Celtic Banter Archive December 13 2015

 

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13 Dec 2015 18:46:26
Good win today, clean sheet. All good for now. can't believe the 1 or 2 sarcastic comments about RD to be sacked. a wee pop at folk like myself i take it who actually want that to happen. Christ sake boys, itl take more than today to convince the fans RD is the man for the job. Its been a miserable tenure for him and one half decent performance doesn't make it all ok. he's out of his depth.

Believable6 Unbelievable6

13 Dec 2015 19:28:46
Yeah it has been totally miserable. Won the double and if it had not been for a shocking decision that may have been the treble. He has got us to the last 32 of Europa League and got some good European results. Not only that he is on for the treble this season and has improved a fair amount of our players.

Admittedly there have been lows and there is room for improvement. I think you may want to think before you say such nonsense.

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13 Dec 2015 19:47:05
well said RabMac! most sensible post I've seen.
now wait for the but neil lennon beat barcelona (but lost to likes of morton) .

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13 Dec 2015 20:05:06
Ronny's problem is not getting results in Scotland, it's his results in Europe which in my opinion he will eventually be judged. Unfortunately we can't play St Johnstone in the Champions league qualifiers.
I think next season will decide it for him, it will be his third attempt at qualifying, hopefully he may have learned some lessons from these past couple of years, but if we flop again, then I think it will be time to give somebody else a go.
I've no doubt that we should have a decent end to the season, we're head and shoulders above the rest of this league, but I believe for the good of the club, image wise as well as financially, we need to start making a bit of progress in Europe, whoever the manager is.

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13 Dec 2015 20:31:53
I'm not going to argue with some of your points Gerry as I agree that many people will judge him on the European results, especially in the absence of Rangers.

However, I do think many people are making it sound worse than it is as there are some positives in Europe and it is not all negatives. I actually agree with Ronny that we have improved in Europe this season but our main defect has been the defence (this is the area we have deteriorated) and this has cost us in some games, despite us playing well for much of some of the games we lost. Saying that I think we need to remember that our defence has been decimated this season with the loss of VVD, Denayer and Lustig being injured for periods.

When you bring 2 new CBs in it can take time for them to gel but I think there are signs that Boyata and Simunovic may yet form a good partnership. If they do and Gordon cuts down on his mistakes then we have the makings of a pretty good team for next season.

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13 Dec 2015 21:48:58
IN RONNY WE TRUST 🙏🎉🍀🇳🇴.

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13 Dec 2015 22:14:32
Rabmac, the league and league cup is not THE double mate, that's a bit desparate to claim it as one. Who has he really improved if anyone. The last 32 of the europa league is not something to use as your arguement either. Its just not enough. I just hope your half jaked mate because that is a really poor case to defend ronny.

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13 Dec 2015 22:15:17
Lol OP, miserable tenure? Lol! Keep aff the red top arsewipes!

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13 Dec 2015 22:35:38
Some Celtic fans get carried away with themselves, they forget that when manager of Celtic the most important target is the SPL and domestic dominance . We achieved that last season and a last 32 place in Europa League to boot .
Some fans say that Deila needs the treble to keep his job . Nonsense managers with far better transfer budgets and stronger squads failed to win a treble in the past.

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13 Dec 2015 22:54:50
Rabmac, giving time for players to gel with each other is fine. However, when they do gel and any of them look good - we sell them and have to start again. Even Big Jock could not do anything under a continual sell our best players every season. The board have no ambition other than to milk the cow on a regular basis.

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13 Dec 2015 23:49:19
I agree that the league is top priority for any celtic manager. However domestic dominence hasn't happened since jock stein, so does that mean all managers since have failed. Of course not. To be dominant youd be winning all domestic tournaments over a period of time. A treble would certainly help his case, if it happens i'd be the first to doth my cap and say i'm wrong. i'm just very nervous about giving him another crack at CL. I just don't think he can push us forward in europe. And that has to be a top priority.

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{Ed007's Note - A lot of supporters should be giving RD credit for winning the league after they were on here saying Aberdeen were going to do it.}

14 Dec 2015 06:28:34
@Bhrydobhoy - I didn't realise I was dealing with a pedant but for correctness I should have said a double and not the double. Anyway, it was still a decent achievement in his first year.

