Celtic Banter Archive August 27 2014

27 Aug 2014 21:13:15
here is how I see it we are at the crossroads as a club and we need a decision from the board. Simply put 2 decisions to be made

1/ If they feel the manager is the man to take us forward then back him by giving him the money to bring in HIS own players and ask him who he wants to keep and get rid of although the window will close soon so to late for signings.

2/Get rid of the manager and get someone in who can motivate the current players and utilise they abilities.

I held back renewing my season books as like pl was waiting to see if we made champions league before spending any more cash as Europa league means I will be unable to attend sunday matches.

We all laugh at the sevco fans for being fleeced but we are just as daft and being take for mugs by the board the loan signings do not make sense as we are meant to be building a team not loaning a team.

67, you are correct, fans fleeced once again, pl will spin his propaganda p1sh this week, choose from can't compete, we tried, manager has money to spend, we have the club at heart, oh and my £bonus£ fat thief.
Too late for a new manager we have the same sh1te, they all need chased, my heart aches at the way our club as downsized.

27 Aug 2014 20:10:02
rd, telling us we are not a cl team/ good enough for europe, about time someone in management admitted this, its a truth most knew but didn't want to admit or hear and hid behind the falsehood we are a big club (in the stands maybe but not the park) we should acknowledging this fact, we must accept it and face up to it, otherwise if we hide behind this delusion we are a big club and keep going as we are the decline could get much worse, this needs to be addressed and pressure put on the powers that be to rectify it

27 Aug 2014 19:47:25
I'm still gutted from last night but was not exactly the biggest shock but doesn't take the sting away! A lot of people calling for RD's head last night which is extreme as too we have been riding our luck for a while! We had a 2nd opertunity to qualify but the board let us all down by not investing! RD has the potential to do great thing but needs backing to forfill this potential! We still have European football and if we sign a few decent players maybe we could make a to of it! Our captain and midfield General has been missed greatly! But efe is like a suicide bomber just keeps screwing up denayer ahold have started and that's where RD went wrong! Give RD time it's the boards fault!

I agree that the board are in the wrong - in particular Lawwell, but they do not pick the team, yet!
RD picked the teams that have played and that is where it has been going wrong on the park, I have stated since day one that he was the wrong choice and even although it is early days I am still of that opinion - this Europa League is also going to cause so much confusion now with fixtures as we will have almost no Saturday involvement whilst we are in Europa, it makes it difficult for travelling fans which will impact on the attendance at league games - not happy and do not see much brightness on the horizon.

It was the Board/Peter Lawwell that appointed the Ronny, if he is a success then this will also be a gamble that's paid off for the Board and a 'shrewd' piece of business by them - high 5's all round again.

I have been reading comments on social media and some fans comments are almost like a death in the family.

I'm the same as you SOS, getting beat is a sting. Last night was particualry brutal, the defeat and the overall attitude.

I don't know what the answer is and I know we all go on about sensible investment (me included) then I look at Liverpool, Manchester United Real Madrid, Barca, Man City, PSG, Monaco - is their investments sensible? Liverpool are the 5 times European Champions with a massive support (same as us) but cannot win that EPL no matter how much money they spend.

I know folk are going to say these teams have different incomes but still

I don't think you can buy success unless you go all the way and try to buy the eleven best players on the planet and hope they gel, think its called cheque book management, super ally has been doing it at sevco, on a smaller 'planet', what I mean is you can be that kind of a 'manager' or you can be a manager who manages the players at his disposal, using them to the best of their abilities, in their best positions, and motivating them to do the best for the team, sadly RD has'nt been doing any of that, some of his team selections, I find baffling, I still think JC is having too much input, as for the people saying give him the money and let him bring in his own people, all I can say is Berget to that!, John Park has found a lot of gems, he will continue to do that, Ithink RD should bring in the assistant he had in Norway, and he should be given to the end of the season and be judged on that, I think Rangers would have been a lot better sticking with LeGuen, I hope we don'nt panick and get rid of RD too soon, Iknow he's made mistakes but it's early days.
ps Idon't know what everyone else thinks about DiMaria, Ihad'nt paid him much notice before the world cup, but no way is he worth that obscene money, LVG is of the cheque book management persuation type.

27 Aug 2014 19:27:40
Cut back on trophy cleaning costs . Save on stewarding for all home matches with reduced attendancies. Lower turnover and retain healthy balance sheet. What more could a season ticket holder wish for???

At least we are protecting our assets on the park by not playing Griffiths our recognised best striker.

Happy days.

