Once more this month of August has not been kind to the Celtic support.
This is the time of year in the football calendar where the wealthiest club in Scotland plays their most important matches with a partially assembled squad.
For the last three campaigns, this has meant failure to get into the Champions League Group Stages and millions in revenue.
Somehow, the club’s chief omnipotent executive seems to think that this is shrewd business.
Last week the defeat top the Hungarian side Ferencváros was the last straw for many in the Celtic support.
It is at times like this that you learn about the personality of a person.
One Celtic podcast chappie intimated that if Neil Lennon were to walk into the room that he would be moved to assault the Celtic manager.
Oh, dear…
Thankfully, this social media influencer was roundly condemned for his outburst.
Yesterday, Neil Lennon’s men were heading for halftime without scoring against a Motherwell side who are struggling to get going in the league this season.
Once more, the guy in the home dugout had decided to play with a midfielder upfront instead of one of his recognised strikers.
It must have been a relief for the Lurgan man when a winger scored for the Hoops.
It was Neil Lennon, the youth coach who recognised the potential of James Forrest.
His contribution of goals from the wing is consistently remarkable.
When an actual Number Nine was on the field in the latter stages of the second half, suddenly Celtic created and converted chances.
The penalty box is Albian Ajeti’s workspace.
His goal on 72 minutes undoubtedly settled the nerves of the remote home crowd.
The third, from Christopher Jullien, added a Gallic garnish what had been some rather basic fare throughout.
In the post-match interview, the Armagh man looked relieved.
It would be unfair to characterise Lennon as some indecisive latter-day Danish Prince.
He had known for months what resources were required before he assaulted the Champions League, but he was not provided with it.
Celtic will undoubtedly do transfer business both ways during the international break.
However, it is, yet again, too late for the Champions League qualification rounds.
Added to the Bolingoli debacle then this has been a challenging month for the champions of Scotland.
Unsurprisingly, this self-inflicted malaise has been warmly welcomed in the Blue Room.
Firstly, it has given the Stenography Corps some excuse to divert their attention away from the Castore story.
However, that one hasn’t gone away, you know.
The thing to keep your eye on is the provenance of the merchandise manufactured in Turkey.
Someone commissioned the lads in the Istanbul Emerald to get sewing.
Once that is in the public domain then a lot will become much clearer about this seedy shitshow.
Mr Let’s Go has discovered that he can win football matches without the series of his huffy hitman.
Yesterday I was told by an impeccably placed source that Alfie and his agent had to have a sombre sit down with club representatives last week.
The Ibrox chaps had to finally admit that there had been no concrete bid of €18m from Lille FC or anything like that amount.
Sadly, the ample South American and his people actually believed this pish in the media.
Poor Alfie’s demeanour at the weekend was not the portrait of a happy hombre.
This is just another sad chapter in Operation Sell Alfredo.
Please, someone, buy him for all our sakes!
It is clear that the player has placed his emotional baggage in the hallway.
He self-evidently wants to leave Sevco.
So all that is required now is for a REAL offer to come in that the chaps in the Blue Room can live with.
When he does leave then he will leave behind a record at Ibrox that is untainted by success.
Whoever finally stumps up some hard cash for him probably hasn’t seen his epic fail in the League Cup Final last year.
Pobresito!
For the avoidance of doubt, down Ibrox way, it is still advisable to Follow Follow the money.
However, the Sevco High Command owe a huge debt to Heated Driveway Productions for giving them some much-needed PR diversion.
For the avoidance of doubt, they also owe a huge debt to this guy.
Moreover, he wants it back.
All that the chaps in the Blue Room can do now to is keep going and dig for better weather.
It might just be in the shape of yet another strategic own goal from Parkhead.
It will be an utterly Shakespearean denouement if the chap in charge of Celtic inadvertently delivers a historic victory to the beleaguered basket of assets.
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Lawwell runs celtic like a business but it is not a business it is a football club. However, if business principles apply lawwell would have been fired long ago. Failure to qualify for the group stages of the champions league ten times under his watch is not a success. this has cost the club more than £300m in lost revenue.
