Celtic Banter Archive December 17 2017

17 Dec 2017 16:23:56
ED what's your opinion on Simunovic? Do you rate him? He was brought in to be this ball playing CB to reolace VVD and hasn't even laced his boots. Although BR doesn't like to point fingers it seems he has made a few public digs towards Jozo of late. One being about the fitness/ injury problem. Then he made comment about Jozo's passback nearly letting Hamilton back in the game and today he's put in a performance like that. I don't think BR rates him and can see him looking to sign someone to partner Boyata who isn't any good himself.

{Ed007's Note - I'm hoping it's just fatigue with Simunovic. He nearly left 18 months ago and I thought he was immense last season and not just for his tackle on Miller but he's not reached the same level as last season so far this campaign but not many have. I'll wait and see how he does in the next 6 months but as far as I'm concerned we need a quality CB to come in and a new GK asap.
I'd think about selling/freeing De Vries in January, bring in Scott Bain from Dundee to challenge Gordon until the end of the season and then bring in a quality 'keeper with Bain as our No.2.
Gordon turns 35 on Hogmany, are we really going to go into another season and Euro campaign with him in goal?}

17 Dec 2017 23:15:28
He just hasn't came back the same player since being injured he looked good beginning of the season. I didn't realise Gordon was turning 35. That is getting on a bit and I read somewhere Bain has kind of been frozen out of the first team lately? So that could be a bargain and definitely an upgrade on Gordon. And that was a great tackle on Miller I hope he's been saving himself for Sevco. Coincidence Miller could be "injured" again don't you think.

{Ed007's Note - Simunovic isn't the only has went downhill over the first half of the sesson though, the whole squad looks jaded and even players like KT are showing signs of fatigue from playing so many games. Jozo's not long turned 23 do his best years are still to come. Hopefully he gets back to his best and Celtic reap the rewards for years to come.
There's nothing I can say about Gordon that I haven't said before, he's always been a liabilty and it's not going to get any better as thd years roll on by.}

18 Dec 2017 00:01:53
Just watched the highlights, they look jaded and low in confidence, the CL might bring more money for the board, but I think the heavy defeats in the CL is harming the squad.

{Ed007's Note - I don't think the CL results have any effect on the team domestically, I honestly think it's more to do with the amount of games we've played in the last 18 months. Some of our players are on the 30ish games played this season, add that onto the amount of games to win The Treble and the short break until CL qualifiers it's a hard slog with two matches a week. And before the posts about how much they get paid and they should try working 60 hours a week to pay the bills, it's modern football - it is what it is. There's players getting a lot more than ours who don't put in the work needed to get a 69 match unbeaten run. This team has given us everything they could over the past 18 months and they've given us a Hell of a lot more ups than downs, I trust Rodgers to make the necessary changes over the next two windows and build on another treble.
I wouldn't say the team's lacking in confidence either, I think they started playing with reservations and perhaps the unbeaten run preying on their mind to the point we were going out not to lose rather than going out to win. We lost today but let's not make a mountain out a molehill, one loss in 70 games is hardly a crisis.
Hail (swear) Hail ;)

18 Dec 2017 06:47:12
Never seen Scott Bain is he any good? Why doesn’t he get a game for Dundee.

18 Dec 2017 08:58:46
Great post ed but don't fancy bain even for no2 would try for vorm if we could get him.

{Ed007's Note - A 34-year-old that's played around 30 games in the last 4 years - at least Gordon was injured to rack up those kind of stats.}

18 Dec 2017 10:29:32
Fair point ed but any time av seen him he's looked sound but get your point.

{Ed007's Note - We need to think a bit more long term than signing players on the wrong side of 30.}

18 Dec 2017 11:06:53
Darren Randolph ed do you know if he's available might be a shout.

{Ed007's Note - I don't know if he's available mate but he only joined Middlesbrough in the summer for about £5 million so if he was they would be looking to recoup as much of that as possible. Surely we could get better than him for that kind of money.
I'd like to see us make a move for Sondre Rossbach from Odd in Norway and while we're there get their CB Thomas Grogaard off them.}

18 Dec 2017 11:37:42
Great shout. didn't know Randolph cost that amount. definetley a pos that needs attention Gordons getting worse.