27 Aug 2014 18:29:27
I bet the tickets for the home Europa league game will be a price match for last seasons champions league tickets, lesser compitition we will still be forking out 25 pound a ticket.

27 Aug 2014 17:32:55
ok folks, rant time.
I`m sure this has all been covered, but here goes.

in my humble opinion.

1) First half wrong shape again. this has happened too many times in his short tinnier. We were ran over in midfield.
2) Wrong players picked in crucial positions.
3) Ronny does not see or worst cannot see what we are all about. as a team we attack. hunt divide and conquer.
(The Celtic Way.)
4) We had 2 games, which in money terms worked out at £8m per game. If PL and the board cannot or will not spend the money to get decent players in to enhance the team and gets us to the group stages, then its time someone was put in charge to do so.
5) If we had spent even £5m on a striker then we would be where should be in the CL groups again.
5) We know there are players in the first team who are not up to our standard, and they have to go. asap. ( easier said than done, I Know )


For Ronny to come out and say we are not good enough to be in the CL group stages is an embarrassment. To him, to the players and to us the fans.

last night was worst than Legia game / result. an even bigger let down.
So disappointed in last night.

Rant over

Celtic forever. Hail Hail.

27 Aug 2014 15:54:30
I see the deal for Mubarak is done. To little to late lawell, damage is done!

27 Aug 2014 14:59:57
After some time to reflect, we are clearly at some kind of crossroads.

Worryingly, the team on the park is not head and shoulders above rangers (tin hat on.) and whilst we are obviously in FAR better shape of it (with a healthy credit rating and the trust of banks etc), the question really ought to be begged "what is the point in being healthy OFF the pitch and miserable on it?

Ed, my estimation of RD and JC has diminished and it is not because of CL qualification failure. I am (and will always be) a realist who would opt for progress and performance over results per se (tin hat on. ) but the NATURE of our losses and our Euro home form and tactics has been very suspect. Efe for experience and then out in at right back? A middle 3 of Mulgrew Kayal and Johansen with one up top against a Slovenian team who have 1 match in Europe away from home in 12 attempts (look it up.).As Strachan highlighted, why let Maribor settle in to he game in the first 20 minutes . the first 20 minutes shouod have been like the first 20 minutes in the second half. they would have been rattled, and they would have retreated because we would have gave them too many things to think about . the point is we allowed them to GROW in confidence and the blame lies squarely at the management's door .

Lack of signings to bolster an already suspect first eleven with limited options re fringe players. it has not happened. We cannot always put it down to bad timing. Once yes. Twice maybe, but it seems to be a perennial problem making it a dereliction of duty issue at the highest level

NK Maribor have never paid a fee for a player and yet seem to have successfully assembled a team on the park that can play in a composed manner.they passed.they appeared faster than us all over the park.why is that? Is it attitudinal? Is it genetic? Is it professionalism (and lack thereof)? Is it our national game which is fast becoming a mickey-mouse event?

Teams who do not have the financial resources to compete, can still compete in different ways. They can improve on fitness. They can be more disciplined . They can build up/bulk up. They can work on speed. They can work on diet. They can work on systems to stifle better opponents and work on specific tactics to hurt superior opponents. There is a whole manner of things that can be done at all levels. MY fear at the moment is that CFC do not appear to really have a strategy.if they did have a strategy why does it look like we missed out on wildcard additions (twice) for vital matches. It seems CFC had a knee-jerk reaction to their 2nd chance which can only mean that until the Legia debacle, they thought they were good enough. Learning that they weren't, they went out to bolster and came up with an injured left midfielder who hasn't played in donkeys and a loan signing with work permit issues. He was playing in Russia and is Ghanaian. What were they expecting? I HOPE that there is a strategy. If it is about emerging young talent to develop, then fine and well but the PLC would be well advised to get in a PR guru and gave us a reason to give them (and the management team) the benefit of the doubt. they look dishevelled behind the scenes and that is a worry.

One last point. Would Stevie May or Johnny Russell or Andy Robertson have disgraced themselves last night? We blew the Steven Fletcher deal a few years back and never learned the lesson. I would have no truck brining in the best of scottish if it was a happy camp and if we had the coaches to make them better. If they were cohesive and improving and dynamic and exciting then why not? But no. We have, instead, players like Berget, Stokes, Kayal, Bitton, Johanssen, Izzy, Mulgrew, Ambrose, Boeritger, Pukki, Balde and the list goes on. MANY (too many) half decent players who know our game and have blossomed in our game have been looked over for johnny foreigner. Why that level of faith in players of modest repute for big fees?

