers last night brown was playing too deep and with rogic further up they just ran round biton. bottom line if we want cl or europa we need better quality we have a full team plus a full team and
More of squad/ bench warmers. sell move on 10 - 12 and bring in 5-6 better quality?

20 Oct 2016 17:07:07
I said last night that this exact same team approached and performed totally differently in both games and that the attitude from the manager/ players must have been a factor in our failure.
Obviously they were a very good side, but their manager did his homework on our team and nullified Rogic, Sinclair and Dembele
and did to us, what we did to City by pressing us high and not giving us a second on the ball - and they deserved to win.
It's obvious we are the 4th ranked team in this horrendously hard group and we do need to strengthen and gain experience, but when we get the basics wrong and make stupid mistakes, we will get severely punished at this level and the manager should also learn from it - but unfortunately we do keep making defensive errors.
It was obvious our tactics and formation was not working from early on last night, but he failed to change things until we went behind and that was far too late.

20 Oct 2016 17:45:39
Last night we were beaten by a far fitter, more powerful outfit who seem to have all 11 players playing at a high standard doing playing exactly the game plan their manager laid down for away them . We never got going and never really put them under sustained pressure . Having said that Sinclairrmissed two simple chances and it was his missing plus Tuore'errors cost us the match .
The performance of the Germans last night would be the standard, I would like us to be able to reproduce in a couple of years . They didn't have many starts but they had the appetite and desire to get on the ball& when doing that they controlled the ball and use the ball well. Better strikers and they would have destroyed us
Gordon made several good saves, shots that he should save, but he did so . Eric stretched but managed ok and Toure was excellent first half, but he knows the second half he slipped up. Brown was the only mid field to contribute positively throughout, but they controlled him and took him from support . Forrest was ok, ran in behind and got some crosses in . Dembele got little service and contributed little, Sinclair wasn't at the races . We never got at them the way we did v City but I thought for a wee while after we scored, and they stepped back a little we just might have got back in .

20 Oct 2016 18:05:42
I said a couple of weeks ago that anyone who underestimated BMG, would be doomed to dissapointment, BMG are a good team but with the right attitude and application Celtic are well capable of beating them, all this talk prematch of them missing their four best players probably affected the players mindset, and this is the main reason we lost, but last two seasons it was obvious that Celtic missed two things, one being a manager and two creativity in the midfield, I just don't understand how Biton gets a game before Christie or even Commons, who I probably the most creative player at the club, and I it was up to me I would play Dembelle and LG together, Griffiths works hard on and of the ball, and don't understand how he can be left out, this playing with one up front is so yesterday.

21 Oct 2016 00:35:27
Did you see the game last night Aindoh?

By the way both Christie and Commons are regarded as attacking midfields Where as Biton is a defensive midfielder.

21 Oct 2016 12:24:32
No, Oldbhoy, listened on radio, was it Jock Stein that said the best form of defence is attack?

21 Oct 2016 17:58:35
Those of us who were at the game or watched on the Tv, would note that it is difficult to have much attacking without the ball . I am sure B Rodgers would say the same as J S but even Jock Stein had nights like last night when the opponents played all the football. I am sure u remember listening to the 1970 European Cup final when the Dutch mastered us.

20 Oct 2016 13:14:00
Would like to see griffiths back on Sunday and more rotation in the team to keep things fresh.

21 Oct 2016 00:44:02
Yes and maybe take Sinclair and Toure and Biton out as well. Griffiths for Dembele
Jozo for Toure Mc Gregor or Henderson for Biton and paddy Roberts for Sinclair .

I wouldn't be over disappointed if B R didn't make any of these changes and ran with the same team.

21 Oct 2016 02:17:10
My team for Sunday would be
Gordon
Lustig, Toure, Erik, KT
Roberts, Brown, Henderson, Sinclair
Dembele, Griffiths

Don't want Bitton anywhere near the team and Rogic is only good for 1 half, I would rather bring him on later in the game.
They aren't good enough to play with just 1 up front.