{Ed007's Note - It's been obvious since Rodgers arrived that he doesn't rate Gordon and I'm amazed he hasn't properly addressed the situation yet. I'd say we are consistently weaker in the GK position than we are at CB.}

17 Dec 2017 19:24:49
I have read a lot about today's game let us be clear it has been waiting to happen it has happened in Europe
So what next well we need to start again and go on another 69 game run unbeaten

Lets us also learn from defeat
Gordon continues to worry a lot of people. like all players confidence leads to correct decision making and good form maybe a rest would help
The same could be said for Lusnig, Simunovic. Boyata, Tierney and Sinclair. Brown needs help in defensive midfield and that is why we need McGinn or Kouasi playing especially in Europe or away from home.
More squad players pushing the current first team regulars
Goalkeeper, defenders including full backs should be a priority in January
Not Martin Compper he is old and does not play regularly
Alberto Botio is out of contract in the summer good age lots of experience type of player we could use.

17 Dec 2017 21:04:12
I'd hope we go with Brown and Kouassi against Partick. I don't think he's played alongside Broony and reckon they could boss midfield. Plus he could get him playing at the pace that's expected of him as before him and Ntcham was a bit slow distributing the ball when they played together.

17 Dec 2017 22:44:44
Hearts hit us hard and fast all over the park and for the first time in eighteen months neither the players or BR could do anything about it.
Too many have been running on fumes, while others have definitely, become complacent, lazy and careless.

These are the same guys that won a treble and qualified for the CL; however, it has been obvious for a while that we are jaded.
Maybe we will bounce back right away against The jags, but there needs to be a big improvement to see us through to the break.

The winter 'window' is not ideal, to get the best players and deals, but it is certain we will see some movement in both directions, but the onus will be on the vast majority of this squad to recapture the form, fight and flair to do the business.

17 Dec 2017 19:11:43
Got a text off BR to lump on Jambos 4-0 happy Christmas. COYBIG 🍀🍀🍀.

17 Dec 2017 16:23:24
The fans, the manager and the players all know that today was way off the mark in terms of performance, but let's draw a line under it and just show our appreciation for the team and what they've achieved. 69 domestic games without defeat and 4 trophies in the bag is absolutely monumental regardless of the level of competition. It's a sore one but also a relief that we can now stop waiting for the inevitable. The club as a whole have achieved something amazing and the magnitude of it probably won't be appreciated fully until we look back in 20, 30 or 40 years (some of us anyway lol) and the record is still standing. I feel honoured and privileged to have witnessed such an historic feat and am incredibly proud to be a Celtic fan today. I'll be raising a wee glass to the Bhoys tonight. HH.

17 Dec 2017 16:30:29
Hi folks, rivalries aside I genuinely believe your team's efforts should be congratulated and will probably never be bettered. To think that most of your players lacked belief before BR took over only goes to show the importance of belief in their own abilities and that of their team mates.

17 Dec 2017 19:51:42
Yes it was a great run but the way we are defending when teams get at us is shocking. This league may be over but we won't win it by more than 10 points. Big players have not turned up all season and Zenit will rip us apart unless we get 2 good central defenders and a keeper.

Dembele will probably go in january so maybe best part of £20mill to spend so we would need to invest a big chunk if we are going to improve. Not too dissapointed by the run coming to an end but this was coming.

17 Dec 2017 15:46:58
Although we don't want to see our club defeated we deserved that today, its been coming. Now, that record has been set, itl stay in place for decades and we can reflect on the joy it brought another time. An erse kickin is just what the squad required, and it also relieves them of trying to hold on to it, its gone, and i also believe that the shackles that come with it are gone. I think we will now go on and flourish. Heads up bhoys.

17 Dec 2017 16:48:53
Yes I agree, there is a different mentality to not losing as opposed to winning. Its just a pity it was the Jambos but the fashion will sting a bit. Regardless fantastic achievement which hasn't been given the credit it deserved. Maybe now it has been done others will actually start appreciating the magnitude of the run, but probably not.

17 Dec 2017 14:26:57
Has to be said but that's a worse performance than against Red Imps. It's been coming for a while now, I'd rather it had ended against Hibs than Hearts but a good number to finish the unbeaten run on. Jozo Boyata and Gordon not for the first time this season have been awful today they've been found out massively. Doesn't take a genius to know they've all got a mistake in them if they're put under pressure so that seems to be everyone's tactics now when we play them so there's more mistakes waiting to happen. If you can't do it in Scotland then you won't do it in Europe. Hopefully a defensive overhaul in Jan it's needed.

17 Dec 2017 14:32:33
Boyata for me is no better than Efe.

17 Dec 2017 14:34:01
I got hammered for saying that the unbeaten run weighed heavy on our backs and that KT wasn’t all that. I was proved correct today. If we can get 10 to 15 million for KT punt him now, we should be on crime watch if we get that. Let’s move on and start another unbeaten run. Come on you Bhoys in Green.

17 Dec 2017 14:41:06
We were going to lose eventually, but in that impotent manner - and against the Gorgie lot was very hard to stomach.