It is a time for cool heads but the worrying aspect of all of this is that rangers will be back next year (even if still in financial peril) and when I look at my team and the shape it is in, and I ponder Ibrox in 12 months time I do get that feeling that we will struggle. We should be miles and miles and miles and miles ahead and whilst that may not be ideal from the perspective of "a competitive league" it was an achievable objective all the same! I fear we have blown that chance and will regret it (I hope not, but I fear as much)

Why was RD brought in? Was it to make average players better? Was it to down-size discretely once again? Is RD our answer to Leeds' Hackaday? RD wants to be here. Why wouldn't he? But why him? Why now? Why the risk? Should we not have done that when our biggest rivals were in division 3? If RD doesn't work out, and my money is on things not working out (sadly), what shape will we be in come christmas? Will we have players on bug wages totally and completely disinterested and disenfranchised? Can RD trust his current players to give him the benefit of the doubt and work their socks off to improve as players, individually and collectively? If not, does PL have confidence in RD to work out who needs to go and allow RD to spend physical cash because if there are question marks, where would that leave RD in those negotiations for a transfer spend with Pedro?

We are in a strange place at this precise point and there will be no easy way out of what we ourselves have created. Are the board culpable? Are we complicit by never allowing the team to rack up losses in the pursuit of medium to long term material improvement. It may be a results business, but how many points would we be prepared to sacrifice to get better. How many poor performances from an emerging talent would we be prepared to tolerate if it meant that player turning in to the next Danny McGrain? These are searching questions. and we would all be better off pondering them before we make any rash judgements on any of it .

27 Aug 2014 12:13:22
Ed, If you know can you clarify PL and Bankier's fiscal packages?

Also is it the case ( I believe it is!) that Fat Sally is on a bigger wage than RD I believe Rd is on circa 300k a year whilst the fat one is on 400k (that is after his 50% salary cut btw!) I am asking this because we know RD was the cheap option am just wanting to know how cheap it is embarrassing that our manager is on less than SEVCO's! simply because we are LEAGUES apart in every sense!

I don't want to turn on RD but that selection last night? C.mon to f**K folks! A said on here after the Dundee Utd game that the Maribor Asst Manager looked worried as though he had just seen an entire different team! (BTW Strachan said the EXACT same thing last night too) So why after the power performance of Denayer/ VVD why did we upset it? then we were told by RD that we were waiting on EFE's experience so why did he play in a position he never played him in a position he had never did so before? ITS CRAZY!

Then to have Boerigter on the bench and come on and not even have (and am not a big fan either) PUKKI on the bench surely to f**K Pukki is a better option than Boerigter?

But the weirdest thing of all to me last night was RD himself "he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights" he froze, he looked so out of place on that touchline it was SCARY! am no body language expert but he looked totally out his comfort zone never mind depth!

We are now in the process of signing FIVE players in total since left and F**KAN THREE of them in BERGET, MUBARAK, TONEV ALLLLLLL play in the same position in left of the front 3, or left middle wtf is that all about we need to go and buy a LEADER! not ONE in that TEAM is a leader in a vocal sense! and it is abundantly crystal clear!

Then we go chasing a game at HT that we don't need too FFS!

27 Aug 2014 12:59:28
Why are people saying "let's see what happens in the next couple of weeks regarding transfers".? Peter Lawwell and Desmond DO NOT invest in the Celtic squad. We needed investment last year. didn't happen, we needed investment this year. didn't happen. We are signing players on loan from clubs who don't want them and for what? Our under 19s would win the SPFL so why waste wages on the likes of Wakaso, Tonev and Berget (who by the way is a joke of a footballer!) We have no need to invest now, our season is gone in terms of big games. We need to build for next year but even if we do sign an unknown who ends up being good, they will be sold by next years qualifiers anyway so what's the point? As long as the current board are there our club has no ambition. We as fans are now customers to a business and not supporters of a football club. Sad reality. Bringing in players to help us win the SPFL would be pointless.

27 Aug 2014 12:49:40
Hi ed hope you are keeping well,

First post of the new season as been trying to give it all time to settle in before making any rash judgement.

Although really annoyed that we went out last night, I still believe that Deila will turn this around. I thought it was refreshing to hear a manager come out and speak the truth that the team we have just now isn't up to the task.

I know everyone is frustrated but I don't see how boycotting CP or not getting behind the new manager will do to bring on the team. We have a lot of dead wood in this squad from the previous regime who we have all slagged off in the past, let's be honest Lennon lived off of beating Barca for nearly two years.

The only negative for me with Deila so far is trying to make players play a system they obviously can't play, he needs time to build his team his way. i'm not mentioning names as they have all been mentioned before and its obvious to us all what players need to go.

