Rock-tober!!!
Morning,all!
Bit late on parade,my apologies. Long shift last night. Though my 12 hours was probably more pleasurable than the couple of hours everyone connected with Dens Park endured. I’ve only seen highlights obviously-but there were a few of them!
To really appreciate how good October has been for us,I think it’s worth drawing the comparison with August and,particularly,September. I’m largely going to ignore results in Europe while I do so-we are simply not set up to be competitive in a group stage. In fact,it can be argued that we are being set up to be competitive only for the qualifying stages,though I’ve been talked out of doing an article covering that contentious opinion.
August saw us win fairly comfortably against newly promoted Livingston in the league,and against relegated Thistle in the League Cup. It also saw us lose to Hearts and then scrape past Hamilton in a dreadful display. Form roughly equivalent to quarter of a century ago,in my opinion.
It got worse. September sucked. 1-0 League wins against Rangers and Aberdeen,and against St Johnstone in the League Cup,bookended dire displays in a 0-0 away to St Mirren and a 2-1 defeat at Rugby Park. We were clearly in a bad place,couldn’t buy a goal-seven goals in six matches is a disgraceful return from a club like ours. Fortunately,our defence,while giving us heart attacks,was holding up fairly well.
We didn’t turn into October in great heart. Still ahead of Gerrard’s Rampant Rangers,we were labelled a club in crisis. Aye,I know-I wasn’t too happy with things chez nous,but for us to be labelled that while Gerrard is lauded to the rafters while being a fair bit behind us speaks volumes. SHOUTS IT!!! actually. Well,I did say I wasn’t going to mention Europe,so I won’t. And if I don’t,it allows me to ask a serious question on the back of results last month.
Are Celtic back in business? I spoke a few weeks back about how we needed our mojo back as a team,but also for some players individually. I particularly referred to Scott Sinclair on that one. I said I wanted my Scott Sinclair back,and in the last two games,he has looked much more like his old self,oozing class and dripping with confidence. Please stay on the tablets,Scott. Tom Rogic is in the form of his life,teams struggle to get near him to kick him nowadays,his goal last night was simply effortless. And James Forrest,seems that the Prestwick Pele brings out the best in us. Last few games have seen him come out of his shell-more importantly,off that touchline. Pulling defenders all over the place,he pops up everywhere,delivering the final pass,getting the finishing touch,you name it. And Callum McGregor was made for that deep-lying playmaker role,metronome passing,head up and have it.
As a result,we have scored 15 goals in three league games-against 7 in 6 previously. And three going on hunners in the semi v Hearts. And those goals have been gratifyingly spread throughout our front men-although James Forrest has been a tad greedy,which I hope he always will be,in this form!-which is a strange thing to say when we only have Edouard up front.
But that’s just it. We don’t. All of our midfield have an eye for goal,and when the confidence is flowing and yer eye is in,you’re gonna go for it,not pass it sideways like you did in September.
Aye,I think we’ve got our mojo back. October rocked. Bring it on!!!
*
Above is a guest article from majoc. The floor is yours,just contact Mahe on
sentinelcelts@gmail.com
Majoc
Agree we have come through a rough patch and starting to look more like ourselves (alone) ?
Treatment of our hiccups and of thems along the Clyde will always be skewed
I console myself with the knowledge that the head in the sand commentary was what finshed thems off before…
I know you left Europe alone …for now
However, it remains for me the only true measure of improvement.
HH
Honestly not trying to be a damp squib but although Celtic were great last night I think Dundee last night was the poorest performance I have seen from an SPL game. So for the team to still be so committed is a testament to them and the manager and of course the away support
Awe Naw – agree, it was a good display against a de facto Championship side.
Can I mention the ‘singing’ in a section of our away support. Quite frankly I am appalled & ashamed at what is being broadcast to the world.
“Stick your ******* poppy up your ****” was repugnant. There have been many brave soldiers drawn from Celtic families over two World Wars – my own father was a sergeant in the Royal Artillery, and is remembered with great pride by our family.
I am all for free speech, but some of our ‘hangers-on’ are dragging the Celtic name through the gutter.