17 Dec 2017 14:50:28
As bad as the defence was, it wasn't much better in other areas. Toothless all over the park. 3 strikers on at the end and not a decent effort. Thought Ntcham was unlucky to come off at half time. Credit to Hearts who pressurised us and we couldn't handle it. It's only 1 game and we move on. Lesson learned hopefully, and a kick up the backside before the Aberdeen and Sevco games coming up. Surely a few players coming in January to freshen it up.

17 Dec 2017 14:50:29
It was a very poor performance today, but I am not massively surprised.
We have a big squad, but when you don't have time between matches there is no chance to work on team shape, tactics, and cohesion with one another, you can't just throw 11 players together and expect them to gel every time.
What disappointed me most today was that Hearts only tactic would be to come hard at us from the start and not let us settle, yet we didn't seem ready for it, whether their injuries gave us a false sense of security I'm not sure but we never got going.
With 3 of our next 4 games at home, hopefully we'll soon be back to winning ways and show that today was just an off day.

17 Dec 2017 14:52:45
Dafabet, your talking complete nonsense regarding Tierney. Fair enough his performances lately haven't been great but my god, if your that hard on him then what's your opinion on boyata, jozo and Gordon? That defeats been on the cards for weeks, fair enough maybe no one seen a 4-0 but this team have been on the ropes for weeks. Whole defence needs a shake up no more so than 2 centre half a and a keeper.

17 Dec 2017 15:06:59
Terrible performance today and I will be very interested in BRs reaction to this.

Time is up for Gordon, Boyata and Lustig IMO. Simunovic looks half the player of last season. Griffiths was poor today and he is an easy target for BR. Interesting also to see how Sinclair comes out of this, poor again today.

Starting at 1 again in the next game!

17 Dec 2017 15:20:28
Very similar to Imps game. Toothless and wasteful up front and a defensive error cost us the game. Just a shame it was 4 today and could've been worse had Milinkovic lobbed Gordon and Gordons pass out was punished. I just hope Rogers sees this as a wake up call and realises we are in need of 2 first team CB and a #1 GK. I think most of the big teams in the league know now if they put a high press on us then they've got a chance of beating us, purely because our passing out from the back is sloppy and JS, DB and CG aren't good under pressure. I'd even go as far to say I haven't seen a worse performance since we lost to St Mirren 4-0 under Mowbray it really was that bad.

17 Dec 2017 15:53:49
Well, what can we say? Terrible performance today and Hearts showed exactly how to play against us. We all know the team's been off the pace the last few weeks, so a bad result was always on the cards, albeit a doing from the buns from the east is a tough one to swallow. But let's get this into perspective bhoys. What they have achieved is unbelievable and will never be broken. Let's re-set and go again. Brendan will know (particularly after today ) where we need to strengthen. The players need help and they will also benefit from the training camp in January. The Orcs will be all moist after this result as it's the only thing they take pleasure in nowadays is seeing us stumble. Onwards and upwards lads, it's still great to be a Tim.

17 Dec 2017 15:58:52
Daftbet your a strange character yet again the 3 bomb scares have let us down and for some weird reason your on ranting about tierney? Proved right? About wot? think u should pick a different sport cos your clueless about this one.

17 Dec 2017 16:12:14
It could be a blessing in disguise as we've been so under par if we went in to the Sevco game still unbeaten and not playing well there's more pressure not to have lost the record to them. The thing that annoyed me most was the amount of people slipping. Surely as a professional footballer at a big club you have more than one set of boots? I get that the pitch was soft but doesn't footballers carry a spare pair of boots on them for conditions like that?

17 Dec 2017 16:56:36
Dafabet normally don't like disputing amongst our own. But statements like punt Tierney that's ridiculous. The guys been outstanding since coming through the youth ranks gives it his all 99.9% of the time. Had some heavy tackles to ride today and never got going but my no means is he useless. I can confidently say that young Tierney is the best defender at Celtic at this moment in time, he will give you everything he can. Recognition of his talents have increased across Europe because of his effort. If we're ever going to move forward as a club this is exactly the type of player we need to keep. Agreed with Vinnie if that's your honest opinion you need to look at another sport.

I expect this to waken up some of the players who have felt half hearted efforts can win us games. It's time to recognise that we need to give it our all in every game and prove why we are the team that's broke back to back records.

