A summer of delayed recruitment, 17 departures and only four new signings left Martin O’Neill with an incomplete squad for Celtic’s biggest European tie. A Celtic board room purge must take place.
I go back to a comment I wrote after Scotland’s World Cup exit. Brexit presumably gives Scottish football the chance to drastically cut the number of non Scottish players across the League. 11 Scottish players for Celtic, Rangers etc across the board could be no worse than the pitiful situation the national team and clubs find themselves in now. On the other hand, as an Englishman, perhaps not! Schadenfreude is a thing! But seriously, it is sad to see the decline in a proud football nation. It’s going to take something drastic to turn things around.
I dont want to sound like someone who saw this coming, as I wasnt, but if we removed the green tints after the first leg we shouldve paid heed to a stat that stuck out above all else.
LASK had 30 shots on our goal, not all on target of course, but as we weren't prepared to look at the stat what happened on Tuesday? Another 30+ shots on our goal. For a club with CL aspirations NOT to have heeded the warning is diabolical, in fact our last SPFL game Dundee Utd had 5 attempts off our woodwork ffs, which really shouldve been a wake up call that our defensive mids and our defenders were to suffer open season for opponents with any kind of plan.
As I said the stat passed me by as I thought our 3, soon to be 4 goal lead was unassailable, how blind were we?
Andy that's the worst turnaround I've ever seen in my sixty-one years on this planet and the warning signs were there during the first leg. We played reasonably well and looked good going forward but both sides looked bombscares at the back and although we scored three goals at good times, it was never a 3-0 game as Lask could've been 2-1 at half-time if not for being marginally offside twice especially for the second goal but both were correct calls.
I had a bad feeling before the game that things might not go our way but when CalMac scored I thought what were you worried about let's go on and finish it now. Then four up and looking comfortable enough Nygren plays in Osur who tucks the ball away easily, at that point I'd have substituted Nygren because it was far too casual and complacent and in my opinion that cost us the game. Even at that we had another two chances to go in 3-1 at the break when Baur slipped one by the post that Hogh tried to get to but couldn't. Then Hogh's shot that was powder puff when he should've passed to Duran as he was in a better position, these fine margins make the difference in Europe.
The second half really exposed how weak we are as a squad we lost an early goal when Ljubicic scores with a sidefooter from 30 yards and I knew then it wasn't going to be our night. They score another goal a few minutes later and now we're holding on, and then the substitutions started McCowan for Baur, Scales for Tierney, Hatate for Nygren, Murray for Donovan and it all fell apart. It was embarrassing to watch and proof of the managed decline that this board has inflicted on us as supporters and it proves that they want us try and get to the CL league phase before they buy players instead of buying players to ensure we get there.
That's now six failures in a row under this board that's £250 million give or take that we've thrown away and is an indictment that the "business plan" we work to is not only ludicrous it's costing us money as a football club but as a business too. Any company worth its salt knows you can't afford to let that type of money slip because the football side is grossly underprepared and it's always been thus under their tenure.
When the ninety minutes finished I couldn't watch the extra time, I just said to the wife let's go to bed because there's no way we can go through now and I can't sit and watch us completely capitulate and give up with a whimper. This morning from what I've read I never missed much anyway, apparently Celtic had regained some composure in the first half and then rolled over again in the second.
We've all said this board can't survive another catastrophe and there's now no way they can brassneck this out, as you rightly say Andy they act like a business who happen to have a football team when we're a football club first and foremost and then the business is supposed to provide the back up to the footballing side but once again we're left with a clusterfuck and heads must now roll. We've said that for years but the supporters have to boycott the Europa League games and starve these charlatans out, we've made them all very rich men and not one of them deserves our support as they've made Celtic a laughing stock all over Europe.
So thats going to be at least 8 SPFL games played on Sunday's AGAIN!!!! If the huns and their cousins are eliminated from the ECL they will then be faves for the SPFL as we struggle in the EL.
Couldn't sleep last night as I was so angrily frustrated, woke up this morning STILL thinking about that performance. I dont understand how MacCowan could be so bad, there's a fan living the dream and puts in such an abject effort.....unforgivable.
IMO MacCowan, Tounekti, Nygren, Yang, Trusty, CCV should all be binned. A new keeper is essential, a rock solid CH pairing is now required, a hard as nails midfielder like Broony or Wanyama is a must and a new left winger to help Jota when hes fit.
Will our board open the biscuit tin for that lot? Alas, we know the answer!!!