Lawwell is all about lawwell. Lawwell is the CEO of lawwell.
Does hel have an eye on a cushy wee job at eufa? Ring side seats at all the tournament’s. Five star hotels and Michelin star restaurants. Why has he not challenged the sfa on the David Murray cheating years?
I don’t trust this individual.
Why does it take Celtic so long to conduct any business and it isn’t as if they have got it right most times? Do the team start off at a business breakfast then, brunch, stop for lunch etc. various snacks and then dinner with no-one talking while their eating. What the hell goes on at these meetings?
Just for the record Klimala didn’t miss chances. The Motherwell keeper deflected the cross for the first one so he didn’t even touch that one and saved the second one. Jeez if the standard Klimala can expect is to be slagged off if he doesn’t score every time he is in the box he should take up another career.At least he got into position to make the keeper save the shot . I have read some guff this week all deflecting from the fact that Lennon got it totally wrong against the Hungarians. Why did he send Bayo out on loan if he knew only one striker was fit? Bayo rewarded his lack of faith by scoring twice on Saturday and will become another Million plus signing who never got a fair crack of the whip.
Ajeti scoring immediately after coming on as sub for the second game in a row just emphasised how wrong Lennon was to leave him unused against Ferencvaros. That has heehaw to do with recruitment failings. Managerial selection failing. It doesn’t disguise or deflect from the chief executives recruitment errors but the blame for elimination lies solely at Lennnon’s door and it would be a step in the right direction for him to acknowledge it.
When you look back at when Ajeti’s name was first mentioned and linked with us…then realise how long it took us to strike the deal…its clear that our annual ” prevarication ” is alive and well.
Every window produces a saga like this…and its getting bloody boring.
Because of the time spent wheeling and dealing…we now have a player ( we are told ) who is not match fit !!
What genius thought that up..?
Oh…and as for Klimala ….we pay in excess of £3miilion pounds for a Development player…??
And just to nail Lenny’s ” no strikers on the pitch” policy…..
Ajeti ( who isn’t match fit remember ) comes of the bench twice…and scores twice…!!
Why make the game easy when you can make it difficult.
N L has proven time & time again he can get unbelievable good results in Europe & domestically. I remember Lazio home & away last season . I challenge anyone to name another manager to achieve that .
Martin O’Neill
Gordon Strachan
Jock Stein
Wrong on all THREE counts. None of them EVER beat ANY Italian club home and away.
Lazio’s last 10 results in Europa League (nb not Champs League):
Won 2 Lost 8
They’re a seriously poorly performing side in European competition.
Conversely Leipzig have been a far better performing European side in the past 3-4 years but don’t have the “sexiness” of Lazio.
I enjoyed the Lazio results as much as anyone but in the cold light of day a dose of reality is always welcome.
O ye of little faith! The Sevco panto might not last until Christmas (yes, we’re behind them!) and while it is clear that there is much work to be done at Parkhead to ensure onfield success. getting off people’s backs would be a good first step to help salvage our season, giving NL time to regroup and some of the players who are not yet match fit time to get the edge they need to deliver a world record achievement with ten in a row.
I also fundamentally disagree about the big-spend-means-big-success formula punted by some herel. Look at PSG ffs! And remember Bayern were struggling before a managerial reawakening, winning success with players many in critics in European football felt had had their day!
Celtic remain a relatively young team, and they do not need so-called fans ordering them about, or usurping the manager. Yes, analyse the deficiencies, pick over the wrong decisions, wonder openly about the match-readiness of the squad, but recognise the improvements there have been and look to the glimpses of great talent there are in our midst. We will overcome, some day!
You are probably in the minority that are happy with our procrastination when it comes to preparing for the most important games of the season. Minimum of £90m of finance to help invest in the team missed out on over the last 3 years along with exciting games to distract from the mediocrity of the domestic fare on offer.
Will sell some of our best players to ensure shareholder value and deliver Peter’s big fat bonus!
The minority make the most noise the silent majority know what is what and don’t panic at the first drop of a point or start targeting individuals 5 games into a Season.
Strachan highlighted this point well I felt.