17 Dec 2017 17:00:34
Well think we’re all pretty much of the same opinion, absolutely shocking performance but hopefully this reinvigorates the whole squad and we go again! But if we are looking to improve and progress as a club it cannot be with Boyata Jozo and Gordon in our back line! Said time and time again that boyata in particular is nowhere near the standard we need! Guys an utter shambles in that backine and on par with Ambrose for me! A big chance on Wednesday nite to prove this result was a freak! Then head into Saturday game against the sheep with confidence! HH ☘️☘️ On a side note Dafabet u take one load of Shoite pal honestly! What boyata and Jozo served up and u can somehow pick KT out from that! Utter nonsense!

17 Dec 2017 18:33:19
KT useless i've heard it all now.

17 Dec 2017 19:45:03
Boyata is the new Effe! All good things come to the end. We dust ourselves down and hopefully Rodgers lambasted every last 1 of them behind close doors. Wait till the msm come out with"Rangers up for the old firm fixture and celtic on the decline"

17 Dec 2017 20:28:48
Hold on, I’ve said that basically KT is not as good as he is made out to be. I stand by that, watch a rerun of the many European games we have been pumped in and you will see that he snatches at clearances, gets caught too far up the park and in general looks like the rest of the defense, not up to scratch. My point is this. If we can get top money for him we should take it.

17 Dec 2017 12:07:52
Seen a lot of MSSM commenting on the Mousse being sold in January. I completely understand the big guy wanting to move onto bigger challenges, making a bigger salary and getting his name across world football. He's used us for the platform he needs and so far has done us well. But to be linked to average teams like Brighton for £18 million. Is shooting himself down and I'd tell Brighton to gtf anything less than £25 million with 20% sell on; if they don't want sell on I'd say £30 million and we've got a deal. Money could be reinvested for 2/ 3 key players to the squad.

{Ed007's Note - Even if there was any truth in the story I can't see Dembele being interested in joining Brighton.}

17 Dec 2017 12:20:05
I'd hope not. In terms of club stance moving to the likes of Brighton is a step down. Yeah he'd be in the PL (as over rated as it is) playing for a team that's aim is to avoid relegation isn't going to provide him with the goalscoring opportunities that will get him known. Plus if they're relegated he's back to where he started in the championship. He should wait for a top 8 standard English team. Or even a decent Spanish, french, Italian or German team. I'm sick of substandard English teams being able to attract players solely based on money when they have no ambition.

17 Dec 2017 13:33:26
I think Dembele has already proven he isn't a money chaser and want's to bide his time for something better than Brighton and with the money splashed around down south why would we accept a piss poor offer like that if it has any substance to it.

17 Dec 2017 14:38:44
if he is to move in Jan; I would hope it was to the continent and not to a struggling EPL team. Unfortunately, I think maybe the valuation and reputation built last season, may have decreased due to his injuries and lack of impact this term.

17 Dec 2017 11:07:40
What are all your thoughts on our unbeaten run ending?
My thoughts are I expect it to happen sooner or later, but Rodgers has got team's mentality so upbeat that we will simply dust ourselves down and go on another run.
It is only the gullibles and the press that are making a big issue out of it, if it happens, it happens (but PLEASE not against the Edinburgh huns)

17 Dec 2017 11:58:00
no chance its going to happen today Timalloy, good double yesterday hammers and St Johnston. going for a wee punt on Celtic -2, think we`ll hump them.

17 Dec 2017 12:06:05
It could happen any time, although many opponents see a draw against us as a great achievement as we have beaten them all convincingly at some point - as long as it's not on 30/ 12, as that would be sore.

17 Dec 2017 13:22:29
I'd be surprised it doesn't happen today now. As usual Boyata Jozo and Gordon are total bombscares they all needed punted they aren't good enough to beat at a club like Celtic.

17 Dec 2017 14:34:14
got that one wrong bigtime, remarkable run comes to an end, pressure been intense for past few weeks with teams really going at us to beat the invincibles. just didn't think it would be that shower.

17 Dec 2017 19:43:52
It’s a weird one
On one hand I’m proud of the run and recognise the immense achievement for what it is, on the other recently its seems as if the pressure to maintain the run is taking its toll - maybe restricting some of our youngest players getting game time?

Having said that I want us to win every game regardless and I’m a right grumpy so and so when we drop points.

17 Dec 2017 02:41:56
Stumbled across a Facebook page showing the Sevco game v St J. Lovenkrands was commentating. He was constantly going on about how he teaches his players this skill and that skill. What a loud of rubbish he was speaking. The worse thing was his voice. It kept getting higher and higher so much so my dogs were starting to react to him. The funniest thing though was when the third goal went in they just stopped commentating altogether. I think i could hear them sob. 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

17 Dec 2017 06:13:03
This the same Lovenkrands who was laughing stock when doing his coaching badges and who’s super drill of passing the ball back and forward for 10 mins had us all amazed.