Brendan Fraudgers!

Its a dodgy squad id say rather than a poor really, a lot of the players are actually good players and nice footballers Sviatchenko, Simunovic, Tierney, Janko, Bitton, Ajer, Armstrong, Henderson, Allan, McGregor, Rogic, Christie, Roberts, Dembele. All aged between 18 and 24 with good talent.

Mostly not very experienced and unknown still. Similar to Lennons first squad which had Forster, Rogne, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Ki, Juarez, Kayal, Ledley, Forrest, Stokes and Hooper who were 18-24 when Lennon started.

Lennons squad went on to be a strong group. Lennon also had Brown and Samaras who were 25 which would be similar now to Griffiths and Johansen, Johansen/Samaras good players whove done well but are inconsistant and Griffiths/Brown reliable players we know will do a consistent job.

Now we probably have more experienced players too Gordon, Lustig, Izaguirre, Brown and Commons. Lennon only really had Loovens, Majstorovic, Cha, Murphy and Maloney and 3 of them were new signings.

At the moment things are in the balance. Ajer could go on to be a better player than Kayal, Dembele could go on to be better than Hooper, Christie could go on to be better than Stokes. Rogic, Sviatchanko, Tierney, Henderson etc could go on to be players like Nakamura, Mjallby, McNamara and Ledley but at the moment we can't really say much about them.

Would be nice to add some reliable big performers though, Scott Sinclair and Kolo Toure would be guys who we know would be better than anything we face domestically or in the CL qualifiers.

 

Got you now... Thought it was some autocorrect....

 

:smiley-laughing002:

 

I can fully understand your concerns regarding the squad quality in terms of competing in Europe.

In goals, Gordon will be fine for domestic duties but has shown he is on the decline as a keeper. He has cost us goals in Europe but is still a quality shot stopper. It's an area we should be looking to address as there are more pressing priorities.

Tierney and Izzy at left back is good, especially if Tierney continues to improve.

With Mulgrew out of contract and talks apparently stalling, I'd be keen for another centre back coming in. Would love the Kolo Toure rumours to be true. Sviatchenko looks to be our most reliable and consistent central defender at the moment so I'm happy to proceed with him.

Simunovic, not much can be said of him other than he looked ok in the games he played but injury has robbed him of the chance to make any meaningful imact.

Ambrose will mostly do fine in games, but like many others I just don't trust his judgement or concentration levels in tougher games. If we were able to sell him, I would (assuming we buy another CB). Boyata had a few slip ups last season but will be fine domestically. I'd give him a chance under Rodgers.

Lustig is still a good player, we just need to hope he stays fit. Janko is still young so has time to improve.

After reading the latest article about Brown, his body seems to be struggling to cope with the way he plays the game. I'd love him to adapt the way he plays to act as a playmaker but his passing ability can often be sloppy. He's club captain but it's hard to say how regularly he'll be in the team due to his history of injury problems.

Bitton is good enough in Europe, when he's motivated and on form. Could be a key player. I'd keep him for one more season.

Johansen is also good enough for Europe, with his pressing fitting in with how it seems Rodgers wants the team to play. However, bar a good spell of form, he's been often criticised by the support, especially last season. I've stated a number of times that his back injuries were claimed to be the source of many struggles and other niggles for him, thus affecting his performances. The rumours about his attitude on and off the pitch are hard to gauge, as there doesn't appear to be a lot of substance to it. I wouldn't be too disheartened if we sold him, although I don't think we will.

Domestically at least, I'd be happy to play McGregor as he impressed me last season. He's 23 now, so he can't really be called a youngster any more. His goal should be to improve his game and physique as much as possible and aim to replace Broony long term.

Commons wants to fight for his place, so I'm happy to have him as a squad player, who can come on and make an impact. More than happy to have him starting domestic games too. I don't think his legs can cope with being a regular starter anymore, though. Rogic is his natural replacement, in my opinion. I'm really hoping we can tie Rogic down to a long term contract, as I can see him moving to the EPL in a couple of years.

GMS and Armstrong need to prove themselves this season. I haven't been impressed with either signing and due to that, I wouldn't be adverse to selling them in January if they still haven't made an impact.

Allan, Christie, Henderson. I can't really say I've seen enough of these guys in the Hoops to comment. From the small amount I've seen of Allan, I'd rather have Rogic and wouldn't be against selling him.

On the right wing, we have Forrest and Roberts. Roberts is going to be a big player for us this season in my opinion, looking forward to seeing what he can offer. Forrest should be gone, he's never reached his potential and his final ball is no-where near what it should be for a player at his level.

We need a left winger, or a left sided striker if we're playing 4-3-3. Griffiths was the standout last season and while it's highly unlikely he'll repeat 40 goals, I think he can be relied upon for at least 20.

Dembele has looked promising, expecting good things from him, especially considering the praise from a certain Mr. Zidane.

Ciftci is someone I'm just not convinced by. I don't think he's good enough, even as an impact sub. Would love to be wrong.

So the priorities, for me, are a left winger, a centre back and another striker. We were ridiculously close to the CL group stages last year but a combination of poor tactics and horrific individual defensive errors cost us dearly. We'll get past Lincoln Red Imps and a couple of quality signings should see us reach the CL group stages.

 

Aye agree with a lot of what you say there's a lot of potential in our squad..

I would like to see us bring is talent, some steel and experience through the spine of the team..

GK, CB, DM & ST

 

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/s...ead-of-his-bow-as-bhoys-manager-34875052.html

 

Agree with a lot of that mate..

I've been guilty of writing Scott Brown off in the past so it will be interesting to see how he does under Brendan, if he can get him to concentrate on the things he's good at.. Pressing all over the park, getting from box to box and leading the team whilst keeping his discipline then we'll have a player on our hands again...

If not, Scott Brown is weak link of the team and trying to build a team around him will be futile..

Hope he can stay injury free...

 

[FULL VIDEO] Rodgers 1st press conference - Pre Lincoln Red Imps

Full pre-game media conference - http://www.celticfc.tv/

[ame]http://youtu.be/oJqbIqIGgiE[/ame]
​

 

Yip, would agree with this - a big season for Armstrong in particular. Similarly unimpressed with him, but hoping he kicks on.

RB another area of concern; if Ambrose leaves, it's Lustig (who sadly I cannot see being anything other than perennially injured,) and Janko who is the definition of "raw."

Ciftci will be fine for SPL back-up. Agree also we will need something else there over what I hope will be a long season with a * of a lot of games to get through.

CB - don't even get me started. Sviatchenko - magic. We need Simunovic fit this season, as the alternatives as things stand are as pleasant as being booted on the tip of the *.

 

Brendan Rodgers SACKED - Final Press Conference after Everton 1-1

His last Liverpool presser. Even knowing he was sacked, he still spoke utter sense. Few Liverpool fans said good', but most say the board were dictating player matters. Just interesting, as Rodgers will have learnt more at his time with Liverpool than his short time as a player, then developing coach, till now

[ame]http://youtu.be/cvw62SOrnjU[/ame]

 

Forrest, Armstrong and Ciftci on before Roberts?
No unrelated images allowed in Celtic Chat

 

there may be a reason for it.....

 

utter disgrace

 

What a *...

 

No way will he get the 30 million this team needs spending on it.

 

Now he will realise that major surgery is required and get rid of the majority of our squad as they are simply not good enough .

 

Inherited utter *, but should still have had enough to win that game.

 

Ronny Deila has set us back years and years.

 

I'm a bit worried he didn't know that already. This team has a massive problem with pride and bravery, and that comes out in a match where you're playing in the heat on an NFL-style turn field.