Last night the SPFL champions were 11 minutes away from edging past a club that operates on a fraction of Celtic’s budget.
Then what we saw was something akin to what is offered up from Hollywood in the digital age.
The horror show was clearly enhanced by CGI:
Celtic’s Grotesque Implosion.
I generally pull back from giving forth on what decisions a football manager makes in terms of selection, formation and tactics.
That is because I am fully aware that he will know much more about it than me on every level.
However, I do allow myself some questions nonetheless.
When the team was announced the debate started on Twitter:
Was it three at the back?
Was Callum McGregor playing at left-back?
As it turned out it was the latter.
The last time the Celtic midfielder had started a game in that position if my memory serves me well, was at Ibrox on 29th December last year.
That didn’t turn out well either.
Folks who really know the game tell me that the Celtic Academy Graduate has the highest level of game intelligence of any midfielder at Celtic.
In the immediate post-match autopsy, Neil Lennon said that he had been forced to shoehorn McGregor into the back four to accommodate Olivier Ntcham into the side.
Celtic’s manager said that he had done so because he needed another “technician” in the side.
Even so, with 11 minutes to go competent in-game management should have seen out the tie.
Therefore, the guy in the dugout has to accept his part in the shambles.
Here is another question that I allowed myself last night:
Why were two recently acquired defenders costing a total of £10m on the bench and not used throughout the match?
To a mere onlooker like myself, I found this baffling.
Then, in the immediate aftermath, I was messaged from a very good friend who is usually ensconced in the Executive Lounge.
Let’s just say that he moves in those circles.
Without any interrogative from me he messaged me at 23.15 last night:
“Lenny did not sign left back or centre half players say they are pish”
Then one minute later he sent this:
“Our players say they are mince!!!”
Given his location within Celtic Park on match days I sent him back this clarifying questions:
“Good source?”
His one-word response chilled me:
“Director.”
Now, if this is true then the current situation at Celtic is the Ronny Deila era on steroids.
When Neil Lennon was given the job on a fulltime basis I was hugely supportive of the appointment.
My only caveat, given the past behaviour of the Celtic Chief Executive, was that he be
- Adequately resourced for the task ahead.
- Given full autonomy apropos acquisitions and sales.
I have written here on many occasion that the only club that can topple Celtic in Scotland is Celtic.
My guy in the Executive Lounge said that on the final whistle there was a substantial amount of anger directed at the man with the heated driveway.
Moreover, one of Dermot Desmond’s children was there to witness it.
What this means now is that the money brought in from the sale of Kieran Tierney will almost certainly be used to cover the operating costs rather than strengthen the squad.
The man who really runs Celtic from his tax haven HQ does not like failures in any of his businesses.
For the avoidance of doubt, last night Celtic failed.
Moreover, the failure fits a pattern and there is only one person in place who spans all of those costly calamities.
Here’s a clue the chap doesn’t sit in the dugout during matches.
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Sorry Phil but any comment on PL from yourself is hard to take face value as your dislike for him shines through IMHO
NFL has been accused of being petulant at times, far be it from me to say he gambled £25m + on his petulance alone but at face value it does appear so.
Can I just point out that there was a further round to negotiate before any £25m was considered Banked?
He made a mistake by deploying McGregor at Left Back.
Surely the guy sat beside him who watched the previous “Tactical Genius” do the exact same thing might have voiced his concerns?
Or is it as I suspect StBrendan brainwashed him into thinking this was a genius decision.
Same as playing Johnston up front as a lone striker at Ibrox and Sinclair as a Right Wingback?
Lenny made a mistake.
He unlike the last plum will learn from it and won’t repeat it.
Whomever takes charge of moving on unwanted players must be raging. Having played a blinder shunting out Compper and assorted others, thinking the squad that emerges will surely be higher on quality, they’ll now have to try offload almost every signing we’ve made. All the ones who, when referred to by the fans, are done so with their surname preceeded by the monicker ‘f*ckin’
Last couple of years have offered easy solutions too. McGinn last year was always gonna soar in value and the 2 fullbacks from Killie this year woulda been tidy business.
