The Official Glasgow Celtic Thread

[RichardColeman]

If we don't get rid of useless Lennon now, not only will this season be lost but potentially next. I have ZERO faith in him after every performance this year. We need someone in NOW, that can attract players, assess the players and see who he wants to keep and what he needs to buy and sell. Delay any longer and if Lennon fails any new manager will be starting as we go into Europe next season with the same dismal results. Tactics of replacing 1 striker for 1 striker when 3-1 down with 10 minutes to go is pathetic. He's in his own Willy Wonker world. If there was 60,000 at celtic park now, it would be ugly

[hackjam]

So true

[CelticBhoy]

No surprise to read this in today's Record. Now who is going to replace 'im? Place your bets!

 

"Lennon’s position is under the severest threat after a dreadful exit from the Betfred Cup at the hands of Ross County adding to a feeling of deep angst around the club’s support.

Fed-up Celtic fans began gathering immediately outside the front entrance of the stadium after the 2-0 loss chanting and calling for him to be axed by club chiefs. 

Heavy police presence was in attendance as angry punters vented their feelings with vans at the scene and helicopters circling above with the situation heated.

This came just days after a banner was held up outside the stadium calling for Lennon to resign."

[salty]

CB,  Latest gossip has Gordon Strachan the front runner to take over. Good or bad who knows.

 

Another dreadful performance yesterday combining all that is wrong with the side. Over 70% possession but doing nothing with it. The usual slow laborious passing which is manna from heaven for packed defences. At all costs avoid anything creative to create any chances apart from one flash of inspiration from Rogic which set up Ajeti to hit the inside of the post. That apart it was dreadful to watch.  What has happened to Celtic in full flow overpowering opponents and creating a succession of good chances which inevitably led to a few goals per game.

 

Appalling in defence again. Easily preventable penalty concession and don't mention set pieces. Any free kicks or corners coming in are a huge source of concern. Credit to Ross County they had a plan and although Celtic gave them plenty of help they were very worthy winners.

 

 

 

Even though we can complete a treble for last season and you would have serious misgiving our   strangle hold on domestic trophies has come to an end. On current form we are very unlikely to hold on to any of them this season. We can only hope a change in management can achieve a  revival in our fortunes and someone who will not be afraid to drop sacred cows with some energetic youngsters.  Some good coaching would also help.

[CelticBhoy]

"Celtic supremo Dermot Desmond has chosen not to axe Neil Lennon because he was so disgusted by the baying mob calling for the manager’s head after Sunday’s defeat to Ross County."

 

The opposite result of the mob's desire. Seems Lemon will travel to Milan this week.

Quite possibly he's travelling there on a one-way ticket.

[Bangel72]

Anyone new coming in will take time to address the teams problems and during that time they could lose a cup final and the Rangers game.

 

That's what I think is being weighed up currently, fan expectation that that someone will arrive and work miracles from day one and maybe even save the 10 in a row. If someone came in now and did lose those two games whilst they settle the team the fans would probably want them out in a months time.

 

Likely an interim manager or maybe Strachan until after the rangers game in my view, lose that game and then new manager uses till end of season to rebuild team, win that and new manager comes in with small fighting chance at least. Though if it was Strachan and he won those two games might as well keep him until end of season.

[salty]

Another defensive train wreck last night saw us lose a 2 goal lead  and yet again concede 4 goals. With hindsight dreadful decision to get rid of Gordon by offering him peanuts in anticipation of FF returning for the season. Barkas has proved very unreliable. Very poor at Milan free kick. Compare the home keeper's  save from a much better free kick from Christie that the Milan one conceded by a mindless foul by Christie.

 

Even at 2 up you expected trouble and it soon  materialised.  I wonder are the powers that be  are hanging on to NL until after the Cup Final. They surely must be moves afoot. A win at home in the League on Sunday is a must.  

 

 

[hackjam]

That goal we conceded from the free kick just summed us up.

An experienced pro concedes a dumb Fxxx  free in a dangerous position, with a needless tackle attempt.

Then keeper gets it all wrong with his positioning and Milan player just passes it into the net.

 Second goal, we had plenty bodies in the box but nobody deals with it. That was a commanding center halfs ball all day long.  And is Bitton now ahead of big CJ in the pecking order? Surely, him and Ajer need to be playing together as much as possible.

Looks to me as if neither of our keepers are good enough. Got to be addressed at transfer window in 3 weeks time.

We so need a spark, just dont know where it is going to come from. Micky Johnston??

