Celtic Banter Archive October 25 2014

 

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25 Oct 2014 22:29:12
Heading to the game tomorrow, can't see the crowd being anywhere near 35,000 tomorrow. In my opinion the players prefer to play away from home. Our crowd are not supporting the Team the way they should be.com on my fellow tims, let's get behind the Bhoys.

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Agreed. Far too many in the home crowd ready to jump on players backs at the first mistake.This is a contributing factor to the fear shown on the park, players need to know we are behind them.

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Between jumping on players backs moaning and groaning, thank God for the green brigade .

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25 Oct 2014 18:09:20
Is the game on tv tomorrow?

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25 Oct 2014 17:19:46
LENNON
"Blue eyed bhoy"
Working his magic @ Bolton.

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And what relevance is a bolton win to celtic?

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25 Oct 2014 15:18:44
Sorry I meant to finish my post by saying, with not qualifying for the champions league, and the crowds dropping off, these are two of the main sources of income to the club, so there has to be a rethink on how the club is run

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26 Oct 2014 07:40:39
Gerry you are spot on. The Board will only accept this for a season. Financially that's all they can afford. If crowds average say 35,000 compared to let's say 45,000 last season(including CL nights) and they play say 30 games at home overall that is 300,000 tickets at say £25.00 which is £7.5 mill. On top of that money from CL would bring in say another £8mill maybe more (excluding gate receipts) not sure about how the money is worked for CL but you are £15 mill down as a minimum. We only made £11 last year so we are looking at a loss this season unless crowds pick up.

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It is unmanageable for the club to be in this situation of mediocrity - but the board must share the blame for their complacency and failing to replace the quality managers and players that have gone. The support are clearly reacting to the poor performances and lack of progress and consistency - and if it continues they will demand change.

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25 Oct 2014 15:09:57
A lot of posts have been critical of people who have questioned the managers abilities.
I think the appointment of Ronny Deila, is another example of the malaise at the club
When Gordon Strachan was in charge, he wasn't allowed to bring in Steven Fletcher, which probably cost us the title, Because of this Rangers won 3 titles in a row, which not only denied us a lot of Champions league money, but let them earn it, which probably delayed their demise.
We have continued with this policy, and we are now at the stage where we are only bringing in loan players, who are nearly all worse than the players they are replacing.
As far as the manager goes, this should be one of the most attractive jobs in British football even allowing for the weakness of the league, and yet we are reduced to scouring the smallest countries in Europe to appoint a manager who will do as he is told, yet he is sold to us as some managerial genius who is light years ahead of his time.
We are no longer qualifying for the Champions league, a

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Where exactly is it stated that RD was appointed to do as he was told.

Given the major behind the scene changes he has made which was previously highlighted by ED007 I fail to see how he is doing as he is told.

He didn't have time to assess his squad and bring in the required replacements in the summer. let's see what happens in January before you decide RD is just a puppet.

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25 Oct 2014 16:55:44
Kev, January will play a big part in ronnys first season, he must no now we're he wants to strengthen, will the board support him?
1 downside is not many decent players move about in January, so we may have to wait till the summer rather than pay for over priced players.

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Do you seriously think he was appointed for any other reason than that he will toe the line.
Anything he has done so far has not cost any money which is what the board want.

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Deila has already spoke about building better indoor training facilities at Lennoxtown. I can't imagine that'll come to cheap Gerry. In my opinion there's loan fees and wages for players, Scepovic transfer fee and wages, bringing in Jim McGuinness and Haakon Lunov to join the backroom staff will have added 2 wages to the wage bill. How do you know what he has done and what it would cost, with the emphasis on improving the general fitness of players I'd hinkthat there would be new fangled machinery needed to do all that and that will have cost a few bob. Are you giving your opinion or stating a fact that anything Deila has done has not cost the club any money? I don't think anyone on here is in a position to know that.

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We got £8-10 million for Fraser Forster, I don't think taking on a couple of backroom staff is what the fans wanted the money spent on.
As I said before, the money is drying up from no champions league, and our gates are dropping. you can do all these things behind the scenes, but you have to have good players for it to be effective.
Most clubs if their gates were dropping like ours, would realise their way of operating isn't working, and try something different.
There has been a steady decline for the last few years, and I think it is going to take more than a few changes in the background to turn things around.