Last point on the board is we need to be careful what we wish for, us old enough to remember everyone singing sack the board when Fergus was in charge and now he is basically (and rightfully) hailed as the messiah. Our board have lots of faults but we could have had to put up with a lot worse, (Murray, Green, Whyte, Romanov etc etc).

C'mon the hoops.

27 Aug 2014 13:40:58
Celtstu sorry can't agree with your post. Ronnie will never get this right. Way out of his depth at Celtic. Talks a good game and now he is saying judge my team later in the year, not now. Tactical errors in Warsaw, same at Murryfield, playing players who had joined the squad 24 hrs earlier. Changes an entire team on Saturday and gets beaten and last night was a joke. Everyone is in about how bad these players are. These guys only lost 1 game all last season in the SPL. They are not great players but they are playing way below the standard they set last season. It is the MANGER. Mark my words in a months time you will be saying the same as me. He has to go before we dissolve as a football team.

27 Aug 2014 13:56:40
Johnny I understand where your coming from, the above is my opinion though.

Mentioning last season is also the basis of my dead wood comment, we may of only lost once in the league but did you see the Champions league games?

Scraped past Elfsborg and Karagandy in the qualifiers. Destroyed home and away v Milan without scoring, who are the worst Milan side in 50 years. Destroyed in the Nou Camp.

What will you do if we go rest of the League season unbeaten? one loss.

We are al forgetting Strachan and the ego both lost miserably in the first champs league qualifiers, remember Bratislava and Braga?? Give the guy a chance.

Johnnymac is right here, he is spot on this is a team that only LOST once last season went 13/14 games without conceding a goal!

Please FFS let's factor in how poor LW & Maribor both teams/leagues have had ONE that's right ONE team in the champions league in the group stages in the last FIFTEEN years! both are poor scoring teams!

It never worked for Tony Mowbray it never worked for Paul Le Guen it never worked for John Barnes square pegs in round holes springs to mind!

I wanted so much to give him a chance and it was encouraging with the Dundee Utd performance and the score draw in Maribor - although we should have won that game with a bit more desire; however we've actually failed to win our last 4 CL games
The gamble at Inverness failed and the team selection last night flopped.
All the supporters will tell you that Mulgrew and Ambrose are atrocious and when you add Izzy's failings then we have much to worry about.
For some reason RD cannot get the best out of his fellow countryman Johansen - who has went backwards and Berget is virtually ineffective.
The manger looked panic stricken last night and his back room staff do not have the experience or savvy to advise him in such important games.
Only fools make predictions; but I can only see Celtic struggle for the foresee-able future in this situation.
There are clearly players who cannot or will not produce their best form under the new man plus too many injury prone passengers as always.
So a settled, confident side is further away than ever.

27 Aug 2014 12:34:46
I don, t blame RD, but what is going to change between now and this time next year? This window is almost gone and we have done nothing, we are constantly told the January window is no good as no one wants to sell anyone half decent, which brings us back to this time next year and chasing deadlines! Again? If this is us being well run financially, then I long for the days when we were carefree and frivolous. We also need to lose this red iclous wage structure and start paying players what they are worth, because going by last nights performance, the club could save a fortune!

27 Aug 2014 13:01:23
RD Has to take some of the blame. 1 thing he needs to do forget Berget. The guy is shocking

I don't know how u say rd can't take any blame he signed tonev ( injured ) the young boy from man city don't know how to spell his name he didn't put him in last night maybe a trust issue who knows, signed berget who in my opinion is absolutely shocking, the craig Gordon deal was clearly nothing to do with him as it apparently was on cards before he came plus the fact that he dropped our top scorer from last season because he didn't fit into his style of play, as soon as he came on last night we looked more of a threat . I made the point last night 9 competitive games 4 wins (two of them against team that were terrible ) 4 defeats 1 draw how can he not take any blame?

27 Aug 2014 19:03:38
RD is an easy target, this board settled for being way below second best a long long time ago!

27 Aug 2014 12:05:21
Figured out how we can appeal against last nights result. Notice the Hungarian Ref. Kassai (Hun)! We were playing 12 men all night. Hail Hail.

Now now Tim
Is there a chance that we went out because we were rubbish?
I don't think the ref had a particularly bad game.
He made a few mistakes but we got as many as we lost and they are not the reason we are out. I'm sure the party went on until the wee hours in Warsaw too!

