The Official Glasgow Celtic Thread

[hackjam]

Just seen a list of players that potentially leaving, for whatever reason, end of season. Would have been easier to make a list of players that are staying put.

Barkas
Elhamed
Ralston
Pérez
O'Connor
Duffy
Hendry
Ajer
Laxalt
Bolingoli
Gutman
Brown
Christie
Ntcham
Shved
Dembélé
Elyounoussi
Griffiths
Bayo
Klimala
Édouard
Afolabi

[Bangel72]

Looks like they feel Lennon can hold onto second place rather than disrupt the team and risk that with a new manager. I think Celtic missed out on Ivan Toney, 16 goals in 22 games, it would have given some continuity into next season as the current bunch may either move on or not make the grade.

 

Although he was sacked I still think Slaven Bilic is an interesting prospect, might sort out the defense but would like anyone coming in really need to be given funds which he wasn't at west brom.

[hackjam]

Bilic is an interesting option, I would be all for it.

Lenny and scouts/recruitment team, along with so called coaches have made a right pigs ear out of things, so the whole lot needs canning. Just cannot see board trusting Lenny and Co to get it right with another batch of transfers. 

 

See Duffy maybe away to Forrest, hope so.

Big CJ out for rest of season, at least we now have the transfer window open, so should be looking at a couple of center halfs.

Hearing also that Boli has suffered a bad injury, pity as looked like we had a sucker lined up to take the <deleted> off our hands, now likely stuck with him.

[hackjam]

Trip to Dubai has come back to haunt us-and there may be more in the post.

13 players now self isolating so we are down to the bare bones.

Makeshift team lined up against the Hibbs last night, first half no real chances, Harper did fine himself in a promising position but instead of cutting the ball back for a tap in, shoots wide, CMcG was set up nicely by Turnbull but failed to hit the target, Soro with a long range effort well saved.

Second half, we looked leggy, Turnbull with a brilliant free kick see us leading into injury time. Then, Lax concedes a stupid free kick in a dangerous position and you just knew what was coming-Keeper flaps, Duffy on the line fails to put his laces through the ball and we drop 2 points.

Duffy and Walsh decent up to that moment, as was Hazard. Turnbull and Soro also decent but the rest, seemed to have no desire.

So disappointed with all the youngsters, would have expected one or 2 to shine but no go.

 

This shambles is getting worse day by day, on and off the park.

Desmond needs to wield the axe bigtime. Top to bottom, a total clear out and get the right people in to start what will be a major rebuild.

[salty]

A fitting end to the fallout from the trip to Dubai as we threw away another 2 points last night not that it matters now.  3 points would have lifted the spirits a bit after the debacle of the trip. I know it was given the ok by the authorities but you have to ask in the current climate why  it did not occur to someone to cancel it. As for the shot of NL and our captain and leader  "enjoying" the break by the swimming pool  great PR. 

 

On the pitch we continued to find a way to snatch a draw from victory. Concede a stupid free kick   and add the ritual non defending. This after a superb free kick form Turnbull to go ahead with 10 minutes to go. He has been the one ray of light in a dreadful season.  It never rains but it pours.

[Bangel72]

With Murphy's law in full swing, I wonder what's next up. The management team now seems to be toxic so without change I doubt anyone will be coming in.

[hackjam]

1 hour ago, Bangel72 said:

With Murphy's law in full swing, I wonder what's next up. The management team now seems to be toxic so without change I doubt anyone will be coming in.

Would be hard to see Pedro releasing funds but we are in dire need of center half's, with big CJ out long-term. Would be peanuts to bring in Gallagher, then there is always Jack Hendry, doing well in Belgium top flight, I know he was rank when given a chance a few years ago but he is still our player, maybe he is working with real coaches over there. 

[hackjam]

One of the worse ever Celtic performances I have seen in a long time, dropping more points against lIVI.

We were rank. Oflex had a chance near the end and was only real clear cut chance we had all game-and an 8 year old lassie would have scored it. Bitton came in at the back for the unlucky Walsh and played decent, Duffy continues to be a bombscare. Ralston will never be a footballer, Soro was average-and still our best player. Turnbull was quiet, CalMac  tried harder and was better than Hibs game. That Lax  just has not a clue.

