Yeah Armstrong has done well but we’ve shifted to something closer to a 4-3-3 with him in the team, or 4-1-1-1-2-1 anyway. He isn’t really playing alongside Brown, he’s getting forward much more and I think that has helped pull men away from Rogic too. After a great start, Rogic found it hard after a while this season when teams sat off Brown and Bitton and just surrounded him instead but the movement of the wingers and Armstrong getting forward is causing enough problems to give Rogic that additional space again and his form had been restored as a result.
But that isn’t really a suitable formula for away matches in Europe. We haven’t been afraid to take teams on at any level and that’s refreshing but when we have 2 really attacking wingers it leaves so much on Brown to mind the house on his own. He’s been brilliant, and Armstrong has probably been as defensively effective as Bitton recently, despite playing more advanced but that is too open to rely on all the time. Armstrong might improve further and Bitton might improve his form - he was excellent at home to City I think (?) but we do need a bit more reinforcement there alright.
McCarthy would be a popular choice and I’d take him in a heartbeat. However, in that heartbeat I’d have a tiny worry that his best form for Ireland has been when he’s played that Brown role with a more dynamic player (Hendrick) beside him. When he’s been paired with another defensive midfielder he’s been traditionally quiet. Brendan is a top quality coach though and will figure that out.
I thought Bitton was very poor against Manchester City at home and Celtic would have won it with some help beside Brown.
As regards midfield alignment, there’s been a noticeable tweak alright. It was a standard enough 4-2-3-1 in the early part of the season and it was often Brown driving forward more than Bitton when one of the “2” took it upon themselves to influence the game further forward.
But Rodgers is on record as having 4-1-2-3 as his favoured formation which is pretty much a 4-3-3 as you say. We’ve moved more to that since Armstrong has come in with Brown as the deeper 1 or “the controller” and then the other two having both creative and pressing / counter pressing / defensive responsibilities. It requires them to do a lot of running to support the front three and then to get back into defensive shape. Rogic seems to be building up his stamina and has played 90 minutes more regularly lately (last gasp winner at Motherwell for example).
I think McCarthy could play as the “1” in the Brown role as he’s done in the Irish midfield diamond when Whelan was left out or in the “2” in the Armstrong position as he has the energy, drive and tactical discipline to do it.
Would it not make sense to cash in on Griffith’s. I assume they would get a relatively decent fee for him and use the money to strengthen elsewhere. Dembele will always be first choice when fit.
Assume Commons would be one of the top earners in the squad
That’s an argument that could certainly be advanced alright. Griffiths has done fine as a back up this season but I wouldn’t say we’ve missed him from the starting lineup. I believe the manager has reservations about Griffiths’ temperament and suitability and rightly prefers Dembélé as his first choice striker. Not just for these reasons as Dembélé is also a superior player currently and has more upside too. But I think it would be risky to sell him this January as there’s not many viable striking options if Dembélé gets injured.
That said, I’d be alright with him being sold if we had a deal agreed for a replacement striker. The manager has had decent success with his attacking signings so far in Sinclair and Dembélé and I’m sure he’s identified other targets. We could probably command a sizable fee for him from a Championship team in England as they’re throwing silly money around to try to achieve promotion (£4m ish).
I don’t really like him despite his 40 goals last season. He seems like one of these annoying Scottish gimps. There’s been issues around Griffiths’ professionalism before and I sense that his insecurity over his role is growing. This feeling is based on his needy post-match interview last Friday along with his sullen post League Cup final attitude. I think he’s potentially the type who’d be quite truculent behind the scenes while putting on a public show to keep the fans onside (like his pointed celebration and post-match comments thanking Dembélé for his selfless assist on Tuesday night). Even changing his twitter handle to “shorty” when Strachan said he had to think of ability to defend set pieces when selecting his Scotland striker just smacks of him being a bit of an immature eejit and a trouble-maker if he’s not getting what he wants.
Overall, I wouldn’t sell him at this time but I wouldn’t be put out if Rodgers decided to.
Ambrose, O’Connell, Commons, Ciftci and Christie to get the door for me.
Bitton will be a decent squad player.
I’d be happy with Nagbe and a starting holding midfielder in the signings.
I wouldn’t sell Griffiths either, I think we’ve got to be realistic and say that there is a high probability that Dembele will leave next season and we have seen how many strikers have flopped for us in the last number of years - Griffiths is a proven player and his goalscoring record is outstanding domestically. Unless we got a crazy bid of £10m or above I wouldn’t entertain selling him. Rodgers seems like a guy who can manage his ego well so I don’t see him slipping off, he has definitely shown a lot more maturity and professionalism in the last 2 years.
Reports that Commons is speaking with Hibs at the moment and they hope to seal an emergency loan deal to enable him to play tomorrow.
He’s out of contract in the summer and isn’t in Rodgers’ plans so I reckon Celtic would allow him to leave on a free transfer in January, or allow Hibs to extend the loan until the end of the season if they contribute a significant chunk of his wages.
He scored nearly 100 goals for Celtic since joining in January 2011.
Celtic have pulled the plug on the Darlington Nagbe deal according to today’s (Tuesday’s) Scottish papers.
Also several pieces from a round table with Brendan Rodgers where he says he’s identified laziness, poor diet and a blame / excuses culture as main reasons for lack of quality young Scottish players emerging. Cites Scott Brown and Andy Murray as role models for fat, Irn Bru swilling, deep-fried Mars bar eating young Jockos to change their habits. That’s an implied dig at Jim McGuinness and the development academy team.
The first time I met, or should say saw Dermot Desmond it was at a Celtic function. Asked about his purchase of shares and this Celtic ‘venture’,??, DD responded by saying; I couldn’t sell my shares if I wanted, my kids would kill me. That said a lot, it’s not just a business, his kids love Celtic! He loves Celtic! It’s in his heart.
When I met him in the stadium after the cup game last April after losing to rangers with Deila at the helm, I said “Dermot, that’s a fucking joke”, he said; “EG, it’ll be sorted”…
I never in a million years thought it would be sorted so conclusively.
The first time I met, or should say saw Dermot Desmond it was at a Celtic function. Asked about his purchase of shares and this Celtic ‘venture’,??, DD responded by saying; I couldn’t sell my shares if I wanted, my kids would kill me. That said a lot, it’s not just a business, his kids love Celtic! He loves Celtic! It’s in his heart.
When I met him in the stadium after the cup game last April after losing to rangers with Deila at the helm, I said “Dermot, that’s a fucking joke”, he said; “EG, it’ll be sorted”…
I never in a million years thought it would be sorted so conclusively.
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That’s exactly the Dermot Desmond I know.
With your aviation background you’ll be as well acquainted with Dermot as I am. It’s a passion project for him. He’s a Fenian just like us.