Why did Neil wait until the 80th minute to bring on Leigh Griffiths that team were rocking when we went 2-1 up, Edouard was winning 90% of the high balls played up to him. Griffiths would have benefited from the knock downs, just why oh why was he only given as it turned out,15 mins. Cluij were taking chances by pushing higher up the pitch was leaving spaces at the back which Griffiths would have exploited. If we had went 3-1 up that team would have caved in. IMHO.
Lennon was a great player, a great Celtic man but a duff manager. He blew a league against a pish-poor huns team, won a league against Ally, the worst manager in the history of football, won two leagues against nothing, walked away because he thought he’d be head-hunted, flopped (understandably) at Bolton, failed to impress at Hibs, was sacked from both, and inexplicably ended up back at Celtic Park as Peter Lawwell’s glove puppet.
Between the two of them, they have utterly fecked my team, if not yet my club. Desmond should hunt both of them.
Well… as far as the blame game goes, Peter Lawwell did not pick McGregor at left back which within the first 10 minutes was clearly a mistake. Even the normally excellent McGregor was misplacing passes and was having a pretty poor game by his standards.
And the back four were getting no protection since Brown had an off night.
What was wrong with putting Hayes at left back-he has performed competently there before?
And I find it very difficult to believe that Neil Lennon would have sanctioned the recruitment of players he did not rate, no matter how they actually turned out finally.
I’m a Neil Lennon fan. I think he is the modern personification of the club.
There is no-one that I would rather deliver 10 in a row. Neil Lennon being at the helm as Celtic grab the 10 would cause a level of pain among the hoards that no-one else could match.
However, I’ve always had concerns about him being the right man to do so.
I have concerns about his tactical ability, but primarily my concerns are based around how having Neil Lennon as manager would signal a tightening of the purse strings by the Celtic board.
If we consider that all signings that have been made were done so in the knowledge that the board knew that Keiran Tierney was being sold for 25 million, then that concern seems very valid.
I wish that I could avoid apportioning a large chunk of the blame for last night’s shambles on Neil Lennon, but he thoroughly deserves it.
It was his selection, his game plan and his decisions that were on show last night.
Phil, the idea that Jullien was not his signing goes against your earlier writing.
You informed us of how Neil Lennon had identified 5 players that he wanted to sign during the transfer window.
You told us that ‘Christopher Jullien was one of this quintet’.
I’m scunnered about last night, but I’m not panicking about the team. I genuinely believe that with a couple of tweaks, and a lot of hard work, Celtic are more than capable of reaching the 10. I wouldn’t put another treble passed them either, but the team has to gel, and then we have grow over the season.
Celtic, Neil Lennon and the board were given a tough lesson last night, they have to take it on board.
From the perspective of a Celtic supporter, they face either eternal glory, or eternal damnation.
The full blame goes to the manager he picks bain played crap the last three game, mcgregor played c in the wrong position was his pick no one else mikey Johnson is not a good player when needed reminds me of davie provan one kick and he hides. The manager is to blame noone else the buck stops with him. Was not the choice of half the support dermot Desmond doesn’t go every week like everyone else.
Andrew, I don’t think we remember the same Davie Provan!
He was a fantastic winger and never hid in any game.
My point in fact he was exciting certainly at tynecastle, the way he would fly down the wing and cross for Tommy burns to score, he’s brilliant underrated love the man, MO Johnson as well in fact they were all lining up, 5-0 games
I must have seen a different Davie provan, when I watched him, he ripped players down the wing, crossed and usually a goal. He seemed to love tynecastle as he was fab, I honestly thought celtic would get another manager, PL £15.000.000 a year we could have paid him 3 million other 12 for a big name manager
Personally I couldn’t give a Donald Duck about who signed who, right now.
I’m more concerned about the inability of a team of perfectly able footballers falling flat on their arses. I couldn’t watch the match last night (work commitments and when I did get home our clubs stupid policy of not letting me log in when match has already started wtf).
Speaking to those at the game, they all said that each time we went in front they just knew it wasn’t going to be, again how could this happen with the players available.