With regards to reaching the last 32 of the Europa League, you may not rate it as a success but I know for a fact that he exceeded his target as the Celtic managers remit from the board is win the League title and reach group stages of either European tournament.

Anyway my point stands and you are deluding yourself if you think Ronny has had a "miserable tenure". By all means you don't have to rate him and it is your prerogative to want him replaced but I don't agree.

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14 Dec 2015 07:27:43
Fair reply Rabmac, and your correct, i don't rate the last 32 of EL good enough and neither should celtics board, manager or players. Our league is weak and celtic should at least be winning 2 out of the 3 trophies each year, but the football we have to watch on the pitch is not good viewing my friend, we might well be the first club to win the treble 'ugly'. I don't rate the mans decision making or tactics. i'm not deluded it really is miserable to watch. We shall agree to disagree on this one mate. But it is only an opinion. I don't want the poor football to drag on and on.

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14 Dec 2015 09:43:34
Your talking about the football on the pitch is not good viewing, i rate this football 100x better to watch than anything Lennon put on the park. I agree it could be better, but it shows how awful Lennons football was. Come to think of it, O'Neill's wasnt much better and he had a squad Delia could only dream of.

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14 Dec 2015 10:17:47
Joe i'm not defending lennon. But to say its 100x better mate ffs. Oniell brought excitement and entertainment with success so i don't kno were your going with that one.

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14 Dec 2015 10:32:10
Obviously the European campaign has been disappointing and like most of the regular posters on here I have been critical of RD and certain players in certain games we should/could have won but failed, but you have to be honest and give credit - whether you like Him or not - and there has seldom been a time when we came back from a European game or journey and won so many games?

Some say it's only St Johnstone, but we were missing some key players like Brown, Bitton and Griffiths, who are automatic picks under Deila and we got a good win and a clean sheet against a 'form' team apparently.
The goalie has had some shockers this season but he made good saves at important times and the back four also played well - until we got going after the first 30 mins.
We actually look slicker and more dangerous in my opinion without Brown and Bitton and I hope he has realised we don't need so many defensive mids in the SPL?

The second half was as good as I've seen the team play for a while and St Johnstone couldn't get near the ball for long periods as we capitalised - and should have had a few more goals to reward the good football.
As I said, we are quick to criticise when the manager and players come up short, but they deserve credit for wins like yesterday (and the other games after EL matches) especially when Europe has been so disappointing and potentially damaging to moral and confidence.

We may be worried about next seasons CL qualifiers, but we can't get ahead of ourselves and need to see and enjoy many more results and performances like yesterday's second half and improving the squad in January with more quality, while competing for the trophies available.

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14 Dec 2015 10:48:33
The last 5 or 6 managers we have had, people have moaned about the entertainment on the park. I include O'Neill in that. To say he brought excitement? I must be harder to stimulate than yourself. We spent 90% of games under him going through the motions waiting on one of our stars (Henke, Sutton, BBJ, Lubo, Stan etc etc) to nick a winner. Unfortunatley, Delia does not have any of these guys. For me, he is doing a good job. Every manager we get, seems to get analysed to within an inch of their lives until we hound them out. Strachan is a great example of that. Sometime you don't know what youve lost until they are gone. I am confident Deila is the man at this minute to take us forward. Unfortunately, he will probably not be around in a years time to finish what he has started.

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14 Dec 2015 12:29:45
Any manager at any big club gets analysed closely, I don't see the problem with that.
Where Deila has the advantage over the previous managers mentioned, is that domestically he can't really fail, I can't think of any manager anywhere who wouldn't win the league with our squad, up against the poor standard of opposition in this country. The only thing he has to worry about is Europe. Surely we should expect a bit more than winning a one team league.
I think that in Rangers absence we had a great chance to try and take some strides forward as a club without having to worry about the domestic side of things, that was a luxury no previous Celtic manager had. In truth we've totally blown it. It's lucky for us that Sevco are so badly run, otherwise in a year or so's time they would be overtaking us, and that to me is shameful.