21 Oct 2016 09:30:44
Neither are Motherwell or Kilmarnock Jonbhoy71 but he did it anyway.

20 Oct 2016 10:57:52
Watching the game on the telly it was clear after 20 mins that they had done their homework, and we needed another midfielder on the park. Personally I would have had forrest off and Armstrong on.

20 Oct 2016 12:59:17
Did Forrest play? Got to be time to get Roberts back in for a spell.

20 Oct 2016 17:56:13
JimTim how do u know it is time to put Paddy Rodgers back in, if u didn't even know if Forrest played .
As it happened Sinclair was the weakest winger last night.

20 Oct 2016 09:22:09
I don't think anyone can come on here and say we didn't deserve to lose. I personally think it shows us where we are in European terms at the minute. Br has only had one window to make changes, and apart from the keeper everyone has been an improvement. If we can get to the standard of borussia in the next couple of years I'll be a happy man. It was hard to watch last night but I was very impressed with how they played with a lot of one touch passing and fast athletic players. We know br wanted another midfielder in the last window, someone like strindl would be great. I personally think we will have the odd good result in europe this season but we are pot 4 for a reason. Back to the domestic season now and it's a great chance to put down a marker to show everyone here that we are miles ahead of everyone else here. The Huns are all excited on their site, like they are as good as borussia 😂. Europe is pretty much gone for this year, take the money now and the experience. Move forward for the treble .

20 Oct 2016 09:40:28
Well said Quinn 1888, the facts are hard to take but what you said is reality, Roll on the Treble.

20 Oct 2016 10:07:46
Quinn, I love your optimism regarding being at the same standard as Borussia in the next couple of years and you'll be happy. Do you really think a Scottish club in the next 2-3 years will be good as/ or near to a German side that finished 4th last year and 3rd the season prior? be realistic mate, you are a club that should each year qualify for Europe, get the odd result, maybe even sneak into 3rd spot and get Europa league football (if the correct draw comes your way) but Celtic nor any Scottish club will be on par with Borussia any time soon.

20 Oct 2016 11:13:48
It's all very well thinking in 2 or 3 years we may be at the level bmg are at now but what concerns me is what level will these teams be at in 2 or 3 years?

These teams don't stand still unfortunately and we will always be playing catch up.

20 Oct 2016 11:26:49
I did say if we could get to their level I would be happy. I thought the football they played last night was inventive, bright attacking football . Who wouldn't want that for their team, it will need substantial investment though and there's no guarantee the club would support that . Even after the new managers appointment the only real outlay was on Sinclair . I think there team is a side that Rodgers himself would be looking to emulate as he keeps talking about fast athletic skilful players, which we don't really have in out midfield . Rome wasn't built in a day though so hopefully after a few windows we will see improvements.

20 Oct 2016 11:58:48
We have drawn a group with teams from the three leagues in the world Barcelona and city two of the biggest hitters in European/ world football and the German team who are an established top four team in their own league. This year was just about the qualification cash nothing more nothing less city result was a mega bonus 🍀⚽.

20 Oct 2016 18:11:15
Tick67 I think u are so right, the better Germans and Spanish teams and others are maybe a decade ahead of us . I know some of us will laugh and sneer but the lifestyles fitness balance between gym and on field training including ball skills, these islands are away behind .
I think R D wanted to bring the modern ideas to Lennoxtown and Celtic Park but the MSSM laughed and sneered, some of our forum fans joined in and the players went off message and R D 's plans and ideas of pressing high up the pitch were put in storage .
Brendan Rodgers came in June and although he has done his best, we are only starting out on the road to play as a modern football team . This will take yrs 2/ 3 minimum but by then the better teams will have moved to a new level and hopefully we can match them . Playing against most SPFL teams is not the idea way of preparing for the top tests in Europe.

20 Oct 2016 09:10:45
Morning lads, not buying this beaten by a better team bollocks just cause that's what BR said, are they better than Man City?, no they arent, imo we just didn't turn up, or players thought it would be an easy game, bitton isn't the answer in europe, too slow and static for me, our defence was all over the place and for me gladbach did their homework on us, didn't buy into the comments on here about it being an easier game as they have some cracking players, would it have been different if we turned up last night cause for me we didnt.