Most fans are clueless when it comes to the intricacies involved in winning games.
Players aren’t robots,Managers aren’t infallible and EVERY game needs to be won regardless who the opponent is.
Be it St Johnstone or Juventus.
The dismissal of sides like Ferencváros (champions of Hungary) by some just highlights how naive they are.
Cyan,
Ferencvaros is the worst team to put us out of Europe since Politechnica Timisoara (1985ish I think) – a college team from Rumania!
Every season we hope that we go into these qualifiers with as good and as fit a squad as possible.
This has not happened over the last 3 seasons as the lack of quality of the opposition attests.
Surely fans have their right to express their opinions whether we agree or not?
Hail! hail!
Bang on. NO side EVER wins every game. Too many Celtic fans have developed the sevconian sense of entitlement. Imagine what the reaction is going to be like when we lose a domestic cup game. And we WILL. – sooner rather than later. To have already gone so many rounds undefeated is truly remarkable.
What did you say about Bayern ?? the only problem at Parkhead is Neil Lennon he was left a squad of players who have won three treble seasons in a row and could probably make it four.What is his answer “I will do it my way” even if it means tearing BRENDANS team to pieces.Sorry but the guy is not good enough to manage a club as big as Celtic.
Regardless of any transfer mistakes or any confusing game tactics…
Lawwell and Lennon are untouchable this season.
Lawwell could sell Eddy on the last day of the transfer window.
Lennon could crash in the EL, the LC, and even the SC.
…as long as 10IAR is achievable they’re both immune from criticism.
Let’s face it: over a long season Lennon can trip up a few times and should still deliver the title – comfortably.
It’s a totally different scenario next summer though.
A good time for Lawwell to retire?
A new, tactically astute manager brought in?
A club re-energised with clear, achievable, European ambitions…?
(e.g. CL Group Stage qualification becomes a standard target for future CFC managers?)
Tactical awareness seems to be the rod in which to beat Neil Lennon with at the moment.
Are you forgetting it was he who decided to break away from 4-2-3-1 every week for 4 years?
The previous tactical genius took Europe’s finest on fielding the same 11 and tactics he deployed against the mighty St Johnstone ,Motherwell or Alloa the week before ending in absolute disaster at Europe’s top table.
We have been rank rotten in there since Lennon last took us to the last 16 of the Competition 8 years ago.
Europa League is our level as was proven last Season.
The likes of Lawwell don’t Bank on Champions League no they simply hope and pray for it by signing players to Develop whilst putting those already Developed for profit.
Left behind are the backbone who aren’t that much better than the very best in Hungary,Sweden or Romania skill wise.
We over pay for players and over pay our players for the simple fact is we have the richest Association in World Football on our front doorstep with Clubs in their lower Divisions more than able and more than willing to put bid us should they want.
Ajeti was signed for the money he was and the state he was in because that was the price otherwise he was going elsewhere.
He’s not fit enough to to start a Champions League qualifier against the Hungarian Champions hence why he didn’t.
Hence why he hasn’t started a game in the SPFL.
As for Klimala anyone watching his two misses yesterday will now know why he never started either.
He’s clearly still in Development but again he’s cost us decent money for someone in that condition in their career.
Bringing Klimala on yesterday did not change the game we were already producing chances which luckily this time Forrest managed to convert one.
Something that they all seemed to be struggling within games against BETTER OPPOSITION.
It’s all one cracking 5 or 6 past the likes of St Mirren or Part Timers from Scandinavia but against organised defences our usual go to guys have been struggling.
Neil Lennon and his coaching staff are watching these guys perform every day in training and it my opinion (that happens to coincide with Strachan and Hartson) that he felt he had enough goals in the rest of the squad going into that game that he couldn’t risk starting an unfit Ajeti or an unfinished project like Klimala.
There was too much at risk.
The chances were there to win two games.
Same as they were v Kilmarnock and Dundee Utd.
If Klimala was not fit it makes you wonder why the manager would give players 2 days off…
He’s clearly not at a level yet to take on the likes of Ferencváros yet as the two misses yesterday highlighted perfectly.