It seems to me that there are no more than five hundred of these people at away games and probably less than two hundred turn up at Celtic Park. They use Celtic merely as a platform for their yobbish behaviour and couldn’t care less about the damage they do. They create a narrative for those who need little encouragement to criticise us.
Completely agree. Maybe some of the older guys can organise a choir session to enlighten the stupid about how many truly great songs that we have …great tunes …better than the catchphrase chanting we have these days. I don’t have a problem with rebel songs but god its dreary. If we don’t then a large part of our pertinent culture will be lost forever
Gold
I agree too.
Confirms the Old Firm. They’re both the same pish.
Mahe
Do you think BR will stick around with the current PLC business MO or is a treble treble needed?
Mags,
Personally I dont think he sticks around after the summer . There will be a load of Epl jobs going and thats where he wants to be , and thats fine with me .
Peter is stuck between rock and hardplace as he has been ordered to support the gaffer by all accounts yet January is one bitch of a window to work within .
Most clubs just dont wanna lose the numbers even if the player is unhappy at lack of game time. Its pay waay over the odds time and a lot of deals tend to collapse as the seller says I cant replace deals off.
Dermot will also be breathing down Pl’s neck I imagine and Brendan may well see himself in his strongest position yet and aim higher than usual targets wise . Squeaky bum time for Peter maybe . A treble treble and away would be one hell of a legacy .
I would say the clubs that come in for him in the summer are the biggest concern .
Man U , Newcastle , West Ham , Fulham , Leicester are all probably looking at change and there will be others .
All of them would be tempting from a professional perspective by virtue of biggest league in the world and budget to match . He also speaks Spanish so La liga is an option. Seemed to enjoy living in Wales so those clubs might have a shout .
THere’s not much more to say after 3 x 3 , and if a club says heres 100 smackeroonies to spend it would be adios .
The 10 must be tempting also but along with the internal issues he must look around at Lenny getting attacked , the refs , the hammer throwing football , and now the fake rebels in the crowd are cringeworthy . All while Europe gets further and further away .
Aye I think we are seeing his last season . Yourself ?
Gold
Yes 100% on this subject. Completely agree, although I will defer to your knowledg on the actual numbers involved.
The overall point is spot on!
HH
Aw Naw
Agree. Dundee were absolutely awful.
Thugs too.
Looking at the two recent results and performances v Hertz and Dundee, it’s fair to say we are seeing a better balance and positivty in the team.
HH
Mahe
Aye, cannot see him staying for 4th season.
Unless PL is moving on.
HH
Quiet on here today.
Yip Dundee were poor but as they say you can only best what is in front of you, that we did with some style imo, take into account the physical assaults directed at us the result was all the sweeter.
Whether the song book is to one persons taste or not, it is what it is, society is to blame as far as I am concerned, divide and rule is the watchword, weans will react, it’s what weans do, I sang the songs so it would be hypocritical of me to say anything.
Do you really believe that if the support did stop singing them the media would go easy on us, of course not, it would just be something else.
The more you appease them the worse it will get, give them an inch and it will be the wearing of the green next.
cant believe im agreeing with you ghuys, but as majoc would say a bliddy well am, as awenaw said that Dundee team were poor, but you can only play what is put in front of you, as regards the singing tbh ive been known to belt out a few rebel songs in my time, but these ghuys seem to do it at away games in front of the cameras for all to see. surely we are better than that.hh.
Rock-tober….without out our ‘rock’ – of course I refer to our return to something like the form we expect, but without Broonie, which we couldn’t have expected.
Sometimes when there is such an influential player, a club legend, playing in the team, others tend to defer to him on the park and merely play the ‘helping-hand’, leaning too heavily on him when things are not going well. This may have started happening at the start of the season when ‘on the field’ performances seemed to mirror the confusion that was apparent off it.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not underestimate, nor, undervalue our captain’s importance, committment & influence – his pre kick-off huddle speech in last season’s Scottish Cup Final – “whatever happens, we win this this ******* game” says it all for me. However, just maybe, his enforced absence has allowed others to ‘step up to the plate’ and accept more responsibility for the performance of the team.