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{Ed007's Note - Neil Lennon had the same chance with no Rangers and failed, Gerry, 3 domestic trophies out of 6 wasn't good enough especially only winning the league and early exits at home to Morton and Aberdeen in the cups in his final season. Surely we should have expected a bit more than winning a one team league.
Come the end of the season I expect RD to at least have matched, if not beaten, NL's trophy haul after 2 seasons of no Rangers.
The starry eyed love for NL seems to be blurring people's memory and ability to recall facts.}

14 Dec 2015 12:47:50
On the contrary joe, you must be very easily stimulated as you put it, if your happy with things as they are. And to say oneill had to just wait on his stars to win him games is absolutely astounding. He demanded transfer fees for players and good wages because that was the way at that time. We hadnt reached the cl group stages before that and that's what it took. If Deila is weak and just a yes man then that's all hel ever be. can't have a dig at MO for that. Celtic is no place to let a young coach have a bash at it. And i include lennon in that.

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14 Dec 2015 12:59:02
I think that people also forget that in NL'S last season we failed to reach a semi final in domestic competition's with the stated emphasis being on Europe and with a squad with much CL experience. As far as I am concerned Europe should be a bonus. Domestic trophies are tangible and more important than an occasional victory against the big guns, enjoyable though that is. I enjoyed us doing Sevco last year as well as the CP victories against the sheep as much as anything we have done recently in Europe.

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14 Dec 2015 13:32:42
Ed, Why does Ronny get compared with Neil Lennon all the time, If Neil Lennon was a lousy manager that doesn't mean it's okay for Ronny to be lousy as well.
I am not arguing Lennon's case nor am I wanting him to be manager again, it's got absolutely nothing to do with him.
Do you think when Ronny took over, if you had told him that he would be knocked out of the Champions league qualifiers 2 years running, (3 if you count the reprieve) , we would be in the Europa league, and in his second year we would fail to win a match in that competition, and he would be the first Celtic manager to go through a group stage without winning a match, do you honestly think that he would have called that success?, I bet your bottom dollar he would have said that if that was going to be his record, then he would have failed.
If the only good thing about Ronny is that he isn't Neil Lennon then heaven help us.

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{Ed007's Note - Every manager is compared to the guy he took over from, Moyes/LVG and Fergie, any Chelsea manager is compared to Mourinho, Klopp is being compared with Brendan the Bodger and Warburton is compared to McCoist.
BTW it was you that mentioned RD was the only manager to have the advantage of not facing Rangers, I only pointed out your mistake, NL had 2 seasons without them as well so it's only fair to point that out and compare the 2, there's nothing else to compare it with as they're the only 2 managers who have managed the team since Rangers died.
Will we compare RD to Lou Macari or Liam Brady, what about Frank Connor, he was undefeated as manager including beating Rangers and Sporting Lisbon?
So tell us, who else are we meant to compare RD to, or more importantly who is everyone else comparing RD to for them to want him sacked?
Should we just look at RD's own achievements as a stand alone model? 2 trophies out of 3 in his first season, latter stages of a European tournament and one poor campaign in a difficult group - it doesn't sound that bad does it, especially when you consider that he will add to his total trophies won this season, so who or what are the people wanting RD sacked comparing him with? His record stands up against scrutiny no matter how you look at it, either compared to the previous manager or just his own achievements in 18 months.
It's not my fault if some fans have developed fickle double standards and let their adoration of NL cloud their memory and basically ignore the facts.}

14 Dec 2015 14:30:11
If you are going to talk facts Ed, then when Neil Lennon didn't have Rangers, He got us out of the Champions league qualifiers and into the group stages, Ronny has failed to do that.
If as you say that record of Lennon wasn't good enough, how is it then that Ronny's record is good enough even though he has achieved less.
I don't accept the argument either about getting to the later stages of the Europa league, you may as well say if you get relegated and win more games in the league below, then you are more successful, I don't agree.
Rightly or wrongly, I judge him on Champions league qualification, it's where we were when he took over and we are not there now, to me that's going backwards.
Honestly could you name me any current manager who wouldn't win the league with this squad playing in this league?