Again, none of the younger players showed up. 

Rogic was a total joke, playing him as striker, <deleted>?

Hearing we will have full squad available for return leg midweek.

[salty]

From following updates it was obvious another dreadful performance. Forced myself to watch the lowlights later. 

 

It has now emerged another of the self isolating 13 has tested positive . Lenny completely lost the rag at his press conference today.

 

Eventually a book will be written about what Celtic did right in season 20/21 and it will probably be the shortage book ever.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch  Livi away on Wednesday.  

[Jockstar]

15 hours ago, salty said:

From following updates it was obvious another dreadful performance. Forced myself to watch the lowlights later. 

 

It has now emerged another of the self isolating 13 has tested positive . Lenny completely lost the rag at his press conference today.

 

Eventually a book will be written about what Celtic did right in season 20/21 and it will probably be the shortage book ever.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch  Livi away on Wednesday.  

 

 

Thoughts on Lenny? As a Rangers supporter i would love him to stay. ????  But seriously how long does he really have left? The season? His interview today. Is he correct? 

 

[Bangel72]

Really hoping there is an announcement today on Lennon and Kennedy leaving. The good he did is being tainted more and more with each day.

[hackjam]

2 hours ago, Bangel72 said:

Really hoping there is an announcement today on Lennon and Kennedy leaving. The good he did is being tainted more and more with each day.

Yes please, surely there is nobody that thinks Lenny and Co should stay.

Another dreadful pathetic performance yesterday, Duffy with needless dumbfxxk foul again, and none of our players contest the ball-like so many of our goals conceded this season. He then almost chipped Barkas, guy is a total bomb scare.  We did get back in it, Ely with a neat finish before Bitton made amends for his screw up at their goal with a goal from offside position. We were actually doing reasonably well in first half.

Then things go pear shaped in second half. Christie-who was dreadful all night, pulls out of a challenge and they equalize. Brown comes off the bench for 5 min, and whacks some kid in the face. Totally unacceptable, stupid and so needless. Klimala lucky not to concede a penalty and should have given us the lead but took a touch instead of smashing it.

Still waiting for Barkas to make a save. Taylor is a decent defender and a tryer, but like Lax, offers so little going forward.

Ajer again our best player. But surely he needs to play center half, alongside young Welsh. Duffy and Bitton are costing us bigtime.

Anyone hear who the player with Covid is?

[salty]

Another " heroic" draw for Celtic. Behind to usual set piece. Stupid foul by Duffy ( saves having to think )no marking poor goalie 1 down.  Then level from a corner good work from Ely. Ahead with offside goal ,  Powder puff  tackle from Christie and they equalize with goalie very poor again.  

 

On comes our leader and captain in closing stages to display his stupidity again  (penalty at Easter Road anyone). Makes you wish he and Lenny had fallen into the pool in Dubal and had difficulty getting out.  

 

Surely we need to be thinking of next season. Huge changes  in personnel on and off the pitch desperately needed.  How attractive with interfering chief exec.? By comparison to new coach/manager Joe Biden has an easy job.

[ChipButty]

I heard Frank Lampard is being lined up for the Celtic job

[hackjam]

At the stage now where anyone would be an improvement on Lenny.

Would have been ideal time to bring in new manager last week, with no game at weekend.

 

A win against a rank Hamilton side last night, Griff with a goal and an assist. Eddy with a clinical finish, their keeper made a few good saves first half. Christie rightly dropped, encouraging to see two up front. But once again, the 2 lads playing center half, surely Walsh would be a better option than Duffy? Apart from Eddy goal second half we had a few wild shots-Ajer, Soro and Ely with shots that cleared stadium. Fullbacks decent, Soro and front 2 also adequate. 

Keeper situation continues to be a total circus, now time for Bain. 

See young Jerry has jumped ship, cant blame him. Much as I was excited about him, he has totally regressed this season, no end product. Still, best wishes, going to a decent outfit, he should do well with proper coaching. 

[salty]

Highlights only. Looked like they should have scored a few more. Agree about Jerry. Very little end product considering some of the excellent positions he got into. Best wishes to the young man.