A half fit Griffiths or Édouard would be burying these chances regardless.
NL claimed he (Klimala) was not fit. I guess though NL thought he’s so bad we’d be better with no striker than Kilmala… I can now see why he missed those 2 chances yesterday…
He’s making excuses for a young player who a section of the Support ( The online Steins) think a goal against Ross County suddenly elevates a player to Champions League level status.
No pressure then Paddy…
Perhaps he has a slight strain and you,I and everyone else is unaware of it.
The Manager would be aware of it as he would be aware of his application in training all week.
The point is however those types of chances missed v Motherwell ie a 1 on 1 with the keeper and a 1 yard tap in are bread and butter to a more experienced clinical finisher.
It’s about composure and being aware that the ball maybe deflected when presented with the chance.
Klimala may well develop into that player in time but he’s not there yet.
For the record Ferencvaros are not Ross County or Motherwell they are Champions of Hungary.
These are the things the Manager has to weigh up before selecting his team for such an important game.
The online diddies think it’s Football Manager on PlayStation or XBox.
Cyan, i get that you think NL is good enough for Celtic and i support your right, even though i disagree, to that opinion but when you start coming up with sheer guesswork to support that opinion then i think you, deep down, know that NL is not good enough.A striker thrives on confidence so when a manager would rather play with no striker than a fit striker (and he was fit) then that is a sore kick to that strikers haw maws and kills his confidence. So if you want to lay blame for the 2 misses Vs Motherwell look no further, at least in part, to man you think is good enough for Celtic.
He’s either not fit enough to start a game ( see Ajeti) or is unfit for purpose at that level.
On the visible evidence so far you would assume the latter.
The fact is and it is a fact Griffiths,Édouard and Ajeti would be burying those chances when they drop.
As for a Neil Lennon his 72% win ratio as Celtic Manager in 300 games plus his Trophy haul within those game would suggest that he is in fact plenty good enough to Manage Celtic.
Absolute tripe how many players are at Celtic just now ??? must be up to 40 or more and are you telling us that among those 40 players there are NO fit strikers rubbish.
Édouard INJURED
Griffiths INJURED
Ajeti NOT MATCH FIT
Klimala PROJECT IN DEVELOPMENT
We have goals all over the team and are not reliant on Strikers alone to score them.
60% of the 17 goals scored this Season have come form NON STRIKERS
Perhaps if Lawell’s pay structure was tied almost exclusively to European success it might lead to a better class of player delivered on time. I think Ajeti and Turnbull will bring goals, assuming Lennon plays them of course.
Who are we as Celtic fans to criticise ANYTHING eminating from £brox…? If anything Sevco have learned their lessons in close season keeping their mouths shut and going about winning games in places we would definitely struggle, while Celtic have been mouthing about how 10IAR is in the bag, and it is showing in the workrate and attitude of the players. Sure Sevco are a joke, sure they shouldn’t be allowed to operate under FFP, sure their stadium doesn’t have a safety certificate and sure they escaped punishment for non COVID- 19 testing, but our season is falling apart faster than their jerseys and could become unrecoverable….someone should get a memo to all the players to grow up and show some respect, this season isn’t a shoe in by any means, if anyone seems to be treating it as a matter of life and death (literally in Sevco’s eyes) are Sevco…..serious problems in the dressing room where 2 strikers are ‘not up to match fitness’….tripe- Ajeti had his personal trainer all close season, and Klimala is a machine…..I do actually fear the worst.
Ajeti had his personal trainer? Really? If he had a PT all during close season then he should sack him. He’s clearly overweight and a long way from being fit. After he gets physically fit he THEN has to get match fit. There’s a world of difference between physically fit and.match fit.
Having said all that, I’ve seen enough to convince me that the boy has goals in him.
Klimala looks completely short of confidence. Sometimes it needs a little bit of luck to change that.