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{Ed007's Note - How many seasons did it take NL to get us into the CL group stages, how long did it take NL to get us ANY European football?
Are you comparing NL's first two years in charge when we had no European football except for a EL group we got into because Sion's chairman is a nutter, that would have been 2 years with no European football at all, or are you comparing what NL done domestically with no Rangers to contend with?
Or are you going for the third option which is where you are comparing what NL done after 3 seasons to what RD has done after 18 months?
You started off about RD being the only manager who didn't have Rangers to contend with and now you're on about the CL, RD has a better European record than NL had after the same amount of time, that's a fact. RD will at least equal and probably beat NL's trophy haul in the same amount of time that NL had without Rangers, there's another fact.
Did you expect NL to get us to the last 16 of the CL when we lost out in CL qualification to Braga and EL qualification to Utrecht in 2010/11 which meant no European football at all?}

14 Dec 2015 15:35:14
Remember when criticising former managers about trophy hauls they had to put up with the cheats and crooks over in govan. Yes Lennon failed in his final season by only winning the league but IMO he left a better team than Mowbray left him. I would also prefer to judge Ronny on his results and his domestic record is good and I wouldn't replace him on that but his European record although some think it is good is rotten IMO. On most occasions whoever puts us out is usually put out themselves at the next round and I wouldn't bet against mighty molde or fenerbahce being the next lot put out.

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14 Dec 2015 18:44:40
Ed what state in the league were we in when Neil Lennon took over, a lot worse thanks when Ronny took over.
Neil Lennon may have taken longer to qualify for Europe, but he was starting from a lot further back, his first priority was to improve us domestically, which he did.
When Ronny took over we were already on top in Scotland, so It should have been a lot easier for him, but he's contrived to make us worse thanks when her took over, I can't see the progress in that.

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{Ed007's Note - And yet with that superior team NL left RD he wasn't as successful as RD has been in two seasons without Rangers, so really wasn't it NL that failed then going by your rationale? You're contradicting yourself there.
NL had an England internationalist as his GK, RD has a GK that had hardly played a match in 3 years.
Remember it was you that wrongly claimed RD had an advantage over the previous managers mentioned. I was just pointing out your error.}

13 Dec 2015 17:45:49
Nadir cifti.2 starts in league 6 subs .4 goals. average 1 in 2. my point . unless a player gets a run we can never find out if he's any good. being out of europe we have no immediate need for another average striker to be bought for 2_3 mil . on a cheap deal or free . ie kozak or thy . Give cifti . games u til the end of season (he's here anyway) to see if he can be a celtic player .

Believable3 Unbelievable0

13 Dec 2015 18:08:36
You have to give him credit, he played well today. His all round performance and work rate were very good. LG is still the main man without doubt but a few more performances like today from Ciftci will keep him on his toes. Tom Rogic had a stormer today as well I thought.

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13 Dec 2015 18:24:51
Age old issue isn't it. Said it before but many a player has been deemed 'good enough' for the club to spend variable sums only to get fleeting chances the punted at a loss. only to be replaced by a player of at best equal standing.

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13 Dec 2015 18:47:04
Play them together.

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13 Dec 2015 18:55:53
Goals in Scotland I'm afraid don't count for much, very average strikers can score loads of goals in Scotlands top flight as you can see with guys like Conor Sammon, Adam Rooney, Billy McKay, Michael Higdon, Liam Boyce and even that guy Storey has a few for Inverness this season who can't get a game for Swindon. The standard in essence is extremely poor to put it mildly.

We need players who can step it up a notch or two in Europe where it really matters for us and even in the high pressure games in the future against dare I say it an improving zombie side if such thing comes to pass. However, no offence to guys like Griffiths and Ciftci even Stokes as well they've just not got it in Europe and that's the reality. Same goes for Cole maybe once upon a time by I think he's almost finished now. A player like Kozak who has proven he can score against teams in the EPL, Serie A and Europa League are what we should be tartgeting. Hooper was the last player we had who could step up to a suitable standard and we still need to search for the new Hooper.

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13 Dec 2015 19:56:44
Have to give him credit I am not a fan of his but he did himself a favour today andI ssincerely hope he can carry it on and make me eat my words time will tell on that one though one game at a time.

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13 Dec 2015 20:00:11
That is the problem celtic forever. . but we are bringing in guys on the cheap who are no better and in most cases worse than the guys you mention who score goals in spl. kozak scored 10 league goals in 5 years in Italy is that a proven scorer? He scored 8 goals in europa league in 2013 I think it was this prompted villa to spend 7 mill or so on him . since then he has 4 goals.