27 Aug 2014 11:56:53
In the back of my mind I could see last nights result coming. From my point of view I feel we the fans are being treated like customers rather than fans and the club is being solely used as a business to make profit. No player investments means no improvement, and Neil Lennons "favourites" have been found out. I just hope RD has the back bone to drop/Sell them and given time to get his philosophy across and develop OUR Celtic into a respectable champions league team. I think the radical shouts for RD's head are a bit much he's been in the job 10 weeks or so. I also think that the fans that think we are a top European team are being extremely naive and we have found our level for the mean time in the Europa league.

I think RD has proven that he's willing to drop players. The problem he has is who does he bring in. We have no fast paced attacking threats.

There is no evidence Neil Lennon's favourites have been found only . What definitely has been found out is Ronny Deila and his tactics or lack of tackles .

27 Aug 2014 11:43:33
We got what we deserved. Put nothing in get nothing out. No ambition. Sport is about winning not thinking about being satisfied with a group stage. What's point in entering anything and not trying or taking a gamble. Just happy to plod along. Joke. Sick of us depending on getting to group stage. Think big you get big. Two billionaires on board. See if I was a billionaire I couldn't think of a better club to plough money into.

27 Aug 2014 11:09:59
How about trying to get Anderson from Man United he has failed to live up to the hipe there was about him at Porto but at 26 I think played in an attacking role he could do a job!

27 Aug 2014 10:13:15
Why is everyone blaming RD he has only been here 10 weeks and has had nothing to spend in the transfer market. He only had one player that he brought in playing last night as Gordon was a board decision. So get off Ronnies back and let's put the blame where it belongs. THE BOARD. If Delia IS the manager they wanted why is the board not backing him.
Rant over

Marco, RD is getting a raw deal. He is being made out to be the scape goat when that was not his squad.

The blame lies firmly with the manager, yes we know we should a had more signings but we played 9 games all against so called inferior opposition and played well once.We would have bitten the hand off for a play off with Maribor before a ball was kicked even without signings, he just clearly not up to the job.@DN it takes 2 or 3 years to get your own squad as you put it, is it ok to get beat every year because it not his squad?Any decent manager would a saw us thro that tie he made rookie mistakes and is hardly a "step up in class".

The board have a lot to answer for but to suggest last night and legia wasn't ronnys fault is wrong, ronny dropped denayer to the bench moved lustig to cb moved efe to rb all wrong, ronny played 1 up top when we had a player in stokes who basically cannot play up top alone but can play better with a strike partner. Ronny thinks he can turn Kayal in to a player when we all know after the last 2 years it isn't going to happen and that's before we start with berget and the rest. The board should come out and say we got it wrong and demote/sack ronny and go get Clarke now.

@1, I my eyes dn its nowt to do with it not being his squad, its about playing people out of position, no plan b, no fight in the team, this squad won the clean sheet record last year don't forget, he's clearly not getting the best out of players as they aren't buying into his vision, no manager worth his salt comes into a club with a system, should be seeing wot players he has, and implementing a sysem that works for the players,

The player is question Berget is absolutely hopeless in fairness

@rayman ronny delia is a manager, not a magician! You can't expect him to work wonders with a duff squad inheriated from lennon and with no money to spend on players.

So i'm struggling to see where fault lies with Ronny Delia. The fault lies with the board for not spending say even £5m on 2/3 new faces that would of made difference.

Rayman you just don't like him cause he is not irish and has no prior affiliation with club

DN30 do you need a passport to enter your reality?, duff team, VVD, brown lustig forster, commons, matthews, all inherited from your pet peeve lennon, stokes who everybody knows needs a partner up front, the fact is RD should know these basic things, granted we've been missing broonys drive but there's enough in our team to have got thru last night if we had a coach/manager that knew what he was doing, and why bring the irish/affiliation garbage into it, nobody mentions it on here bar you, you really do talk some crap son, or doyou just get up in the morning and have a cup of nescafe instant bitch? when does your school startback.

Dn who is to blame for 1 up top who is to blame for efe at rb who is to blame for subbing lustig who is to blame for tactics who is to blame for resting players before legia 2nd leg and Maribor 2nd leg?

@DN I cudnt care less what nationality our manager is.Your clutching at straws I talking about his ability to manage, the other posters on this thread have summed it up.The players he used last night have PROVED themselves capable to get to CL and last 16 and unbeaten run last year as well as shut out record. The only difference is the manager and as you say wait till he gets his "own squad". Well I can't wait for the signings because going by bergets quality we in real trouble.

