Celtic Banter Archive July 21 2014

21 Jul 2014 19:27:12
Firstly can I say that I am excited about our new manager.I don't want him to sign anyone just yet because he should be assessing his squad before buying. We ain't Manchester United where LVG will already know most of his players abilities.What I not sure about is the 3 up front, as we simply do not have the players at the moment for this and in my opinion it doesn't suit Commons who is obv our best player.Also on my wish list is the cups, I do not want ronny to play a 2nd string in any cup games. Rest the players in the league when necessary as it is a forgone conclusion, the cups are not.1 bad game and your out.We can afford to drop points in the odd league game and I sure the crowd will appreciate a youngster or 3 in the team too.In my opinion ronny will be given the Forster money as funds for transfer so prob 8m. can't see him bein here for long as Gordon was obv brought in for a reason.

You've answered your own point, - if he isn't going to shift from 433, which he has every right not to, if he thinks that it's the best formation, then he knows, and I think he touched on it, that he needs wide players, and also a striker! John Park is supposed to be a genius, he hasn't given us a good signing for nearly 3 years, he has a database that has various options. We don't live in an ideal world, we need quality in/some of the dross out. Also say for eg Lovren joins Liverpool, Southampton come in for Virgil, we will be left short at Centre half, I already think we are short there because we should have someone better that Ambrose. Would it be too normal for us to go out and buy a top centre half before we sell Virgil?

{Ed007's Note - Stefan Strandberg, 23 y.o. CB from Rosenborg, would be a good signing for us, as soon as RD was announced as manager I thought we could maybe steal a march on EPL teams over him, I'm certain RD will know all about him.}

21 Jul 2014 21:45:10
For me a good manager brings out the best in what he has. He does not force a sytstem to players who are not capable, he must use their strengths not weaknesses.Good players make a team not systems.I only hope he has the players before he tries to do this. he won't be the 1st manager to do this too fast.( see D. Moyes) I hope he has the patience to guide us there slowly.

If he doesn't get the correct men in to play a 4 3 3 system, then Ronnie needs to be flexible enough to tweak the system to best suit the players he has available .

I said on another thread two days ago, does a new manager pick players to suit his system or pick a system to suit his players?

Seen RD this morning saying he's confident the current squad can get to the CL groups. Glad somebody is. You just know that means we ain't signing anybody until that happens.

I agree partially Rayman, but as I said if a coach believes in a system then he is entitled to stick by it. It is all about good players, good players should be able to adapt and play different systems, but all the top managers seem to be going with 433/4231 - the old 442 meant that teams where getting killed in midfield. My problem is purely that we have too many players that I wouldn't play in any system. We should/better have money available to spend, not waste, but to INVEST in top quality young players, so he knows he needs width/another striker - get it done. What has John Park been doing lately? If he doesn't have a choice of various players for different positions then something is far wrong. We are always getting told about this incredible database we have, so surely it should be bearing fruit during the window, we only have another bloody 5 weeks before it shuts, the most important part of the season started a week ago, these qualifiers, it's always the same though, we're working away in the background/trying our best, - they've been working away in the background/trying their best, and ultimately coming up short for the 30 years that I've been going to the games!

The whole Celtic philosophy has shifted drastically since 2012.
We have no need to spend 'big' in order to maintain domestic league dominance and complacency has set in, even though quality has dropped.

The main objective seems to be qualification to the CL group stages and this has been more tricky with the amount of games required - when the team is clearly unprepared.
Therefore the task of qualification appears to be a feat in itself.

The current squad is ill equipped to compete with most CL group teams and this is damaging our reputation and players/supporters confidence.

In selling our top players without replacing them with similar or better options, I really worry about our future and doubt very much that Lawell has the same perspective as most of the support.
This Murrayfield fiasco is another point in question.

JJ

Yeah I don't know the lad Strandberg, I remember you mentioning him previously Ed, But he's a great age, and we have been a bit short at centre half for a while - I like defenders who have real pace, if they make a mistake, you've always got a chance to recover, or if your partner is also quick then one of you should get back. Pace in general is lacking right through this team, as well as real ability right enough, it's not a great combination.