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13 Dec 2015 21:02:56
drb Kozak broke his leg mate and was out for a year and a half, scored 4 goals in 8 starts for Villa under Lambert when he first arrived. Think he could be the player we're after personally time will tell.

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13 Dec 2015 21:54:30
Cf. His record was 4 in 15 and has been fit since the summer but can't get a game for the worst team in the epl not having a dig but is the fact he played In Italy (nd failed imo ) . make him a more attractive or better prospect than guys from here who can score here? Yes I would like better but are guys like kozak thy berg green who we've been linked to the way forward? would Cummings not be a better prospect than berggreen of a similar age.

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13 Dec 2015 23:11:05
As far as I remember goals in Scotland win and lose matches . I do believe that Ronny sent his team out today to score more than St Johstone and Cliftcii did his share of achieving that .
We as supporters, I hope and trust we all are, can do our best to support and encourage the team to do that . At matches we can cheer them on to victory or we can moan and shout abuse . I think cheering and encouraging will probably get better results .
We can post positively or negatively, some of the players maybe able to read English and again encouragement is likely to get best result for our Celtic family .
Imagine if an ignorant old uncle kept telling his nephew that the goals he scores in an under 11 match that the goals don't count for much .
The youngster knows that but he needs encouragement to build up his confidence .
Cliftci knows that too but doesn't need reminding by "experts".

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13 Dec 2015 23:33:02
Goals in Scotland win matches . Scoring goals on a regular basis builds confidence and leads to more goals . Cliftci cannot prove himself a goal scorer in Europe within the next 6 months . What he can do and what others can do is score regularly domestically, get the fans behind them and then let's see what happens in Europe . One thing is certain if a striker hasn't confidence he won't score .

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14 Dec 2015 01:50:20
Ciftci might 'know it' Old Bhoy as you put it, of course he knows he needs to score goals whenever he plays. But he had two or three moments on Thursday night and didn't take any of them. Deep down and the same goes for Stokes and Griffiths. They know they're not capable of stepping it up a few more gears and being clinical at a higher level in Europe for us as they need 4, 5 or 6 chances to get goals domestically and 1 or 2 which is about what we'd be creating for our strikers against decent opponents in Europe is not enough chances for them as they aren't clinical enough. Which is the exact reason we are in search of a new striker as I type.

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14 Dec 2015 18:12:12
Celticforever I don't want to be critical of your very fine pieces of work . However if any of the Celtic players and Management can read English do you think you do much to build their confidence . Maybe you don't think it's supporters duty to encourage or support.

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16 Dec 2015 16:20:00
I really think the whole "Euro Quality" striker is a red herring. We need to buy someone who can become that - we will never buy a ready made one. We need to make peace with that as fans.

I'm not defending our buying policy (especially with regards to our recent acquisition of strikers) but we need to be realistic. When did we last have a European quality striker? I've heard Gary Hooper mentioned as such (and I liked Gary Hooper) but I'd be interested to know how his European record compared with Griffiths.

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13 Dec 2015 17:04:17
Sack RD. We only managed to score 3 today, and keep a clean sheet. The team didn't look fit enough and we should have had at least a dozen more!! Get him tae...

Believable2 Unbelievable2

13 Dec 2015 19:00:18
Wow, the amount of wool over some peoples eyes is scary.

It was woeful to watch particualry the first half. He still plays his favourites and decides to leave better players more deserving of game time like Commons and Allan on the bench for the consistantly dire two of Armstrong and Johansen. An absolute joke.

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{Ed007's Note - So risk Commons getting injured again? Do you listen to what people say or just pounce on anything to have a dig at the manager? Commons is still getting back to fitness, he's not at a stage to play 90 mins and he's more effective against tired opposition.
I take it you watched a lot of the Scottish second division last year to know how good Scott Allan is so I'l bow to your superior knowledge of inferior football.}

13 Dec 2015 21:11:45
Scott Allan has more creativity in his left pinky toe Ed than Armstrong has in his whole body. When Allan is on the pitch he's always making things happen and goes for it. Made a positive impression even in the poultry 3 mins he was given by Ronny today. Armstrong and Johansen have been muck ALL season and that is no exaggeration.