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What has the Forster money got to do with anything, were you expecting us to buy a player at 8-10 million? It doesn't matter what the money was spent on though, you said nothing had cost any money and you're obviosuly wrong. All that you've mentioned is down to the board though not Deila, he said who said he would rather spend money on improving Lennoxtown than signing a player. How do you know the club aren't looking at that? I did ask how you knew anything Deila has done has not cost any money, you must have missed that so I'll ask you it again. Have we spent money or not? Just in case you haven't realised btw, our club did realise their way wasn't working and tried something different, we got shot of Neil Lennon and we've got a new manager, isn't that trying something different, it sure seems like it to me so I don't see what you're moaning about there. Do you want them to change again after only 3 months of the season and then what when the next guy comes in and the fans don't give him a chance either?

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What I want to see is better football, and it is not just me, take a look at the thousands of empty seats at the match tomorrow, these were once filled by fans who have got fed up with the football on show
I don't think you can deny that the policy at the club is to buy players cheap, then move them on for a profit, that was what Ronny Deila was brought in for.
My argument is that I think this policy has gone as far as it can. It is now costing us champions league money, and supporters.
I know we can't spend silly money on players, but I think we could invest in the team a bit more than we are.
My doubts about the manager are, that he hasn't even lost any players from last year, yet the performances are far worse, if he can't even keep the levels the same, with the same players, how bad will it get when some of the better players are sold.

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What's any of that got to do with what you said about anythin Deila doing not costing any money? Read back and see what you said, that's what I'm asking you about, how do you know this or what are you basing it on? I've listed things I know will have cost money and things I think will have cost money and things I think could cost money longer term and you seem quite sure we've not spent any money on anything Deila wanted, hiring Lunov is a perfect example of something Deila wanted and the club done it, or would you disagree with that?

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I don't understand what your point is, we got the money for Forster, and all we have done with it is get a striker who never really wanted to come in the first place, and a couple of backroom staff, the clob must have profited by about 5 or 6 million. That to me is not spending money.
If Ronny gets £8 million for a player and then goes to the board and asks for £9 million for his replacement then you can say he is spending money.
The board were never going to appoint a manager who doesn't go along with their strategy.
By the way Lennon resigned, mostly because he was sick of these conditions, so it wasn't a case of the board trying something new, they never had any option.

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{Ed007's Note - Lennon didn't resign, he was told what was happening and told he had a choice, work with Ronny Deila for a year and leave next summer or leave this summer. He also received a pay-off which he wouldn't have been entitled to if he had resigned.}

My point is that you said " Do you seriously think he was appointed for any other reason than that he will toe the line. Anything he has done so far has not cost any money which is what the board want."
I'm saying the board have spent money on things Deila wanted I even listed some of them. If you still think the same then can you explain why you think that. I don't see what's so hard about the question. Has the club spent money on things Deila wanted done or not? Things are bad enough just now without fans making up lies about our club

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Ed007 makes my point, Lennon left because he didn't want to work with Ronny. Is this not the board telling a manager what to do. Lennon obviously wasn't prepared to do this and left.
The board have now appointed a manager who they believe will work to these conditions they would hardly appoint a manager who disagreed with their strategy.
This is not lying, this is the basic fact, You can agree with this strategy or disagree, but that is the way the club is run.
I happen to believe this strategy is harming our team, you may differ but there is no lying involved.

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26 Oct 2014 08:49:31
Ed interesting information re Lennon/Diela, not heard that before. If Roy Kean or Henrik had taken the job, was Deila coming anyway? So was he already nailed on for a job as assistant and guaranteed to replace Lennon as manager next season? So when Lennon walked away what was the thinking then?