27 Aug 2014 16:06:29
I defended rd after the legia games cause of the lack of investment he got and he didn't have much time but after coming away with a 1-1 draw away then making some of the tactical decisions last night I can't help but blame him for it. Aye the board take a majority of the blame but imo he got it totally wrong last night. Iv defended efe many times but we could all see in the 1st half he was a mile out and he should have been hooked at half time. Mulgrew in midfield again is baffling but that's not just rd 2 blame for that but he should be able 2 see he's never a footballer. Moving mcgregor over 2 the left was a mistake. Not starting commons was a mistake. Berget was rotten and shouldn't have came out for the 2nd half

@bhoywonder ALL HAIL THE KEYBOARD WARRIOR! End of the day people like you do not have a clue. That was lennons team out there bar gordon. Delia is just in door and trying to make do with a bad bunch WITH ABSOLUTELY NO FUNDS PROVIDED BY LAWWELL TO ADDRESS ISSUES.

Irish/affiliation "garbage" as you put it has been proved many a time on various threads where all this celtic minded pi$h seems to be an essential quality to be manager! Total bull$hit! And the point I was making was if lennon was still in charge good few f*ds like yourself would be compassionate about result!

At least I can see the wood from the trees and REALISE THE REALITY OF SITUATION.

@DN you really don't get it do you? Instead of insulting people why not read it properly. We ALL know it was Lennons team out there as you put it. But they were successful last 2 years why not now?Everything the same apart from 1 common denominator. Yes RD and his daft selections, subs, tactics, and his inability to get the best out of the players.

DN30 think youll find its not just myself that thinks your deluded pal, do yourself a favour and go and check all your posts, all negative, read ma post before you pick up your crayons, the reality as you call it is the pish players as you call them, have been there b4 and managed to do it, your saviour RD continues to play players out of position, stands there like a mccoist clone looking for answers, if NL was in charge last night I would have been on here saying the same, the difference is they would have had a better chance as they would have been in a system and positions they were brought in for, and before you come on and say i'm embarrasing myself as that's all you seem to say when someone questions your superiour knowledge of all things, the reality is youve bought into the tiki taki crap that RD is spouting, barnes failed with much better players, mowbray failed, lennon came in and sorted it with a bit of success.

Delluded? Are you for real check all my posts? Of course I know what I post! I have been consistent in what I post!
You mention mowbray, that squad is a far worse state than what it was when lennon took it over so don't know how you can possibly class that as lennon having any success- leaving a squad full of duds not fit for job. Also how was lennons domestic cup record?

Aye that's right cause lennons superior tactics got all the results- greenock morton.

Listen halfwit you mention buying into the tiki taka of RD. i'm giving the guy a chance! He is in a hole just now with squad and trying his best.

You are obviously senile and suspect somewhere down the line got sore knees after meeting lennon

Lennons not had any success? can you send me some of what your smoking. how many times you going to bring up the morton match?, already been over the duds thing, see abovepost, my knees arefine btw, think yours would be in a worse state from walking up and down the steps of our ivory tower, keep up the negativity pal. good job

R D looks as if he isn't up to the job . He talks about the need to change the Scottish season, to change Lennoxtown but when it comes to the bit after the team getting an excellent result in the away game Maribor's manager out thought and beat him tactically wise last night .

27 Aug 2014 08:57:56
I see Bryan Ruiz's move to Werder Bremen collapsed last night due to a cash problem at the German club, fee in the rejoin of 3mil. He is the kinda player Celtic are crying out for in the middle of the park! And for 3mil that is a bargain. Get your finger out Peter Lawell and stop treating the fans like something you have stepped on in the street.

Why don't you ask Fulham fans what they think

27 Aug 2014 15:51:15
I don't need to ask Fulham fans to know he is a good player. He was the stand out player for Costa Rica in the world cup and that's the highest level of football :).

27 Aug 2014 08:51:50
I wonder if the two possible signings will still want to put pen to paper after watching that pash last night?
Also guess VVD will be offski soon too as PL will need to get the money back that we've missed out on.
Happy daze! :(
HH

27 Aug 2014 07:56:54
Asked if last night’s result might harpoon Celtic’s £3m move for Sporting Gijon striker Stefan Sepovic, Deila said: “We will see. But players do want to come to Celtic.”