I hate to say this, but the buck stops with Lennie. He trains/coaches them, picks the team and if they don’t deliver it’s on his shoulders.
Worst of all, is giving them tramps some ammunition.
It’s the same old story at Celtic.
More concerned about balance sheets than team sheets.
Yet again another Manager goes into Season defining games with a non settled defence in place.
We have known about Lustig,Gamboa,Boyata,Benkovic,Izaguirre’s Contact situation for a full Season.
The replacements should have been scouted then and replaced in Jan at the latest thus allowing whoever was in charge time to bed them in.
Jullien isn’t 100% ready.
Bolingoli a work in progress.
Elhamed has slotted in.
Tactically Lenny messed up by being seduced by 1 game in 5 Ntcham who flatters to deceive.
Same old story at celtic by which I hope you mean another treble….
Surely the horror show was enhanced by the CEO ?
Any no believing we spent £10million on players who are not fit for purpose. The only person not fit for purpose is the manager. He got the scare at 2-2 and done nothing to shore up the back when we went 3-2 up. The blame lies fairly on his shoulders. If they lose at Greyskull, his jacket is on a shougley nail.
KT money now wasted to make the books look good. Raging.com
So, Jullien £7m and Boli £3m.
We all say don’t sell Simunovic for the £5m that’s been bandied about, and as for Ajer we say Milan, stick your £15m, he’s worth a lot more. There’s a minimum of £20m right there.
Just because Jullien cost actual money doesn’t necessarily mean he should play. He should play if he’s the best in the position, all things considered. Maybe he’s not match fit yet. Who knows? The staff and the player, but nobody else.
All that said, my reaction to the team sheet was WTF swiftly followed by Oh, no.
Is Peter Lawwel’s masterplan for 9&10 hoping that King takes Sevco into financial ruin so he still has his nice healthy bank balance at the club? What exactly is the point in having that money sitting in the bank. The right investment of those funds and there is no reason we could not be a regular in the CL group stages and leave everyone else in Scotland in the dust. I still think we have enough to win the league but a dangerous game is being played.
Everyone mentioning Mcgregor at lb but no one mentioning no cover from Johnson? Think it all falls on Lennon he could have played Golimboli and Ch to see and show the fans if they were up to it or not.. And if they were Rodgers or his DoF buys WHY WERE THEY BOUGHT WHEN MANAGERS LEFT?
That performance lies squarely on the shoulders of Neil Francis Lennon.
Selection,formation,and lack of properly identifying our weak spots (blatantly obvious ones) during last nights game.
He wanted a ‘technician’ ? Every single modern Celtic player should be a ‘technician’,as standard….and here’s a suggestion Neil; sew a big pair of hairy balls onto Ntcham, or take him to see the Wizard of Oz… he might learn something about how to get some courage and a heart.
Lenny didn’t almost qualify us for the CL play-off ,rather,a few players nearly got him
out of jail.
Too critical ? Nope !
Lennons not the man to take us forward….never was and never will be.
Rodgers was Desmond’s personal appointment, butted heads with Lawwell, lost and left.
Sad to say, I think he’s bombproof and Euro failure won’t affect that.
Surely detailed checks on these 2 were carried out before signing as its been known for a long time the back 4 required upgrading with players going or already away.
If Lenny thinks the defense is pants and he’s as big a Celtic man as he says he should speak up.
Lennon resign ? I don’t think so – who else would employ him? All his birthdays and Christmases came at once when he got the Celtic Gig after Mowbray . He walked away then , astonishingly , was given it again !
You reap what you sow – we employ mediocre management and get mediocre results . Surprise – NOT !
Phil; we have all, rightly, been mainly focusing on the travails of the club on the south-side. That was only interrupted by the departure of Rodgers and then again at the peculiar circumstances around the current manager being given the full-time job in the aftermath of the Scottish Cup final win.
In hindsight, we haven’t paid enough attention to the ominous, threatening smoke signals eminating from Paradise. Let’s be clear, this was a train-wreck situation that could be seen coming from a ways off, and yet, once again, the people in charge at the club let it happen (again!).