Bitton, Commons, Allan, McGregor, Forrest, Rogic when fit should all be making the midfield before both Armstrong and Johasen imo. The only player those two should be ahead of in the pecking order is GMS.

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{Ed007's Note - As I said I don't watch lower league Scottish football so I wouldn't know if Allan is a better choice than Armstrong or Johansen. Fair play you can see that in 3 mins - have you ever thought of scouting as a profession?
Is there any other players in the second division that have caught your eye and we should buy to pin all of our hopes on?}

13 Dec 2015 22:38:05
You're right there, Ed, you can't judge aplayer if you are not watching him, you probably won't understand how good a player Allan is, until he gets a run in the team, in the same way that Johansenn has had a long run of poor form, that normally would mean that he would have a long run sitting on the bench, and coming on for 3 minutes at a time, until he has got his form back, Ronnie is getting these selections the wrong way around.

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{Ed007's Note - Fans were clamouring for Allan to get a chance and look what happened against Ajax - a diddy European team according to some - when he cost us the game and showed everyone that he hasn't reached the level of match sharpness required to play at a higher level. We all know how unforgiving some supporters are when players make a mistake, a good coach would protect his player from that.
There's always the possibility that his mistake against Ajax that cost us the game has knocked his confidence and RD is trying to build it back up, would being kicked up and down McDiarmid Park for 70 mins today have helped Scott Allan, can he handle the physical side of the game?
I really need to start watching lower league Scottish football, who knew it was producing players of the kind of quality that will supposedly completely transform a team that has cost millions of pounds to assemble, and it's only taking a year.
We bought a Premiership teams 3 star players and they have struggled to find any form but a guy who has played one decent season in the Scottish 2nd division by the time he reached 24 is now being touted as the new Messiah. We're loaning youngsters out to play at that level because they aren't good enough to get a game in our league.
As I said I don't watch lower league football but Scott Allan wasn't good enough to get guide Hibs out of that league so I doubt he was running amok every week, he only managed 3 goals and 16 assists in 45 games, that's hardly earth shattering when you look at the level of opposition.
I wonder what the CL groupies in the support think of Allan, while they're demanding the CL we go out and sign 24 years old from the Scottish 2nd division, what league in Europe would you compare that level to, would the CL groupies be happy if we were buying players from the Hungarian 2nd division?
Personally I'd rather see Aidan Nesbitt given the game time that Scott Allan is getting, in my opinion we should never have bought him, but I know there's people who have a NEED to grab onto anything to attack the manager with, I remember people were screaming out for Mulgrew to replace Izaguirre, they went very quiet after Malmo. I don't know any CFC fan that wants Stokes near the team but as soon as he has a public run in with the Club all of a sudden RD should be playing him.
CFC could come back from a tricky European away match, come home to win a difficult away match, 3-0 and there would still be people moaning about something.
I remember a time that we couldn't buy a result following European matches and yet I seen somewhere that that's 16 games that we have won following playing in Europe under RD.}

14 Dec 2015 01:25:16
Hmmm remember Tony Watt Ed? Young lad bought from Airdrie who were in League 1 at the time, going by your thoughts on Allan I'm guessing you may have thought even lower of Watt possibly who know one had heard of at the time.

What do you know, give him a chance and he scores a double on his debut against Motherwell and then goes on to score against Barcelona in the CL Groups to give us 3 points and put us on route to the last 16. Attitude aside the boy had stacks of talent.

In essence Ed, it matters not a jot where the players come from to me, as long as they are good enough and have been given a decent enough chance to show they are. You talked about the snobbery the other day iirc about Celtic fans wanting CL football. Well correct me if I am wrong here Ed but aren't you showing some snobbery yourself here turning your nose up at lower Scottish league football in the way it comes across in your post. Not given Scott Allan much credit for his stats because it's only the in the Scottish Championship?

As I said I couldn't care if we were signing players from the Albanian 3rd division, as long as they are good enough for Celtic and can step up to a required suitable level in Europe then that's all I'm interested in and for me a player like Watt could step up to that level even though he was purchased from Airdrie for absolute buttons. I mean you say how could Allan be better than players we spent millions on? The answer is simple, look at Amido Balde bought for £1.7M or thereabouts from the Primera Liga in Portugal, then take Tony Watt purchased for £80K or whatever from Airdrie in the Scottish league 1 division. Who do you think most Celtic fans would pin their hopes on becoming a better player for Celtic or indeed just being the better player in general? Exactly.