Was good to see Soro getting some game time, surely him and Turnbull now need to be given a chance.

[CelticBhoy]

More points dropped after yet another awful performance.

Lemon's post-match interview on Celtic TV was as expected ....." bitterly disappointed" he said for the umpteenth time in recent weeks.

Hard to believe what we have become this season. This game should have been a huge celebration for Broonie's 600th and CalMac"s 300th appearance, but instead it was a non-event.

[salty]

CB,  Every time I check the starting 11 I quake when I see Brown included.  At this stage he is a waste of a jersey.  I know great servant over the years and all that but IMO he is far too slow and one of the main causes of the pedestrian build up. Yet NL keeps picking him.  

 

The usual flat performance on Sunday. Not on TV but checking on updates it had all the usual characteristics.  Far too slow build up to  give every encouragement to the opposition to park the bus. Looking at " highlights " they had a few decent chances but not availed of. After conceding the inevitable goal the equalizer seemed to be a bit of a fluke.

 

It seems the board are going to stick with NL for the present. No obvious replacement perhaps. At this stage it will look like closing the stable door when the horse has bolted.

 

Mikey Johnston on the verge of returning.  It offers some hope that it might restore some badly needed cutting edge. 

 

I think most of us would be in agreement with this piece.

 

Celtic v Lille: Play Turnbull, Soro, Taylor, Klimala and Johnston (thecelticstar.com)

[hackjam]

I watched all game on Sunday,  we were mincing about like we were 3-0 up for most of the game. Totally shambolic, Lenny is obsessed with Brown and CMcG. Bitton the latest bomb scare. Going backwards rapidly, need some new faces right now in starting 11.

Something came up on my facebook today, showing over 28M spunked on about 10 players and none have nailed down a starting spot, from memory, Barkas, Adjeti, Soro, Polish Pat, Turnbull, Bayo, Shevd, Duffy, Boli, Taylor. That's criminal.  

And what's all this unfit nonsense NL is banging on about, apparently Turnbull is not fit, best player when playing for MW earlier in season and now unfit. Need to have a chat with so called coaching staff.

We just seem to be digging a deeper hole everyday.

Jesus wept. How did we end up in this cluster F???

[salty]

Finally the penny dropped with NL. Soro and Turnbull started tonight and both were sensational. Despite lack of game time Soro was everywhere getting stuck in and making good passes to colleagues. Turnbull was equally impressive and got a great winner.  We have been unimpressed with Brown for nearly all the season and you wonder if he had been benched much earlier how much better our position would be.

 

Lille are a good side and they had us under pressure for long periods . Turnbull  delivered an excellent corner  for Jullien to glance a header in for the lead. But Calmac handed them the equalizer on a plate with a mindless back pass . We were ahead again in a couple of minutes when Frimpong was fouled in the area about to shoot . Calmac buried the kick to atone for his earlier mistake. That apart I thought he was easily the least effective of our midfielders as he kept giving the ball away. He was lucky not to concede an OG in the 2nd half Hazard a surprise choice in goal was solid and made an important block late on. We held the lead to HT.   

 

Celtic survived a lot of pressure  for long periods with Soro in particular monumental.  He looked knackered towards the end mainly due to the disgraceful lack of game time he has got. No wonder he was hanging on  with cramp. We finally cracked in the 71st minute when Timo Weah came back to haunt us, A corner was half cleared to him and he fired a terrific volley low into the corner. But four minutes later Celtic went ahead for the 3rd time. Good work by Ajer on the right saw him turn the ball across and Turnbull arriving fired a great effort just inside the post. His first Celtic goal and a beauty. Thankfully we hung on despite severe pressure for the win.

 

Hopefully NL will see the light and start Turnbull and Soro on Sunday, We will be facing a packed defence again no doubt and hopefully these guys will provide a much more forceful Celtic than recently.

[Bangel72]

Good to see the younger guys get a game, hopefully they get more game time going forward. Leaky defense as usual, seems as much a lack of tactical awareness alongside some clumsy off the pace things. 

[hackjam]

Possible our best performance of a dreadful season. Several outstanding performances, notable Soro, Turnbull and Lax, all 3 outstanding from start to finish. So many positives. Pat led the line well, decent hold up play and some neat lay offs, great workrate also.