Something is rotten in Paradise! Something is going on behind the scenes that we are not yet aware of, all we have at the moment are strange decision making processes and the stench of yet another CL exit. While Lenny needs to be questioned and scrutinized on his game time and in-game decisions, the bulk of the blame rests with Lawwell at the top. Is it arrogance, hubris, stubborness, greed, blinkered vision that has caused him to yet again fail to foresee an entirely foreseeable set of problems? It certainly isn’t stupidity or incompetence or he wouldn’t have been left in place for this long.
Lawwell’s time is up because of this and he either needs to fall on the sword or be pushed. If not, as fans we need to decide how to make our feelings clear to Dermott Desmond and that may force fans to take some unpleasant actions.
After NL was appointed I said he would be gone by Christmas – last night was one strike. Watching it reminded me of the Partizan Belgrade game some time ago. Lennon failed by not playing Bolingoli. He should have. He is obviously an attaching left sided midfield player rather than a defensive player – that is obvious and was when he was signed. But 3-5-2 was courting disaster and he should have played 4-4-2. I very much doubt that a player of Julien’s pedigree is “pish”. Let me propose an alternative. And that is before you play in a club side in their most important games of the season that you have more time than that suitable for a formal introduction to other players. How about that? Lennon’s defence of “individual errors” was reminiscent of Tommy Burns. But it was a systems failure pure and simple. MacGregors lack of height was horribly exposed on two occasions in the first half. Brown panicked because he thought the guy was behind him and the same thing was happening. Now is the time for cool heads and to stop castigating and scapegoating players who have just arrived. I remember Alex Ferguson saying that the Pallister and Bruce partnership made him want to jump off the stand on the first six occasions he saw them. He knew more about football than Lennon. Bain is now a real concern. He should have saved that penalty too. It was close to him and at a good height. He would have got that last year. It might be time to bring back Gordon.
It’s a poor result and every poor result demands a scapegoat. As ever Lawwell gets it in the neck but like Phil I’m left with questions. Did Lawwell scout and choose Jullien, Bolingoli and the other 2 new lads? Doubtful. Did he say to Lenny we can get the next 3/4 positions you want sorted with X budget now or with Y budget the further we go in qualifying? Probably. Did he pick the starting X1 and tactics for last night? Definitely not. McGregor at LB was an error, we had the tie won with 10 minutes to go and didn’t use Jullien, Bitton or Bolingoli to try and shore things up against a side who looked just as likely to get the next goal as we did. Lawwell’s fault? For me Lenny called it wrong. We had enough about us to beat this team just as we did with Athens last season and we couldn’t do it. We continue to ship goals no matter who is in the defence and Lawwell isn’t to blame for that. Lustig, Izzy and Boyata were all heavily criticised by some supporters at times last season and they’ve been replaced to the tune of £12 million. Lawwell’s fault? For the record I’m 100% behind the Res12 guys and think the board should do more to answer legitimate grievances where this issue is concerned but to lay last night at the door of Lawwell is poor judgement born and bred from disappointment and anger that we’ve let another CL elude us against a side we should be taking care of given our size and resources.
So close,yet so far.
If your source is correct,Lennon should walk.
From what was on show I think the question is;does the board back the fans in their quest to at least qualify for the group stages each season?
I don’t think they can honestly say YES to that question or there would’ve been a true LB and seasoned CB in place to shore up the defence.Instead,we got probably thee best playmaker on the field positioned at LB!! It really IS very simple;IF the board TRULY wanted to qualify they would have had these positions covered by players who are accustomed and adept in the positions.
Time for some very serious questions to be addressed and dealt with appropriately and quickly.
Sign players for those positions,CB & LB,or,face what comes,last night was a foretaste of what could prove a calamitous season.
At least if they sign the required players they can stand up in front of us and say WE DID OUR BIT…
LAST NIGHT THEY DIDN’T AND COULDN’T.🍀
I was told this before the game started, that Lennon did not rate these players, could not believe it.
Phil, I know your feelings on “Heated Driveway Productions” i share them. But you can’t keep mentioning our missing majority shareholder in a positive way. This time last years it was also Lawwells fault, with a mention of Dermots private plane being fuelled and ready to fly a new signing in!