 

Glad to see Bain back in goal. IMO the least error prone of our keepers.  I would love to know Stevie Woods thoughts. 

 

Worn out from reading the various kite flying pieces re the managerial situation. Hopefully a new CE as well as a manager.  

 

[hackjam]

New CE announced to take over from the retiring Pedro. Dom McKay, dont know anything about him.

Looking like we have signed a center half from Preston on a pre contract, apparently decent enough.

Next up is St Mirren on Sat afternoon. Would like to see a brave team selection but suspect Lenny is only interested in preserving what's left of his managerial reputation. No point in playing the likes of ElHam, Lax Bitton Duffy. Give us a look at the likes of Robertson, Connell.

[salty]

Luckily had only to endure highlights. Things going from bad to worse. It seems to me that NL has given up the ghost and this is manifesting itself in the side. There surely must be moves afoot to identify a decent replacement. In this regard thank heavens Lawwell  will leave at the end of the . Anyone looking for BR to mark their card would not be hugely impressed.

 

More defensive cock ups yesterday with Duffy as usual the main culprit. Bain not great on both goals.

 

Killie on Wednesday on TV. I can hardly contain my indifference.

[hackjam]

Another shambolic performance, SM had their homework done, had a plan and executed it to perfection.

They had 3 shots on target before taling the lead, Duffy ball watching, had a chance to cut it out. Then, as they continue to dominate, we snatch an equalizer, after great work by CalM set up Eddy for a neat finish. Then another Duffy howler allows them to in 1-2 up at HT. Why were we sending 2 guys out to take corner kicks?

Turnbull did have an effort well saved, struggled to recall their keeper making another save whole game.

 

Bitton off injured and Griff hooked at HT, -now down to one lone striker?? We were totally clueless again. No pace whatsoever on the flanks-Johnston gets 10min at the death. They man marked Soro out of the game.

Ajers touch was off, but we need him at CH.  Taylor grafts hard but is totally clueless in an attacking sense. Walsh never put a foot wrong.

Just feel the longer they stick with Lenny, regression of most players is getting worse and also sell on value of players being reduced big time.

 

[balo]

What's happening with the big club ?  Surely Neil Lennon are finished now.   It feels like he's given up. 

I read somewhere that Eddie Howe could take over.  

Edited January 31, 2021 by balo

[CelticBhoy]

"What's happening with the big club ?" Good question Balo!

 

Seems that anyone with any sense is off. Olivier Ntcham has gone on loan to Marseille until the end of the season. Lawwell wishes it was the end of the season. And poor Jonjoe Kenny has been loaned out from Everton to us! 

 

Our goalkeeping woes continue. Bain had a shocker against St. Mirren. But I do believe our biggest waste of money in recent times has been Barkas. He is dreadful. The money splurged on him should have been put towards keeping FF. I really believe we would still have been in with a shout for "The 10" if he was still with us. Not to be now, that's certain. Have to accept two 9-in-a-rows for now . . . ????

[Bangel72]

I am surprised more did not leave in January, unlikely to be able to attract any players in until new management is in place and team settles, even then it needs a big name manager with a decent budget to persuade people to join.   

[salty]

A big win at Rugby Park ironically much more comfortable than in many of our title winning seasons.

Killie are going through a big slump at present so they were much less formidable as usual. 

 

Celtic well in command from the off but not really working the goalie as Eddie in particular trying to walk the ball into the net on several occasions.  The returning Brown put us ahead when he lost his marker and headed firmly into the corner. We led by this at HT. 

 

A silly foul by the Killie keeper on Ajeti when he was going away from goal gave us a present of no 2.

Soon after Eddie again with a composed finish though he looked offside put us on easy street and Ajeti got on the score sheet near the end with a neat finish after holding off the centre back. Good to see him back scoring after injury and fitness problems.

  Our new loan signing Kenny looks useful though we said the same about Duffy when he arrived. We looked more composed at the back in the absence of Duffy and Bitton. Bain apart from not claiming early on was decent enough and made a good block on the line.  Despite CB's observations I still maintain he is the least error prone keeper we have at present even though I felt he could have done better on Saturday.