By his own admission Ajeti had a personal trainer, and the difference in Klimala is night and day…Klimala scored on the opening game of the season, and Ajeti on Sunday there….wonder who is making up the not match fit nonsense…the confidence thing probably relates to how much time he is spending on the bench while being match fit, just a thought…
Klimala, for whatever reason appears to not yet be fit enough to play an extended part. The coaches see him in training and commented he trained very well during lockdown yet NL said he was blowing near the end yesterday. Something doesn’t add up there. Moreover, take a look at the picture of Ajeti lashing home the second (above).
His right knee is strapped and is another who, had he played on Wednesday, may not have played yesterday.
What would be gained for the fans (not the shareholders) with Ten all consuming, had we won in Europe and lost (or drawn) against Motherwell ? When he went with Ryan Christie it was due to three strikers being injured and one being a dafty.
I agree entirely with your critique of False Economy Lawell. What business horizon does this man observe? Clearly he is not an amateur but he certainly operates like one every June and July. That said, we should not overlook the risk taking and foolish decision making on the part of yesterday’s man, Mr Lennon. Had we failed to gain three points yesterday it would, to this writer have been a resignation matter.
Phil you still don’t get it.
Lawwell has a choice, he can fill the team with expensive top grade players and maybe get a stage or maybe if lucky two stages further in a competition dominated by big teams in Europe. The down side is they cost loads of cash and once knocked out of Europe they are too skilled for the domestic game. OR he can do as he is, and hope to get a small run in Europe while spending enough on players to win the diddy Scottish league. On the plus side he keeps his shareholders happy.
No way will ANY Scottish team be able to spend the amounts necessary to compete with the big clubs, just like most of the rest in Scottish football can’t afford to keep up with Celtic’s spending power.
Celtic fans just have to suck it up and take your medicine as Europe will forever be a pipe dream, gone are the hay days never to return.Be satisfied winning a diddy league no-one outside Scotland give two hoots for.
As for the manager it’s clear Lennon is no Mourinho and only wins the Scottish league due to having a budget bigger than every other club combined.
So once again Lawwell has a choice, go for a great manager who is over qualified for the league in the hope he can take Celtic further in Europe or piddle around with the like of Lennon and save a shed load of cash.
Only a fool could possibly think we can compete with Europe’s elite but we should be able to dispose of the ‘diddy’ teams we face in CL qualifying rounds. We then, even if we are the whipping boys of the group, earn a minimum of £30 million and we have players who are not only happier and will stick around a bit longer but will also give an extra 10% in league games because they want to be involved in CL games and after our CL campaign is done will continue to give an extra 10% because having tasted CL football they want it again….It’s not rocket science.
Those “diddy” teams qualified the same way we did. By winning their domestic title. Many qualified from leagues that are at least as strong as our Premier League. We have NO god given right to beat them.
Spot on, James. I didn’t expect Celtic to reach the CL group stage for the reasons that you have so eloquently stated, however, I had hoped that they would go at least 1 step further in the qualifying campaign. We are just not good enough to mix with the big boys any more and a decent run in the Europa League is really the best that we can hope for.
I honestly believe that’s the reason Rogers left promised he would get the players needed to make the Champions league group stage but Lawell renaged.He is now buying players that are not good enough for Celtic to try and pacify the support,he even passed up the chance to sign a ready made replacement for Scott Brown John McGinn by penny pinching AGAIN.
As much as I’ve always been a hugh admirer of Lennon, both as a player and a person, i think his tactical awareness and that stubborn streak he has,has cost us one to many games, last Wednesdays shitshow exposed his inept team selection and tactics once again, i noo feel that its probably time to part ways with Lennon, although the horse has already bolted as far as CL, can we risk losing more ground on the tramps from Govan, and when this season is over and god help us that we have the 10, then a clear out in the boardroom has to happen, a CEO of any company that fails on the biggest stage because of a lack of vision, s lack of serious investment that in turn costs the company millions upon millions in lost revenue needs tae be replaced….HH
We’ve never once went at these teams. We’ve been over protective. Cluj, Copenhagen and Ferencvaros :every time we had good players covering weaknesses in our squad. I used to hate hearing us getting beat to a guy who wasn’t fully fit.
Rogers set standards as much as I was brassed of at him chuckin’ us. Can’t see those standards being continued right now.
Well said mate…..