lennon has to go-
Not a hope Rovers would let him go
Are followers actually turning on Lennon after a couple of bad results? That’s a new low for the TFKCSC.
He is an inexperienced manager with no money managing a club in a league where no decent player will want to go or stay. He is up against someone similar in McCoist this year for the SPL title. Granted it’s a worthless enough honour but you have to give the man a chance.
The calls for MON are laughable. What did he achieve last time - 3 out of 5 SPL titles and tried to walk out and go to Leeds?
Well that was absolutely disgusting.
Some brief ratings:
Forster: 5 - lacked conviction in a number of really basic tasks. Seemed afraid to get his sparkling new kit dirty for their second goal. Not his fault but he hardly inspires confidence.
Cha: 5 - bombed on continually all day. Good to see a bit of attacking instinct but he did nothing when played in behind their (clearly incompetent) left back. Took them about 15 minutes to figure out his strength and after that they just allowed him to get the ball into feet and he was clueless. He needs the ball in front of him.
K Wilson: 5 - lost a few 50/50s and was sloppy in possession but hard to be too harsh on a guy who is supposed to be playing his way into the team and is let down by everyone else. Should have taken more leadership at the back probably but not directly culpable for any of their goals.
Majstorovic: 0 - I don’t want to go into minus figures because it just makes comparisons meaningless. Zero reflects an absolutely disgraceful performance. I’ve spoken on here recently about how he has started to cheat against long balls and is buying himself a few yards… well fuck you Dan. Thanks for fucking nothing. That was not only inept and incompetent beyond belief, it was equally cowardly and selfish. I really am not one for hyperbole but he shouldn’t wear the hoops again. Finished.
Mulgrew: 6 - Probably our best player on the night. Not the greatest shot he scored from but had a decent effort in the first half and coped well with being switched inside. Didn’t hide and can at least hang his hat on that.
Brown: 4 - All too typical from the captain. He didn’t stop trying but none of his efforts had any purpose. Was far too narrow defensively, which exposed Cha, and he was his usual careless self in possession (without having his worst night in passing). Turned his back for their second goal which was fairly unforgiveable. He’s a good athlete but a mediocre footballer. At best.
Ki: 4 - Has been doing well domestically but found this a step up in class. Never got to grips with the game and while he and Kayal were in the ascendancy before half-time, Ki wasn’t as assertive as he can be. Caught out completely for their third goal, where he is the sole culprit, and a poor overall performance. He’s not the problem, he just didn’t play well.
Kayal: 5 - Didn’t seem fully fit throughout. Broke up play a few times and even contributed a small bit offensively but generally Celtic were too standoffish in defence and he was part of that problem.
Ledley: 6:- Head and shoulders above everyone else, apart from Mulgrew, and yet still only barely competent. Covered fine defensively (despite being outmuscled once or twice) and he was purposeful and accurate in possession. Filled in well and no complaints about his performance or his workrate.
Samaras: 3 - Unfair to judge him on the tactical decision to keep him out wide for the entire game but that’s the only way to evaluate his performance. He simply contributed nothing from the wing. He is a static presence on the sideline, looking for a ball to feet that he can play inside without ever beginning to threaten a run down the outside. He’s an enigmatic player (who isn’t helped by being picked in odd positions) and he offered absolutely nothing in an attacking sense tonight.
Hooper: 4 - Can’t play as a lone striker. That was evident before and it’s evident again tonight. Might have done well with Samaras but that had no chance and after that he was ploughing a lonely furrow. One or two sharp touches but in general he was isolated and frustrated.
Management: 2 - This was a horrible night for Lennon and his team. Any half-wit watching any of Celtic’s matches this season would point to a vulnerability to the long ball. That’s a pretty rare weak spot for a professional football team. There is no more basic tactic than a hoof over the top and yet, at the tail end of last season, and at the start of this season Celtic have surrendered possession around their own goalmouth from long thumps forward.
It’s easy to talk about this problem in retrospect but this is something so obvious that it’s apparent on tv replays. Majstorovic has been dropping a few yards behind his centre backs on long balls to compensate for his own insecurities about his lack of pace. As old and slow as David Weir is, he doesn’t do that, because he plays in a system. Majstorovic doesn’t play in a system: he plays as a renegade centre back brought in to patch up a problem area and he plays in an indisciplined fashion as a result.
If this level of incompetence is so evident on television even, why is it not abundantly apparent to the coaching staff? It’s not easy to conclude that a player is finished but it’s important that shortcomings are recognised and not glossed over. Neil Lennon has (unfortunately) been on the defensive this week regarding the defence and suggesting the problems lay elswehere. Failing to score at home to St Johnstone is unacceptable but those who saw the game had alarm bells ringing at the other end.