Rogic, Tierney, McGregor, Lustig and Sinclair have all lifted their levels in recent weeks – Christie has thrown off that look of being over-awed to grab his chance. We seem to be getting forward quicker from the back, maybe because players do not feel obligated to always make the inevitable pass to Scott in all build-ups.
This is not a criticism of Broonie, rather a realisation that it appears now that he is not indispensable – there were of course times when he was. I believe this will be a great confidence-booster to management & players alike.
I will, of course, welcome a fit Scott Brown back into the team, however it may well be that the playing-style will be different when he does, and he will be seen more by the players as a ‘first among equals’ and not the main artery of the side, where all must pass through.
Finally, I was disappointed to see Arzani getting injured – he looked good, and together with Morgan & Johnston, offers great variety to our attacking options. Also to see out three academy boys, Tierney, McGregor & Forrest playing such important roles in the team is sheer delight – perhaps numbers 4 & 5 could be added before the season is over.
on the scott brown debate, fabulous player but at the age now where maybe he should rest his legs more often .hh
Broonie or no Broonie, what a dilemma, it does seem that we play better at times without him, but in the same breath we can play better with him, horses for courses imo, I agree that we could and should rest him more than we are doing and allow the like of Calmac to strut his stuff, some of his play last night was magic, he can see a pass that Broonie doesn’t seem to, but he doesn’t have the dig that Broonie does, the dilemma, thankfully that responsibility is for others to sort out.
the exiled tim, agree about calmac not having the dig that scott has, but recently sometimes that dig wasn’t there, but for gods sake thinking about the number of games he has played at his age we need to give him a bit of slack ,we seem to be quite okay in the midfield apartment at the moment so lets see how the other ghuys do.hh.
It could also be seen as an opportunity to drive down wages. Broonie has always been our best paid player. Anyone approaching his rate of renumeration knows they have six months to go.
AweNaw
Believe it or not I was thinking the self same thing, anything to reduce the wage bill.
Aye, I would have rested Broonie before now, prob is it’s enforced, had it not been it would have been far better, just my humble opinion.
awenaw how are you pal, would not surprise me, just posted on another site which shall be nameless, that lawwell knew we needed to strenghthen in the summer, and done heehaw about it, was dermot tying his hands, would love to know.hh.
TET
I believe you ….great minds etc. ?
Thanks Packie,
Keeping well I hope you are too.
We need to look at it from both sides. What if they back Brendan in January but he still gets offered a Man Utd type job ?
I think it’s highly more likely that signings will be held back until the summer. It helps with ST sales and the situation with Brendan will be clearer.
yes keeping well thanks, do you think Brendan will go if a big job came up.hh.
Don’t want to go as far as to say that we played better recently without Broonie, but at least we now know that we can play a good game without him. That wasn’t always the case.
I think he will but that’s just my opinion. I think that in the January window it may be more likely that we lose players. Clearing the decks for the summer so to speak. Shouldn’t be seen as a bad sign. I’d rather we get a better quality of player in the summer than sign an inferior player with the idea of bedding someone in for the CL qualifiers
And a sign of team development but not against Dundee or Hearts. Will be interesting to see how a similar line up performs against Leipzig.
Great reading on the blog today lhads
Awe Naw – must disagree here with you. We could have ‘cashed in on Broonie on a number of occasions – in any case, even if we make mistakes in transfer dealings, evidence shows that, if revenue can substaniate it, the wage bill goes up commensurately.
I see Scott at Celtic as a player for the next two years, thereafter he will move into coaching, maybe not initially with us, but eventually.
What about Lenny & Broonie as the ‘dream team after Brendan?
The people running Celtic are not bad people, or, so manipulating, that they would push our great captain out the door against his will – I really believe this!!! HH
jimthetim53, nice to see you posting on here.hh.