You need to stop writing about sevcos non demise and start putting pressure on Dermot Desmond to actually pay attention to what is going on at Celtic Park.
I personally told Dermot what I thought of him outside Boavistas stadium in 2003.
Nothing has changed, other than his handicap I suspect!
It was far from the worst euro defeat we have had, even under BR. Far from a panic situation we move onto the Europa league, and the league
Tom, you are easily pleased.
I don’t give a toss about the Europa League.
It’s 9 in-a-row above everything.
September 1st is looming!
Scott Brown has had a hand in every goal against us this season its time he was gone.
Scott Bain has had a bigger hand. He dropped the ball over the line for the corner that led to the penalty. He then pushed a ball back into play that he should have pushed past. He was also posted missing for the first goal against against Motherwell on Saturday. He has looked decidedly shaky in the last few games without actually having that much to do.
The new £7m CB looked out of his depth on Saturday. Three times he left Bolingoli wearing the donkey’s ears after giving him suicide passes. For Well’s second goal he lost a ball in the air to a much smaller man. Julien is 6’5″ for fucksakes! When he jumped for that ball you couldn’t have slipped a bus ticket under him. His distribution was awful and his tackling was rash. I think there is more chance of Bolingoli coming good than Julien.
Even if all of what you say is true Phil, the job of the manager is to manage. And coach.
THAT was what was severely lacking last night.
It was a ridiculous decision to put our actual best ‘technician’ in the left back position.
And what does it do to the confidence of the left back actually signed for that position?
And as for Julien, I don’t care who signed him, at that price he should be playing every fecking game! Unless of course it’s a signing of Scheidt magnitude?
But let’s not let the players off the hook here, they were MORE than good enough to have got the job done last night. And should have.
If Dermot is of a mind to finally remove Lawwell from a position he has held for FAR too long, then I would be a happy bhoy 😉
A pathetic attempt to deflect away from NL being the manager, there for the problem , with JK being his assistant. Both likely lads of PL, nothing more, nothing less. The club will lose a good crop of players because of who the management team are. KT is most recent proof. The fans deserve a good strong management team, not likely lads.
Who appointed neil?
Brian, I couldn’t agree with you more. Neil Francis Lennon should never in a million years have been appointed manager, he is to blame for the tactics and subs, pathetic!! Total deflection of our performance on Saturday against Motherwell, the defence were shocking, I fear playing Sevco!!!! I renewed my season tickets before the deadline only to be mugged after the cup final with the news of NL being announced. I am not the only one who didn’t want him and don’t even more.
Nicely put ! Yev got yer dosh n heated
Driveway … now Feck off!! ( not you Andy )
Oh dear this all sounds very easy, Mcgregor playing in wrong position. However just a wee point here. We started the second half with the same team and promptly put two goals in the opposing net, not a mention of how poor a choice it was to play Mcgregor at left back. All was well until our captain hand balls in the box. That changed the game.
It seems to me the whole blueprint of the club comes tumbling down when you reach a point where your best players reach their selling point, i.e. KT and we don’t have adequate replacements for them.This can only be the responsibility of the board and recruitment teams in place,surely, if there is no suitable replacement you don’t sell.This becomes even more annoying when you are constantly being told we don’t need to sell anyway.
I read something earlier which seems to sum our club up pretty well,we’re reactive when we should be pro-active.
Once the players are on the park the responsibility falls fairly and squarely with the manager and his staff who decide where individual players play and the tactics employed.To this end unfortunately Lenny is showing signs of previous managers of playing players out of position to accommodate others.
What was looking like another glorious season ahead could quickly fall apart if those in charge don’t smarten there act up quickly.
How come Bain was in the papers saying Jullien was excellent and nobody had got by him in training and Boli ws also getting praise as well .I think your source is talking nonsense
Lawell has a superb record with Celtic. He is the main reason we are going for 9 in a row. He grows the club year on year. If Desmond was not happy, he would be gone. Ask me do I want Peter Lawell or a bunch of fans representatives looking after the business side of the club and I would plump for Lawell every time. not that Desmond or any club owner would ever allow that. People forget we ply our trade in Scotland were generating cash is not easy. Celtic are a selling club, like most other European clubs. It is the only way we can survive and prosper. It’s clear many Celtic fans who criticise Lawell cant read a balance sheet otherwise they would realise that all monies generated by the club are invested in the club. Lawell is a paid employee. If Dermot Desmond wasnt happy he’d be gone.