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{Ed007's Note - The minute the club contacted WGS to come back as a mentor to NL was the minute everyone, including NL, and more importantly the board, knew he couldn't do the job.
Here's a little scenario for you to consider, what if RD being brought in as NL's No.2 was nonsense? What if RD was being brought in with the intention of him taking over in summer 2015, NL would have still been manager on paper but he would do the job of helping RD get to grips with the Scottish game and helping him settle. John Park was to be moved into a Director of Football role. It was a whole structural change and I'm not 100% convinced it's over yet, I think we might still see an important appointment.
What if gradually RD would be calling the shots and taking more and more responsibility whilst NL continued with his media work and courting a job in England. Did Mjallby not leave to become a manager in his own right and why did he leave when he did? Was that when the new 'masterplan' was put forward and big Mjallby didn't have a job in the new set-up? Now he's at Bolton as NL's assistant.
No matter who came in as manager RD would have been involved somewhere, that decision was made at boardroom level with the help of John Park.
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.
When NL turned down the chance to stay on it became a bit messy, the board needed someone the fans would trust, a Keane or Larsson, they didn't particularly need to be good coaches or managers, RD would have been doing that side of things but neither wanted the job with the stipulations attached. Keane would have been short term appointment (1 possibly 2 years) then he would have moved on to a job in the EPL or the manager of Eire, Larsson would have been given a job on the coaching staff probably. When Keane and Larsson turned down the job the the club approached John Collins on the recommendation of John Park who knew him from their time at Hibs, the aim had always been to install RD as manager but the initial thinking was it would be summer 2015 after a year learning the Scottish scene with Lennon acting as a buffer whilst RD worked away behind the scenes getting everything the way he wanted before taking over next summer.}

Look Gerry I'm not asking you anything difficult here pal. Have the board spent money on things Deila asked for? All I'm looking for is a simple yes or no. It's you who said they haven't, the rest of us know they have so I'd say that's a lie from you. I'll even c'n'p it again for you.

"Anything he has done so far has not cost any money which is what the board want."

That right there Gerry is a lie, you've made that up. Have the board spent money on things Deila wants, yes or no Gerry without all the waffling, I'm asking you a direct question about something you said. Why's it so difficult for you to answer? How about a poll Ed Has the board spent money on things Deila wants? Nowt about if you're happy with the amount or what they have spent it on, just the question if they have spent money.

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{Ed007's Note - Of course board have spent money, we don't need a poll on it.}

@ed thank you for clearing situation up regards Lennon. Always knew that he never resigned as I heard off a reliable source involved at club. Couldn't believe his arrogance claiming club never backed his ambitions.

Was there not a plea to sign stuart baxter as a mentor as well?

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{Ed007's Note - The board tried to bring in Baxter to work with NL from the start in 2010, the following summer they tried to bring Strachan back . It shows you the confidence the board actually had in him to do the job when for 3 of his 4 full seasons as manager they were looking for someone to either work with him (Baxter and Strachan) or to eventually replace him (Deila).
What's happened with big Mjallby tells you all was not well at the club, especially in the 2nd half of the season. Yet nobody questioned why Mjallby left his position immediately instead of waiting until the end of the season. He also said he wanted to be a manager in his own right and look for different challenges, he's not exactly turned his life upside down since leaving CFC has he, he's doing the exact same job he was doing but now it's for a wee diddy team at the ar$e end of the second division in England. What's challenging him, he's still only an assistant manager, still doing everything NL's way and probably still living in Glasgow with his family when time allows.}

25 Oct 2014 14:50:27
i know we are having it tough at the moment, even more so if you swallow the press line, so why are we not behaving like Celtic supporters and getting behind OUR team? Criticism is of course allowed, but some of the nonsense I see and hear, especially on phone in's, is appalling.

Being laid up I turned on to SSB to see the reaction to the Ashley 'loan' deal to sevco.If ever you wanted to hear just what we are up against tune in. According to Guidi, Ashley will be thinking of pumping up to £10m to get sevco into the CL. His reasoning? 'to get the sports direct brand all over the tv on advertising hoardings' He seems to forget that clubs are only allowed to advertise recognised CL sponsor.This is a reporter at a long established Sunday tabloid.This is a reporter who is on record as saying that no matter what UEFA say sevco will always be rangers to him.

