Kris Commons

This.

Our only half semi-decent offensive player.

 

Our best offensive player since Mohammed Salim.

 

Has to be one of Lennon's best signings if not the best.

 

Terrific player with tons of talent. On fire at present and long may it continue.

 

Yeah I said this earlier today. The guy has been a sensational signing.

 

A class above the rest in the offence, just like Van Dijk is in the defence.

 

He is the player the opposition teams fear. They don't fear our strikers. They fear Commons.

 

Without this guy we would currently I think not even be in the top six. Look at the points he has won for us and work it out mathematically.

I cannot believe we are one game away from half way (Partick on 1 Jan 2014 will be the 19th game) and we have only dropped 6 points. That is a fantastic performance in any season, but with such a crap team. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?????

Any theoretical arguments from the group to explain this phenomenon would be welcome.

 

I wouldn't be surprised If Kris Commons hits the thirty goals mark by the end of this season. From his very first game for us he's proved to be an incredibly valuable asset to the team. What a bargain he's been.

 

300k what a * bargain.

 

You're wrong when you say the teams crap. We have a real solid foundation to our defence and midfield, but when it comes to the transition from midfield to attack there's something that just doesn't cllick often enough. And we're also nowhere near clinical enough. The only clinical goalscorer we've had since hooper is commons and he's a midfielder!

Said this many times this season we're only a clinical striker and a special playmaker away from being a really great side.

 

Its simple...we may be a crap team but we are still the best crap team in Scotland.

 

Goal like a boss.

Hope to * he finishes his career here.

 

Commons has been sensational since joining, he still somehow gets stick though lol i mean c'mon he works his * off and has won us so many points it's not even funny.

Really hope we get the ST partnership we deserve and another creative mid, then i feel commons will become even stronger and the team as a whole will be lethal.

 

Surely there'll be offers for him in January?

 

Hope not lol think he is fairly committed though tbh so not even a thought for me.

 

An excellent assertion.

Three things I would say to that.

Firstly, that solid foundation can be summed up in two words – Van Dijk. He repels everything and has the effect of making everyone around him seem better. He is only ours until the end of the the season as he is easily a £10m EPL CB. He is easily the best CB I have ever seen for Celtic. I am only 32. Stubbs and Rieper formed a good partnership for 1 season though. I think he do a job for Barcelona. He could then do what he is good at and spend up to 90% of the time in the opposition half. Dutch defenders are taught to mark space and defend against the counter attack. In The Netherlands a footballer only learns the offensive side of the game. This is a huge weakness overall as Dutch football philosophies of 100% possession in the opposition half rely on having the best players in the world. Ajax have only been successful when this is so (late 60’s / early 70s and mid 90’s). Barcelona, currently have such players. This type of CB would fit with Barcelona’s style perfectly.

Secondly I would say the playmaker is what everyone says. I would say that you and many others are underestimating the importance of wide players. Ours are crap. Boerrigter is garbage. Forrest can do this for us sometimes as in the 2nd half against Hearts recently, but will never make it at Celtic long term as he has Phil O’Donnell syndrome with injuries. When coming up against an opposition packed defence, one of the best ways to beat them is wide players and stretching them from side to side or with a quick pass on the inside to break through or a cross into the box, assuming one has a CF that is willing to head the ball. Sadly Big John has left (yes it’s that long; I’m not even counting J V of H).

Thirdly – in Neil Lennon’s time the only way we have ever played well is not down to formation, team selection or even form. It’s when we play at a fast pace. Against Hearts and Motherwell recently, forget formations, team selections, it that fact that we played at a quick tempo with third man runs that the opposition could not read for love or money. I have seen Celtic play like this in perhaps 10% of matches since the beginning of 2011/12 season. The best I have seen Celtic play was in the 2nd half of 2010/11 season with Brown and Commons wide, allowing Wilson and Izaguirre to go on the outside, with Ledley and Kayal in the middle with Hooper and Stokes playing both as number 10’s. This had weaknesses, like nobody to head the ball up front and the fact that Majstorovic was the worst CB I have ever seen. Celtics worst ever signing. At the “Inverness debacle”, the two early 2nd half goals, who headed the ball straight down to the feet of the shooters / crossers? This is one example only. There were others. This team nonetheless kept the ball up front for long periods, denying the opposition any of the ball and creating many chances. The only question is what type of line up and formation will allow us to perform like this again on a regular basis rather than 1 or 2 matches at a time, like Hearts and Motherwell recently?

 

Relatively speaking, yes we are the best. The problem with this is that Rangers won’t be this weak forever. 10 in a row is a bold assertion, but I think that it is possible. The only way we will do that is consistency of winning to create a points maximising team. Playing like this, with our superior wage bill, Rangers could put together a string of results in a particular season to stop us. Don’t forget, Rangers own 3 in a row between 2008 and 2011 with a wage bill that was an average of about 25% below ours.

 

If Commons hadn't started, someone else would have, so you can't necessarily say we'd have lost the games he's won for us. We'd have likely dropped points but we'd be top 6, for *'s sake. :smiley-laughing002:

He is our best player by some distance though. I think he'll hit at least 25 goals this season.

 

I'd probably say Van Dijk might be our best player.