So there was a failure to replace Dan or to address his deficiencies and that was the undoing of Celtic. But the truth is that this wasn’t a particularly good Sion side and the game need not have been one-sided even with 11 v 10. The introduction of Forrest on the left wing (when their right back was in all sorts of trouble) made little sense. The failure to introduce Stokes or McCourt was indefensible in the circumstances. The retention of Samaras on the left wing was inexplicable. He does not shy from work (as is often harshly suggested about him) but persisting with the idea that a kick-out to Samaras on the left wing will cause Sion problems seems ludicrous after an hour.
There have been worse Celtic performances in Europe and worse tactics. None of that excuses Lennon or the club from the team that was so disappointing tonight. Investment is required and a renewed energy and tactical awareness must follow.
Apart from the Glasgow derby at the turn of the year, what has Samaras really contributed in the last few years? (Serious question by the way)
Very little.
He is a talented guy to be fair. He can hold the ball up, can go by a defender, can actually shoot when he’s bothered… but he has absolutely chronic awareness of how to play football. I said on here recently that in retrospect that result in Ibrox did us more harm than good, in that it elevated Samaras to the sort of intelligent player you need away from home (which he’s not - he holds the ball up but never lays it off which is the most important part) and restricted us to 4-5-1 in our bigger games which doesn’t suit our squad.
You feel like you could coach an excellent footballer out of him, he has talent, he has work ethic, he just has no idea how to play the game. Seems too late for him to improve now sadly.
The odd decent showing in 10, he might have stood out a bit more when he was partnerned with the hapless McDonald and immobile Vennegoor but how he has managed to stay here so long is mystifying. He continues to let down and disappoint, along with Maloney, yet they both remain heavily involved - to the detriment of players who contribute positively when on the pitch - Stokes and McCourt. In fairness to Samaras he doesn’t hide and can take an obscene amount of abuse from the fans at times which Maloney seems to get away with. We even extended Samaras contract last season. :wacko:
Doubt Brown is even a good athlete. He was a one paced plodder a few years back. Think I compared him to a poor mans Nigel Reo Coker. Seems like you have finally come around to the same opinion though you very highly rated him at the time.
To be honest lads I think there is a huge overreaction here. This season should be all about stopping the 4? in a row. Maybe the Europa League would have been a distraction from that.
We’re not Aston Villa mate. We have high but not unrealistic expectations at Celtic and to be out of Europe before the weans go back to school is unacceptable.
Start with the bottom ie winning SPL titles. That should be not unrealistic but has been a bridge too far in recent years.
The youth system must be dire at Parkhead. Granted they aren’t get abused these days but surely it isn’t too much to ask to develop players capable of playing in a winning SPL side. The utter muck in that side - all bought too isn’t it with the exception of Forrest?
Disappointed to see the sore loser antics out of Neil Lennon last night, imploringb UEFA to kick Sion out of the Europa League and hoping to take their place on a technicality.
Charlie Mulgrew.
Everyone else. :guns:
Can we make it better?
what channel was the comedy on again?
Was too pissed off to post about this in much detail straight after but been thinking about it more since.
All of us Celtic supporters on TFK have expressed grave misgivings about Majstorovic during and after the SPL games so far this season. A serious mistake by Neil to play him. The likes of Aberdeen and St Johnstone have exposed him with the ball over the top and he’s looked clumsy, cumbersome, old and slow. He’s looked absolutely finished. He cheated at the start the other night; knows he has no pace and he dropped off into a ridiculous position out of sync with the rest of the defensive line. Even then yer man jogged past him and it was a ridiculous challenge to make. It fucked us over completely - a goal and a man down in the first minute.
The same players displayed the same faults - Brown, Samaras etc - and I was surprised Neil waited until the 70th minute to bring on a substitute. More so because Kayal and Hooper came into the game with injuries and both looked fairly fucked - Hooper did a lot of running upfront on his own with Sammy playing wide left in the rejigged 4-4-1. Then it was 87 minutes in before he brought on Commons; that was a token gesture and it came too late. We needed to be brave in the second half and try to take the game to them but McCourt and Stokes were left on the bench as we got dumped out.
Been catching up with Celtic fora today and it seems Ledley and Mulgrew apologised to the away support post game. Stokes was making gestures at the supporters from the bus and Majstorovic was laughing away to himself and didn’t have a care in the world. People are seething.