Bad as that is, his sidekick Keevins, for a wee change, uses this as an excuse to mention Celtic. Last week Keevins accused RD of lying regarding the Commons injury, saying that 'he did not buy RD's statement'.Today he claims that Celtic will be worried by the Ashley 'takeover'. Firstly it is not a 'takeover', It is a loan to tide this shambling mess over till their AGM.Big difference. Not one question regarding the conditions attached, or the repayment sequence.Why bother when you can bring Celtic into this?

The question is why do they indulge in this nonsense? Guidi, without one scrap of evidence, has Ashley pumping millions into sevco.This from a guy in the richest league in Europe who will not spend on Newcastle, a one club one city team.This from a guy who pockets EVERY PENNY from the Newcastle merchandising operation.

On Keevins.I am totally against the banning of journalists, but these clowns are not journalists.They are reporters who cover games and report on them.Big difference.Journalists use contacts to uncover stories for public consumption, they do not reprint what PR people tell them to.They do not have agendas, and with Keevins that is what it is, against clubs. This guy is a disgrace and should be banned again for saying, live on radio, that he 'did not buy' RD'S explanation on the Commons injury.In other words RD was lying. He was banned for fabricating a story about the family of the late Sean Fallon to discredit Celtic.The RD lying statement is, for me, worse.

Why would anyone give these people ammunition to slate our club? There are plenty of excellent sites, none better than this, to have discussions on Celtic.If you want to give them any credence that is entirely up to you, but think about it.Is it right?
,

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The that surprises me is that I think that a few Celtic fans still buy the Daily Record .

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Bravo Green Jhedi, have you read Chris Sutton's article in the paper? It seems to me that there are certain people who have wormed their way into the media that don't want to see Deila succeed, maybe they're angry about Lennon leaving or that the board didn't beg a certain Swedish ex team mate to take over. One thing about people like Sutton and Hartson is if they knew what they were talking about they would be working as a manager or even a coach. Sutton is no better than Andy Townsend as a pundit and remember his time managing Lincoln, 14 wins in 50 games wtf does he know about management? Hartson writing for the S*n shows you what type of man he is. So much for being a Liverpool fan and writing in that rubbish roll of a paper. Celtic made them rich and famous and they can't wait to put the boot in, theyre no better than ***** like Andy Walker. I wonder when the last time Sutton or Hartson came up for a game when they weren't being paid to do it, mind Hartson was outraged at seeing the Dundee riots from his house in Wales?

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@ AH; I find it very disappointing the number of ex Celts now earning a living who indulge in this slating of everything Celtic.

When you look at the omnishambles at ibrokes have you ever heard or read any of their ex players slating sneaky or anything regarding the club? Fat dalek johnshun on clyde is by far the worst, every event has a positive for him, but they are all the same.

I recently listened to dalziel and keevins having pop after pop at RD till Willie McStay was allowed to defend him.This was the first time an ex Celt, to my knowledge, had done this. Walker, Sutton, Hartson and even McAvennie, in my opinion the luckiest player to ever wear the hoops, constantly toe the party line.

Thank god these outlets are dying on their ass.

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25 Oct 2014 14:45:32
In a daft way i'm actually enjoyin the fact we aren't top of the league lol it's made the league a bit more exciting for a change that we are having to do a bit of chasing instead of knowing the league will be basically won for xmas. Ideally aye we should be top but how many can say they have enjoyed the past couple of seasons with no competition for the league and knowing it's done and dusted early doors

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This project should have been started a couple of years ago mate.You have to wonder if Lenny may have actually held us back.This is not a dig at Lenny by the way.

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I find it funny, we all want competition so the league is more exciting. When we are not top of the league by 10 points then all we can do is slate the manager.

I think it will make each game a tad more meaningful in that we need to go and win to get back to the top. The other teams as they show year after year cannot handle the pressure of being top or indeed the pressure of constantly winning games.

I am all for RD rebuilding things, get all the hard work done early in time for a successful season next year. Still think we will get the league won and would be more than happy with a cup but given our poor recent record in these competitions am not overly fussed. Would really enjoy a Euro run given some of the teams that will drop out of the Champions League.