One of the big differences from this team last night was their bravery on the ball. So often this season, nobody had the courage to attempt that brave pass, just taking the safe option and passing it back, giving opposition time to set up. But last night, there was a bravery on the ball. When Ajer got the ball in the lead up to our winning goal, he had nowhere to go, near the half way line but he took on his man, made it to byline and cut back for Turnbull to superbly slot home. In the first half, Turnbull got ball on halfway line, nothing on for him so he just gallops forward and gets a shot off, went wide but bravery. And I have been banging on about set pieces for years, Turnbull delivers with pace and CJ just has to redirect it to the net. 

 

Again, we shoot ourselves in the foot at the back. First CMcG with an awful pass, before that CJ with a dumb F challenge in a dangerous area concedes a free which  thankfully went over and for their second, dreadful from Duffy-guy was going nowhere, just sheppard him out to corner flag, but Duffy dives in, yellow card, free kick not cleared and bang, lever pegging. 

Hazard done well, although not much to do, mainly due to the tackling of Soro in midfield-he put in more tackles in one game than Nicham all season.

Going forward, no way can Turnbull and Soro be dropped now, both outstanding and exactly what we have been missing all season.

[RichardColeman]

Lennon still needs to go - if it takes him 13 games to see what is already under his nose then he's just as useless as I always thought he was. 

[hackjam]

22 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Lennon still needs to go - if it takes him 13 games to see what is already under his nose then he's just as useless as I always thought he was. 

Both Turnbull and Soro should have been integrated into the team at the start of the season. A blind man could see Brown and CMcG were not working. Big difference between loyalty and stubbornness. Lenny should have acted a lot earlier. Soro has been here nearly a year and that was the first 90min of competitive action I can recall. 

[salty]

At last 3 points which are desperately needed to keep out hopes alive in the title race. It is hard to escape the conclusion that NL stupidity/stubbornness has cost us big time in the title race. His slavish devotion to Brown has cost us valuable points on several occasions. Now he is hinting he will rely on players next week who got us to the Cup Final. I wonder who is he referring to. If we win Brown as Club Captain can go up to receive the trophy and get another medal. No one would begrudge him that.

 

Only saw highlights of yesterdays game so feel free to disagree with me. What leapt out again was the display of Turnbull. Apart from his forceful play his set piece deliveries are a huge improvement on what we have had to endure for ages. He made the goal for Duffy and created several other opportunities. 

 

A big improvement in form thanks to changes in personnel . But still plenty of areas for improvement. We need to be at our best  for the next Glasgow derby in New Year to try and make us some ground.

 

 

 

[hackjam]

Yes, both Turnbull and Soro played well, as did CalM. A bit like his old self, quick, forward passing and getting himself into good supporting forward positions. For me, he has been garbage this season but now with Soro in there, looks liberated, not having to worry about covering Browns space.

Taylor actually played well but final ball a let down, unable to beat first man. For once, we looked solid at the back. Keeper done well too, as did Ajer at right back.

Again, Eddy was ineffective up top, so needs the support of a strike partner-and we do have a few options. Great to see MJ finally get back on the pitch.

Could not believe it when Lenny came out with that nonsense about the players who got us to cup final deserve to be considered. That was last season, and those players are the ones that got us into this mess in the first place, despite having loads of chances.

I will be totally deflated if either Soro or Turnbull are dropped for cup final. 

 

[CelticBhoy]

???? 'Tis a fine day to be a Celtic fan ????

 

A Quadruple Treble .... ???????????? .... Fantastic!

[hackjam]

Could not believe it when saw team, why does Lenny change a winning team? No Soro or Lax, who has been one of our best players this season.

And with Brown back in, CMcG <deleted> again.

 

Christie with a great finish, trademark strike and then a soft pen cool as you like converted by Eddy saw us comfortable at HT. 

Then Ajer-who did have a good game gets skinned on the touchline and they are back in it. Eddy did have a few good chance buy shot straight at Gordon each time. Dreadful mix up with CJ and Duffy almost handed Hearts equalizer but it did arrive being confirmed by goal line technology. 

And into extra time Griff slams home after Gordon saved well from Brown. Then keeper week at a free kick and they are level.

Penalty lottery, Christie did miss one before Haz comes up trumps to win us the cup.

Overall, a good first half but unconvincing after that.

[salty]

Fortunate at the end after we did everything to throw it away.  If I was a Hearts supporter I would be raging at the pathetic quality of their  4th penalty and the 5th was not much better. It was enough for us to stumble over the line.  

 

Eddy could have made things much more comfortable with 3 good chances. The way Griff pounced for lead goal made you wonder what he would have made of them. 