20 Oct 2016 09:33:40
What are you talking about so we where the better team?

20 Oct 2016 09:43:57
If you couldn't see they were a better team then I want to come and watch your telly. They snuffed us out. Moved the ball at pace and we didn't have a player who could actually beat a player until Roberts came on.

Forrest may be playing better but he us still not the answer. Bringing on Mcgreggor again showed me that we need a few players who can step up.

We will make about £20m from qualifying. We need to ship out about 8 players freeing up wages and spend that money to ensure we are even better prepared for next years qualifying.

We are better than last year by far and in January will hopefully move forward another few steps.

I will put a bet on the they beat city at home. This year was about getting there, using the money to move us up.

For me there is hope. I knew we would be lucky to win a single point, but that was the price for securing the cash.

20 Oct 2016 09:50:36
Obviously we are the 'worst' team in the group - as our pot 4 rating and status verifies; however, we have always been able to raise our game against bigger and better teams and will continue to do this.
The Germans had no apparent superstars or a big reputation, but the attitude and application of the very same Celtic side against Man City and BMG was night and day.
Man City seemed to bring out an extra yard and more effort (for an hour anyway) whereas we never got out the blocks last night and too many of our 'impact' players were nullified/ failed to turn up.
This is not to say that we obviously need improvement and a couple of last nights team are clearly not good enough, but maybe we have to look at how we approach and prepare mentally as well.

20 Oct 2016 10:02:53
I think he means on a good day we should have gotten a result and i'd agree. However overall they are still the better team on paper and on the field.

Guys let's not lose heart, if we were told at rhe begining of the season the BR was signing and we would make the group stages but no more we would have taken it in a heart beat. This is the first season of a new and good looking era. We will build, improve and be better for it.

20 Oct 2016 10:30:14
if we had played with the same intensity and conviction as we did with man city it couldve been a diff result, we didn't turn up last night and got what we deserved, now everybody agrees with the better team mince that BR spouted after the game, to me that's just an excuse as we showed what we can do against a team far better than BM, not one player had a good game last night.

20 Oct 2016 11:05:36
I know where bhoywonder is coming from, I think. BM were the better side last night, but we didn't do ourselves any justice.

20 Oct 2016 06:51:39
Beaten on the night by a far superior team in my opinion. Biggest disappointment for me apart from obviously the two really poor goals given away by big kolo was the midfield. For me brown apart who I thought done his best were all poor. Really don't see what bitton brings to this team. Thought he was very poor on a big occasion yet again and could easily have been subbed at half time never mind 20 mins into the second half. Need to find someone else to play along side brown in there as bittons not the answer.

20 Oct 2016 08:39:43
Bitton steals a wage at celtic. Seemed to be a serious lack of movement around the team to find space, or they deserved praise for closing down. The passing was the worst I've seen all season but i hope they pick there arses up for the weekend HH.

20 Oct 2016 08:51:13
DB92, remember last season when brown was getting slaughtered for his performance's and to an extent deserved criticism, when you look at him this season, brown can canter the midfield in most SPFL games but these European games are a huge step up from the domestic game and I'm afraid bitton hasn't got it. Must admit I didn't expect much in Europe this season so I'm not climbing the walls as such with last nights result but moving forward in a European sense we need another midfielder beside brown that's a lot more mobile than bitton, for me bitton is far to static, lazy looking player. I'm sure BR will know this though.

20 Oct 2016 13:17:53
agree mate and i think him getting pulled off shows BR was thinking it too. Brown was going through a bad spell granted but you knew he would come good or could tell he was struggling.

I just can't stand players who look like they don't care in the style bitton plays.

20 Oct 2016 00:27:41
First post lads long time reader back home after game tonite gutted about result and performance however reality check needed for Celtic this season was all about qualifying for groups. I think well struggle to get another point in champs league unfortunately this season is all about being there. but we'll have a party this weekend another step towards the treble. COYBIG.

20 Oct 2016 00:14:09
Hail hail, don't often post but tonight was what I expecteted in the back of my mind (otherwise hopeful) . On paper this was the "easiest match" at home. We created 0 which isn't surprising given the German opposition! . We are where we are . Which is not the worst place.