No I don’t think so either. Broonie is going to do ten in a row. If he wanted to go before that milestone I’d be surprised but also full of admiration for him. I do believe that he’s the glass ceiling when it comes to wages. A Dembele or Van Dijk might have got there for a few months in the back of an inevitable Stan Petrov type of exit. If Broonie is not our top player anymore ..age,loyalty,the future as you correctly allay too then he is not going to be entitled to be top earner. It’s a conundrum that will need addressing. Is it the time to address it with regards the money in the bank and Brendan’s ambitions
Good point AwNaw. It’s always a different thing in Europe. If we can play well against Leipzig without Broonie, progress will have been made. He is in his last season or two, probably not every game, we have to plan ahead.
Cheers BP
I think we will beat Leipzig next week, just something in the water is telling me, with or without Broonie 😉
I second that JTT53, good to see you on the blog.
Loved my trip to Dundee last night.
Great performance on and off the pitch.
Thought the team and support were magic.
The poppy song apart.
Dundee Polis and Stewards create trouble.
Seen it everytime I have been to Dens or Tannadice.
YNWA
nice to see you posting garry,. ynwa.hh.
I too share your admiration for him.
His time will come to move on and for what is it worth, I don’t think you can replace someone so influential on a like for like basis.
We couldn’t do it with Kenny, or big Billy – Liverpool couldn’t do it with Keegan…..etc.
Our style of play will change and evolve, it has started to happen already.
We will only appreciate Scott’s enormous contribution when he is gone – someone’s bound to say in the future, “if we had Broonie on there today, we would have won” – c’est la vie – I also feel the exact same about PL & DD – I know this will be controversial, but it’s my honest opinion.
TET
I think we will win every game I attend. Otherwise what’s the point of attending our games?
I agree. Think we will beat Hearts and Leipzig. Cannae wait to attend both matches in Paradise
YNWA
Thanks BP. Kind words my friend
YNWA
Garry, hope we beat them with the same style of recent games.
Garry
When you put it like that I agree 100%
I think the hartz game will be a doddle, we have broken them, we could take 6-7 off them, more if we get a bit of luck, how sweet would that be mi amigo, how sweet.
Leipzig will be so much harder, but I think we will do it, Celtic park will rear it’s head again imo.
HH
JTT53
Great to see you post here.
Hail Glorious Saint Patrick my favourite hymn.
Hint?
YNWA
TET
Think we will destroy Levein’s mob on Saturday.
Leipzig no so sure but opTIMistic.
YNWA
Its a bit heavy over on CQN tonight. I’m not in the frame of mind for it. Taking a load of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen for stress pains at the back of my neck and shoulders. Don’t know what’s wrong. Finding retirement difficult I think.
Anyway, I know nothing about Irish football. I see their fixtures coming up on BBC website. I don’t know who I should be supporting in the North or the South.
Any tips?
I’m still convinced he is the next Manchester Utd manager
J53
When I was in Ireland I had a season book for St Pat’s in Dublin, was quite passionate about them, a few mates were also book holders, nothing like the biggest or best supported but a nice wee family club all the same, Brian Kerr was a supporter, crackin bloke, the stories he could tell about people were jaw dropping, pity he didn’t do that well with the Republic, he deserved to just for bringing Keano back into the fold if nothing else 😉
Up North, Cliftonville would be who I would support, all day long.
jim, garry will be your man for that, sorry about your pains as you no I retired in February, it takes a bit of getting used to if you feel the need to talk,garry and bobby have my e- mail and phone number.hh.
JTT53
Sorry to hear you are popping pills for relief.
Destroys my stomach they 2 drugs.
Use a herb to alleviate my pain.
Free da Weed!
YNWA
JTT53
Bohemians for Bob Marley away top.
Derry City and Cliftonville for personal reasons. ?
YNWA
I listen to Newstalk radio, 0210 on the box, an Irish station through the sky freeview box, I don’t pay for it, not a hope, anyways during the day it has a couple of very decent presenters, they are not scared to rip people to bits, in fact they see it as their job to do so, today there was a discussion today about herbal cannabis, they had a twat of a Dr on and a bloke who took it to alleviate his fits, the Dr got torn to bits by Pat Kenny the radio host for being an arsehole, it was great to hear,
HH