 

Once again our defending was appalling. The Julien/Duffy collision was a stark example. Hazard saved the jerseys on that occasion but overall  he was very dodgy.  He was very poor for 2nd and 3rd goals though not helped by his teammates. Duffy ball watching for 1st Hearts goal.  Several players just a waste of space for 2nd and 3rd goals. Every time we conceded a free kick or corner  stress levels soared. Once we fail to deal with initial ball in it was panic stations.  I was furious in 2nd period in ET when our play consisted of hoofing mindless balls upfield to an isolated Griff.  Then when they made it 3-3 it suddenly occurred to us that the game was football.

 

Beaton was very poor. He failed to book a Hearts player early on for a cynical trip on Ajer and then "failed to see" a stamp on Brown by Naismith.

   

In the end a quadruple treble and our 12th in a row however fortunate.  But looking ahead  Soro and Laxait have to come in because we are skating on very thin ice it title race.

 

[hackjam]

Next up Ross County on Wednesday night, they just canned their manager.

Soro Lax and Griff have to start, hopefully go 4-4-with 2 up top.

As for Hazard, I actually watched their first goal and he delays his dive for a fraction of a second. And I think about 5 times he hoofed the ball over the sideline. Defiantly not the answer, would actually bring back Barkas till transfer window and then make a call.

[salty]

Just saw Highlights. Griff started and scored with nice header from Christie cross soon after taking all day to pull the trigger with the inevitable block. Eddy seems to be gone completely off the boil.

 

Turnbull mom.  There seemed to be a more lively approach than we are used to. Dreadful it has taken NL so long to figure this out.  

[hackjam]

Eddy just seems to have chucked it. Only chance of getting him firing again is play him with Griff, he has been on a hiding to nothing playing lone striker. 

Soro and Turnbull should start all games, along with CMcG.

Our best option in defense after all the tinkering seems to be a back 4 of Jerry, CJ Ajer and Lax.

As for the keeper, I give up.

[hackjam]

3 pts, clean sheet and an excellent performance on an atrocious afternoon on that horrible pitch, had 0-0 stamped all over it. But fair play to the players, showed they were totally up for this one. Was more like the form we showed at start of the year.

Was so encouraging to see Lenny go 2 up top-and was rewarded with an excellent performance by Eddy. His link up play was outstanding, again so unlucky not to score a few-he does keep hitting straight at the keeper!!!!! But what a difference to his overall play when he has a strike partner to work with. 

Good first half performance and, despite creating several chances, only thing missing was a goal, Griff smashed a post. Got a soft penalty in second half, which Eddy converted-I did not see a foul??? A trademark Griff goal, followed by another goal from Turnbull and we were coasting.

Taylor works so hard and is good defending, and also familiar with plastic pitch, looks like he is ahead of Lax right now.

Soro again impressive, although he did give the ball away about 4 or 5 times but overall, a way better option than Brown.

While Christie is not on fire, he is probably best option as a right sided midfielder right now, his engine gives that layer of protection to young Jerry and also allows wee man freedom to bomb forward. 

Big CJ injured?

[salty]

Big CJ had a slight niggle on knee. Felt it was safer not to play on that pitch. 

 

Yea much better from Celtic and Eddy given the conditions. Incredible to think his double on opening day are his only league goals from play. He and Griff seem to be hitting it off  and hopefully both will stay injury free and firing.  Excellent  goal by Griff set up by Eddy.  Eddy unlucky with header against the post but Turnbull as ever lurking finished.

 

Soro was good  a bit careless a few times. Hopefully his cook will prevent him from poisoning himself. Coped well at the back though not asked too many questions. 

 

Now that we seem to have finally figured out our best system hopefully we can continue good run of form which is desperately needed.

[hackjam]

Delighted with the team Lenny put out. Outstanding first half display, all players totally up for it, a real hunger to win back the ball, crisp forward passing.

Eddy had a great early chance but he hits it straight at keeper-again. Then Soro with a long range strike puts us one up. Turnbull with a lovely dink over the defense and Griff smashes a volley against keeper and Eddy wide with follow up. Turnbull with a long range strike puts us 2 up, after great fight by Eddy to win a scrappy ball.  We did have a let off with a hand ball claim that could have been given. There was a lovely move where we worked it out from keeper and Ajer went on one of his trademark runs and slipped in CMcG who failed to find Griff at back post.

