Celtic Banter Archive November 13 2014

13 Nov 2014 21:02:33
Does anyone know how Danny Mcgrain is and if he is no longer on the coaching staff at celtic? Markie

13 Nov 2014 09:00:07
Good morning I have a question everyone one is talking about RDs new style of play, new coaching methods new tactics improved fitness. Well I don't see it the tactics haven't changed we play the ball on the ground and try to hold it as long as possible the only change I see is the central defenders charge forward leaving us open at the back. no one looks fitter or faster, a better player than last year. what has changed

In terms of the 'f' word, it takes more than a few month to see any real improvements with cardio especially. Each player will need fine tuning, ie, they won't be on the same programmes. Some may be working on upper body, others leg muscles, some may be seen as benefiting from lising muscle mass.

In terms of the style, we try to get the ball forward quicker I think and as a team press higher, which when we lose it, as you point out can leave us exposed. Passing and ball retention need improved, no doubt, but we may just need better passers.

Said it a few times but a coach has to decide wether to pick players to suit a system or vice versa. Atm after just one (pretty poor) window, RD is straddling the two. He needs a few windows to get a team of players he needs. Not to mention a bit muscle from our board.

I don't think that any improvement in fitness will be noticeable to most supporters sitting in the stands.
These are professional sportsmen, who by most people's standards are very fit anyway. It's not as if they are a pub team, who are going out to play a match after 10 pints and a curry the night before.
The improvements are likely to show up on computer screens in the gym, rather than be obvious to the naked eye.
The bottom line is that what will bring success to the club, is players who are good at the basics of the game, eg, being able to control the ball, make and receive a pass, and having a good brain.
The fitness is the icing on the cake, but on its own, won't bring success.

{Ed007's Note - You'll start to notice improvement in fitness and stamina as games go on, Gerry. The players will be able to play at a higher tempo even in the latter stages of the match, teams who come to CP and sit with 10 men behind the ball are going to be ran ragged and as they tire we will still be going at the same pace, it will mentally and physically tire out opponents. If you're playing a fast paced passing game, and play it well, your opponents get tired and eventually they're left chasing shadows. How many games in Europe have we ended up dead on our feet with 15 mins to go because we've spent all game chasing the ball?
Just because we can't match Madrid or Barca with ability is no excuse for not matching them in fitness, conditioning and concentration, all it takes is hard work, John Collins will probably be fitter than some of our first-team squad.}

We (like Man Utd) were always famous for late goals and fighting until the final whistle for victory.
The Aberdeen game is the first in a long time that this has happened and although we still have to improve, it was encouraging to see the effect a late goal (and win) had on the manager and team and I hope this is a marker for other tough games.

Will we get Fergie time?
Sorry Ed only joking 😋😏. Great to see us still going for and getting win with 10 men.

13 Nov 2014 16:21:47
A very good point about the fitness. It dosn effect the bod onlyy, but the mind also. Take chess as an example. (Ill use it cause of all the talk about chess in Norway theese days) Magnus Carlsen, they say is the best player cause he's the best fit player. He can therefore sit in 5-6 hours straght and tire out the other player. Its the same thing in football, if you can endure more your more likely not to buckle under pressure and be the one that always secure a late goal. Even after traveling in midweek EL matches they will stay fit and have a sharp mind at the same time.

I have to say I have been a big critic of this style & play, but they do look fitter, thought Commons looks leaner & the same applies to Stokes & Izzy they look better toned!

I've been critical of RD, but to be fair, the game against Aberdeen after an away euro tie, we would probably have dropped points in the past couple of seasons

I think the Aberdeen game is a turning point in self belief! I've been supportive of RD and want him to have time to change things which is starting to happen! We need the board to support him now that he has had time to assess what we need a LB which has been neglected! I've been happy with izzy but we need another and have done so for some time! Would also like us to take up the option on wakaso he's a good player!

{Ed007's Note - I'd like to see Wakaso get a run in the team and the chance to find some form, there's something about him I like.}

14 Nov 2014 08:43:35
Ed as far as I know the fee for Wakaso is £4mill? Think I picked that fee up from your site? I think there may be something there but not at £4mill? On another point, if we are now releasing Scepovic why do we never buy Scottish players. We could have had Stevie May for £850k. He is better than Scepovic and you have a guy that scored over 25 goals last season so for that money he was value. Big strong front man, can play up front on his own, sounds like what RD wanted so why don't we buy them?

Ed I like some of the things I have seen in Wakaso too. I liked seeing him running back at full speed to rob an opponent who was in a very dangerous position to cross . Wakaso could well become a star.

@johnnymac it's getting beyond a joke the inability to identify a striker apart from hooper and guidetti.

Mate Stevie May would of been far better option

15 Nov 2014 10:11:35
DN I think we don't buy players like Stevie May because we are thinking we can get a better sell on value for a foreign player that we find who turns out to be good. But we waste so much money in trying to find one good one that in the end this transfer policy is costing money. Scepovic may go out on loan now, so there is another £2.3mill wasted and we again need to go out and find a replacement. It could be Scepovic goes in January, Guilleti does not sign at the end of the season and we are facing CL qualifiers in June with Stokes and Griffiths as the ONLY strikers! The PL transfer experiment needs to be ripped up and some sense of perspective brought in about buying players who can deliver now, not players we hope may develop into another Wayama.

We can all say certain players could do a good job for Celtic . That's very easy and as long as Celtic don't sign them we will never be proved wrong . I am sure the people who are scouting and the people who have to make the actual decisions have at least the same expertise and are just as desperate to sign the right one as the rest of us . On many Celtic forums a reader would be forgiven over the past few years for thinking that Celtic chose not to sign Russell, May and others from the SPL .
I think that the reason Celtic don't buy them is because those who make the decisions don't rate them .

15 Nov 2014 21:32:42
Chris it's obvious that the people who make the decisions don't rate them, so we know that or they would buy them! No issue with that but if you don't buy them at half the price by the way we are paying for alternative players from overseas, then they need to buy players that deliver. Last season we signed 6 players. All of them now out on loan. This season we have bought 1 player who is possibly going out on loan in January. That is over £10 mill spent on players no longer performing at the club in 18 months.

12 Nov 2014 22:08:47
Deep river buoy have u seen the size o they all blacks think they'd make the pie eating manager from sevco look like a wee boy haha