Armstrong and Johansen have been given ample opportunity this season and have consistantly under performed whilst others have not to see what they can do given a decent run in the team like for example Scott Allan but there are others. This is my argument. Anyway think it's harsh to blame it all on Allan for the defeat to Ajax, Armstrong should never have gave him the short pass in the first place even if Allan asked for it, last minutes needing a win and with Mulgrew, Boyata, Lustig and Simunovic in the box he decides to pass it short from a corner? What does that say about Armstrongs decision making, added to this his deliveries are 9.5/10 absolutely woeful. Allan also managed to cut open the Ajax defence with one of the best passes of the season and if we had a decent striker at that level we would have taken advantage of that moment before what happened at the end of the match.

Ronny needs to stop playing the same players every week that are under performing, I don't see what's wrong with my argument.

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{Ed007's Note - I read the first line of your post and thought, 'Isn't Tony Watt still only 21?' and we signed him when he was 17. I didn't bother reading the rest, there didn't seem much point after your opening.
Would you be interested in writing round up articles about the lower leagues in Scotland for us and highlighting all the players from there who could improve CFC?}

14 Dec 2015 01:58:09
A bit poor that Ed not to bother reading the rest of my post, doesn't matter what age he was the fact is he came from the Scottish lower leagues and was a decent signing. Btw Watt will be 22 in a couple of weeks and Allan just turned 24 so there's only about 2 years between them.

The only player I think we should be keeping an eye on in the lower leagues is Jason Cummings as I've said previously. I'm not sure on him but he does seem to have some potential but just need to wait and see not saying he would improve us just he seems to be the only player that's caught my eye in the Scottish Championship this season.

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14 Dec 2015 09:49:53
Tony Watt was decent signing? Need to talk me through that one!

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14 Dec 2015 12:08:46
Bought him for £80K, sold him for £1.2M. That's decent profit for a start. Gave Celtic fans one of the best moments in our recent history with THAT goal.

Scored a few goals against teams like Motherwell when we couldn't find an opening and also Dundee Utd, Inverness and St Johnstone.

In general looked a very decent player. He has to go down as a good signing for the ability he provided on the park and the profit we made from his sale. Only his attitude stopped him from being Celtics number 1 striker.

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14 Dec 2015 18:20:22
IMO there are far too many football experts an not enough Celtic supporters on here
Every Tom Dick and Harry who goes to an odd match derides Deila for his choice of player without knowing anything about little injuries and state of mind etc . Some of us are really spectacularly in love with our own judgements . Why are so many of posters here not joining with various clubs in Scotland and making Scottish Football the best in the world .

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14 Dec 2015 21:07:55
you volunteering Oldbhoy.

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15 Dec 2015 01:14:54
Aindoh I am probably the last to volunteer, I was posting about the know-all who criticise Deila for team selections yet only see Celtic playing on the odd ocassion
Ŵŵ.

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13 Dec 2015 16:21:00
Feckin Ronny! Another win after a tough Euro game with added time lag! Surely he has to go now.

Believable4 Unbelievable1

13 Dec 2015 19:04:58
The sarcasm on here is dreadful haha.

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14 Dec 2015 08:19:56
What's with all the Ronny bashing. He is on track to be the most successful manager we have had in his short tenure? Before you can conquer Europe you need to firmly establish domestic dominance. He is on track to do this. He came in with a plan and I firmly believe he will be making all the negative supporters, sorry people who like Celtic eat their words as true supporters actually get behind the team and manager instead of bleating about anything negative they can latch onto. Get enough of that crap from MSM. Yes RD makes mistakes who doesn't but if you can't see the bigger picture and are calling for him to be sacked your deluded really. In reality we have not had any success as a club in Europe since we won the big cup. Seville was an amazing adventure to reach the final but we lost. How much money did we spend to get there? Progress takes time and we are not losing games like we used to under previous managers and especially after european games you need to walk before you run. Our new defence is now taking shape after continual change due to sales and injuries. This is what cost us in Europe and the consistency just came too late for this year but if we had made CL we would have suffered badly. Being able to fully focus on the treble, bring in a couple more players and kick on for next year. Lastly did someone actually post on here that RD hasn't improved any players really. Let's see. Bitton, Rogic, Griffiths, Forrest (whom I used to slate for his work ethic and final balls) young Tierney breaking through.