I go back to a comment I wrote after Scotland’s World Cup exit. Brexit presumably gives Scottish football the chance to drastically cut the number of non Scottish players across the League. 11 Scottish players for Celtic, Rangers etc across the board could be no worse than the pitiful situation the national team and clubs find themselves in now. On the other hand, as an Englishman, perhaps not! Schadenfreude is a thing! But seriously, it is sad to see the decline in a proud football nation. It’s going to take something drastic to turn things around.
I dont want to sound like someone who saw this coming, as I wasnt, but if we removed the green tints after the first leg we shouldve paid heed to a stat that stuck out above all else.
LASK had 30 shots on our goal, not all on target of course, but as we weren't prepared to look at the stat what happened on Tuesday? Another 30+ shots on our goal. For a club with CL aspirations NOT to have heeded the warning is diabolical, in fact our last SPFL game Dundee Utd had 5 attempts off our woodwork ffs, which really shouldve been a wake up call that our defensive mids and our defenders were to suffer open season for opponents with any kind of plan.
As I said the stat passed me by as I thought our 3, soon to be 4 goal lead was unassailable, how blind were we?
supporters should "draw a line in the sand" but they won't, they haven't done so for 20yrs
Andy that's the worst turnaround I've ever seen in my sixty-one years on this planet and the warning signs were there during the first leg. We played reasonably well and looked good going forward but both sides looked bombscares at the back and although we scored three goals at good times, it was never a 3-0 game as Lask could've been 2-1 at half-time if not for being marginally offside twice especially for the second goal but both were correct calls.
I had a bad feeling before the game that things might not go our way but when CalMac scored I thought what were you worried about let's go on and finish it now. Then four up and looking comfortable enough Nygren plays in Osur who tucks the ball away easily, at that point I'd have substituted Nygren because it was far too casual and complacent and in my opinion that cost us the game. Even at that we had another two chances to go in 3-1 at the break when Baur slipped one by the post that Hogh tried to get to but couldn't. Then Hogh's shot that was powder puff when he should've passed to Duran as he was in a better position, these fine margins make the difference in Europe.
The second half really exposed how weak we are as a squad we lost an early goal when Ljubicic scores with a sidefooter from 30 yards and I knew then it wasn't going to be our night. They score another goal a few minutes later and now we're holding on, and then the substitutions started McCowan for Baur, Scales for Tierney, Hatate for Nygren, Murray for Donovan and it all fell apart. It was embarrassing to watch and proof of the managed decline that this board has inflicted on us as supporters and it proves that they want us try and get to the CL league phase before they buy players instead of buying players to ensure we get there.
That's now six failures in a row under this board that's £250 million give or take that we've thrown away and is an indictment that the "business plan" we work to is not only ludicrous it's costing us money as a football club but as a business too. Any company worth its salt knows you can't afford to let that type of money slip because the football side is grossly underprepared and it's always been thus under their tenure.
When the ninety minutes finished I couldn't watch the extra time, I just said to the wife let's go to bed because there's no way we can go through now and I can't sit and watch us completely capitulate and give up with a whimper. This morning from what I've read I never missed much anyway, apparently Celtic had regained some composure in the first half and then rolled over again in the second.
We've all said this board can't survive another catastrophe and there's now no way they can brassneck this out, as you rightly say Andy they act like a business who happen to have a football team when we're a football club first and foremost and then the business is supposed to provide the back up to the footballing side but once again we're left with a clusterfuck and heads must now roll. We've said that for years but the supporters have to boycott the Europa League games and starve these charlatans out, we've made them all very rich men and not one of them deserves our support as they've made Celtic a laughing stock all over Europe.
At 4-0 the ‘board’ never kicked a ball.
Martin, we have eyes to see we are a million miles away, have been for seasons, but it isn’t hard to make inroads into that.
If they wanted to.
The worst is that many, even from the first leg, knew this was a possibility.
Just need to be the Frankfurt final then rather than the Madrid one.
First mistake v Bairns is going to get hammered.
So thats going to be at least 8 SPFL games played on Sunday's AGAIN!!!! If the huns and their cousins are eliminated from the ECL they will then be faves for the SPFL as we struggle in the EL.
Couldn't sleep last night as I was so angrily frustrated, woke up this morning STILL thinking about that performance. I dont understand how MacCowan could be so bad, there's a fan living the dream and puts in such an abject effort.....unforgivable.
IMO MacCowan, Tounekti, Nygren, Yang, Trusty, CCV should all be binned. A new keeper is essential, a rock solid CH pairing is now required, a hard as nails midfielder like Broony or Wanyama is a must and a new left winger to help Jota when hes fit.
Will our board open the biscuit tin for that lot? Alas, we know the answer!!!