27 Aug 2014 07:25:47
That's me just back Down south after last nights game 900 mile for that s!t that's me I have always and will always love my Celtic but my season card is going away I will not spend one more penny on watching Celtic this season or until Desmond and lawell go , my advice to all Celtic fans is this are club is being used as a piggy bank for very rich people most from Ireland I have thought how to tell them we have had enough and the only answer is a full boycot of the Europe a league I know some will say that will hurt the club, it can't hurt as much as the conmen at the top table are hurting it To think of the opportunity that are club has had to dominate Scottish football for many many years to come, at the moment I would rubbish my self if we got rangers in one of the cups, the last words from me is mr Desmond and lawell are not good for Celtic and the only thing I can do is boycot until it changes, said with a heavy heart, but my love for Celtic is to strong to watch it being used like this anymore

27 Aug 2014 00:41:17
A few people pulled me up when I commented on the massive changes for last weeks league game. I felt we had not played enough games to justify massive changes. Some may say after this latest result that justice was served. Maybe so but bottom line, we got a second bite and still failed when it mattered. To me we now saw reality. Out manager and team are just not good enough. As early as it is, I think we will have a problem with the league this season. Too many peoplehave become complacent and see it as a gimme. RD not big enough for the job IMO.

Rd was being brought in as no 2, after 4-5 refusing job and cost cutting he got it, and is totally out his depth.
Agree league will be close this year, as team are just average, absolutely disgusted with the ones running the club at the moment

My first mail was not a knee-jerk reaction to the result. We are now reaping the rewards for lack of major investment. We are, at present, slightly better than average and we have gone backwards since the other team went away. I see sevco, hearts and hibs coming back stronger than before and we have not done anything to consolidate. RD was not the first choice and now appears to be showing why. Hate being negative but right now I personally don't see too many positives. Every hopeful. Hail Hail

I knew RD wasn't the right man, I'm still laughing at the fact that your lot had "another" chance to progress but threw it away, now watch the rats desert the ship :-D

I'm as upset as you TT but I don't think getting rid of RD would solve anything as I can't think of anyone to replace him. He needs to get a settled team and get rid of the rubbish tying up good wages. If he's going to play a system with 1 up front then it can't be Stokes who is no where near good enough.

27 Aug 2014 09:15:47
If we now hear that the Scepovic deal has fallen through then we know the Bostd are playing games. We need to rebuild and that means investing when things are not going well. RD has no tactical awareness. He has a style of play he is trying to imp linnet but the wrong personnel to effectively play that system against anything but average teams. The Board are responsible for appointing him. Anyone can see that this is going to end in tears and the new manager is going to come in and want to change the players again. Yes Celtic are average but that squad won the league last season by 29 points. Yes we were out our debts in CL terms but with investment we may have improved. Now it looks like we need an entire new team. Sorry don't buy that one. We needed 4 quality players and we would have done ok and if we sell a player bring in a player of around the same quality all we have done recently is sign poor players who can't get a game. No wonder the squad looks rubbish not 1 signing from last year apart from Johanson has held down a place. RD will be gone by Christmas and unless we improve so will the league.

How long will it be now until we get another chance? I said after Legia too the board need to treat it like a second chance at life. And invest seriously before qualifiers. Coefficients will only get worse, Legia and Maribor are incredibly easy draws as well, better players will continue to leave the sinking ship etc etc. I can't see us qualifying any season soon now the way we're operating. Said it for a couple years now, and it's starting to become realised, unless we start operating like a CL club, we will no longer be one.

Give Delia a break! He has had no money to spend on squad. A squad that is nowhere near standard it should be!

He certainly has more experience than when Lennon started his reign.

Obviously changes made last week was a tactical drastic tactical decision to save "best" players for maribor game. Its evident he knows how bad a squad he has inheritated and wasnt wanting to take any chances with second crack at champions league.

Its a bad day when it looks as though stokes is our best striker. A striker whos euro record is 23 games 2 goals.

End of the day we can all moan and gripe about last nights result, but we only have ourselves to blame. We have let Dermott Desmond and Peter Lawwell gradually run club into the ground at an alarming rate past 4 years. Unless we stand up and unite things are going to get worse.

If we are in such a good position financially and were going to sign this mystery £6m rated striker back in january. what was wrong with spending this money on 2/3 badly needed players in order to guarantee CL group stages?

All this bull$hit "celtic do business behind closed doors" is an excuse to decieve and get away with leading us up garden path!

The only way we are going to remove these leeches is a boycott of games and purchases of merchandise. And before anyone says "who would want to takeover celtic?" Guarantee you there will be plenty of candidates! We are a massive club! We are just being misguided by greed!

Cant believe anyone wants rid of a Manager just in the door so if you do the question is who's to replace him? can't wait to see the answers!