 

All in all much better though that would not have been difficult. It would be nice to think we can continue the improvement but experience this season makes us cautious.

[hackjam]

Eddy driving me nuts lately-just shoot. Was lucky with penalty kick, keeper almost saved it. Lovely pass from Brown for Ajeti goal and smart finish. Would like to see that Eddy Ajeti partnership get a few games together.

Kenny looks a solid performer, no doubt we will coach that out of him. We look more solid at CH without bomb scare twins.

Christie and CMcG were poor, both just not at it this season. 

See bookies have Kennedy fav for the job, what a joke, he is a part of the problem.

[Bangel72]

Yep, Kennedy has been long term problem, got away with it for a while as our defense was rarely challenged in Scotland over last 5 years or so, but when pushed they have been atrocious. I'd rather he was not involved with Celtic in any capacity never mind being considered for manager. I suspect they may go with a new model completely that he may linger around in some capacity unfortunately. Anyway good result, hoping to see more of them in coming weeks.

  

[hackjam]

See Ajeti getting done, while the penalty was soft, he was clipped on the heels by keeper.

Next up Motherwell at 3 on Saturday.

Suspect he will go with Bain in goal and same back 4.

I would prefer to run with Barkas. We paid a lot for him and for whatever reason, he is not performing. But having him on the bench will do him no good what so ever. Put him in, defense will maybe gel, as its our best option at the moment and just live with him for now, not as if there is much at stake and hopefully he turns it around. If not, then we have to try to cut losses and offload.

Barkas may come good, Bain is what he is, decent back up.

[salty]

 Almost blew a 2 goal lead. Bain getting slaughtered on twitter though i would give the credit to the well player for the goal. he was nowhere at the end when Lax cleared off the line. BBC "omitted" kick on Soro in their highlights. No red card . Stamping and kicking are not red card offences in Scotland. Far more serious "alleged" diving to win penalties . 

 

Welsh seems to be doing well at centre back. 2nd game in a row Turnbull corners have created goals.  

[hackjam]

Yes, young Walsh had another fine game. Taylor actually played well also. We just seem more secure without Duffy and Bitton but Bain poor for the goal and caught in no mans land for late chance. Good to see Eddy shoot for once instead of trying the impossible-walk ball into net. Its a waste of time playing him as a lone striker, needs a partner.

Even a win now has a hollow feeling.

[hackjam]

Huffed and puffed for over an hour against a poor St Mirren side, sublime Tam goal all we had to show for lots of possession. CalMac lucky not to see red for poor tackle. Then they concede a dumb penalty and we score 3 in a few minuets. Neat finish by Christie and another goal for Turnbull, he does have a decent goal rate for a midfielder.

Unfortunately, the impressive Walsh suffered a nasty looking injury, again a poor challenge, and worse was to follow, when Duffy gets stripped off and enters. Makes a complete dogs dinner of a simple clearance and presents SM with a great chance that fortunately, they miss. We have started to look solid enough at the back recently, mainly due to Walsh and, to a lesser extent, Kenny, although he does offer so little attacking.

CMcG poor again and needs dropping, Brown average, Ajeti does a lot of donkey work but little or no end product. Bain not tested, so I cannot have a pop at him. We just lack flair and pace on the flanks. When I see Ajer bombing through the middle, I ask myself, why can none of our midfielders do similar?

Hoping Walsh recovers, Duffy just does my head in now.

 

Jack Hendry doing well in Belgium and Bayo seems to be finding some form, great goal at weekend, Shevd blowing hot and cold in Belgium, Robertson getting some game time with Doncaster. 

[salty]

To quote Chris Sutton too little too late. Makes you wonder how we managed to lose to them at Parkhead. Answer Duffy. Also watched with horror as he came on in place of  the unfortunate Walsh and he lived up to our expectations. A typical mindless challenge followed by his usual non defending but we got away with it. We can only pray that Welsh injury is short time. 

 

Bad tackle by Calmac who was not even booked if memory serves. Apart from Rogic goal boring game until the last quarter when we had 3 quick goals. 

 

Steve Clarke added to the runners and riders if we dispose of NL.  You have to wonder would any of them be interested in the job. No doubt in the coming weeks /months more names will be added /subtracted from the list.