All Celtic fans were frustrated and angry at what happened the other night, myself included. When the dust settled I look at our squad and I say we are way good enough to beat the Cluj team over two legs. Our team didnt become crap overnight because of one bad performance. Likewise Lennie isnt suddenly a bad manager. On the night Lennie made a huge error putting McGregor at full back. Scott bain ships another goal that should have been dealt with, same in the first leg. Broony the hand ball. We were architects of our own downfall and even after all that we still should have scored more goals from the chances we created.
Tierney left because he wanted to leave. he wanted to leave last year when Everton came knocking on our door, yet it’s all Lawells fault. I’m delighted we held out for some decent monet for Kieren Tierney. Great business by Lawell. Time will tell whether or not Tierneys hip injury will blight his career.
The biggest threat to Celtic achieving 10 ina row is the celtic support………….. or should that be non support.
OK it’s deja vu, we skim our way to the edge of qualifying and blow it. On a night that saw last year’s semi finalists struggle and one of Portugal’s big three disappear to the europa also. We are where we are.
Fabulous chance to progress and we blew it.
Neil Francis Lennon is still par for the season. Against the previous trickster. Any knee jerk reaction is and we’ll be OTT. Does it hurt? Yes. End of the season stuff, not really, the only annoyance will be Thursday and Sunday football.
I don’t think we’ll make the treble again. But a double sure we can and the league will be a stick on if we smash them at the beginning of September. Failure to do so will result in every match feeling more pressured than usual until we could rectify a position at Christmas.
The artist formerly known as The Ranjurs is loving our self implosion, its the only real chunk of light they have and Legia may well put a dent in their ego ahead off the Glasgow Derby week. Remember we aren’t the old firm any longer folks.
We will regroup. The argument its a good thing that it happen and it checks us before we wreck us, is something I’ve never signed up for. We are Glasgow Celtic, we should always aim to be in the competition with old big ears.
The one thing in business I’ve learned attaining to wealthy, individuals, they will spend money to protect their money. DD is no fool and you could see Celtics owner just say, to PL get it done to male sure they don’t blow the league, that’s the only silver lining to last night.
There are lots of words in the English language alone that can best sum up my late night feeling after the Celtic v CLU CL Qualification match at Parkhead last night. “Rage” “Disappointment” “Incredulity” “Baffling” “Frustration” etc. etc. You get my drift. But the word that kept coming back to me over and over again was : “WHY” : To clarify : Why did we spend £10M on a defence that is not trusted ? WHY can’t we move past these qualifying round more easily with the resources we have ?. WHY are we not progressing in this area, but instead regressing ? Why, why, why do we shoot ourselves in the foot again and again ? The only conclusion I can muster that answers all of the above questions is : Incompetence. I hope I’m wrong.
Well, those comments from your source does make that team selection understandable now.
But, if it comes down to manager v. CEO there will only ever be one winner, and it won’t be Lennon.
Most supporters felt rather uneasy at the ‘selection process’ (?) which led to Lennon’s permanent appointment.
Another angle;
If Lennon is being so brazenly undermined – to the point of benching new signings to reach enforce his displeasure – then he should walk away. Now.
The fans would understand Lennon’s decision.
…and it would clear the way for Lawwell to be in the firing line.
Peter Loyal is a waste of space who should be booted out on his fat, lazy, incompetent ass forthwith. Not one word of criticism from him for his pals in the Sectarian Freemason Association nor one word of criticism for his good pals at Ibrox. This greedy fat cat must be shown the door NOW. HH
if that is the case the manager should tell the board to stick there job were the sun dont shine
Phil, do you really need to stir it up more than it is. We all know what you think of Peter, but funny how your source only came out with the info after the defeat – coincidence or just you shooting for PL.