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Kev by a more exciting/competitive league most mean for other teams to raise their game, not Celtic to come down to their level.

Who was the last Scottish top tier team (outwith Celtic) to qualify for Europe - CL & EL? You happy to bring ourselves down the that level?

Although, i'm hoping for the last 32 and Guidetti back. I live in hope of a good January tranfers window.

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And wouldn't you know it Hamilton 2 down to Dundee.

This is why there is never any real competition in our league.

Hamilton win against Celtic & Aberdeen then cannot beat Dundee

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25 Oct 2014 20:04:51
Kev i'm always on here defending ronny i'm just saying for a change in a weird way it's actually made the league a bit more exciting that we have to chase our way to top again instead if blitzing it every season. I know we will win the league but i'm enjoying the chase while it lasts. It made a nice change the day hoping a team dropped points so we could catch up that's all a was saying lol. Not saying i'm enjoying that we have haven't played well

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Mrs E, I agree with that how ever all we have done since the demise of Rangers is downsize, so much so that other clubs are getting closer. All we can hope for is for others to invest in our game. Would love some of these middle east moneymen to buy into our clubs that's the only way things get better.

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As Rangers were liquidated the areas of the Celtic fan bases were hit by the effects of the worse austerity methods in decades . It's not easy for Celtic fans to attend matches . Downsizing maybe inevitable .
Is it true Barcelona attendances are way down too. We need to earn more money away from ticket sales .

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@ Gunniebhoy

Wasn't having a pop mate, I agree with you. It was a dig at all the RD haters ( couldn't resist )

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27 Oct 2014 02:08:08
Haha fair enough kev must have read it wrong mate my mistake

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25 Oct 2014 09:21:14
Ed great site and love some of your comments, but I totally disagree with your opinion on GORDON! He is celtics best player the now by a mile, without him our results wld be a whole lot worse, not many keepers in Britain I would swap home with

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{Ed007's Note - Good for you, I'm really happy for you.}

Come on ed. Credit where its due. The guys been brilliant for us.

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No need for sarcasm! Only voicing my opinion!

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{Ed007's Note - Petr Cech, Thibaut Courtois, David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard, Asmir Begovic, Tim Howard, Simon Mignolet, David Marshall, Hugo Lloris, Julian Speroni, Tim Krul, Fraser Forster, Artur Boruc, Michel Vorm, Tomas Mejias, Joe Hart, Alex McCarthy, Alex Smithies, Wojcieh Szczesny, Kasper Schmeichel, Alex Cairns, Jack Butland are just some of the GKs playing in Britain who are better than Gordon who is no better than Jamie Langfield or Michael McGovern, Radosław Cierzniak from Dundee Utd is probably better than Gordon.}

So what you are saying Ed is CG is not on your Christmas Card list lol?

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25 Oct 2014 17:42:59
Ur in denial

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{Ed007's Note - Another earth-shattering and insightful post! (clap)

26 Oct 2014 07:19:18
When u gony realise that u cld miby be in the wrong sometimes? A wld go t far to say Gordon will be scottish player of the year this year if he keeps performing like this! The guy can do no right though according to you

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{Ed007's Note - No, I'm never wrong. I thought I was once but I was mistaken. How does it feel to be wrong, I take it you're well expereienced in it, most gilfnards are.}

25 Oct 2014 09:41:10
Let's see how good Neil Lennon is as a
manager.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he
Could do no better than the bottom six
in the championship.

I always liked the wee man but never thought
he was as good as some of the green tinted
Glasses brigade!

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25 Oct 2014 12:29:10
not a great manager in my eyes but with them right down there at the bottom lennon can't fail

if bolton go down the excuse is it was always coming and nobody could of saved them and if they puta bit of a run together which to be fair is long overdue then lenny is the hero and near certain to get a prem team

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Your sitting on the fence a bit predicting a bottom six finish considering they're second bottom already and facing a possible transfer embargo. I don't have green tinted specs at all and for one, wish him well. He had it stacked against him here you know. Selling top players, not reinvesting proper monies, not even being allowed to pick his own targets! Not the best coach, but not given the best chance either.