While driving up to the match yesterday, I heard on the radio the manager saying that getting to the çhampions league would be like Christmas and New year rolled into one.
It made me realise how far we have fallen in the last 2 years. From beating barcelona, spartak Moscow etc, we now think beating maribor is the limit of our ambitions.
It appears to me the manager is too inexperienced for celtic, every time we play a big match he gets the tactics wrong. I couldn'tbbelieve how negative we were in the first half, we were playing a very ordinary team, yet we were set up as if we were playing bayern Munich.
Surely we should have gone at them early and try to put the game beyond them, after all we created enough chances over there. By the time we changed tactics they had grown into the game and had grown in confidence.
We have been getting worse steadily over the last 2 or 3 years, surely the aim should be to improve slightly year on year. It should be possible to achieve this and keep the books balanced,
I think the board won't be happy till we only win the league on goal difference, anything more, and the team is too strong, so we can sell.
There comes a point when you have to admit a policy is not working, I think we have long since passed this point as this policy is now costing the club a lot of money
I am not saying we should go out and spend silly money on players, but surely with all the çhampions league money from previous years, and all the money we have received from player sales, we surely can do better than loan signings and a manager who although well meaning, shouldn't be at a club like Celtic to learn his trade, we should be bigger than that.

Celtic should not be written off yet the game only finished last night

@10. Petrofac cup. Rest my case

Your right for once DN stokes not good enoughfor Europe, but since your playing him how do we get the best out of him. Stick him up front on his own where he is useless with no support? Or play to his strengths and put Commons beside him where they can work together? Now the second half wasn't great BUT it was night and day compared to 1st half.We just mighthave won the game if he started that way and Maribor cudnt have controlled the tempo of the game. For me another rookie mistake.

Rayman i'm always right. You should know that by now.

Issue with stokes not being good enough, is a problem that was attempted to be rectified 3 times last season- pukki, balde and griffiths. Lennons inability to sign a striker has come back to haunt us.

@DN we all know we need astriker but we are talking about our managers inability to get the best out of his players. I get that you like him, I do to as a person but I don't trust his manager skills. 1 question to you. Do you really think he is getting the best out the players at his disposal?

26 Aug 2014 23:54:13
hopefully we can now dispel the idea that we are a European/cl team in some if not most fans eyes, we are a poor team in a rubbish league, if it wasn't for a clerical error I doubt we would have got by a Europa qualifier, how many times have people said oh they only come from here(insert all the countries that have overtaken us and the rest that are catching us) we will easily beat them, we are one of the teams these countries say that about now, if Norwegian teams coefficient goes up we fall into the bottom half of the coefficient table, Scottish league football is abysmll and we are just the best of a very bad lot, last season we had fans saying we will beat ajax as dutch football is rubbish and believed it, now that we know our level this is year zero we need to reboot everything about our club from the bottom up rd might not make it as our manager but I think he could turnaround the football structure of the club and I think he deserves the rest of the season to prove his worth, rd has been hamstrung by the board who wouldn't back him with money and left him with all lennons rubbish who struggled to qualify last season and the season before, so the writing was on the wall for this, the people who bare the majority of the blame for this are the board who have dragged us downto this level with lack of investment and penny pinching, and need to be let known in no uncertain terms enough is enough, one last thing out of our squad tonight how many are good enough for what /where we want to be 4-5? imo lustig vvd mgregor commons Gordon (poss). that is how far we have fallen. so is it year zero or same old same old? well with our board I think I can post this again next august

26 Aug 2014 23:18:50
ED,

when CFC do sign players the intention is not to have things not work out, CFC are not in the business of wasting money

so here is another perspective .

we signed Pukki (£+£2m), Derk Boertigter (£3m!), Amido Balde (£2m), Griffiths (£1m) Bitton (£1m) .excluding wages .that is a near £10m spend .

had EVEN 1 or 2 worked out and became household names and prolific contributors, like a Hooper or Wanyama etc we would be a little bit further on

we have had a terrible run of signings who have not worked out.we got used to a good thing buying players for £1, 2, 3M and punting on improved players .we thought we had it all sussed out but the wheels have come off.

is there something wrong with the scouting reports or talent spotting .Celtic do buy and sell but few teams out with the BIG leagues can afford to write off £10m on duds .

we are now feeling the pain of these failed investments. and there is no signs whatsoever that any of them will turn it around .(maybe Bitton) .

this was going to catch up with us at some point .

back to basics.invest in "potential" and develop them and get this league won and a cup. europa league used as a "learning curve"

26 Aug 2014 23:39:17
Utter embarrassment is the only words I can use after watching the match against Maribor tonight. The board has known for over a year now that this squad has needed strengthening and it simply hasn't happened. Was this the reason why Lennon left? I guess he's the only person that can answer that question. As for Ronnie Delia he is going to need time to take in his own brand of player for the vision of the style of play that he wants for this club and not what P.L wants. It's possibly a blessing in disguise that celtic didn't qualify for the C.L. As it would only have been papering over the cracks for what we have all known for the last year or so.