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14 Dec 2015 08:20:26
Sorry also forgot to mention Boyata.

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14 Dec 2015 21:21:32
Having only one match a week most weeks and having very few nasty Int . Breaks gives Deila and his assistants a proper chance to coach and develop the players in the way he wants . The programmes of games that Celtic have had pre -December every season puts the manager under severe disadvantage . Far, far too few days for the management to try out and test different ideas . From now to season end Deila can develop his ideas and methods of play.

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13 Dec 2015 14:38:29
Yet another fantastic win away from home after a European Thursday and some very good performers at a very difficult venue.
Gordon has been very poor lately but today he made some excellent saves at important times of the game or it could have been a different story.
Simunovic and Boyata getting better every game and maybe Boyatas best game yet?
Great shifts from Izzaguire, Lustig, McGregor and Rogic - who was terrific.
Forrest was good in spells and Johansen is still not at his best, but unlike Armstrong gets involved and doesn't hide for long spells in the game and finally -
Ciftci 2 - O'Halloran 0 (and about time too) .

Great response to the mutton molesters closing the gap and hopefully a statement of intent for the rest of the season?
I was worried where the goals would come from today without Griffiths and Commons starting, but all credit to RD and the team.

Believable7 Unbelievable3

13 Dec 2015 15:16:33
FFS it's St Johnston? why should we be worried about where the goals would come from? However you are correct. We have fallen so far down that we even question if we can win against St Johnston! Tells a story!

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13 Dec 2015 15:26:07
nae pleasing some so called Celtic fan's a difficult game after playing a European game a couple of day's ago one where previous manager's would have lost but ronny has guided us to 10/10 after euro game's but we only managed a draw away from home against some shitty Turkish team midweek.

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13 Dec 2015 15:40:07
Boyata looked ok at start of season and then has had awful time in unsettled defence. Could be a turning point for him. Good performance aside would like to see Baily given chance. Rest and motivate Gordon.

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13 Dec 2015 16:22:17
Big D get a grip. We go to Europe and can't buy a win. Get home and beat StJohnston and everything is great. That's exactly why we are in a mess because supporters allow the board, the managers and the players to deliver below expectation results and get away with it. Look at how many supporters go to Celtic park? So posters quoting there is no pleasing some Celtic supporters need to look at what they consider as acceptable. If it's what we currently get then God help us.

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13 Dec 2015 16:29:47
BigD one further point. You say previous manager would have lost after European games? Maybe right but that may be because we actually tried to compete in those games and actually won them. Under this manager we have not won any European game in the last 10. Do you think that might have anything to do with it if is if just a Ronnie love in?

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13 Dec 2015 16:53:39
Can we never stop criticising and allow our fans who want to appreciate a good workman like performance away from home . We can't change what happened in Europe and harping back to it won't help anyone . Gordon who was very poor on Thursday was the exact opposite today . He made four or five good saves and was excellent with his positional play . Izzy reminded us he is still there if we need him Rogic came on to a brilliant game . There were no passengers and good to see Cliftci scoring not once but twice .
I think we should enjoy our victory and look forward to encouraging the team to win more and even better .

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13 Dec 2015 17:32:34
Yes fully agree but it's St Johnston! here you are telling us how well they played, his good we were. I really can't get my head around your expectation level. ITS ST JOHNSTON. If we had list it would have been a disaster. We were 1/7 to win. Get a grip of reality man.

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13 Dec 2015 19:00:45
Aye Johnny, we know it was ST.Johnstone, a team we have lost to before in Perth. So any result is possible particularly after a euro trip. The odds were so short because our form has been so good on return trips from Europe. Don't you think the bookies look at this?

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13 Dec 2015 19:13:53
is that the st johnstone who have lost 1 of there last 11 games? unreal honestly yet so fans still love neil lennon who struggled to win a cup game! about time some fans got a grip.

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14 Dec 2015 08:22:28
Lennoxtown being found out at Bolton.

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