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Jim how is bottom 6 sitting on the fence. Are you really suggesting he has been brought in to be in one of those positions?

My point is that in my opinion the wee man Is not that good a manager. He done an
average job at celtic at best.

His player recruitment towards the end was laughable.

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, The only way is up for Bolton. Lennon is in a no lose situation with this job.

I suppose a win and a loss should be expected given the inconsistency of Bolton. I have Bolton on my coupon today so they better get the 3 points today.

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@ Kev T; that's why he took it.That and the fact nothing else was offered while jobs were going.

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Bottom six is sitting on the fence! It's the equivalent of me saying Man City will finish in the top six.

That's my point, are our managers totally in control of player recruitment or is it JP and PL!?

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Six points out of nine must be seen as a promising start for any manager taking over a team at the bottom of the table .
He was a decisive figure at Celtic loved by many and disliked by some . However he has served us in many capacities for very many years and maybe deserves some praise.

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25 Oct 2014 09:15:24
Rd can not motivate the players! You never see him out the dug out shouting or showing any passion or anger when team not playing well, as for john Collins he just seems to sit their looking glum and no interested, anyone think rd and Collins might not be getting on?? Personally a think the time is right to let them both go b4 we end up way 25000 at every home game! Bigc79

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Does this mean Carlo Ancelloti cannot motivate his players. He just stands on the touchline, arms folded chewing his gum.

Daft comment to make.


Just because Lennon ran around like a headless chicken shouting at refs and linesman, opposition managers, opposition players and even his own fans doesn't mean RD should do the same.

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25 Oct 2014 14:56:39
But to the fans he looks boring and no interested, nothing up way showing a bit of passion at times

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25 Oct 2014 14:56:39
But to the fans he looks boring and no interested, nothing up way showing a bit of passion at times

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Sometimes he was unshaven as well! C'mon mate, histrionics are not really needed.Different coaches have different styles.

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BIGC79 - Its all about opinions. Mine is that he is simply studying the game and looking for positives as well as the negative's.

I really like RD, comes across as very articulate. I hope everything comes together for him. I am not daft in that I can clearly see the poor football on offer at the moment but every now and again we see signs of what can potentially happen. Its just a pity Guidetti cannot play in Euro in order to keep a consistent team on the pitch.

I always liked the MON was with the constant jumping up and down ( in a positive manner ) and his passion with the TV interviews especially after the Juventus game when Amoruso dived to win the pen.

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Kev T . Sometimes circumstances create different reactions . Lennon replaced a motionless big Tony who hid his emotions and took everything on the chin. In return his term as manager probably was probably one of the worse spells of referees and officials dishing out harsh treatment to us .

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24 Oct 2014 22:44:11
Off Celtic subject a bit

I was looking at the Liverpool page and seen Ed001 saying Real Madrid's stunning 1st goal could have been avoided - where do you draw the line with this?

Surely every goal can be classed as some kind of defensive error or am I over-thinking this for a Friday evening?

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{Ed001's Note - I would say it depends on whether or not it is your team conceding the goal. Surely you always want your team to do the best it can? By the way, I never said it could definitely have been avoided, I said it could have been made more difficult to score by having a midfielder track the run, as he should have done, instead of following the ball, like he actually did. I hate watching players do that, it is amateur, and Gerrard looked amateur at that moment chasing the ball around while his man ran in behind. Ronaldo might still have scored, but a man in his way would have made it an extremely difficult shot, instead of a 1 on 1 with a keeper only. We have all seen how a player just leaning on a forward can make them screw it up sometimes.}

Gerrard - amateur, wash your mouth out lol

Gerrard was just outside the box and to be fair Skrtel and Lovren were both there but looked useless, maybe Ronaldo made them look amateur?

I'm just hoping Rodgers learns from this experience before Liverpool go to the Bernabeu - Real Madrid have better players in the majority of positions than Liverpool and he has to be practical here. How did you feel after watching it Ed? Real Madrid would have done that and worse to every EPL team except probably Mourinho's mob.