Second half, big CJ hurt after collision with post after a goal line clearance, stretchered off.  A lovely turn by Soro, deep in his own half,  set Christie away and he slipped  in Turnbull but keeper saved. Then a big chance for DU and Clark shoots over, a let off. Bitton gets away with a clumsy challenge in the box as the game starts to open up. Griff wide with a decent effort.  Eddy unlucky with a break from a Griff free kick. CMcG then wide after set up by Jerry. Then a thing of beauty, Griff with a lovely dink over the defense and Eddy with the clinical finish. Game over.  Ajeti MoEly Tam and Brown all on for game time. A few decent chances before FT but overall, impressive performance, and another clean sheet.

 

Really impressed with the way we won the ball back whenever we lost possession. Frimprong made some great runs to the endline but poor final ball-and has no left foot. Soro much better with ball retention, never put a foot wrong. Happy to see Lax start ahead of Taylor but not much between them right now. Turnbull MOM.

[salty]

Watched highlights, Much improved Celtic with a fast moving and effective display, What a difference Turnbull and Soro have made. The Eddy and  Griff  again  seemed to be working well in tandem. Chances being created and an Eddy goal from play today. If we could avail of more chances that we create  we could be in business.

 

CJ injury must make him a big doubt for Saturday.  I thought Barkas was poor in the lead up. When he advances he stands straight up and gives the attacker the maximum amount of goal to aim at. Remember Ferenvaros winner.

 

At least we should be competitive in this Glasgow derby and not overrun in the middle of the field. We will have anxious moments but try not to offer encouragement to our opponents. No Brown. That has cost us dearly already this season.

[salty]

An unlucky defeat it todays Glasgow Derby means we have no hope of a title win this season barring a miracle or a collapse by The Rangers . Of course the cliche we will fight for every point will be trotted out but its a forlorn hope.  In truth the title was not lost today but by some dreadful signing  and terrible selections by Lenny. Our defending has been criminal for most of the season. 

 

Today was one of our best displays of the season. We harrassed the home team moved the ball quickly and forced some terrific blocks by McGregor including a fantastic save from Griffith in the early stages.  

The game turned midway through the 2nd half with the sending off of Bitton for a criminally stupid rugby tackle on Morelos when he was caught on the wrong side.  Bitton had an excellent game up to then but he is always liable for a stupid foul or two and this time he really sold the jerseys. On the other hand the official was much less decisive when Morelos has a deliberate stamp on Frimpong  in the early moments without censure. Gerrard is right. The Columbian is refereed much differently from any one else. 

 

By half time the worrying aspect was our play had not yielded a goal. We continued to to press in the 2nd half though not quite to the same aspect and were still well in the game until the sending off. But once down to 10 men  panic began to set in both on and off the pitch.   And to add insult to injury it was an Calmac OG that was decisive. Eddy who was on the post came off and the ball was deflected in.  We never really looked like getting anything out of it after that. Duffy had a bad foul which lead to a phalanx of  home players complaining with Morelos predictably in the charge.  Brown and Elmahed came on and Rogic in last few minutes. Turnbull was withdrawn after the sending off. By his recent standards not great. Soro later . He was wholehearted as ever but gave some silly free kicks and was booked for a late tackle. I would have left Griff on instead of Eddy.

 

Ajer had a great game and imo was Celtic`s best player.  Frimong was disapointing . He was in a good position early on but ruined it with a tame cross into McGregor`s hands .He never really threatened after that . He kept coming in to traffic.

 

This was a game we could not afford to lose. The frustrating part is we played so well for long periods and got nothing out of it.

[hackjam]

13 hours ago, salty said:

In truth the title was not lost today but by some dreadful signing  and terrible selections by Lenny. Our defending has been criminal for most of the season. 

Spot on, sums up our season.

Again, Lenny picks the right team, although Nicham ahead of a game changer like Mickey J was surprising. and we totally batter them, but dont take our chances. Griff and Eddy denied by some outstanding goalkeeping. We were so aggressive in the tackle and totally bossed the midfield. Both Lax and Jerry were winning and getting on a lot of ball and charging down to the 18yard line but then ran out of ideas. Thats where the likes of Sinclair or Forrest would have made the difference. Soro was doing so well but a tad un streetwise or maybe overeager. 

 

Of course, game turned just after the hour mark, Bitton-who was doing really well up to that-gets rolled and fouls, should have left him go, Ajer was nearby and still had a lot to do to score. It was the type of foul you make when 1-0 up and have something to hold onto but not at 0-0 in a must win game. CalM has cost us this season a few times with poor defending. Duffy lucky to stay on after dreadful foul, would be happy to see him heading South tomorrow, been a disaster overall.

So off to Dubai, transfer window open, we so need a new center half.