Celtic fans were complaining about the style of play we had v Barcelona then whined when we got beat 6-1 - what did they expect? Did they seriously think our midfield was better than Xavi esque, our forwards better than Neymar, our possessions and passing ability better than theirs? **** sake

Have to agree with the transfer fiasco, you were never replacing Suarez and his threat, goals and work rate but Rodgers could have been more savvy.

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{Ed001's Note - it doesn't matter where you are, the midfielder should track his runner until told otherwise by the defender. Gerrard didn't receive a shout, he just chased the ball like a schoolkid. He has no idea about defending. Rafa deliberately removed him from any responsibility defensively because of it.}

I don't think Gerrard trusts his back 4 and you can tell, he looks nervy at times and not sure where to be.

Do Liverpool have better options on the bench than Gerrard? He does need rested.

Anyway, I better stop talking Liverpool on the Celtic page.

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{Ed001's Note - he doesn't know the role, it is the defence not trusting him that is more of an issue. Lucas should always be the one protecting the back four, never Gerrard. Though Liverpool should have bought Medel in the summer, or the summer before even better, and then there wouldn't be these issues.}

I do like Lucas, when he's fit!

Would it be fair to say then, Rodgers tactics and management of Gerrard is not right?

Last question - how would you go about the Real Madrid game?

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{Ed001's Note - yes he is not managing him correctly in my opinion.
As for Madrid, well sometimes you have to change tactics. First thing I would do is drop the splitting of centre backs rubbish and return to the high press that brought success last season. Stop the possession obsession Rodgers has, as the players simply aren't there to play that way, and return to the fast cutting attack that worked so well at the end of last season. Madrid are poor defensively, but you can't hope to sit back and defend against them as they are so good offensively. You have to put them under pressure and just hope that your players are good enough to win on the day. Anything else is just conceding the initiative. The annoying thing is that Liverpool could very easily utilise the system Madrid use, with Lambert in the Benzema role to create more than score, which he is entirely suited to. Instead Balotelli is allowed to stroll around offering nothing more than a wasted pass, as you know he is just going to hit and hope from whichever part of the pitch he receives the ball.}

Bale and Ronaldo are breathtaking at the counter attack, you could set up 'similar' I suppose.

Defending seems a lost art now with a few of the bigger teams, Barca have been the worst.

Balotelli - what can be said!

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{Ed001's Note - but this season Barca have fixed their defence and look at how they are going!}

We're not playng them this season and I've not seen much of Barca but will tonight :-)

I know I get slated for not being a huge fan of everything modern football but I do like an organised defence. Think teams gain a lot of confidence from this, just my opinion.

Modern football has a lot to blame for this, a whisper or less of contact in the box and the game can be over before its started. Player off and penalty, very frustrating.

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{Ed001's Note - it drives me mad too, but then it doesn't help when players are not only getting away with cheating, but old time players are apologising for calling them a cheat!}

Mrs E - I have always that Gerrard was like most English players, severely overrated.

What seems to be forgotten is that its the foreign players that make the English players look far better than what they are.

Liverpool for example, Alonso left and Gerrard suffered. Now Suarez is gone and Liverpool have taken 3 or 4 steps back. I like Brendan Rogers but he has wasted that money on the players signed Lallana and Alberto Moreno are the only players good enough in my opinion.

Lallana is a good player but not £25 million an extra £10 million would have got Arturo Vidal ( if he was interested that is )

As for the goal, I do not think any Liverpool player could have helped stop it. In the end the Liverpool fans must be grateful that Real slipped right back into 1st gear for the whole 2nd half.

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Oh you would have to go onto the Liverpool page and ask if they feel 'grateful' Kev.

With Gerrard, no I don't think at this peak he was over-rated. If Gerrard had went to Real Madrid and Xabi stayed at Liverpool, don't think there would have been much difference and if anything, worse for Liverpool overall. Think most would liked to have seen more of the Xabi/Gerrard partnership, one was usually injured and remember a tackle by Lampard broke Xabi's ankle.

Their transfers have been a mystery to be honest!

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Ended up asking a few folk last night about who they prefer as a player (at their peak) Xabi or Stevie G - turns out not much in it.

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